Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich Should Stay in the Race Until the RNC Convention. Here’s Why.

In sharp contrast to Bernie Sanders’ crushing Super Tuesday defeat at the hands of Hillary Clinton, the three candidates giving Donald Trump a hard time might still keep him from the GOP nomination.

According to Liam Donovan with the National Review:

“At the current trajectory, no one — not Trump, not Rubio, not Cruz — will secure the necessary delegates to win the nomination outright. Nor, given the calculus, does anyone have any incentive to drop out. The very Mexican standoff that has enabled Trump thus far is likely to trigger a convention-floor failsafe. SomewhereJohn Nash is smiling.”

In other words, in order for Trump to reach the delegates necessary to secure the GOP nomination, he will need to secure a majority of delegates in at least 8 states. If the four other remaining candidates stay in the race until the convention, they may leech enough votes from the frontrunner to make it impossible for Trump to win the nomination by default. At that point, it’s just a matter of convention horse trading to get a consensus on who will be the nominee.

As Henry Gomez wrote for Cleveland.com:

“It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump is the clear front-runner. But with their prolonged presence in the race, Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich all could keep him from reaching the magic number before Cleveland.”

If Trump does not get the 1,237 delegates need to win the nomination and decides that the RNC is not treating him fairly, he could run as a third party candidate, leaving Republicans and Democrats alike to wonder what to wish for.

Democrats need to wonder whether it’s worth taking the chance that Trump might split the vote between himself and the GOP, and Republicans need to wonder whether it’s worth running the nomination process through to the convention if it means potentially driving Trump to run as a third party candidate.