With heaping plate of candied yams Donald Trump and Stabbity Ben Carson still leading the chase for the GOP nomination as we head into the holiday season, members of the party establishment are becoming so fearful of ending up with a novelty candidate that they’re considering a last-ditch effort to draft Mitt Romney as their nominee, the Washington Post reports.

The party’s big-money donors have mostly stayed on the sidelines thus far, the Post reports, because a moderate, actually electable candidate has yet to emerge from the pack nipping at Trump and Carson’s heels.

Could Romney be the serious man who would out-gravitas the wacky Trump or Carson head-to-head? Probably not, but that apparently hasn’t stopped some unnamed party insiders from drawing up plans to break open his glass box and use him to put out the raging hairspray-fire that is Donald Trump if necessary.

The Post reports:

Friends have mapped out a strategy for a late entry to pick up delegates and vie for the nomination in a convention fight, according to the Republicans who were briefed on the talks, though Romney has shown no indication of reviving his interest.

Aside from the obvious problems with this Plan Z—Romney failed in a general election just four years ago, after letting Democrats paint him as a stiff, out-of-touch plutocrat—there’s the issue of whether Romney would even answer the call if asked.

On one hand, he’s not especially busy. His most notable public act since his 2012 defeat was a charity boxing match against Evander Holyfield back in May. On the other, he has said repeatedly that he would not run again.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the Party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney told supporters in January.

He said in the same statement that he believed he was capable of winning the nomination, though. Hmm!

[Photo: AP]