In talking with some "moderate" Pubs over Christmas they were shocked when I pointed out there are a lot of Pro-Life Christians who will not vote for Romney in the general election. The answer I got was "if he's the nominee who else would they vote for?". You would have thought their heads would explode when I said, "we just won't vote for POTUS".
I don't see how Romney wins the general election. He is so similar to obama, conservatives will not be fired up. One indicator of this is the turnout in IA. Pubs did not turn out for the caucuses in greater numbers than 08. If voters don't quickly recognize that Perry is the real deal we will end up with a inside the beltway candidate. I will vote for Santorum or Gingrich if Perry is not on the ballot, but I really want the outsider with experience as a Gov.
Problem us... it's not up to the voters to recognize that Perry is the real deal. It's up to Perry (or any other candidate) to convince the voter that he's the real deal. If the candidate fails to convince his own party who on earth would he convince general American voters in the election.