http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/insiders-convention-is-only-chance-to-stop-trump-220205 Insiders: Convention is only chance to stop Trump
GOP Caucus members believe the door has closed on the possibility of another candidate winning a majority of delegates.
By Steven Shepard
03/04/16 05:28 AM EST
It’s Cleveland or bust.
The only way Republicans can stop Donald Trump from capturing their party’s presidential nomination will be if they go to the July party convention without a clear standard-bearer.
Virtually every GOP member of The POLITICO Caucus – a panel of operatives, activists, strategists and elected officials in four key March-voting battleground states – said after Super Tuesday, the door has closed on the possibility of another candidate winning a majority of delegates.
Insiders in these four states – the March 15 primary states of Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, plus Virginia, which voted this week – were split on whether Trump would clinch the nomination before the convention.
Half suggested a diffuse field would deny Trump a majority of delegates, while the rest said Trump was on a path to victory – and establishment efforts to wrest away the nomination on the floor of the convention hall would backfire.
“Trump has not gotten over 50 percent of current delegate allocation,” said a Florida Republican, who, like all respondents, completed the survey anonymously. “The establishment will try and keep him from getting there to push for a brokered convention. It's the only way to stop him.”
“Republicans need to figure out a way and rationale to fully support Trump assuming he does as well in upcoming contests as he did on Super Tuesday,” countered a North Carolina Republican. “The door is swinging shut on the others and will slam shut if he wins on March 15. I'm not a Trump supporter; however, he is winning fair and square. If Republican Party tries to support some disingenuous alternative, that will have the same effect as throwing a case of hand grenades in our own tent.”
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http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/insiders-convention-is-only-chance-to-stop-trump-220205#ixzz41wnrh5P5
