(POLITICO) The Republican Party's leading candidate appears to want the nomination even if he cannot amass a majority of the requisite delegates. For the Republican Party's national chairman, on the other hand, the process is the process, and even Donald Trump is no exception.
Therein lies the conflict that threatens to tear the party asunder as the calendar marches inexorably toward the July convention in Cleveland. And as the week began, it showed no signs of abating.
"Well, I think if I'm a few short and I have, you know, 1,200 or if I have 1,100 and somebody else is at 300 or 400 or 500, which is very likely going to be the case, and if I'm a little bit short — and one of the reasons was we had so many candidates," Donald Trump said during an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week," remarking that the race began with 17 candidates. "And it came down to, you know, finally, it's down to three, frankly. But, you know, there are so many candidates, so it's very hard to get over that number."