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Ted Cruz does not need to go into the convention with the majority of the delegates to win the nomination. All he has to do is keep Donald Trump from getting the majority.

Once the voting is past the first ballot, nobody is going to migrate to Trump. Even with the threatened putsch, they are not going to go for Trump.

The rules are the rules. What you write is spot on. The rules require a first round ballot winner to have 1237 delegate votes. The rules say that if there is no one attaining 1237, there will be a second ballot; then a third, if necessary, and so on, until one person achieves a total of 1237 on any ballot.

The “chosen one” is selected by the delegates - not the percentage/plurality of primary voters. Once bound delegates may change their selection after the first ballot.

The will of the majority of primary voters is irrelevant. The rules require a majority of delegates. It is a campaign within a campaign.

As an afterthought, I cringe when I hear Hannity and others encourage others to give up before the “game” is over. The “game” has rules. I never allowed my children to quit before the game was over. It builds bad life habits. I was taught that I shouldn’t ever be a quitter, even though the loss may be huge. If a person engages in a game, he/she should play it to the best of their ability, within the rules. Then, there is no dishonor.

I remember a winning college basketball coach being asked why he ran up he score. He said he thought it was wrong to shave points - if there was an issue with his team trying to succeed within the rules, the opponent should get better skills/players. After all, the rules are the rules. If Trump achieves 1237 (on a first or subsequent ballot) he is the victor under the rules. Frankly, his lobbying for victory if he achieves less than 1237 is repugnant to me. I suppose he doesn’t want the rules to apply to his majesty.

Gwjack

“Ted Cruz does not need to go into the convention with the majority of the delegates to win the nomination. All he has to do is keep Donald Trump from getting the majority.”

With all due respect, you’re simply not looking at this realistically. Cruz is hated by the GOPe just as much as Trump is feared by them. If this goes to a 2nd ballot, neither of them will get it. I don’t know who will, but it won’t be either of them - and then you have a LOT of very ticked off people who will likely stay home, giving the election and the future of this country to Hillary. Is that what you want?

Cruz can’t win 1,237. Let him apply the same standard to himself that he did to Rubio and Kasich - that if you cannot mathematically win the nomination, it is time to pack it in and stop dividing the Party.

He’s going to lose AZ next week - that’s 58 more delegates in Trump’s pocket, raising the bar to over 90% of the remaining delegates for Cruz to get to 1,237 - and that will never happen. Ronald Reagan could rise from the grave and endorse him, and he wouldn’t win that much. So, time to leave with his dignity and his (still very bright) political future intact.