Sorry if this should have gone on the 2016 board, but as it fits in more with the whole downward spiral of the GOP and has effects that go beyond 2016, I figured it fit best here. Feel free to move it if I was incorrect.
Full story:
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/17/gop-ouster-trump/92300180/There are a few reasons this was the wrong move:
1. Perhaps the most important, the plain language of the bylaws actually doesn't give the chair the power to remove an officer for refusing to back the party's presidential nominee. The bylaws state, "The Chairman shall have the power to declare vacant the seat of any officer who refuses to support the Republican nominee for any office within the State of Michigan." The office of President is not an office within the State of Michigan. There's an argument to be made that the chairman should have the power to boot an officer for refusing to support the Republican nominee for any position on the ballot in Michigan, but that's not what the bylaws actually say. For being the party that supports judicial conservatism, interpreting the bylaws any other way is pure hypocrisy.
2. It accomplishes pretty much nothing, brings further attention to the fact that the party is in shambles, and draws attention to the fact that key Republican leaders aren't backing Trump. If the intent is to help the nominee, drawing attention to the fact that people aren't backing him doesn't further the goal.
3. It's bad PR when the party ousts someone for not backing the nominee when it did nothing to oust people who have done far worse to hurt the image of the party. If we oust people from their positions for not backing the nominee, but we won't oust convicted felons (Google Darwin Jiles, Jr., Trucker Randy, and Bill Rauwerdink to see what I'm talking about) or people who spout homophobic and Islamophobic rants on social media (Dave Agema... I think we've had threads on him here), what message does that send?
4. There are much better things to focus on, like spending time, money, and resources on getting Republican candidates across the state elected. Instead of doing that, key figures in state party leadership decided to spend a couple days talking to lawyers, the media, and other party leaders about an intra-party scuffle. What harm would have waiting until November 9th to do this caused?
Sometime in the near future, MIGOP leaders are going to be asking, "Why do we have so many Democrats elected in this state?" The answer, in part, will be because of nonsense like this.