Trump won't be the Republican nominee for president. Neither will Ted Cruz.

[Yavin4]

Trump will drop out of the race sometime between mid-May and early June. Cruz won't have enough delegates to win on the 1st ballot which will throw the convention wide open.

The consensus choice will be Paul Ryan.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Perhaps...

[safeinOhio]

2. What Peggy said.

My guess is it'll all be a big surprise.

[SDJay]

3. Is Dan Quayle Busy These Days?

[IMG][/IMG]

[PearliePoo2]

4. You think Trump will drop out? Why?

Because he is tanking
Women increasingly hate his guts
He's blowing it under scrutiny
He's all talk and no walk
His knowledge about anything is an inch deep
He never wanted it in the first place
All of the above

[daleanime]

7. All the above....

[Yavin4]

11. He's only good at tearing people down.

Without other candidates in the race, he can't play off of Jeb, Marco, Graham, etc. So, when he's asked real policy questions, he doesn't have anything to say.

[pampango]

5. Interesting if they choose a candidate who did not even participate in the primaries

like Romney or Ryan. They would alienate, not just Trump's supporters and Cruz' supporters, but those of every other candidate who went through the process.

[brooklynite]

8. More to the point; they would invalidate the entire Primary process...

...why would a candidate invest time and money next time if they assume the trophy will be handed to a total stranger?

[pampango]

15. Agreed. You definitely harm the 'brand' and its future if you invalidate the process.

It would be like our party handing the nomination to Warren or Biden (both of whom I like) even though neither participated in the primary process, if neither Hillary nor Bernie had enough pledged delegates and the super-delegates decided to get 'creative'.

[Yavin4]

12. But if Trump drops out, they're off the hook with his supporters.

They can claim that they had nothing to do with it.

[pampango]

17. Logically, yes. If Trump drops out with claims of 'unfairness', all bets are off. n/t

[brush]

26. I hope they do. I'm getting my popcorn ready as that will surely fracture that party.

[moonbabygo]

40. Not if trump is on board

with all of this. Maybe that's what the meeting was about the other day. How to have him exit with dignity and he endorses whoever they pick. Not sure why they would pick Ryan or romney since they lost the last election

[brooklynite]

6. Why would Trump drop out?

His ego would never allow him to.

[Yavin4]

20. His ego cannot handle being made a fool of

When there were other candidates in the race, he could play off of them. With them gone, he has to face the media without being asked process questions. Instead, he's being asked hard policy questions, and he's looking like an utter fool in these interviews.

His ego can't handle being laughed at.

[xloadiex]

9. Thom Hartmann said

he thinks it will be a Ryan/Rubio ticket.

[Yavin4]

14. Agreed.

That makes sense to me.

[BlueStater]

16. Rubio will not be on any ticket.

He's a joke and got obliterated in his own state.

[Visionary]

18. They won't touch Rubio with a 10 foot pole

Rubio wasn't even able to win his home state. He should probably take a break from politics entirely. Most likely they'd put up a Kasich/Ryan ticket or something like that. They'll claim it's the 'moderate' choice.

This is why the dems need a more likeable candidate than Hillary. Sure, Hillary could probably win against creepy cruz or Trump, but I worry about how she'd do against less reviled opponents.

[runaway hero]

29. rubio

is radioactive.

[awake]

10. As much as most here would love to run against Trump

I tend to agree that he will not be their candidate, whom ever they settle on he will be harder to run against than Trump and he will be presented as more "reasonable" and "Main Stream" for this reason we need to put up our strongest candidate for me that would be Bernie.

[global1]

13. Whomever It Will Be - It Will Be A Big Media Happening At The Convention And.....

a coming together unity extravaganza like you've never seen before. The Repugs will all kiss and make up and all those predictions of a Party that is about to implode will be put to rest and they will come out real strong from the convention. I don't know that it will be enough for them to win in November - but they have to have a public relations spectacular in order to save the Party.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

19. So one creepy serial liar will drop out,and

Another creepy serial liar will lack the requisite delegates,and instead a third creepy serial liar will be nominated.

[TheCowsCameHome]

21. I completely agree on the first two points.

Trump is as good as done. Cruz has little, if any, chance.

No so sure about Ryan being the eventual nominee, though.

[Basic LA]

22. That's a good call.

I think it'll play out exactly that way.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. Ugh. All three are horrible

[Yavin4]

24. The big difference is they can sell Ryan.

They can soft pedal his positions.

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. True.

[brush]

27. He'll be just another recycled loser. Just get Biden to destroy him again and he's done.

[runaway hero]

28. Walker/Rubio or Kasich/???

I don't think Cruz or Trump can really win. I think Trump will do some personal damage to the conservative brand that will be permanent.

[StrayKat]

30. I am lousy at predictions, but. . .

I'm not sure Trump's ego would let him drop out.

I think the GOP is afraid of Trump. He's bullied them into a corner, just as he's tried to do with everyone else. So, I think sticking with Trump is a real possibility.

I also think the GOP is worried about unleashing Trump's unhinged base with Trump giving them a final prod over the edge as a parting gift. So, if they do try to switch candidates, the RNC might try to curb the backlash by sticking with Cruz, who was at least primaried and showed he can get a few votes, and try to force Ryan as the VP choice to win back the "moderates" who might be considering not voting or voting Dem to counter the loss of the "Trumpeters."

[kentuck]

33. Trump will not drop out.

He will fight to the bitter end. He will threaten lawsuits if he is not the nominee. Ted will be discarded as soon as he keeps Donald from not getting the nomination. Both will be on the outside looking in and Kasich or Jeb or Rubio or Romney will be the nominee.

[madinmaryland]

31. Unless something really fucks up trump between now and the end of June

he will be at the convention. Can you see Cruz winning PA, NY, CT, MD, CA, etc??

[jberryhill]

32. It would be insane for them to nominate a candidate that didn't even run

Sending a message to all of their actual voters: FU and thanks for playing.

Yeah, that'll go over well.

Might as well nominate Jeb!

[kentuck]

34. Jeb and Kasich...

They believe they can sell anything to their gullible followers.

[Maeve]

42. That was SUPPOSED to be the ticket

Florida and Ohio...but no one outside the elite would buy it and democracy is a consumer-based economy, so to speak

[IDemo]

35. Ryan has said no at least twice

Why is it in recruiting college football coaches and political candidates that "no" means "yes"?

[erpowers]

36. He Is Speaker of the House

How many times did he say no to being Speaker of the House? For months he said he would not accept the Speaker of the House post. Then all of a sudden he came out with his lists of requirements for him to run for Speaker of the House. I would not be surprised if the same thing happened with the Presidential nomination.

[edhopper]

37. People have been predicting Trump dropping out

since the day he announced.

They have been unanimously wrong.

His ego won't settle for anything but the nomination.

[femmocrat]

38. I am betting Kasich will be the VP candidate, no matter who is at the top.

(Of course, I predicted that Jebbie would be the nominee, )

I will go with Ryan/Kasich, because Ohio.

Super Ryan ..... first saving the congress and now the presidency!

[Flyingbird5066]

39. Can't imagine that

[B Calm]

41. No way will Trump quit. He'll run as an independent just for spite

before quitting.