It certainly looks like Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential candidate.

Now the $64,000 question...will all the fractured, single issue, social conservatives and fiscal conservatives get behind this candidate to try to unseat Barack Obama from election to a second term? Will the religious right swallow hard and vote for a Mormon? Will the 'right to lifers' support someone whose position on that question is not quite clear cut? Will the Tea Party buckle up and support a candidate less fiscally conservative than they would like? Will those viciously opposing ObamaCare back Romney, who got a very similar program passed in Massachusetts?

Basically, will the entirety of the Republican Party come together to back a candidate to replace President Obama? Will the GOP electorate do what the Congress has been unable to do...compromise on a candidate that might not be all they had wished for, but who is better than the incumbent?

Very simply, if Republicans don't come together, there's little doubt that Barack Obama will be a two-term president.

What do you think? What will you do? How will you vote?

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

It certainly looks like Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential candidate.

Now the $64,000 question...will all the fractured, single issue, social conservatives and fiscal conservatives get behind this candidate to try to unseat Barack Obama from election to a second term? Will the religious right swallow hard and vote for a Mormon? Will the 'right to lifers' support someone whose position on that question is not quite clear cut? Will the Tea Party buckle up and support a candidate less fiscally conservative than they would like? Will those viciously opposing ObamaCare back Romney, who got a very similar program passed in Massachusetts?

Basically, will the entirety of the Republican Party come together to back a candidate to replace President Obama? Will the GOP electorate do what the Congress has been unable to do...compromise on a candidate that might not be all they had wished for, but who is better than the incumbent?

Very simply, if Republicans don't come together, there's little doubt that Barack Obama will be a two-term president.

What do you think? What will you do? How will you vote?

Why, you in a real rush here. Your crystal ball much be very busy lately. It's too early for this discussion.

I agree Richie but any of the remaining GOP candidates would be better than what we currently have in the White House.

That being said, I would love to see the field whittle down to Romney and either Santorum or Gingrich to see who the GOP voters really throw their support behind.

Romney will get the nomination.............. Obama will bring out some new programs that impress the voters and he will win the election by a small margin. So everyone can go on to new topics as I have spoken and given you the outcome of the upcoming election. There is no need to speculate any longer. Your welcome.

The Villager II

Villager II is pretty close but the margin of Obama's win will not be close but sizable.

We have spoken. "Nuff said.

Originally Posted by buggyone

Villager II is pretty close but the margin of Obama's win will not be close but sizable.

We have spoken. "Nuff said.

You crack me up. Maybe if Obama gets his plan through to access 1.3 Trillion Dollars or so to pay off the populace with mortgage deductions, as he's trying to do, which has been reported. That might give him his margin of victory by the buying of votes. We'll see.

"Pay off the populace with mortgage deductions"? I honestly don't understand that statement. Aren't mortgage interests deductible right now?

I do see that you are beginning to believe that President Obama probably will win in November and you are starting very early to rationalize (downplay) that winning.

Originally Posted by buggyone

"Pay off the populace with mortgage deductions"? I honestly don't understand that statement. Aren't mortgage interests deductible right now?

I do see that you are beginning to believe that President Obama probably will win in November and you are starting very early to rationalize (downplay) that winning.

This is what I was talking about. I skimmed it earlier this week on one of my scouting missions for another story and forgot the specifics of it. Obama wnts to spend upwards of a Trillion Dollars to refinance mortgages IN HIS REELECTION YEAR. It's a great grandstanding ploy which I'm sure he hopes gets his reelection votes from all who are helped by this plan which amounts to a tax cut of long duration. It would affect 30 million borrowers, and of course their families.

I know you're going to be "over the moon" on how this helps so many people and why am i against it and blah blah blah blah blah.

Anyway, this trillion dollar scheme is what I was talking about.

Good thing he forced in his new Treasury Secretary, who he claims has full powers even before a Senate confirmation hearing.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2828828/posts

you gotta admire the loyalty to their man and belief (I think)....no matter what!

btk

Originally Posted by RichieLion

...Obama wnts to spend upwards of a Trillion Dollars to refinance mortgages IN HIS REELECTION YEAR. It's a great grandstanding ploy which I'm sure he hopes gets his reelection votes from all who are helped by this plan which amounts to a tax cut of long duration....

Holy cats! And Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan wasn't grandstanding to get votes from a segment of the population? Or the plan by Ron Paul and Rick Perry to simply disband several departments of the government? Or any of the many plans and strategies put forth day after day by Newtie? Or if you want to go back a few years, how about the Bush tax cuts? That was about 3-4 times as expensive as the plan you've described that Obama has proposed.

And none of this stuff isn't politically driven...designed to get more votes to assure election or re-election? Of course it is, that's what politics are all about.

Just lets not try to convince one another that if these kinds of plans are proposed by the candidates of one party they're solid, well thought out steps that are part of a broader and valid economic plan, while if the other guys do it, it's irresponsible spending driven only by politics.

ALL this stuff is driven by politics!

It's interesting that not one single poster seems to have addressed my original question...will the various single issue factions of the GOP come together and compromise with one another to support Mitt Romney in his campaign to displace Barack Obama?

Everyone says that Obama should be replaced, but no one has addressed the possibility or probability that it might happen, and more importantly what's necessary in order that it can happen.

Very simply (the arithmetic being my opinion, of course), if any faction of narrow interest Republicans refuse to support Romney, or any other GOP candidate for that matter, it's game-set-match to Obama in an easy win. The only other factor that could come into play is if there are enough centrist Democrats willing to switch over and vote for the GOP candidate than there are narrow interest defectors from whichever candidate is finally selected. (That's a development only likely to come into play if Romney, a centrist Republican who has proven a willingness to compromise, is the candidate finally chosen.)

This election would be close if somehow the Republicans could suddenly pull their act together and throw all their support and lots of money behind one single GOP candidate. If that candidate is out on the fringe somewhere, like Santorum, Paul or Perry, then the GOP centrists would have to swallow hard, compromise, and back one of them totally. If the candidate is Romney, then the Tea Party, ObamaCare haters, right-to-lifers and Christian conservatives are going to have to line up in lock step behind him. If there are GOP defectors in either circumstance, like I said...it's a really easy re-election for President Obama.

So again the questions: What's going to happen? Where do you stand on the question? Will you enthusiastically support and vote for the Republican candidate, whomever that might be and wherever he might stand on the conservative spectrum?

I don't think an effective Republican consensus will be built. At nomination time there might even appear to be an enthusiastic endorsement of one candidate, but I think it will collapse by November. Why? First because the divisions within the GOP ranks are too deep. A variety of social and fiscal conservative groups will perhaps give half-hearted support, but not be willing to really work for a Romney, or pull the lever for him. Gingrich was right. Only 25% of Iowans liked Romney. Every other potential candidate has a similar or larger faction opposed to him. Compromising their principles to support their party's choice will in the end seem as unacceptable as an Obama win.
Secondly, the superPACS will deepen divisions and make compromise far more difficult. The Iowa experience is a bit of a political science phenomenon. In just a few days Gingrich was ripped to shreds. You could say he's an easy mark, but it's time we recognize what a large portion of the public are swayed by these powerful messages. Opinions and support will shift at warp speed all year. At election time I think many Republicans will be so disillusioned by their party's 'chosen one', that they will stay home. That will be the deciding factor, especially in the swing states.

all the conservatives i know have one desire! get Pres Obama out of office...no matter who wins the nomination, and that is by far not a done deal, we will support them and consider our vote as a vote AGAINST obama, and we certainly know that every vote counts....and i am a member of the Tea Party so i know of what i speak!

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

This election would be close if somehow the Republicans could suddenly pull their act together and throw all their support and lots of money behind one single GOP candidate. If that candidate is out on the fringe somewhere, like Santorum, Paul or Perry..............[/I]

I won't buy your premise on what constitutes a "fringe" candidate. The thinking behind that is seriously flawed in my opinion. So I must ignore the rest of your post which is dependent on this flaw.

There's no way on God's green earth you can make a case for Santorum or Perry being some kind of fringe candidate. Paul, only if you are of the opinion that his foreign policy ideas are bonkers, as I do. But otherwise even Paul on Domestic Economic Issues makes everyone in the Democrat Party the "fringe".

Right now, the biggest obstacle the GOP faces is the fact that unemployment is ticking down. Even the U6 number is down (the number still unemployed but no longer receiving benefits).

That's the one thing the Republicans could hang their hat on that affects Americans in a more immediate mode as opposed to something further on down the road.