Erick’s got cojones, I’ll say that, for proposing a unity ticket after Super Tuesday, before the winner-take-all primaries kick in, while Rubio and Cruz both still have a chance to take 1,237 delegates, and Trump can be stopped short of that magic delegate count.

Given that Erick hears directly from the campaigns, has insider connections I lack, and has his ear to the ground with the party leadership, I defer to his knowledge. But I must disagree with his prescription.

Who said that voters would reject a delegate-nominated GOP candidate? Why do we have delegates in the first place if the only acceptable nominee is one who achieves acclamation through domination at the primaries? What’s the point of all this delegate jockeying–is it just a show–when strategy fails because nobody gets an outright plurality?

Ted Cruz has been preparing his campaign for a year. His data operation is excellent and well-run. I received a call from his campaign to remind me to attend my precinct-level GOP caucus to select delegates. At that caucus, Cruz won the straw poll with 51 percent. Let’s say Cruz can replicate that result even 30 percent of the time. He would load the convention with his supporters.

Not only that, Cruz has gone to American territories like Guam and American Samoa, which do count in the delegate mix. Delegates to the national convention is not simply a matter of mathematics: these are people who show up to do yeoman’s work for the party. Going for a unity ticket before March 15 is acknowledging that the nominee-selection system itself is hopelessly broken.

Maybe it is, if the only way to stop the anti-Washington wave is to abolish the system in this race. But the delegates are not always party insiders chosen in smoke-filled rooms. They are people from all walks of life, who have an opportunity to serve. If we want to preserve the GOP, cutting out the convention-delegate process in favor of political expediency is not the way to do it.

Going for a unity ticket should be a last-ditch effort to stop a vulgar pretender from hijacking the party, borrowing the GOP’s dress to become a bride. It should not be a strategy born of panic. Panicking now only magnifies the bully’s power.

Instead of worrying over which candidate should drop out this early, we should stop panicking and win.