In the race for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump would seem to be in the catbird seat. He has won the most states, the most delegates, and the most votes – by nearly 2 million.

He has brought out the largest crowds and is poised for huge wins in the largest states of the East, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Yet, there is a growing probability that the backroom boys will steal the nomination from him at a brokered convention in Cleveland.

Over the weekend, Colorado awarded all 34 delegates to Ted Cruz. The fix had been in since August, when party officials, alarmed at Trump's popularity, decided it would be best if Colorado Republicans were not allowed to vote on the party's nominee.

After all, these poor folks might get it wrong.

In South Carolina, where Trump swept the primary, a plot is afoot for a mass desertion of Trump delegates after the first ballot.

The Republican Party in Georgia, another state Trump won, is also talking up delegate defections.

In state after state, when Trump wins, and moves on, the apparatchiks arrive – to thieve delegates for Cruz.

"This is a crooked system, folks," says Trump. "The system is rigged. … I go to Louisiana. I win Louisiana. … Then I find out I get fewer delegates than Cruz because of some nonsense. … I say this to the RNC. I say it to the Republican Party: You're going to have a big problem, folks because the people don't like what's going on."

Something rotten is also going on in the Democratic race.

Bernie Sanders is on a roll, having won seven straight primaries and caucuses. Yet, he keeps falling further behind.

"I watch Bernie. He wins. He wins. He keeps winning, winning," said Trump in Rochester. "And then I see, he's got no chance. They always say he's got no chance. Why doesn't he have a chance?

"Because the system is corrupt."

Sanders seems to be shorted every time he wins a primary or caucus. And the insurmountable hurdle he faces was erected against folks like Sanders some time ago – the 700-plus superdelegates.

These are Democratic congressmen, senators, governors and party officials. By more than 10-to-1, close to 500 of these superdelegates have lined up to back Hillary Clinton and stop Sanders.

The Democratic Party believes in democracy, up to a point – that point being that Democratic voters will not be permitted to nominate a candidate to whom the party elites object.

Richard Nixon's 49-state triumph in 1972 cured the Democrats of their naive belief in democracy. Henceforth, the George McGoverns and Bernie Sanders can run. But they will not be allowed to win.