Mitt Romney is either very serious about getting Republicans to vote strategically, choosing whatever candidate has the best chance to beat Donald Trump in any given state, or Romney is very serious about laying the groundwork for a contested convention from which he might emerge triumphant. Here’s the funny thing: Romney has recorded robocalls urging voters to turn out for both Marco Rubio and John Kasich. News broke first of Romney’s call for Rubio, which the Rubio campaign is sending to voters in all four states voting Tuesday—Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, and Hawaii:
Mr. Romney indicates, at the beginning and end of the message, that he is calling on behalf of Mr. Rubio but only urges voters to cast ballots for “a candidate who can defeat Hillary Clinton and who can make us proud,” according to a copy of the message obtained by The New York Times. [...]
“If we Republicans were to choose Donald Trump as our nominee, I believe that the prospects for a safe and prosperous future would be greatly diminished — and I’m convinced Donald Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Romney says in the call.
Romney's message for Kasich won’t be going out in all the states voting Tuesday, because it specifically mentions Michigan:
"Hello, this is Mitt Romney calling, and I'm calling on behalf Kasich for America," the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, says at the beginning of the call, audio of which was shared by the Kasich campaign.
"Today you have the opportunity in Michigan to vote for a Republican nominee for president," Romney continues. "These are critical times that demand a serious, thoughtful commander-in-chief. If we Republicans were to choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future would be greatly diminished -- and I'm convinced Donald Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton. Please vote today for a candidate who can defeat HC and who can make us proud."
So some Michigan Republican voters will be getting Mitt Romney calls supporting two different candidates—or anyway, using two different candidates to damage Donald Trump. That’s not going to be confusing at all. Is this a marker of how slick the Republican establishment’s efforts to stop Trump are going to be?