By Val Powell
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been doing pretty well in previous primaries, and his lead over rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz continues to widen as the weeks progress.
Unfortunately, Trump’s 678 delegates is just halfway through the required number of delegates, which is 1,237, in order to get the GOP nomination.
If this trend continues and the business tycoon gets the most votes and delegates out of all Republican presidential candidates, he may still get stripped off the possible nomination by way of a brokered convention.
Trump, 69, may have already considered the possibility, which is why he has repeatedly urged the Republican Party to choose him as the nominee if he gets the most delegates.
However, it seems political experts may have something against that.
“The notion that you go in with a plurality, therefore you deserve the nomination is just flat wrong,” said Merrill Matthews, who is a resident scholar at the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas.
Despite his statement, Matthews said that Donald Trump could automatically win the nomination if he gets enough momentum by the end of the primaries. That’s because voters have the tendency to “gravitate” toward the popular candidate by the end of the primary season.
“Even if he doesn’t get 1,237, if the momentum is clearly behind him, I think it would be hard to deny him the nomination,” Matthews added.
While an automatic Donald Trump nomination is possible at this point, Matthews also said that he has to be ready to close the deal if a brokered convention takes place. The TV personality should be sure to relay a clear message to Republican delegates so that they’ll choose him as the nominee.
Unfortunately for Trump, history may be against him if this becomes the case.
In 1940, former New York governor Thomas E. Dewey came out with the highest number of delegates, although he did not meet the required number to get automatic nomination.
As a result, a brokered convention took place, and Dewey was denied the nomination.
There are only 10 other instances in the Republican Party’s history in which all the candidates did not get the majority of the delegates. Interestingly, in seven of those conventions, the candidate who had the most delegates was denied of the nomination.
A more interesting thing to point out is that half the time, the presidential nomination went to the candidate who was last on the list or had the fewest candidates.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich may have this advantage, as the last of the three Republican candidates who are still eyeing the nomination. He currently has 143 delegates, while Cruz, 45, has 423.
Speaking with NBC’s Meet the Press, Kasich, 63, boldly said that no one will hit the required number of delegates to automatically clinch the Republican nomination.
In addition, Kasich added that he already knows why he would get picked at the Republican National Convention in July in Cleveland.
“Because I can win in the fall,” he said. “And secondly, because I have the experience and the record to lead this country.”While Kasich’s statements are something to think about, the GOP may actually nominate anyone in the party. Some possible nominees include former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, and even former presidential nominee Mitt Romney.Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus already admitted on Sunday that the GOP could have a brokered convention, and that they are already preparing for it as early as now.
“History would show… when someone’s a little bit short, you let the process play out,” he said in a TV interview.