Republicans shift to last-ditch plan to stop Trump at convention

Donald Trump's dominant performance on Super Tuesday, which included victories in seven of 11 states, has prompted a swift and sudden shift in strategy among anti-Trump forces within the Republican Party.

Rather than narrow the field, many now believe the only way to stop him is for the current candidates to stay in, deny Trump the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, and force a contested convention in July.

'Many people had hoped one Trump alternative would emerge from Super Tuesday, and that simply did not happen. It's clear that the anti-Trump contingent is more fractured than ever,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who served as spokesperson to 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.

'There's very little time left, and it seems the attention has shifted toward an effort to stop him at the convention. ... It looks increasingly difficult to stop him before the convention.”

Under the new strategy, calls to narrow the field have given way to a push urging Republican candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich to stay in the race in order to scoop up enough delegates to prevent Trump from clinching the nomination.

With no clear nominee, there would be a contested convention in July. If no candidate secures 1,237 votes on the first ballot, many delegates obliged to vote for Trump would be free to back someone else on subsequent ballots, said Josh Putnam, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.

The party hasn't faced a contested convention since 1976, and it was resolved on the first ballot, Putnam said. During a blistering speech Thursday calling Trump 'a fraud” who must not be president, Romney all but endorsed the strategy, encouraging major candidates to stay in the race and urging voters to back anyone but Trump.

'I know that some people want the race to be over. They look at history and say a trend like Mr. Trump's isn't going to be stopped. Perhaps. But the rules of political history have pretty much all been shredded during this campaign,” Romney said at the Hinckley Institute in Utah. 'If the other candidates can find common ground, I believe we can nominate a person who can win the general election and who will represent the values and policies of conservatism. Given the current delegate selection process, this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, for John Kasich in Ohio, and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state.”

Trump has 329 delegates, leading Cruz's 231, Rubio's 110 and Kasich's 25, according to an Associated Press tally. Given his broad base of support among voters - young and old, men and women, rich and poor, moderate and conservative - he's seen as unlikely to be overtaken by any candidate.

'At this point, it's very difficult to see anyone other than Trump having a path to 1,237 delegates,” said Dave Wasserman, an election analyst for the Cook Political Report. 'That's where the strategy has shifted.”

The new strategy to stop Trump hinges heavily on March 15, and requires victories by Rubio and Kasich in their winner-take-all home states - Florida awards 99 delegates and Ohio awards 66 delegates.

'At this point, it's very difficult to see anyone other than Trump having a path to 1,237 delegates,” said Dave Wasserman, a election analyst for the Cook Political Report. 'That's where the strategy has shifted.”

The new strategy to stop Trump hinges heavily on March 15, and requires victories by Rubio and Kasich in their winner-take-all home states-Florida awards 99 delegates and Ohio awards 66 delegates.

From there, a swath of states that award delegates on a winner-take-all basis by congressional district - including Indiana, Missouri, and California - could create opportunities to keep Trump's delegate count down.

Wasserman argued that Rubio has the best shot at beating Trump in well-educated districts in California; Cruz is likeliest to best him in rural and evangelical regions in states such as Indiana and Missouri; and Kasich has the best chance to defeat Trump in New England.

'It will require a multi-front war,” Wasserman said.