The northeast RINO wing of the Republican party has not given up on seeing one of their own get the ’12 presidential nomination. From the AP wire, “Romney’s rise challenges tea party’s clout in GOP“:
“Mitt Romney’s early success in the Republican presidential race is challenging the tea party’s clout … On the surface, Romney’s strength seems at odds with the tea party’s fiery success in ousting Republicans seen as compromisers, and in making the House GOP caucus more ideological … Although he later changed, Romney once supported abortion rights, gun control and gay rights …”
What early success? He’s been leading the pack with around 25% which isn’t saying much. His campaign is well organized, but they should be considering he’s been running for the past 5 years or so. Romney has money, but Rick Perry raised more than he did last quarter.
As time goes on candidates are going to start dropping out as their resources are depleted. When that happens people will start focusing on issues including gun rights. That is when Romney will start running into problems.