They have every reason to worry. The current standard-bearers of the party, namely Romney and Santorum, are flopping and floundering through a race where the main opponent, President Obama, has less than a 50 percent rating in the midst of high unemployment and a still-tanking economy. And yet, the race still seems up in the air, even now.
Romney has cast himself as candidate-in-waiting for several long months after watching political folly after folly fall to the wayside (Bachmann and Cain) but yet, this late in the race, still cannot thoroughly knock out his final overzealous, off-putting social conservative foes. Santorum, the previously stated foe, has a theological belief system that is so disturbingly far-right that not even the Republican party thinks he has a shot of beating Obama.
The polls aren’t looking much better. Romney may still see himself as the frontrunner, but in January he was handily trumped by Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, a state that has chosen the Republican nominee since 1980. And just last month, Romney lost Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and key swing state Colorado to Rick Santorum. If that isn’t grim enough, polls for Michigan, the next big Republican contest is pointing at Santorum. This wouldn’t be too surprising, except for the fact that Michigan is a state where Romney was born and raised. And if Santorum was to (likely) take Michigan, he would essentially be crowned the new frontrunner of the race.
Hence, the panic.
The instability of this race has led the GOP to talks of a “brokered” convention come the party’s August convention in Tampa. The last time a race has been this undecided was in 1976, when party insurgent Ronald Reagan narrowly lost to incumbent Gerald Ford, who later lost the nomination all together to Jimmy Carter. This brokered convention would require the Republican Party to cuckold any willing potential candidate to take the nomination in Tampa. Some names being thrown around are Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, or you know, just about anybody with a conservative agenda and an ability to speak in public without referencing lipstick pit bulls or pizza deals.
All that’s left to do is sit back and watch the drama unfold until August. Romney still has a chance of snagging the nomination, but his chances are fading when he can’t even fend off his main rival, Santorum, a man who literally called career moms out for being selfish in his 2005 book “It takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good.”
Obama’s looking better every day.
