Keller @ Large: How GOP Could Dump Trump
BOSTON (CBS) - So you thought that if Donald Trump wins more delegates than anyone else, the GOP convention will have to nominate him?
Better think again.
If no one has a first-ballot majority by the end of primary/caucus season, the nomination is up for grabs.
"That would lead to an open convention where you'd see the delegates selected make the final decision," notes 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney. Or, the also-rans could cut a deal to anoint one of them and shut Trump out.
And even if Trump does have a majority, he could still be denied the prize.
Yes, delegates are obligated to vote on the first ballot for the candidate who won them - but only under current party rules which can be (and often are) changed, sometimes right on the convention floor.
It happened just four years ago when the GOP pulled an 11th-hour rules change and essentially threw out many Ron Paul delegates who themselves had exploited loopholes in the rules.
Says Trump: "I hope it's not going to be that way."
But it could be. Not, however, without risk.
How would a last-minute switch at the Cleveland Convention play with Trump and his loyalists?
The Cleveland police aren't taking chances - they're buying 2,000 sets of riot gear. And while I doubt they'll need them - despite all the media hype over violence at Trump rallies, I never saw worse than run-of-the-mill heckling at any of the half-dozen Trump events I've covered - there's little doubt a last-minute switcheroo would infuriate Trump loyalists.
Concludes Trump: "If it's that way, then we'll have problems."