#NeverTrump GOP endorsements LATEST: Graham and Lee voted McMullin

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I really hope Murkowski would endorse Clinton. This is the only thing that would put Alaska into play.

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Cuban Miamians

Ros-Lehtinen and Curbelo seem to be dead set against both Trump and Clinton. Diaz-Ballart will, "under some conditions", vote for the "Republican nominee".

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article75713677.html

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at this rate we should make a list of who is going to the RNC

the rest should run a convention of their own: it would have more Republicans.

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Graham and Jeb, it seems, are the first two candidates to break the pledge.

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Yes, they broke the oath. However, sometimes there are things more important that oaths and the honor of keeping them. In the choice between honor and basic decency, I am on the side of decency.  If ever such a moment comes for me, I would much other be considered dishonorable, than do something as awful, as supporting Donald Trump. For there is no honor in the latter: only eternal and inextinguishable shame.

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Any bets on if Trump or Clinton will get more former GOP cabinet endorsers? 

Looks like it will be Clinton

Most former cabinet members do not have to endorse, and they will not.

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So I guess Mark Sanford is the one formerly #NeverTrump Republican to have reversed himself into an endorsement of Trump:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/opinion/i-support-you-donald-trump-now-release-your-tax-returns.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

However, he still decided to write that NYT op-ed about why Trump should release his tax returns.

What a weird time to stop being nevertrump.

Not weird at all, if you realize that he is doing it to screw Trump. Or, should I say, to hike the Appalachian Trail with Trump?

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I guess Sanford bonded with The Donald over hiking the Appalachian trail with exotic beauties.

I have a feeling, this time Trump is the beauty.

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I think Graham will come around. Fmr. Governor Sununu endorsed Trump today by the way.

Why would Graham endorse Trump? What does he have to gain? He isn't up for reelection until 2020, he'll probably get a primary challenger anyway, and there's a good chance he'll retire (and I wouldn't blame him).

Graham signed the pledge, as a former presidential candidate. Priebus said he plans some sort of punishment,

Priebus may very well not be around in 2020.

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I think Graham will come around. Fmr. Governor Sununu endorsed Trump today by the way.

Why would Graham endorse Trump? What does he have to gain? He isn't up for reelection until 2020, he'll probably get a primary challenger anyway, and there's a good chance he'll retire (and I wouldn't blame him).

Graham signed the pledge, as a former presidential candidate. Priebus said he plans some sort of punishment, I guess his punishment may be support of the primary challenger, but that would be strange as whoever runs against him is likely to be an anti-establishment candidate (I'd guess Mulvaney is the most likely).

The punishment would be loss of his choice committee assignments in the Senate.  If Priebus could prevail on GOP Senators to enforce that, of course.

RNC chairman determining committee assignments? You make my day. He may have a better chance affecting ministerial appointments in Moscow.

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I think Graham will come around. Fmr. Governor Sununu endorsed Trump today by the way.

Why would Graham endorse Trump? What does he have to gain? He isn't up for reelection until 2020, he'll probably get a primary challenger anyway, and there's a good chance he'll retire (and I wouldn't blame him).

Graham signed the pledge, as a former presidential candidate. Priebus said he plans some sort of punishment,

Priebus may very well not be around in 2020.

He might not be chairman, but he won't be dead. An endorsement from a Former RNC chair would be a pretty big boost to someone running against Graham (or Kasich/Cruz/Jeb!)

And what would be his incentives to do this, if he is no longer chairman?

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2.  Graham has some pretty good Senate committee assignments, and it's not beyond the GOP to take away his subcommittee chairmanships.

RNC has exactly zero influence there. If it were Mitch McConnell making such threats, it could, possibly, be the reason. But Priebus? He has exactly the same impact there as you or me.

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I think Graham will come around. Fmr. Governor Sununu endorsed Trump today by the way.

Why would Graham endorse Trump? What does he have to gain? He isn't up for reelection until 2020, he'll probably get a primary challenger anyway, and there's a good chance he'll retire (and I wouldn't blame him).

Graham signed the pledge, as a former presidential candidate. Priebus said he plans some sort of punishment,

Priebus may very well not be around in 2020.

He might not be chairman, but he won't be dead. An endorsement from a Former RNC chair would be a pretty big boost to someone running against Graham (or Kasich/Cruz/Jeb!)

And what would be his incentives to do this, if he is no longer chairman?

A belief that pledges should mean something.

The country, obviously, means more.

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I think Graham will come around. Fmr. Governor Sununu endorsed Trump today by the way.

Why would Graham endorse Trump? What does he have to gain? He isn't up for reelection until 2020, he'll probably get a primary challenger anyway, and there's a good chance he'll retire (and I wouldn't blame him).

Graham signed the pledge, as a former presidential candidate. Priebus said he plans some sort of punishment,

Priebus may very well not be around in 2020.

He might not be chairman, but he won't be dead. An endorsement from a Former RNC chair would be a pretty big boost to someone running against Graham (or Kasich/Cruz/Jeb!)

And what would be his incentives to do this, if he is no longer chairman?

A belief that pledges should mean something.

I really think you're overestimating the extent to which anyone will care about these pledges anymore by December, let alone by 2019.

Assuming Clinton wins, Priebus won't care about this issue anymore in six weeks.  And even if he did, no one will care what he thinks anymore if he's no longer chairman in 2019.

It's not necessarily Priebus that's the issue.

There are people saying that Cruz's impetus for endorsing Trump was to get on the good side of Rebekah Mercer, who was one of his megadonors in the primary but who has very strongly jumped on board the Trump Train since then.

Yep, that is what I am hearing as well.

I mean, who is that Priebus? He has no more power over a US senator than over the sun and moon. A major donor is a very different thing, though.

And, BTW, the forum of politics junkies should know those things without them being explained.

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i guess priebus made clear that everyone who stands against the party would have pay a price....and working against the trumpers and the establishment at the same time is not working, if your party is in the trash anyway.

Priebus cannot make any important politician pay any price. He is a low-ranked bureaucrat, infinitely less important within the party than pretty much any Senator and many of the Congressmen.