A Tampa in the TEA-pot.

Via Erick Erickson at RedState, we learn that while Isaac has moved on to New Orleans, there’s another storm brewing, and it might make landfall in the next half-hour.

The GOP Rules Committee seems to be purging non-establishment members from their group in order to stage a delegate assignment system that is hardly fair for the states, but geared towards preventing any 2nd/3rd place candidate from making the cut in future primaries.  The reason is simple.  The mess that started the GOP primary season can’t happen in 2016 or any other year from now on.  The rules proposals aren’t as epic, but the core of the matter focuses on why one has conventions in the first place, why states are allowed to do their own primaries (as a conservative, it’s a big thing to take power from states and put them into a quasi-national RNC), and a reminder of why the GOP establishment and TEA have to settle their differences.

Per Freedomworks’ Michael Duncan, two Florida delegates were removed and replaced by Romney delegates, and this comes even after there was a reported compromise to prevent a floor fight.  And that makes you wonder what the heck is going on behind the scenes.  As the convention looks unified, we get word that delegates are being targeted for removal and replacement.

Hardly a conservative move, is it?  To remove the state’s voice just because it reveals the core of the GOP base?  While I don’t agree with the platform doesn’t mean I don’t support folks who want to vote that way.  Instead, they’re getting hoodwinked for all that hard work and loud enthusiasm that Romney needs in November.  Instead, lots of backroom deals and literal replacement after a reported compromise was struck.

As they say, “Leave nothing to chance.”

Heck, even Rush Limbaugh today was plain depressed to see an initial “unity” convention quickly pick up strength and become a possible tropical storm of its own.

While the potential damage is still theoretical, the focus of this floor fight asks a question of the GOP faithful.  Is this the party you’re going to get with the same effort you put into it?  Or are you going to get the Romney takeover, the valuation of assets, and then the wholesale auction of your morals to bring the corporation to the White House?

Is this a tempest in the TEA-pot?  Or is it a serious question of what the establishment is up to down there on the floor?

With less than 24 hours to landfall for Hurricane Isaac, we might have two storms in the Gulf.  One may not amount to anything in Tampa, but it will be visible to politicos and the voters.  Big speeches from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and potential FLOTUS Ann Romney tonight.

But in New Orleans, a real storm is going to hit the coast, push gas prices, and flood the region.  And while it’s just bad timing to see the GOP convention begin during a hurricane, it’s a fitting description of the state of our nation.  A storm is coming, our economy is vulnerable, and we need to decide where we stand as a country, not just as two parties who are holding pity parties in their respective swing-state.

The GOP Rules Rumble is now underway.  Let’s see how grassroots fares.

Mako out.