The GOP’s establishment and conservative wings are now in do-or-die mode to stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. Some have plotted out a 100-day campaign aimed at denying him enough delegates to reach the 1,237 threshold state-by-state, starting with Wisconsin's April 5 contest and including a "delegate-by-delegate lobby effort" against Trump leading up to the convention in July. Meanwhile, others are laying the groundwork for a third-party candidacy, reports the New York Times.
The names of a few well-known conservatives have been offered up in recent days as potential third-party standard-bearers, and William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, has circulated a memo to a small number of conservative allies detailing the process by which an independent candidate could get on general-election ballots across the country.
Among the recruits under discussion are Tom Coburn, a former Oklahoma senator who has told associates that he would be open to running, and Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who was suggested as a possible third-party candidate at a meeting of conservative activists on Thursday in Washington.
Oh, so many dismal considerations for the GOP. First, Perry has already taken himself out of the running. Second, a third-party candidate should already be circulating petitions to make the ballot in all 50 states. Other options include making the ballot in some states (and therefore likely being a spoiler more than anything) or clinching the Libertarian Party nomination in May.
Finally, denying Trump the 1,237 delegates will take some cooperation between the remaining candidates, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. In other words, not skewering each other in states where one of them has a discernible advantage. But neither candidate seems keen to play nice with the other.
In a sign that there is no such détente, Mr. Kasich ran ads and campaigned in Utah this weekend, angering aides to Mr. Cruz, who hopes to reach the 50 percent threshold needed to claim all the state’s delegates.