Eagerly awaiting Cleveland

It now seems unlikely that Donald Trump will have enough votes to win on the first ballot in Cleveland, which should bring joy to the heart of every student of government. The delegates will decide! Good for them, and may they do their job well.

I fear they will nominate Ted Cruz, for he is after all a Republican, who has reaped a lot of votes in the primaries and in the caucuses. (I am more impressed by the caucuses. Most primaries are open now, and open primaries mean very little. I have a left-leaning friend who boasts about voting in the Republican primary when there's no excitement on the other side, just in hopes of spoiling the outcome. I suspect this is fairly common, on both sides.) Personally, I would rather see John Kasich get the nod, or Mitt Romney, or Paul Ryan. Still, Cruz v. Clinton would not be the worst choice we've ever had, though God knows it's pretty bad.

It's still a great system, though, isn't it? Donald Trump hijacked the Republican primaries with his bullying and his bluster, but we still have a firewall to stop him: it's not the voters who get to choose the nominee, but the delegates. The national parties are not public institution, controlled by the government, at least not yet. Each is a private club. It has its rules, and within those rules the delegates can do whatever they think best for the country. Let's hope they do.