Senator Predicts Panic if Romney Loses Michigan

A prominent Republican senator tells Jon Karl that if Mitt Romney can’t win in Michigan, “the Republican Party needs to go back to the drawing board and convince somebody new to get into the race.”

“The senator believes Romney will ultimately win in Michigan but says he will publicly call for the party to find a new candidate if he does not.”

Mike Allen: “A tippy-top Republican, unprompted, yesterday sketched the germ of a plan for a new candidate if Rick Santorum upsets Mitt Romney in the Michigan primary on Feb. 28… Our friend handed us a printout of FEC deadlines for ballot access, with five of them circled and starred: California (March 23), Montana (March 12), New Jersey (April 2), New Mexico (March 16) and South Dakota (March 27). The point: Even after Feb. 28, it might be possible to assemble a Hail Mary candidacy that could garner enough delegates to force a CONTESTED convention (a different nuance than BROKERED, which implies that someone is in charge).”