Jittery GOP Eyes Daniels, Christie

Republican insiders are increasingly worried that Mitt Romney will come up short with voters—so once again, they're looking toward Indiana and New Jersey for help. Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie are hearing renewed calls to enter the race, sources close to the governors tell Politico. For Daniels, "the whispers have become shouts, the knocks on (his) door have become fist pounding," says Indiana's GOP chairman. "He can’t go anywhere without someone stopping him [and] asking to reconsider."

But neither Daniels nor Christie appear likely to change their minds, and leading Republicans say the idea of a late "fairy-tale candidacy" is just wishful thinking. "I think it’s clear that either Gov. Romney or Sen. Santorum is going to be the nominee," says Henry Barbour, Haley's nephew. Still, there are murmurs of a brokered convention, in which GOP elites arrange to have delegates—whose commitment to a candidate often isn't guaranteed—agree to a chosen nominee. That could be an existing candidate, or even someone "dropped in" at the last second, Politico notes. Meanwhile, a wealth of delegates remain to be won—even after Super Tuesday. “If we get to August and none of the people running have enough delegates that’s a clear indication that the Republican primary electorate is not satisfied with any of them," says one RNC member. (More Chris Christie stories.)