The Thursday before the glittering Republican National Convention takes place provided no shortage of drama. Not only was Mike Pence floated as the probable vice presidential pick, but the Rules Committee proceedings at the Cleveland Convention Center quickly became contentious.

After only two hours of routine procedural activity, Chairwoman of the Rules Committee Enid Mickelson immediately called an extended recess due ostensibly to a printer jam that prevented copies of an overwhelming number of amendments from being distributed.

But the more pressing question, that is largely going unanswered, is why didn’t Priebus head this problem off before the convention?

However, numerous reports indicated that the printer jam was temporary, lasting only 10 minutes — though the delay stretched to four hours. The excuse helped to shield a last-minute meeting taking place between Reince Priebus, Mike Lee, and other anti-Trump delegates to try and broker a peace (someone leaned over and showed me a picture of the printer with the green light on). Some outlets began reporting on the incident as “PrinterGate.”

Their main discussion was over a motion to amend Rule 38 to include a clause allowing delegates to vote however they like outside of the primary process. (Conscience clause is a misnomer — it should really be called the chaos clause or perhaps the lawless clause.)

Later reports indicated former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cucinneli, who is submitting a large package of rule changes, was also in on the discussion along with Kendal Unruh, a leader of the rogue delegates. Some hoped for a truce to be called, but Cucinelli stalked out of the room looking disgruntled with nothing to say. Complicating matters is the fact that Cuccinelli was severely underfunded by the RNC in a gubernatorial race in Virginia that he could have won with more cash in 2013.

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It has become clear that Cuccinelli is a Cruz surrogate, hoping to throw a wrench in the rules and anoint his friend Ted Cruz in 2020.

The proceedings resumed around 1 p.m., after a four-hour stop with routine motions leading off the afternoon session. Some of the major issues included whether registered parliamentarians should be available at General Sessions, a temporary committee on the nominating process, and striking rule 12, a power grab rule set up by the Romney campaign in 2012. A long protracted debate over an amendment disallowing lobbyists as members of the Republican National Committee stretched late into the evening only to fail.

The chaos clause for Rule 38 and its contentious motion will be addressed tomorrow. The key to this whole unbinding the delegates debate is Senator Mike Lee, a member of the Rules Committee along with his wife. Lee supported his Senate buddy Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primary and deep down would like to see Trump punished for defeating his friend.

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But the more pressing question, that is largely going unanswered, is why didn’t Priebus head this problem off before the convention? A slew of new polls that came out today showing the race shifting to Trump’s favor, and the last thing the nominee needs is an incompetent party leader unable to rally his troops to defeat Hillary in November

Reince Priebus and Republican party leaders have routinely bragged about their preparations for the 2016 presidential race — including a newly spruced up ground game that is supposedly largely data-driven. However, this extensive ground game, if it is actually in place, will be lost if the party becomes so fractured at the convention this week and next that the nominee won’t benefit.

At this point, it is up to Priebus to rein in his party and help Mr. Trump win in November. As Mr. Trump called for earlier this month, perhaps Priebus should say that if you don’t back the nominee of the Republican party, you can’t run as a Republican ever again. The stakes of this election are too high to ask anything less from party members.

Unfortunately for Shrill Bill Kristol and the NeverTrumpers, this whole episode has revealed they are as undisciplined as their beloved Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush — and will quickly skirt the rules to indulge their self-righteous narcissism. As of this writing, the committee had finished the first two sections of the rules, but decided to finish consideration of all the amendments well into the night.