Last week, a number of Republican Party leaders — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — gathered for a dinner party organized by Reince Priebus,  chairman of the Republican National Committee. They reportedly discussed how the party would handle the possibility of a brokered convention and, specifically, how they could prevent Donald Trump from winning the nomination if he wins a plurality but not a majority of the convention delegates.

While Trump has been uncharacteristically silent about this dinner, other Republican presidential candidates have denounced the RNC for attempting to influence the presidential nomination process. Rand Paul warned that if the establishment tried to block an outsider from winning the nomination, “there’ll be war within the party, and they’ll destroy the party.” Ben Carson has threatened to leave the Republican Party entirely.

Of course, we do not know whether there will be a brokered convention. It is entirely possible that one candidate will end up winning a comfortable majority of delegates in the primaries. But Priebus’s dinner party still raises an important question: Why is the RNC plotting against one of its own presidential candidates?

At first glance, this seems surprising. Once upon a time, as Daniel Galvin has noted, parties “controlled politicians and subordinated their ambitions to the needs of the collectivity.” But now they function mostly to help candidates by raising money and assisting them in their campaigns. These modern party organizations are not supposed to have a role in deciding which presidential candidate should win the nomination.

Read the article “The RNC’s Secret Dinner about a Brokered Convention Is No Surprise. Here’s Why.” on washingtonpost.com.