This is getting ridiculous. We now have nine declared candidates running for the 2016 Republican nomination. Another seven are likely to declare in the next few weeks. 16 for ’16!

When seven Democrats ran in 1988, Republicans referred to them derisively as “the seven dwarfs.” Soon Democrats will start talking about the 2016 Republican contenders as “the clown car.”

Politicians today are independent political entrepreneurs. They’re in business for themselves. The online world makes it easy to start a presidential campaign. A good political entrepreneur can gain attention, cultivate a following, raise money and burst onto the scene virtually overnight. You don’t need any political experience. Three of the 16 Republican contenders have never been elected to anything.

Republicans look at 2016 and see a rare opportunity. An open race is always an opportunity. There’s no incumbent president and no current or former vice president running. And no Republican candidate of formidable stature comparable to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush? His name is as much a burden as an advantage, even among Republicans. There are two Republican contenders who ran before — former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in 2008 and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in 2012 — but they don’t scare anybody off. Every Republican politician gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says, “Why not me?” You’ve got to seize the opportunity when it’s out there. There’s not likely to be another open race like this until at least 2024.

Moreover, after two terms of the same party in the White House, voters are typically hungry for change. Not invariably. (In 1988, they voted for a third term for Ronald Reagan by electing his vice president, George H. W. Bush). But usually (1960, 1968, 1976, arguably 2000 and 2008).

The more candidates who get in, the more candidates are tempted to get in. Because anyone might win. The rules for next year’s Republican contest enhance that prospect. The early primaries (Feb. 1 to Mar. 14) will award delegates proportional to the vote. If you get 10 percent of the primary vote, you get 10 percent of the delegates.

As the race stands now, anyone could be a winner. Three polls taken in late May show no Republican front-runner. Four candidates are tied at about 10 percent each: Bush, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Huckabee. The other 12 are in single digits. “Don’t know” leads the race, with 12 percent.

Beginning Mar. 15, states can choose to award their delegates winner-take-all. The idea is to shut the process down quickly. The Florida primary is set for Mar. 15, with the winner taking all 99 delegates. The state is likely to be a steel-cage death match between the state’s two favorite sons: Bush versus Rubio.

Suppose Bush wins Florida. That wouldn’t be a big surprise. And there are many other states that would revolt against that result, which would keep the race going as different candidates eked out plurality victories all over the map. Moreover, super-PAC money and unlimited contributions from billionaires can keep dead candidates alive. Hope and cash are huge enticements to get into the race and stay in.

Candidates rely on the debates for lightning to strike them and electrify their campaign. But how can you have a debate with 16 candidates? You can’t. The television networks are planning to invite just the top 10 candidates in the pre-debate opinion polls. CNN has announced a “junior varsity” debate in September among the lower-ranked candidates, to be followed immediately by a “varsity” debate among the top 10.

Right now, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Santorum, California businesswoman Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, former New York Governor George Pataki and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal would be banished to the junior-varsity stage. You think the second-tier candidates and their supporters are not going to raise a ruckus?

Being on the big debate stage establishes a candidate’s credibility. Excluded contenders will claim the network is denying their legitimacy before a single primary vote is cast. The networks’ response? “It’s not our job to make you credible. You have to prove your credibility for us to invite you to the main event.”

As it stands now, the line would be drawn between former Texas Governor Rick Perry (in, with an average of 3 percent in the polls) and Santorum (out, with an average of 2 percent). No statistician could defend that distinction.

The first debate, hosted by Fox News, will be on Aug. 6 in Cleveland, with only the top 10 poll-ranked candidates invited. We can expect a political circus in the weeks leading up to the debate. Republican candidates will be staging stunts and competing desperately for attention-grabbing headlines in order to pump up their poll ratings and make it into the top 10.

Is this any way to choose a president of the United States?