the problem is the RNC. They chose CNN and they(RNC) can make the rules
The RNC did cede the rule-making to the networks, so the cake is baked, The rules are dumb (why should a poll from May count as much as one in August?), but they iz what they iz. Have to wonder if CNN wanted candidates with established names, knowing that they are likely weaker in the general. Bush, Santorum, Perry, Huckabee, Christie are most favored by these rules, because that had some name recognition going into the whole thing. Probably they didn't think about Trump's Entertainment World name recognition.