The Jewish Week : "Mitt Romney is the most electable of the current GOP pack – but possibly the least nominatable because of the influence of the Tea Partiers and the evangelicals on the nomination process"

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Yes, Mitt Romney is rich, handsome, experienced, moderate, even wise, but the Primary Process will be very brutal thanks to the Tea Party influence, and the importance of evangelicals in the Republican Party

The Jewish Week
Huck out, Jewish GOP givers waiting for a winner?
by James Besser
Sunday, May 15, 2011



Some excerpts :

GOP sources continue to tell me that two things are happening in the party right now. Old-line Jewish Republicans continue to stick with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, seen by many as the most moderate and the most business-oriented contender.

But there are also concerns about whether Romney will survive a Republican primary season that will be shaped to a large degree by the Tea Party movement, as well as by the Christian conservatives who are a big part of the party's base. The fact is, big campaign givers want to back a WINNER, and at this stage it's far from clear who has the best chance to both survive a brutal GOP primary season AND beat President Obama.

The Tea Partiers don't like Romney because he's...well, so establishment.. Many of the Christian conservatives agree, and then there's the Mormon problem; there is still a big segment of evangelical Christianity that sees Mormonism as a dangerous cult.

The result of that uncertainty: while Romney is probably at the head of the pack when it comes to Jewish fundraising, a lot of Jews who generally give to GOP candidates are sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see how the race shapes up between now and the first primary in 2012.

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But at this stage, it seems to me, the targets are Jewish campaign givers, not Jewish voters, and the race is all about who is the most electable in 2012 and – secondarily – who is the most business-friendly. Positions on Israel are important, but at this stage probably a second tier factor.

Oddly, some political pros I talk to continue to say Romney is the most electable of the current GOP pack – but possibly the least nominatable because of the influence of the Tea Partiers and the evangelicals on the nomination process.

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