Trump vs. the G.O.P.: if Donald Trump wins the republican presidential nomination, will his own party abandon him?

• Author: Smith, Patricia
• Position: NATIONAL

The Republican Party is at war with itself.

The closer that Donald Trump gets to securing the Republican nomination for president, the more Republican leaders are closing ranks in opposition to him. Prominent Republicans are practically begging voters to support someone else. Money to fund commercials attacking the billionaire real estate developer is flooding in from Republican donors. And some are even calling for a third-party candidate if Trump does win enough delegates in upcoming primaries and caucuses to become the Republican nominee.

In an unprecedented move, Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has lashed out at Hump, calling him "a fraud" who would drive the country to the point of collapse.

"He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president," Romney says of Trump.

Not since Southern whites abandoned the Democratic Party during the upheaval of the civil rights movement half a century ago has there been the potential for such a massive shift in the nation's political landscape.

"We are seeing the crack-up of a major American political party," NPR political analyst Mara Liasson noted recently. "The base [of ordinary voters] has chosen or is choosing a candidate that the establishment says is absolutely unacceptable."

While Republican leaders deem Hump unpresidential because of his penchant for using coarse language and his blunt--some say nasty--attacks on opponents and critics, that brash style has appealed to many voters. They seem to like the fact that Trump doesn't act like a typical politician. With only 27 percent of Americans saying they're satisfied with the nation's direction, according to Gallup, it's unsurprising that voters are drawn to a candidate with no experience in Washington-especially one who promises, as Trump has, to shake things up.

"What we need is the voice of the people, " says former high school teacher Faith Sheptoski-Forbush of Romulus, Michigan. "The voice of the people want Trump."

Convention Battle?

If voters continue to deliver a different result than party leaders would like, a messy battle could be in store at the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland. As Trump continues to win in state after state, party leaders have realized that no other candidate will be able to amass enough delegates to beat him through the primary process; the only remaining way to prevent Trump from being the Republican nominee is to try to force a convention showdown.

Usually, conventions are nothing more than giant pep rallies for the party. The business of choosing a nominee is often wrapped up long before the delegates gather to formally vote for the candidates they pledged to support during the primaries and...