SALT LAKE CITY -- To the Republican Establishment, Donald Trump has gone from entertaining side show to the unsettling main event; and some are looking behind them for a solution.
They are looking back to 2012, and a corporate titan of a different stripe, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Romney declared he would not run in the fall of 2015 and nothing seems to have changed except the fears of his fellow Republicans.
Romney friend Kirk Jowers calls a late entrance unlikely.
“The logistics are beyond daunting for someone to get in this late,” Jowers said.
The more likely Romney impact would come as catapult for another candidate, perhaps endorsing by Florida Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio in one of Romney’s adopted home states, New Hampshire.
“Rubio was a very good surrogate for Romney in 2012, a very big supporter of Mitt so that would be my bet [for a Romney endorsement],” Jowers said.
The hope from a Rubio perspective, that an endorsement would move him from a distant third to a strong second place above Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
A Romney endorsement would also bring a network of contributors.
“You will see that person break all sorts of records following the endorsement,” Jowers said.
