This coming Tuesday, April 26, five states will have their primaries.  Wednesday morning, we will be at least a little bit closer to knowing whether there will be contested conventions or whether the frontrunners will have the nominations sown up before July.

Some related stories:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/5-political-numbers-to-watch/2016/04/pennsylvanias-loophole-primary-explained-222341

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/ted-cruz-donald-trump-delegate-222354

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/bernie-sanders-democratic-party-fairness-222355

In other words, unlike most conventions in modern times, this year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which opens July 11, may very well open with nobody knowing who the presidential nominee is going to be.

Politico story

CBS News video with more details on how it would work

Without the Donald Trump campaign, we’d be hearing a lot more about the Republican Party’s other source of division:  the conflict between ultra-conservative Tea Party Republicans, as represented by the Freedom Caucus in the House, and the more pragmatic “establishment” Republicans.  You might scarcely notice the difference, since the latter would seem conservative enough, but for the Freedom Caucus, they’re not.

And now, in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his comrades are trying to stop Representative Marlin Stutzman of Indiana from winning the upcoming primary election for the U.S. Senate, as explained in this article on the CNN site.