Right now, their options do not look good. Let’s assume that Donald Trump finishes the primaries with more delegates than any other candidate, but not a majority, and Senator Ted Cruz comes in second.
Trump is already arguing that having the most delegates entitles him to the nomination, and his sympathizers are saying that any other result would amount to stealing it from him. But a very large fraction of the party is still bitterly opposed to him, and seems likely to fight to keep him from getting a majority.
Deny him the nomination when he has a plurality, though, and many of his supporters will see treachery—especially if the nomination goes to someone else after convention politicking. And who should that someone else be? Someone who got fewer votes and fewer delegates than he did? Or someone who got no votes, because he did not even run?
I go on to make a suggestion about how the delegates could handle this problem.