The Republican circus may be over soon, with Mitt Romney squeaking out his win over Rick Santorum in Iowa.
If Romney wins handily in New Hampshire, which he’s likely to do, and then pulls off a victory in South Carolina, it’s not “game on,” it’s “game over.”
The Republican establishment is falling rapidly in line behind Romney. That’s why George Bush senior endorsed him right before Christmas, and why McCain is endorsing him now.
It would help Romney if he could get some social conservative bigwig to endorse him, too, but there will be enormous pressure on Santorum and Gingrich to hold their fire soon, lest they wound the presumptive nominee.
The only interesting question left in the Republican race is whether Ron Paul will eventually run as a third party candidate, either on the Libertarian Party ticket, where he naturally belongs, or on the ticket of a href="http://www.americanselect.org/?gclid=CM7ys4vMtq0CFYHrKgoddj0p6A" target="_blank">Americans Elect, which is an Internet drive to get ballot access for someone the voters pick on line to run.
If Ron Paul bolts the Republican Party, the conventional wisdom is that it would help Barack Obama.
But I’m not so sure, since Paul is attracting a lot of young voters who would be more likely to go for Obama, or stay at home, than vote for Romney.
Be careful what you wish for.
If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story "Payroll Tax Issue No Great Win for Obama."
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