Republicans Trying To Weed Out The Crazies In 2016

So, the Republicans may have the House. And the Senate. And the majority of state governors. But they haven't had the White House in quite some time — a tricky fact that's irritating the hell out of Reince Priebus. So to remedy that, the Republican National Committee is announcing its 2016 presidential nomination a whole month earlier than usual. Oh, and they're going to try and cut back on all that primary craziness, too.

A source close to the Republican Party told CNN on Wednesday that the RNC is planning on hosting its national convention — where the party's presidential candidate is traditionally announced — in July 2016. CNN adds that the predicted date will be the week of July 18, though that's unconfirmed at this time.

How much would this deviate from previous election years? Well, in 2012, the Republican National Convention began on Aug. 27 and ended Aug. 30. In 2008, it was even later, beginning on Sept. 1 and closing on Sept. 4, while the 2004 convention ran between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2.

The motivation behind moving the high-profile convention up a month is simple. According to the source, Priebus wants a) more time for the country to get to know the Republican candidate and b) end the primary chaos.

The Republican primary is usually over by July — in 2012, it ended in late June — but Priebus seems to think a quicker national convention could streamline some of the primary madness that hasn't portrayed the GOP in its best light in recent years. CNN reports that Priebus may also have plans to cut down on the number of primary debates, which, in 2012, gave us some of our best political memes.

I mean, how can we have the Republican primaries without Rick Perry's three — uh, I think? — government agencies...

Or this Ron Paul reaction gif, which is disturbingly appropriate for a number of real-life situations...

Or Paul calling Rick Santorum "overly sensitive" in front of millions of Americans...

I don't know, Priebus, maybe we should keep these primary debates around just a little bit longer.

Images: Getty Images (1), Giphy (2)