Here's what I do know:
If the GOP continues to be divided, and continues to be filled with voters who refuse to vote for someone because they are not perfect, and because they don't share every single one of their personal values, then the Democrats will win every time.
For example, if a Republican candidate was perfect in EVERY sense, except that candidate was either pro-choice or simply not perfectly pro-life enough, then there are millions of Republicans who will not vote for that candidate. That will give the election to the Democrats every time.
At some point, every single person in the GOP needs to realize that our COUNTRY is what is important here, not our own individual need for perfection in a candidate.
What we are seeing now is a perfect example. 75% of the voters don't want Romney. But that's who we WILL end up with, because everyone is going to vote for their own candidate, which will dilute the vote so much that Romney will win with only 23% of the GOP behind him.
Bachmann can't win. Her voters need to realize that and get on board with either Gingrich, Cain, or Perry, RIGHT NOW.
Huntsman can't win. His supporters need to go to Gingrich, Cain, or Perry. RIGHT NOW.
Same with Paul.
Same with Santorum.
Once we make that cut, from 8 down to 4, then we can go another few rounds of debates, and vet Gingrich, Cain, and Perry some more.
By December 1st, we need to cut it down to 2 of those 3 (two of Gingrich, Cain, and Perry).
Whichever of those three is trailing on December 1st, that person's supporters need to move to one of the remaining two.
And by Christmas, we need to pick our BEST “not-Romney” option, and we ALL need to vote for him, whether he is our personal first choice or not.
If we do not do this, WE, the GOP, the Conservatives, the TEA Party, the AMERICAN PEOPLE, will lose... we will end up with Romney... and we will end up with Obama.
So I don't care if Gingrich has baggage, or if he can “get around” his baggage. I care that we can elect someone besides Romney, and that we can beat Obama in 2012.
Bachmann isn’t that far behind Perry, so don’t expect her to drop out in favor of him.
In principle, I agree with you 100%.
However, when it comes to specific application of your principle, I completely disagree.
We don't need everyone to get behind one or even fewer candidates RIGHT NOW. What we need is the current battle to see who our best, most supported candidates are.
The time for each Republican voter to make his or her final decision is when their state holds its primary. THEN, it's time to check InTrade, current national polls, or whatever and vote ONLY for one of the two candidates most likely to win the nomination. Almost certainly this time around, that will be Romney and someone else, although there's a very slight chance it could be Cain and Gingrich with Romney in third.
BTW, I agree with you that Huntsman and Paul can't win. Too many conservative Republicans would never, ever, ever vote for them. I don't agree that Bachmann and Santorum can't win... they're unlikely to win, but I think that, like me, many conservatives agree with them on principle and would be turn their support to them if Cain and Gingrich somehow imploded.
I'm surprised you don't have Perry on your can't win list. I know plenty of conservatives, including myself, who agree with him on principle, but would never, ever, ever support him, for reasons cleverly pointed out in your tagline. As much as I dislike Romney, at this point, there's a 60-40 chance I'd vote for Romney if he and Perry were the two leaders when my state votes. I don't see that happening though.
My current preferences/rankings:
Gingrich
huge gap
Cain, slightly ahead of
Bachmann, slightly ahead of
Santorum
huge gap squared
Romney, slightly ahead of
Perry
huge gap cubed
Paul, slightly ahead of
Huntsman