GOP operatives have a secret plan to make Mitt Romney the Republican nominee

The Republican Party establishment was sure Donald Trump and Ben Carson would just be a passing fad. But with less than three months before the Iowa caucuses, GOP elites are still waiting. So, they've come up with a back-up plan: Draft Mitt Romney for president. The Washington Post reports:

But that solution is hardly a slam dunk. Even if Romney were to jump in, which he says he won't, The Post contends, "if someone was able to do significant damage to them, there's no telling to whom their supporters would turn, if anyone." With both Trump and Carson, much to the Republican establishment's chagrin, there is no one-step solution to push them out.

"We're potentially careening down this road of nominating somebody who frankly isn't fit to be president in terms of the basic ability and temperament to do the job," one strategist told The Washington Post. "It's not just that it could be somebody Hillary could destroy electorally, but what if Hillary hits a banana peel and this person becomes president?"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Read the full story on Trump and Carson — and the push to draft Romney — over at The Washington Post.