The closer Romney gets to the nomination, the more it looks the right-wing will bolt

[JCMach1]

and support a third party candidate...

It is really starting to smell like 1992.

Remember the nastiness (Pat Buchanan, et al.)

Perot pissed-off enough to throw his own money in.



Let's just hope Obama isn't playing George H.W. Bush.

[DeathToTheOil]

1. K'd & R'd

[Nye Bevan]

2. Disagree. Their desire to get rid of Obama

is more than their desire for a perfect conservative.

Similar to on the Democratic side, where there is a lot of huffing and puffing about Obama not being perfect, but pretty much everyone will come around at election time.

[Cosmocat]

6. right

Any democrat is the spawn of the devil - it will be a BIT like McCain with them not being all gung ho like they were with Bush II.

But, they feel only Rs are legit presidents, and unlike 2008, they have their boogeyman to run against.

[zipplewrath]

3. I keep hearing this, but who?

For one thing, there is so little "room" to the right of Romney's stated positions right now (as opposed to what the right BELIEVES his positions are) I'm trying to see the "credible" room for anyone to mount a campaign. Furthermore, I'm struggling to see who would choose such a thing. Most of them appear to be angling for a VP/cabinent slot. Paul, Palin, or Trump would appear to be the only folks even willing to do so, and Paul has already said no, and Palin wouldn't want to lose her income stream.

Perot ran BETWEEN Clinton and Bush. Obama has moved so much further right than even Clinton ran on (heck the whole political climate has) that there isn't really any room left to his right without bumping into where the right THINKS Romney is.

The huge gaping hole is on the left of Obama and there isn't anyone ready to run there.

[JCMach1]

4. No so much room to the right as 'perceived' room to the right by the right

Remember, they are not a reality-based ideology.

When he nails down the nomination, Romney has to tack to the middle to win. He has little choice.

Who knows, maybe Trump? Paul? Any number of social conservatives...

But you do ask the question of the day for them: do they hate Romney more than they hate Obama?

[zipplewrath]

7. I do understand the perception

To some extent they don't like him because they don't trust he is as conservative as he claims. As such, they percieve alot of room to his right, even if it isn't there. These are the same nuts that think Obama is a leftist. The trouble for any 3rd party that tries to run to the right of Romney is they'll have to run to the right of where they THINK he is. They'll sound pretty dumb taking very similar positions, and only have the argument that THEY really mean it.

I'm trying to figure out who that idiot would be. Even Santorum can't be THAT dumb. Heck, he's probably on a fast track about now to be the VP.

[pampango]

5. Guess it means he'll have to keep catering to the far-right even after he sews up the nomination.

Kind of delays the pirouette to the center for the general election that everyone anticipates from Mitt on issues like immigration, foreign policy, etc. He'll have to stick with his "Whites only" strategy for longer than just getting the nomination. If he thinks he can get elected with even fewer votes from Blacks and Hispanics than McCain got, he's got some really loopy advisers.