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CPAC’s Brokered Convention Rumor Mill in Full Swing

What does Mitt Romney have to do, give everybody gift baskets?

Conservatives at CPAC, depressed about their current options for the Republican presidential nominee, are buzzing about a floor fight at the August convention, and the possibility of bringing in a ringer for 2012.

Slate’s Dave Weigel noted that former Virginia Republican Party chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick can see the historic possibility of a brokered convention. Conservative Political Action Conference organizer Al Cardenas tells Politico the whisper campaign for popular former governor Jeb Bush is real. Another person of interest: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Of course, both Bush and Christie have said they don’t want to run this time around. 

The weekend’s straw poll may offer clarity about CPAC’s favorite, but won’t close the conservative enthusiasm gap for GOP front-runner Mitt Romney. And don’t hold your breath for a brokered convention. The last Republican “brokered” nominee was Thomas Dewey in 1948. The last brokered candidate who won the oval office? Conservative boogeyman Franklin D. Roosevelt.