“Three different dynamics are raising the prospects that delegates to the Republican convention could arrive in Cleveland in July without a clear first-ballot winner, something that hasn’t happened in American politics in decades,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“First, there is the unusually crowded GOP field and the unconventional impact of Donald Trump, the New York businessman who in breaking all of the conventional campaign rules has energized voters who don’t normally come out for the party’s primaries. Then there is the Republican Party’s redrawn primary map that gives more sway to Southern states that often back nominees who aren’t successful in other regions. And, finally, the party has instituted a new way of counting delegates in early contests that will spread them out among the competitors, preventing anyone from separating from the pack.”
