With the increased likelihood that no Republican candidate will arrive in Cleveland with the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the nomination outright, the GOP may be forced to turn to crowdsourcing to elect its next standard-bearer.
Campaign operatives and party officials are already bracing for a scenario in which the nomination contest is drawn out into multiple rounds of voting – a process that could see new candidates be nominated from the floor after the third or fourth rounds. This idea has already captured the imagination of GOP establishment types who have seen their candidates fall by the wayside this election with names like Condoleezza Rice, Paul Ryan or even Mitt Romney being mentioned as possible contenders.
Now, speculation is swirling around the obscure, but crucial, RNC Rules Committee which governs the convention nominating process and sets the requirements for new presidential candidates to be considered. And although nobody will know what the rules will say until shortly before convention, you don’t have to wait until Cleveland to weigh in.
Whoever emerges from Cleveland will face a steep fundraising challenge and will be forced to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in order to be competitive against the Democratic nominee.
Who would you nominate in an “open convention”?
Editor’s note: This analysis originally published on Crowdpac’s website on March 30, 2016, and has been modified for publication on IVN. You can pledge your support for a candidate on Crowdpac’s website.