So it’s not just a question of “drafting” a Ryan, a Romney or a Rubio and expecting weary delegates to swing their way. To even get that far, you would need a substantial third bloc of delegates who are already on board with the idea, who understand what needs to be done to get there, and who can be relied on to keep the nomination from both Trump and Cruz long enough to make a draft seem reasonable.
And who, exactly, is going to pull such a bloc together? Across months of campaigning, the Republican establishment, such as it is, couldn’t manage to unite around a single candidate or develop a strategy to stop Donald Trump. Cruz is the only not-Trump candidate left standing precisely because the Republicans who most dislike him couldn’t coordinate, plot effectively or successfully elevate a more electable alternative.
But now we’re supposed to believe that those same incompetents are going to magically turn into convention Machiavels, capable of running a secret-but-not-really-secret whip operation on behalf of Ryan or Rubio while Cruz and Trump just stand by helplessly and let it happen? That Karl Rove and the Koch brothers are going to rediscover the magic of the smoke-filled room just in time to somehow undo a year’s worth of collective-action failures?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member