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DeMint: Mitch Daniels only last-minute candidate ‘who could make it happen’
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) kept the speculation about a possible brokered GOP convention alive this week when he was asked whether Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels could still become a last-minute presidential candidate.
DeMint spoke highly of Daniels when asked at a meeting of the Aiken Republican Club in Aiken, S.C., on Tuesday night.
“He’s the only one who could make it happen,” DeMint said, according to a report published by the Augusta Chronicle, a local paper. “But I don’t think his wife will let it happen.”
All four have said they will not run. Daniels cited his family’s reluctance in announcing he would not make a bid for the White House last year.
A brokered GOP convention would only result if no single candidate can accumulate a majority of delegates before the convention is scheduled to begin on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.
Despite many experts and several high-profile Republicans — including the Republican National Committee’s communications director, Sean Spicer — dismissing the likelihood, speculation has persisted that the fluctuating popularity of many GOP candidates and unpredictable polls could lead to a prolonged primary and the necessity of a brokered convention.
DeMint speculated that only an “August surprise” involving the front-runner in a late-breaking scandal would trigger the hypothetical.
The popular senator told CNN earlier this month the process of choosing a nominee “could very well go to the convention” due to the divided delegates. On Tuesday, he said, “I don’t think it’s very likely.”
A USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday found that 66 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning independents surveyed are opposed to a brokered convention.
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