Ted Cruz's Game of Chicken

It looks more and more like Trump is going to run away with enough delegates to become the GOP candidate. There aren't many polls where Trump doesn't have a plurality of GOP voters in upcoming states.

And yet, Trump has yet to lock down the support of a majority of GOP primary voters. If this were a one on one competition Trump's position would be considerably weaker. Fortunately for Trump, GOP candidates have a coordination problem. 

Kasich and Rubio are staying in the race because they hope that between them and Cruz they get enough votes to force a brokered convention in which they might emerge victorious. Recently Cruz came out against the idea of a brokered convention.

"Any time you hear someone talking about a brokered convention, it is the Washington establishment in a fevered frenzy, they are really frustrated because all their chosen candidates, their golden children, the voters keep rejecting," Cruz said Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
 
"So they seize on this plan of a brokered convention, and the D.C. power brokers will drop someone in who is exactly to the liking of the Washington establishment. If that would happen, we would have a manifest revolt on our hands all across this country."

This is a message to the establishment and to Rubio and Kasich. He will not play their game. If they want to stop Trump the only way is through him. If they stay in the race, they will all lose. He's shown his intransigence in the Senate. He's hoping that they know that he will not back down.

He's followed up his words with actions. The path to a brokered convention where Cruz might still come out on top is easier if Rubio beats Trump in the winner take all state of Florida. But Cruz has recently started campaigning in Florida, potentially splitting the Trump vote and reducing Rubio's chances of winning.

It will be interesting to see if the establishment and their candidates back down before Trump's victory is ultimately assured. So far it looks like they will refuse to budge and both sides will lose this game of chicken.

Ted Cruz's only hope is that the signal of a few unexpected victories will be enough to convince others of his strength, determination and ability to win. The establishment is not going to blink in a game of chicken if they think giving in to another extremist doesn't even have a chance of working. But when you involve the egos of people who think they should be the president, it's likely that everyone will lose in a game of chicken.