The stop Trump campain that never flied

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On Wednesday, 60 Republican national security wonks posted a letter on War on the Rocks declaring their opposition to Trump – the self-proclaimed “most militaristic person” in the GOP primary. The defense hawks rattle off a series of Trump foreign policy positions, including his embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as reason they are “unable to support a party ticket with Mr. Trump at its head.”

Romney's attack on Trump could backfire - Business Insider

In fact, one possible negative consequence of the collective anti-Trump movement is that the billionaire decides to split off from the GOP, taking with him the millions of new voters who have turned out to support him. Trump hinted at that very idea Thursday morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. "The establishment — they want to throw that right out the window. Because if I get out, all those people are going, they're all going with me," he said. "I signed a letter with the [Republican National Committee] and I said I want to do this as a Republican," Trump said, flirting once again with the idea of launching a third-party bid. "But I'm not being treated the right way. I'm not being treated properly."

Romney's attack on Trump could backfire - Business Insider

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If GOP frontrunner Donald Trump wins Louisiana and other upcoming states by the same margin that he won on Super Tuesday, Barro says, the race will essentially be over. Trump will win enough delegates to take the nomination this spring, long before the Republican convention in July. That would eliminate the last hope of the Republican establishment to stop Trump — a so-called brokered convention in which no candidate gets enough delegates to clear the nomination hurdle, and the candidate is chosen at the convention. Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, who joined Barro on the show, thinks Trump was wounded this week by Mitt Romney's roundhouse attack. Barro is unconvinced.

JOSH BARRO: This is the weirdest campaign ever - Business Insider

Not quite. He's not got rid of Cruz just yet..

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But here are Trumps on thoughts on that..

"I would love to take on Ted one-on-one," Trump said. "That would be so much fun. Because Ted can't win New York. He can't win New Jersey. He can't win Pennsylvania. He can't win California. I want Ted one-on-one, OK?"

Donald Trump: Marco Rubio should drop out of race - Business Insider

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Time is running out after three more victories..

While no one would call Trump’s demeanor presidential, he was nevertheless using the moment to make his first steps toward unifying the Republican Party behind him. He spoke with justified pride of the record turnouts for Republican primaries and caucuses for which he takes full credit and then urged party leaders to take advantage of the new voters that he is bringing into the GOP field...

But those hoping to stop Trump also need to face facts. Talk of Trump hitting his peak and now tailing off was probably incorrect. Moreover, though polls continue to show him losing in head-to-head matchups against both Cruz and Rubio, there doesn’t appear to be a path for either of them to get to that point. If Trump continues to win pluralities at this rate, doing so in states that allocate delegates on a winner-take-all basis will change the dynamic of the race. Up until now, Trump’s first place showings haven’t given him an overwhelming lead in the delegate count. But starting on March 15 there will be fewer moral victories for finishing second...

There are two competing theories for how to stop Trump but at this point neither seems foolproof. On the one hand, Rubio and Kasich could heed Cruz’s demands and let him have his one-on-one with Trump because he is the current runner-up. But as Trump pointed out, the odds will be against Cruz in the big Northern states that have yet to vote. Besides, neither Rubio nor Kasich can be expected to pull out when they have a better chance of beating Trump in their home states than Cruz does with only one week left. The other theory has centered on all three staying in the race but cooperating with each other in order to allow each to win the states in which they have the best chance. That seems logical but Cruz isn’t buying it since he thinks the quicker he can get to a head-to-head matchup with Trump, the better off he’ll be. As a result the chances of either Kasich or Rubio prevailing next week have been diminished.

Tick Tock on Stop Trump | commentary

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The point is simple. 'Movement conservatives' can field a candidate. But other than general arguments about civility and anti-authoritarianism or just bad taste, it's hard to know how they would be able to distinguish themselves from Trump on any significant issues. The reasons they really don't like Trump are points of temperament and emphasis where he is likely closer to their voters than they are.

Why NeverTrump is Doomed, Doomed, Doomed

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So congratulations, Republican bigwigs; you may have traded Trump (a potentially unconventional disaster) for Cruz (a potentially conventional disaster)... At this point in this article, it's time for the obligatory reference to The Autopsy—the study that GOP chief Reince Priebus commissioned after his party was shellacked in the 2012 presidential race. You know what it said: The Republicans had to be more inclusive, come across as problem-solvers instead of chest-thumpers, show tolerance for diversity, and appeal to more women and Latinos. This is not the road map being used by Trump, Cruz, or the Senate GOPers. Each has achieved political success by embracing one or more of the elements Priebus identified as the worst of the GOP. The uber-message is that the Republicans care more about attitude (Trump), ideology (Cruz), or gamesmanship (the Senate Rs) than responsible governance and serious discourse.

Why #NeverTrump Republicans Shouldn't Celebrate Yet | Mother Jones

Three weeks ago, Trump won three times as many delegates — nine — at the Northern Mariana Islands convention, which drew just 471 participants. Welcome to Trump’s “rotten boroughs,” the curious places where mere handfuls of voters (relatively speaking) are keeping him in the hunt for the 1,237 delegates required to clinch the GOP nomination. And the quirks of the Republican National Committee’s delegate math — the ones once considered a safeguard against an upsetting of the party order by an insurgent like Trump — will take on a more pronounced role as the GOP contest enters its late stages.

The GOP’s Wacky Delegate Rules Are Helping Trump | FiveThirtyEight

In the latest shock for the GOP, which in recent weeks some have speculated is willing to scuttle the entire republican presidential campaign if it means not having Trump as the candidate, according to a just released Reuters poll, one  third of Republican voters who support Donald Trump could turn their backs on their party in November's presidential election if he is denied the nomination in a contested convention.

"This Is Devastating News For Republicans": Poll Finds Denying Trump Nomination Would Crush GOP | Zero Hedge