[Moorings]

But the liberal orthodoxy of Repub consultants and strategists said that independents and the middle win elections. Who needs those pesky "puritans"? They were supposed to be on the plantation anyway with nowhere else to go.

[Timber Rattler]

But the liberal orthodoxy of Repub consultants and strategists said that independents and the middle win elections. Who needs those pesky "puritans"? They were supposed to be on the plantation anyway with nowhere else to go.

Precisely. Team Romney's strategy all along was to knock out any potential TEA Party competitors (like Palin and Cain), get just enough Conservative votes to get through the primaries, and then turn left for the general election, aiming at "moderates," "independents," "fence-sitters," and disaffected democRats, based on the assumption that Conservative "purists" would ultimately get their arses in line and back Romney.

Now they're looking around and finding that the plantation is deserted, and so they're getting worried.