Romney’s Back

Rick Klein: “In the epic that is the Republican race, Thursday is Mitt Romney’s day, the vanquished former champion’s best chance to influence a campaign that’s gone wildly and unrecognizably off-course. Donald Trump, of course, just reached his high-water mark in the state that elected Romney governor, and the state that elected Romney’s father votes next. They will mark Romney’s most heavy-handed attempt yet to influence the race; he’s set to call Trump a ‘phony, a fraud’ who is ‘playing the American public for suckers.'”

“Most analysis will be produced on whether Romney is a flawed messenger inside a Republican Party that’s still smarting from his 2012 loss – a loss, one might argue, that emboldened Trump to run for president. But there’s a role here for Romney that appears finally ready to embrace. Raising doubts about Trump as a ‘con man’ – Marco Rubio’s stump line – now is about creating just enough chaos in the GOP to block Trump from getting a majority of convention delegates. Under that scenario, the rest of the field may be better off divided than unified; note that Romney is praising Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich Thursday.”

“It’s not the first, second, or third option for a panicked GOP, but it might be the last option left. So enter, Mitt.”