A brokered convention or late-arriving winner? Probably not.
By Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2012
The longer the campaign season goes on, the more dissatisfied Republican voters seem to be with their choice in candidates. So it’s no surprise that, even this late in the race, there remains plenty of buzz that someone perfect might still jump in — to win the nomination outright in the remaining primaries, or to build up enough steam to seize it in a contested GOP convention in Tampa.
But for all the dreaming, the reality is this: The chance of a late entry winning the Republican nomination is now exceedingly remote.
(...)
The discussion of a fresh Republican face was revived on the eve of the Michigan primary, as polls showed Mitt Romney in a tough fight for a state where his family has deep ties — and that will be important in the general election this fall. If Romney cannot easily win Michigan, the thinking goes, how will he ever manage to gain momentum in the string of large battlegrounds ahead?
(...)
In a mid-February poll conducted by Gallup, 66 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they would prefer to see one of the four who are currently running pick up enough delegates to cinch the nomination before the party convenes in Tampa.
full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-brokered-convention-probably-not/2012/02/27/gIQA3XoteR_singlePage.html
