With the notable exception of Cruz’s home state of Texas, polls show Trump is in a strong position to win a majority of the states in early March, when 963 delegates are at stake. It takes 1,237 to win the nomination.

And Trump is poised to win at least 200 of those early March delegates and as many as half — or 482 of them — according to experts who have studied the March-state maps and delegate rules. Under most of those state’s rules, the winner is disproportionately awarded delegates and, for many, those who get 20 percent or less of the vote get no delegates.

So for most states, Trump is helped by a crowded field because he can disproportionately win delegates by taking about 30 percent of the vote.

But it isn’t only the math that’s complicated. So are the emotions.

And everyone has an argument for why he should be the one to stay in.