WASHINGTON POST: Cruz likely to block Trump on a second ballot at the GOP convention.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is close to ensuring that Donald Trump cannot win the GOP nomination on a second ballot at the party’s July convention in Cleveland, scooping up scores of delegates who have pledged to vote for him instead of the front-runner if given the chance.

The push by Cruz means that it is more essential than ever for Trump to clinch the nomination by winning a majority of delegates to avoid a contested and drawn-out convention fight, which Trump seems almost certain to lose.

The GOP race now rests on two cliffhangers: Can Trump lock up the nomination before Cleveland? And if not, can Cruz cobble together enough delegates to win a second convention vote if Trump fails in the first?

During my political lifetime, Republican conventions haven’t been much more than an opportunity to fill a stadium with people wearing outrageous hats while voting for the man everybody knows will win already.

2016 promises to be slightly more interesting.