THE FENCE-POSTING CONTINUES APACE:

An anonymous group of conservative billionaires is ready to place their bets on a man dubbed "Mad Dog," hoping to draft him into the presidential race to confront Donald Trump. [...]

But this situation involves far bigger players: Close to a dozen influential donors--involving politically-involved billionaires with deep pockets and conservative leanings--are ready to put their resources behind Mattis. At their request, a small group of political operatives have taken the first steps in the strategic legwork needed for a bid: a package of six strategic memos outlining how Mattis could win the race, in hopes of coaxing him in.

The general has received the package of memos, according to two individuals involved with the project.

[W]eekly Standard editor Bill Kristol poured fuel onto the fire Feb. 22, after Trump victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Speaking at a fundraiser for the Hoover Institute, where Mattis is a visiting fellow, Kristol suggested--perhaps jokingly--that the former four-star general might be conscripted into the race. [...]

The pro-Mattis donors, who want to stay anonymous for the time being, have assembled a core group of seven political operatives, led by Joel Searby, a Republican consultant based in Florida. The group of strategists also includes lead attorney Mohammad Jazil; ballot access specialist Matthew Sawyer; and former George W. Bush pollster Jan Lohuizen, along with a finance team and a "top firm" that has been secured to lead the ballot access petition gathering, members of the team tell The Daily Beast.

Wilson and Noonan co-authored a memo on how Mattis might capitalize on the current media environment, arguing that Trump's "fake-macho act falls apart" before a bona fide American hero like Mattis. The general's overall bearing "immediately blows a hole into the central narrative of Trump: his toughness," they argue in a memo obtained by The Daily Beast. "[A]nd the drama of watching it fall apart under fire would be amazing television."

Comparing him to President Dwight Eisenhower, the memo concludes that Mattis has "all the iconoclastic, authentic style of non-politician Trump--and all the serious government service credibility of Hillary Clinton."

Some conservatives, disgusted with Trump's candidacy, have already warmed to the idea of a run by Mattis--including conservative commentators Erick Erickson and Kristol.

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