If anyone warms to Romney it’ll be disaster and the conservative movement will be basically dead. The fact is that since 1996, the GOP has nominated a moderate each time. 9/11 cast Bush as a conservative for a time, but his moderate tendencies bubbled up.
Remember that although defeat came in 1964, the conservative movement transformed the GOP and in a little more than a decade ensured a moderate Republican was defeated (Ford in 1976), clearing the path for a true conservative to be elected (Reagan in 1980).
If we simply surrender the field to not only a moderate, but a true Liberal in Romney, we surrender the GOP to moderate/liberals from this day forward.
Please see post #19.