Via Erin Smith at the Boston Herald:

Sean Trende of Real clearpolitics.com said that if the current trend of stark regional divides continues — with Mitt Romney taking more moderate states, Newt Gingrich taking southern states and Rick Santorum taking the conservative heartland — it could go all the way to the convention without a clear winner, as the Democrats narrowly avoided doing in 2008. And disgruntled delegates rebeling against a Romney candidacy could tip the balance for a right-leaning star. Enter Palin.

“Who are those people going to gravitate towards if they can’t get Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum? Will they pick Sarah Palin? It’s very possible,” Trende said.

No one really knows what a brokered convention looks like in modern times,” Trende said. “If no one has enough delegates, you’ll probably see Sarah Palin walking around the floor of the convention trying to get support. And you’ll have party brokers who want it to go to Mitch Daniels or Paul Ryan. My personal opinion is it will be a mess.”