Still, Rubio and Cruz have only a very small chance each to get the Broadway-play happy ending they crave. Which is why the stop-Trump dynamic changed last night, as Rubio’s senior managers effectively acknowledged yesterday afternoon.

They told donors that it was likely Trump could not be defeated outright and in that case the only recourse would be to stay in the race to deny Trump a majority of the Republican delegates, take the race to the convention floor in July, and see if a counter-uprising can be staged against the Trump movement.

This can’t be Rubio’s strategy alone. It has to be Cruz’s strategy as well, and that of Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The math works, kind of, if Rubio can win Florida and if Kasich can win Ohio on March 15. It doesn’t, really, if Trump wins both.

There are a million problems with this scenario. Foremost among them, Trump’s supporters will not just cry foul, they’ll go completely bananas.