Why Can’t We Call Trump the GOP Nominee?

How is it that Donald J. Trump has gone from the laughing stock of the Republican Party to a viable politician? His title went from “billionaire” to “presumptive GOP nominee” over the course of a few months. It appears inevitable that Trump’s name will appear on the ballot this coming election. He is well over the threshold of delegates – he rests currently at 1,542 – yet the press is hesitant to declare him the undebatable winner. Why?

The threshold number of delegates as well as the procedures of how they must place their votes are from a rulebook drawn up during the most recent Republican National Convention, which was in Tampa in 2012. The fact of the matter is that come this summer in Cleveland, the rules of the convention could change entirely.

112 delegate representatives will meet just a few days before the 2016 GOP Convention in order to draw up this updated set of rules. Currently, the rule states that delegates are obliged to vote according to the popular vote of their state’s primary. This rule could change over the next few weeks. If it doesn’t, Trump will surely be the next Republican nominee. The 1,542 delegates who promised to vote for him at the convention will do so. However, if it does change, Trump could very well not be on the ticket come November.

Due to the recent outcry of Republican politicians against Donald Trump, this change of rules could very well occur. Based on estimates by Erick Erickson, only about 25% of the delegate representatives meeting about this change support Trump’s candidacy.

If this rule changes, who would rise up against Trump? Many believe that Ted Cruz is the only viable option to compete with the real estate mogul. Prior to him dropping out of the race, he had already won the majority number of delegates in eight states: Texas, Kansas, Maine, Idaho, Utah, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Wyoming.

The question on the forefront of everybody’s mind is this: how desperately does the Republican Party want to see Trump dethroned? The power is in their hands. The GOP could turn things around and pledge their allegiance to another candidate – all they have to do is change one little rule.

Featured Image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore