I would suggest these political Machiavels take on Mr. Trump at convention time. What we are witnessing in 2016 is the continued replacement of the national political parties with what that eminently sane Washington Post commentator, Robert J. Samuelson, has called “political entrepreneurship.” “If you want,” he writes, “to become president you don’t need the permission of either party. You just announce, comply with the legal requirements for filing and launch your campaign.” This kind of political entrepreneurship began with Jimmy Carter and has continued on to Barack Obama and now to Donald Trump. According to Mr. Samuelson, the arrival of political entrepreneurship “represents a major upheaval in U.S. politics.” No wonder conservatives are anxious.

Mr. Trump is going to arrive at the convention with his 1,237 votes for the nomination, or he will be very close. Then the man who wrote “The Art of the Deal” is going to be ready to deal. He will deal with John Kasich, the popular governor of the very important state of Ohio. Mr. Trump, by the way, has already expressed his admiration for Mr. Kasich. Or there is Scott Walker, the very conservative governor of Wisconsin. Another popular governor is Rick Scott from the voter-rich state of Florida, who has already joined a growing number of politically alive politicians to endorse Mr. Trump. Doubtless there are other potential deal-makers out there. Of a sudden powerful political leaders are showing a new appreciation for Mr. Trump, a man who is new to politics if not to public life, but who has shown astounding political skills, not the least of which is identifying issues popular with the electorate. What is more, he is finding new coalitions of voters to join the Republican Party, for instance moderate Democrats and independents. My guess is that Donald is going to be difficult to outmaneuver at this forthcoming convention.