Dreams of a Contested Convention Fade Away

Rick Klein: “Coming soon, perhaps, in the year that’s seen everything: contested conventions that are actually no-contests. Persistent challenges in both the Republican and Democratic races could strain both dictionary definitions and party resources in the run-up to July. On the Republican side, a Ted Cruz loss in Indiana on Tuesday would put Donald Trump on a definite path to capturing a majority of delegates on the first ballot. Cruz, though, seems unlikely to accept that reality. He’s already started accusing news organizations (without evidence) of cooking the delegate books to favor Trump, and has made clear that only achieving 1,237 bound delegates will meet his definition of securing a majority.”

“For the Democrats, Bernie Sanders’ path to the nomination is even narrower than Cruz’s. Yet Sanders declared Sunday that ‘the convention will be a contested contest’ as he will seek to convince superdelegates to join him, all the way until the party gathers in Philadelphia. Cruz and Sanders have earned the right to go on. But the pressure for them to get out and acknowledge the all-but-inevitable will grow if they don’t win in Indiana. And at some point soon, party leaders will want to hand over their conventions’ keys to the man and woman who will almost certainly top the ticket this summer.”