gotta be a pretty hard time to be a hard line R these days.
I mean, the only real crazy extremists have dropped out and all that's left are layups. I mean, it's pretty obvs that the R party is just letting some have their shot while they focus on the next one, right?
No, I don't think that is the case at all. It is not as if Obama is a wildly popular president polling in the mid 60's with a healthy economy. Conservatives well appreciate both the opportunity, and importance, of defeating him. It is the only realistic chance of repealing Obamacare and trimming our deficits. Obama added 6 trillion dollars to the debt in just one term, a staggering sum, and would likely double that if given another term.
The Republican field is undeniably weak this year because a number of the GOP's rising stars and Tea Party darlings, such as Christie, Ryan, and Rubio, chose not to run. This does not mean that Romney is a weak candidate. He just seems to be the only competent, electable candidate in the field.
The infighting among Republicans over an "ideologically pure" candidate is a natural part of the primary process and will be largely irrelevant once Romney secures the nomination. It is even possible that the current unfounded attacks over Bain Capital will actually help inoculate Romney in the general election by allowing him to address these attacks now.