We've been all over the waterfront with our responses. Some are still proposing that one of the other candidates, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul or Perry, could wind up being the GOP nominee. If everyone takes a calm look at things, I think we can agree that's unlikely.

By the morning of January 22, we can be pretty sure who the Republican nominee will be, and it's likely to be Mitt Romney. Now back to the original question...will he get enough Republican and independent votes to beat Barack Obama?

Someone just opined that the evangelical conservatives will never vote for Mormon Romney. If true, that's a big chunk of voters, maybe as much as 25% of the GOP "base".

Will the Tea Partiers and right-to-lifers feel as strongly about refusing to support Romney because of his statements and positions on "their" issues? Combined, those groups might represent another 25% of the GOP base.

The failure of these groups to support Romney goes a long way towards explaining why he's never been able to garner more than about 30-35% of those who call themselves Republicans or conservatives.

So it looks like Romney might be left with maybe half those that identify themselves as conservatives, those closer to the middle of the political spectrum, who are very likely to vote for him. I think they might even be enthusiastic about his candidacy. But that's nowhere near enough for Romney to come even close to winning the popular vote. And I'm not even addressing the electoral vote, which actually will elect the POTUS who will serve for the next four years.

So sooner or later the political pundits will begin the discussion...will the Christian conservatives, Tea Partiers and right-to-lifers actually withold their votes from Romney, knowing that by doing so will almost assuredly guarantee Barack Obama's re-election? Will their be enough independents and disappointed Democrats who will vote for Romney, replacing the special interest conservatives unwilling to operate within the rules of our electoral democracy?

As I've said here before, I think President Obama has a glass jaw when it comes to any assurance that he will be re-elected. But the unwillingness of large factions within the Republican/conservative movement to compromise and support Mitt Romney, who might not represent all that they're looking for, might actually assure another four years of faulty leadership by a progressive Democratic president.

I surely hope that all those who might identify themselves as conservatives will consider whether the country might be better off with Romney as POTUS, or whether because of their steadfast commitment to a narrow set of ideals or litmus tests, that they'd be willing to contribute to the re-election of the current president.