The Hill: Did Christie Just Spark ‘Draft Romney’ Move?

Brent Budowsky writes in The Hill:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s endorsement of Donald Trump, which can only be described as stunning and shocking to the political world, will cause panic and chaos throughout the GOP establishment.

Here are some of the immediate results of the Christie move.

First, Christie’s endorsement of Trump for president is devastating to the GOP establishment which was in virtual panic about the rise of Trump before Christie endorsed him and is now in a state of total panic behind the scenes.

Second, Christie’s endorsement of Trump is a devastating blow to the conservative establishment, which views Trump as neither a legitimate Republican or a legitimate conservative (as I wrote in my most recent column for The Hill). The Christie move creates intense pressure on Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), the conservative movement favorite whose candidacy would be devastated if Trump defeats him in his home state of Texas — which is more likely today than yesterday. The Cruz candidacy was already showing signs of fading before Sen.Marco Rubio‘s (Fla.) strong performance in the last debate and Christie’s endorsement of Trump.

[…]

If Rubio does better on March 1, there will be a powerful surge of establishment unity behind his candidacy and huge pressure on Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) to withdraw and support Rubio. If Rubio does poorly on March 1, there will be chaos, panic and bedlam throughout the GOP establishment, which could well turn to 2012 nominee Mitt Romney with a huge and sudden draft movement in a last-ditch attempt to save the party from Trump.

You can read the rest of the story here.