If Trump is dropped...

[Simfan34]

Considering how determined the GOP Establishment was to ignore Kasich I doubt they'd give him the time of day even then, when he'd be the only person with the chance of, at best squeaking out a narrow victory.

Keep in mind that if Trump were to drop out he'd probably be down somewhere in the mid-to-high-teens by the end of things. Any plausible recovery would require a candidate who could boast of never having associated themselves with Trump and would in other circumstances have been highly electable.

This would narrow it down to Romney and Kasich, and Kasich would have the benefit of not having a previous election's worth of baggage on his back, with little time to dig up dirt (at the same time, many of the attacks on Romney would have lost their potency, all things considered). But as I said in the other thread, it would probably be Pence.