CORONA (CBSLA.com/AP) — Staring down the prospect of nominating Donald Trump for president, Republicans spiraled into a chaotic, last-ditch search Wednesday for a way to save the GOP from hitching its fortunes to an unpredictable celebrity candidate without alienating his throng of followers.

Sensing a window closing fast, GOP leaders and elder statesmen toggled through a menu of scenarios but landed on none. Some amplified calls to rally around a Trump alternative, even if that alternative is Ted Cruz, a prickly conservative with few friends in the party.

Meanwhile in Corona, CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Randy Paige spoke with a Trump supporter who said the candidate is plain-spoken and refreshing for a presidential contender. And he's one he believes can win.

Others laid out still-hazy plans for a brokered national convention, an option likely to smack of the backroom dealing Trump fans despise. Some floated more extreme measures, talking of breaking from the party and starting anew.

"It's all a play to stall it or try to deny him the nomination," said Neil Newhouse, a GOP pollster. "And the problem with that is no one has the best scenario for how to do that."

The scrambling came as the billionaire candidate racked up commanding victories in seven of eleven Super Tuesday primary contests, and the path to victory for his rivals narrowed. Trump's strength — which stretched from the Deep South to New England — exposed the depths of the divisions within the party, no matter who becomes the nominee in this election.

As Republicans surveyed the wreckage from Trump's surge, some argued there was still a chance to stop him. He was not yet on track to claim the nomination before the party's national gathering in July, according to an Associated Press delegate count. He has won 46 percent of the delegates awarded so far, and he would have to increase that to 51 percent in the remaining primaries.

"Trump had a good night, but he left the door open," said David Winston, a Republican pollster.

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