In the midst of a really terrific Conrad Black column about Donald Trump and what Black calls a "conservative highbrow attack" on him, comes this:
If the Republican-party regulars, reinforced from the ideological right, want to stop Trump and promote someone they regard as a suitable and presentable candidate, they will have to put all their chips on Marco Rubio soon. Or they could try a broader-based draft of House Speaker Paul Ryan (who was drafted to the speakership), a dark horse of Wendell Willkie, if not James K. Polk, proportions.
And at the end of a front-page New York Times article about establishment Republican panic at the prospect of Trump or Cruz winning the nomination comes this:
Earle I. Mack, a real estate developer and former ambassador to Finland under George W. Bush, said the heavy bloodletting in the Republican race might prevent any candidate from clinching the nomination. In that case, he said, Republicans should turn to Speaker Paul D. Ryan.
"In these horrible crossfires, with everybody shooting each other down, it would be good to nominate somebody uncontroversial, who could appeal to a broader electorate," Mr. Mack said.
Expect to see the "draft Ryan" movement gain steam and attention in coming weeks, especially if none of the current non-Trump, non-Cruz candidates, such as Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, or Chris Christie, do well enough in the early contests to consolidate donor and voter support, and if none of those four do badly enough that they drop out.