Republicans are planning an intense 100-day campaign to stop front-runner Donald Trump that includes intense lobbying that kicks off during the Wisconsin primary next month — even fielding an independent candidate for the general election as a last-ditch resort.
"This is still a winnable race for a free-market conservative that’s not Donald Trump," Club for Growth President David McIntosh
told The New York Times. "It’s not a layup, but there’s a clear path to victory."
The group's super PAC has spent millions opposing Trump and plans to put up as much as $2 million to stop him in Wisconsin, which holds its primary on April 5, the Times reports. The Club for Growth backs rival Ted Cruz.
The anti-Trump forces described their plan — which the Times described as "the political equivalent of guerrilla fighting" — in interviews after the developer won primaries in Florida and three other states on Tuesday.
The approach is expected to heavily target Trump's biggest vulnerabilities and to "cast Mr. Trump as a calamitous choice for the general election," the Times reports.
Among the names of possible independents being floated include former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who stepped down last year for cancer treatment, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the first candidate to quit the 2016 race in June.
Coburn told the Times that Trump "needs to be stopped" but otherwise said that he would support any independent against the businessman.
"I’m going to support that person," Coburn said, "and I don’t expect that person to be me."
Perry's name came up at a meeting Thursday among the anti-Trump forces in Washington, the Times reports. His associates have said, however, that he remains steadfast in his support of Cruz.
Erick Erickson, the conservative commentator who organized the meeting, called Perry a "consensus choice" among the participants.
"He would win Texas and at least obstruct Trump," Erickson told the Times.
Cruz won the Lone Star State's March 1 primary.
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