, Columnist
How Trump Could Lose the Primaries But Win the Nomination
The party could change its rules at the convention to allow delegates to support any candidate regardless of how he fared with voters.
Looking for a new set of rules.
Photographer: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Here’s another headache for Republicans who don’t want to see Donald Trump as their presidential nominee in 2024: There’s a mechanism that could allow him to get the party’s nomination even if he’s defeated in its primaries and caucuses.
It has to do with the decentralized way that Republicans decide their nomination — which is different from the strict procedures that Democrats have mandated for state parties since the 1970s. Republicans do have some national rules affecting the calendar and delegate selection, but in many ways the states are free to do what they want.1