National Review has learned that Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and an influential evangelical activist, has convened a core group of prominent conservative leaders to discuss — and possibly vote on — whether to endorse a Republican presidential candidate.
They first gathered Sunday night, in a secluded location that participants won’t disclose, and planned a marathon meeting today during which they will discuss the viability of the various candidates — with an emphasis, we’re told, on data and polling that can help demonstrate who is best positioned to secure the nomination.
Ted Cruz has emerged as the group’s clear favorite — due in part to his recent polling surge and apparent consolidation of the party’s evangelical wing, but even more so because of his relentless courtship of Perkins and other conservative leaders over the past 18 months.
If the group can reach consensus on which candidate to support — a big “if,” as some participants are concerned about the appearance of national conservative leaders dictating to grassroots activists — their plan would be to roll out endorsements individually, we’re told, instead of issuing a single, sweeping mass endorsement.
The meetings are the manifestation of a master plan, several years in the making, drawn up by Perkins and other conservative leaders. They became convinced after 2012 that the only way for conservatives to defeat the Republican establishment in 2016 would be to unite early behind a single candidate. The failure to do so, they argue, led to the primary victories of “moderates” Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008.
Many in Perkins’s cabal consider Cruz to be the most ideologically pure, but some have expressed doubts about his general-election viability. This, coupled with the rise of Marco Rubio— whom many view fondly despite his immigration push, and who has shown the potential for consolidating support among the party’s establishment wing — had caused some conservatives to argue for pausing the conversations about a mass endorsement, and others to abandon them altogether.
The discussions are expected to run late into Monday night. It’s unclear when, if the group does reach a decision, their individual endorsements would be rolled out.
Stay tuned for more details as they come in . . .