When the Fever Breaks

Donald Trump announcing Nevada win

The fever on the Republican presidential race—if it will ever break—will do so when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wins his home state on March 1 and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Governor John Kasich of Ohio fail to win their own on March 15.

Will it be too late to stop the momentum the newcomer to the party has built up?

Could be. A huge number of delegates are awarded those two days. The front runner could presumably have won the big delegate prizes of Ohio and Florida.

But if Rubio and Kasich see the writing on the wall and bow out quickly after realizing they have no claim to the nomination if they cannot win their own states—and may lose their chance at the second spot if they stay in the race—the anti-Trump vote can then coalesce behind the only other anti-immigration candidate in the race.

This might be the only chance for the fever to break, leading to a churning muddled delegate math all the way into the convention in Cleveland in July.