First time a convention has resulted in a net decline in support!

[sofa king]

22. There is one possibility....

... Trump appears to have committed a couple of severe violations of the espionage codes, which may include enlisting the help of a foreign nation to commit espionage and sharing data from a classified document.

Trump is also, to virtually every thinking person's horror, an obvious case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. That makes him a known and well-studied quantity, and exactly as easy to manipulate as George W. Bush was easy to manipulate.

Note also that Republicans have been wringing their hands for a year for a way to get the top two candidates out of the way--that's Trump and Cruz. They have a provision in their rules, Rule No. 9, which is just the ticket, if only they can convince Trump to resign, which he won't do unless he stands to lose more by staying in than he does by leaving.

Well, threatening to hit Trump with espionage charges (or other, more sordid charges) would be that way. Trump can be presented with the options of going on to an ignominious defeat, followed by potential prison time, or declaring victory and leaving the race. He'll declare victory and leave.

The RNC would almost certainly allow, nay, encourage Trump to leave; they would decide not to have another disastrous convention and instead do what they do the best: pick the candidate of their choice in a smoky back room, with no input from the filthy unwashed masses. RNC gets what they want--a better chance, and Democrats take the hit in the name of national security, and as usual get a harder life for it. But they have a stronger candidate than anyone Republicans can field and the damage Trump has already done may be insurmountable at this point.