The fact that Donald Trump and Ben Carson are still around and are still sucking the oxygen out of the primary race is causing real panic among Republican elites. All their hopes that either of the two would self-destruct are not materializing, because no matter what these guys say, people seem to like it, and that makes it very difficult for another candidate to try to destroy them. What's more, there's not a lot of time to do something about it.
"The rest of the field is still wishing upon a star that Trump and Carson are going to self-destruct," said Eric Fehrnstrom, a former adviser to 2012 nominee Mitt Romney. But, he said, "they have to be made to self-destruct. . . . Nothing has happened at this point to dislodge Trump or Carson."
Fehrnstrom pointed out that the fourth debate passed this week without any candidate landing a blow against Trump or Carson. "We're about to step into the holiday time accelerator," he said. "You have Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, then Iowa and a week later, New Hampshire, and it's going to be over in the blink of an eye."
All of this is "leaving establishment figures disoriented," not knowing where to put all the money they have set aside to bestow upon an adequate puppet. Desperate times call for desperate measures: Mitt Romney to the rescue!
According to other Republicans, some in the party establishment are so desperate to change the dynamic that they are talking anew about drafting Romney—despite his insistence that he will not run again. Friends have mapped out a strategy for a late entry to pick up delegates and vie for the nomination in a convention fight, according to the Republicans who were briefed on the talks, though Romney has shown no indication of reviving his interest.
To which we can only say please, please, please, and please. The only thing better than the elites pining for Mitt is how much that must be pissing off Jeb! Bush and Marco Rubio.
The thing is, the elites maybe have a bigger problem than Trump and Carson—their actual voters, according to Gallup. "About 60 percent of those identifying with the GOP said that the presidential candidates have come up with good ideas, while just 32 percent said they have not, with 8 percent having no opinion."
This, GOP elite, is what you have created by letting the maniacs take over. You have a party of maniacs. They like Donald Trump and Ben Carson and think they have fine ideas. And they're not going to vote for Mitt.