[mandaladon]

Under the scenario outlined above, Trump would finish the primary season 44 delegates short of the magic number. But that doesn’t count Pennsylvania’s 54 unbound delegates, and Trump – at least right now – is well-positioned to gobble up the lion’s share of them. That could be just enough to put him over the top and avoid a contested convention...........Trump will make it!

[Balding_Eagle]

If, when, this happens the Cruzers will go crazy with claims that only Ted gets to use those kinds of rules.

[lodi90]

Kasich was born in PA. Toomey has a tough reelection fight on his hands. It’s certainly not in the PA GOP interest to go to war with Trump.

[WENDLE]

Trump has rule 40 b . He and cruz are the only men that can be nominated. The Rule won’t be changed because it takes their delegates to approve the change on the floor of the convention!!. Won’t happen!! Trump beats cruz by 500 delegates . The other bound delegates supporting a loser are prohibited from voting. Rules Are Rules Dammit!! That’s the way it is!!

[frankenMonkey]

I think many of the recent “losses” can be turned around on a delegate by delegate persuasion program by Manafort. Amazing what a flight in Trump’s plane and a night a Mar a Lago does for one’s attitude! If that doesn’t work, there’s always cash!

(Yes, cruz davidians, I went there!)

[knarf]

The quick read looks fascinating, but I need to spend time and digest it

On the surface, Trump has to fight from now on.

[SuzyQue]

He’s going to have to learn the rules and become a lot more organized before he could pull anything close to this off.

[Bon mots]

[Starstruck]

The brains at MSNBC can’t even get the present delegate count right and they are projecting future votes? Sounds like some of these weather men who are pushing Global Warming

[mac_truck]

I was listening to liberal describe a family trip to the Midwest he had just returned from, which included a stop in Kokomo Indiana. He impression was that it was a prosperous city but he couldn't figure out what supported all the retail stores and steak houses. Then he passed the big Chrysler transmission plant with its huge parking lots for their employees and he said he suddenly figured out why the city was doing so well.

I waited for him to finish before saying...yeah that's exactly why Donald Trump wants to stop companies from moving to Mexico.

His vexed expression was priceless.

According to this author Indiana is shaping up to be a primary battleground state, but I think Trump will win it.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Hey, if Trump gets 1237, and grabs the Pa. delegates to do it, then he’s the nominee. It’ll be time to line up behind the ol’ windbag and try to push him over the line against Hillary.

[Future Useless Eater]

Checkout this poll that shows Colorado republicans favored trump TWO to ONE over Cruz.

Colorado poll .. GOP

 Trump should pay a well respected pollster to prove these numbers are valid and shame the GOPe, 
and start a firestorm in his favor

[Gator113]

~~Go Trump, GO!!~~~~Go Trump, GO!!~~~~Go Trump, GO!!~~~~Go Trump, GO!!~~

[BagCamAddict]

By now we all know that the rules for this convention will be written just prior to this convention. Here's yet another way they can (and will) screw Trump:

----- Change the rules to require 1499 delegates, not 1237 delegates. ----

Let's say Trump wins 1237 delegates. That makes him the "Presumptive Nominee." It doesn't make him the CERTAIN Nominee, which only happens after they vote at the convention....

After June 7, the #NeverTrump crowd will know how many delegates Cruz has earned (let's say 1000), and how many Trump delegates are actually Cruz-loyal Trojan Horses (let's say 500). That means they have 1500 Cruz-loyal delegates, and 500 of those are bound to vote for Trump on the first Nominee ballot.

It takes a majority (1237) to adopt or change the rules of the convention. However, these delegates are NOT required to vote on the rules in a way that is LOYAL to the candidate they are bound to. Therefore, the 500 Trump-bound delegates who are Cruz Trojan Horses can vote to change the 1237-rule to become a 1499-rule because they know Cruz has 1500 votes on the second ballot. So they take the first vote, and it goes 1237 Trump, 1000 Cruz, etc... Trump doesn't make the 1499 threshold, so they go to a second ballot. On the second ballot, the vote becomes 1500 Cruz, 737 Trump, and Cruz becomes the nominee.

[nikos1121]

I’ve predicted this for some time. Trump will go over the top on or before June 8. Cruz will be mathematically out of the race by April 26 or before. So, for him to continue makes no sense.

He’ll have some negotiating power between then and when Trump wins, but if he doesn’t use it, and Trump wins, Cruz is out completely.

[jmaroneps37]

The new dynamics of this race specifically Cruz’s mathematical elimination and the Colorado disaster will change things radically.

After Cruz is eliminated (his magic number is just 49) the anti-Trump forces will have a very difficult time formulating a plausible lie for Cruz remaining in the race. They will have to admit he is only there to force a contested convention where they can steal the nomination and put up a comfortable loser - maybe even Mitt and Paulie. That won’t sell.
The Colorado disaster has confirmed all the suspicions the rank and file have about the GOPe and were verified by the “Let them burn down the Party” comment from the head GOPe thug in Colorado. This will further energize the support numbers for Trump. Everything has/will changed and Trump gains a huge advantage because of these events.