April 4 2012
In the aftermath of Mitt Romney’s triple-primary victory on Tuesday, most political experts say the race is slouching toward its inevitable conclusion. “After having won almost all delegates in Tuesday’s primaries, Mr. Romney has gone from very likely to win the majority of delegates to nearly certain to do so,” writes statistics guru Nate Silver.
Mitt Romney
Despite the best efforts of the Republican establishment, many on the religious right are not ready to accept Mitt Romney’s inevitability, Steven Senne / AP Photo
Conservative Iowa radio host Steve Deace isn’t convinced. “In the minds of social conservatives, it’s not even close to over,” he says. “The real question is how committed someone like Rick Santorum is to fighting this out all the way to the end. If he’s committed to doing this on a personal level, there’s plenty of social conservatives that will ride him to the finish line.”
Indeed, despite the best efforts of the Republican establishment, many on the religious right are far from ready to accept Romney’s inevitability, or to coalesce behind him. They remain distrustful of his record on abortion, and unsure they can believe his campaign promises. And the harder party elites push Romney on them, the more alienated they become. “The biggest story that everyone read more
