For a candidate who struggled to win the allegiance of his party in 2012, which flirted with the likes of Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain before finally settling on him, it is ironic that Romney continues to hover at the edges of the 2016 race as a potential white knight to unify the GOP. But here we are, with McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed reporting today that Romney’s supporters in January laid out a “vivid, detailed scenario” to seize the nomination at the Republican National Convention if it appears the party is struggling to coalesce around a candidate.
Now, this could all just be more “Romney porn,” as Ross Douthat put it. But if we allow ourselves to indulge, the RNC, at this admittedly early stage, is shaping up to be a Battle Royale. Coppins’s report comes amidst the news that party leaders are preparing for a brokered convention in the event that Donald Trump amasses an inconveniently high number of delegates. Ben Carson is so enraged by the idea that he has threatened to bolt the party. “I will not sit by and watch a theft,” he said.
Romney swooping in. Carson stomping out. Trump descending to the floor in a magical escalator. That’s show business.