However, if the evangelical nutjobs would let go of their queasiness about Romney, Obama could be in big trouble next time around.

Here in Colorado, the Republican party bigwigs "convinced" (broken kneecaps in evidence) one of the potential candidates for governor next time around to drop out of the primary. This allows their selected candidate to stay closer to the center. But another whacko has come out of the woodwork with threats to take the primary over to the libertarian-anarchist right wing.

...a modern Republican needs to pass various ideological purity tests, such as proclaiming his pro-life credentials while insinuating that people who can't afford health insurance might as well just die. Or leading chants of "Drill, baby, drill" even when the topic is oil shale, which is not produced by drilling. For a few while, I thought McInnis had avoided this problem after various GOP financiers and heavyweights paid a visit to his main challenger for the nomination, Josh Penry, a state senator from Grand Junction and a former staffer for McInnis. Thus McInnis would have the nomination without having to promise state subsidies for the poor, beleaguered gas-drilling industry, or declaring it a financial necessary to close every public college and university except Mesa State.

However, there is still another announced Republican candidate, Evergreen businessman Don Maes. On Dec. 12, he appeared at a "Defend the Republic" rally of Tea Party types on the state Capitol steps, telling them, "It's time to find a candidate you believe in."

Palin will bring the same problem to whomever the Republican party tries to anoint asatheir presidential candidate...