Vanity - If Trump or Cruz could not be the nominee, who would you pick?

I have been having this discussion with some friends of mine who are in the Trump or Cruz camps, and people have come up with interesting ideas. Here is the question:

If the GOP race goes to a contested convention, and Trump and Cruz cannot be the nominee, who WOULD you support to be the nominee? In other words, who is your second best choice if Trump or Cruz cannot be the nominee?

It’s my understanding that the RNC/GOPe either have or are about to change the rules from last convention eliminating the 8 state requirement, so as to make literally anyone eligible for the nomination.

That is not what the rules actually say, although it has been repeated and reported many times. Even without a change, they can nominate Sessions, Palin, Bachmann, Jindal, Jeb, Rubio, Christie, Ronald Reagan, or Robert E. Lee on a second or later ballot.

https://cdn.gop.com/docs/2012_RULES_Adopted.pdf (page number 39-40 on the pages; pdf file pages 43-44)

“RULE NO. 40 (b) Each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a majority of the delegates from each of eight (8) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination. Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules or any rule of the House of Representatives, to demonstrate the support required of this paragraph a certificate evidencing the affirmative written support of the required number of permanently seated delegates from each of the eight (8) or more states shall have been submitted to the secretary of the convention not later than one (1) hour prior to the placing of the names of candidates for nomination pursuant to this rule and the established order of business.”

It's not a rule change if they allow other names after the first ballot. Those candidates just have to have support from delegates who are free (under rule 16) to vote for those candidates.

If it is not Cruz or Trump, I expect a terrible choice. I would support someone who opposes Amnesty, wants to repeal and not replace Obamacare, reads the Second Amendment as nearly absolute, and wants to roll back the FedGov intrusion on our lives. There are not many names on that list, but Palin, Sessions, and Mike Lee come to mind for a start.

If it's an Amnesty shill, I'll do what I did last time and vote third party. If my state matters, it's already lost, and my protest vote says something worthwhile.

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