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Let me try to explain some things to some here that are incensed. A voter elects delegates from each precinct of his/her state. (This is for primary states like Texas) Other states have other rules, but most are similar to this. A voter IS NOT VOTING FOR A CANDIDATE. The winner of your local election results gets a number of delegates assigned to them. AFTER THE VOTE, a person may, if they choose, attend the precinct convention. So few people choose to participate that a small group can stack the rules for the convention and stack the delegates going to the county convention. The mayor, a car dealer owner, or the guy making shakes at McDonalds can be ELECTED to represent the winner of your precinct, EVEN IF THE DELEGATE DOESN'T LIKE THE CANDIDATE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT!

Then the delegate goes to the county convention he/she is SWORN to vote for. The vote at the county convention is for new delegates to support a candidate at the STATE convention coming up. That person DOES'T NOT EVEN HAVE TO LIKE THE CANDIDATE THEY ARE "BOUND" TO SUPPORT. At each point, an oath is taken to follow the will of the last vote. Then, the county delegates assemble at the state conventions. All the same things are at the state convention. You have bound delegates that MUST vote for their candidate on the first ballot. If they can't get a majority( 50+1%), then the delegates are generally free to vote for whom they choose until someone gets a majority.

many of these delegates are party goes that like to go to conventions and get drunk and party. Some are serious that are dedicated to their candidate. some are actually plants from a candidate that is dedicated to their candidate to get them elected. as you can see, "having a ground game" become VERY important here. What Cruz has been doing for a couple of years now,( yes, even before he announced), was setting up dedicated people in all 50 states to at least make maximum effort to get him elected. When a delegate is a Cruz supporter, they can be voted into the rules committee and make rules that enhance Cruz's chances and hinder others. This is NOT cheating, but playing the game as EVERYONE else does. The problem here is Trump has been AWOL from the beginning. Trump is naive and ignorant of what he is trying to do. He doesn't even understand how to play.

Now we get to the national convention. If Trump wins the most delegates, but doesn't get 1237, there will be one vote that will fail to elect Trump as the nominee. The next vote will free many "bound delegates" to vote "their conscience". If Cruz has set up the rules and set his people in key positions, who do you think the delegates will vote for? People that were bound to Trump will dump him and switch to Cruz. Alternatively, at this time, the establishment can even switch their vote to Kasich, Rubio, or any other preconceived Tom, Dick, or Harry. This is not immoral or illegal, it's the system and has been for a hundred years at least. Trump could have and should have been doing the same all along, but to put it mildly, he didn't understand what he was even participating in. It would be interesting to take a poll here at FR and see how many voters have even attended one precinct convention in their entire lives. I have gone as far as the state convention before I was eliminated.

When you watch the nation convention coverage, take inventory of the people that you recognize. Are they Trump people, establishment Republicans, Cruz people, who? That will give you the first indication of what is about to transpire. Trump must win the first ballot or he will be sent packing. IMHO, Cruz will win because he has "the best ground game". His people will have been stacked in every crack and cranny to make things happen for Cruz. it's NOT luck when things go your way at a convention.

Love it or hate it, that's the way things work in the US. Cems just cut through the crap and assign "Super Delegates" to make sure their guy wins. At least Cruz had to invest time and money to have a chance. If Trump was serious about winning, he could have done the same thing in spades, as he had a $billion to the others few hundred $millions. This is why the RINO's KNEW Jeb was going to take it, he had the money. Didn't work! Trump just failed to understand how to do what he thought he could do. Trump can still win, but his hiring of a political professional is probably too late to give him a first vote win.

What this means is, if Christians had gone to the conventions and supported Christians, we could overthrow abortion and gay marriage. If gun owners went to the conventions, the Second Amendment wouldn't even be a topic of conversation. It's the same with any support group. The problem is the average voter has NO IDEA how civics work in the US. Ask a neighbor if they even know their is a county convention to go to? Al this is out in the open, but people don't pay attention to it. For whatever reason, they believe their vote elects a candidate and not a delegate. This is not some secret that requires a handshake and a password to find out about, but I have always been amazed at the people that just let the opportunity pass by to support the people they really want to win. Most people just don't care and let it pass by.

That pretty much describes what Trump has been doing. He got the people all "wee weed" up, then sit by and watched Cruz out maneuver him.

PS. As I type this, Trump is on TV complaining that he thought the US was a democracy. How stupid is that! It's been a republic since 1789. How can you enforce the Constitution if you don't even understand the system you are trying to win?