“There is a very strong feeling that we have to assert ourselves or we’re going to end up with somebody we can’t support,” says Paul Weyrich, a longtime conservative activist and cofounder of Moral Majority. Weyrich says Christian right leadership is currently split “around fifty-fifty” over whether to pursue such a plan or to adopt an every-man-for-himself approach, in which activists would gravitate toward the candidate of their choice.

A concerted attempt to steer evangelical and conservative Roman Catholic voters toward a second-tier candidate could hit Romney hardest. In reversing his support for abortion rights and gay rights, Romney’s strategy is to convince right-wing Republicans leaning toward Huckabee or Brownback that he’s the more viable candidate. (The plan presumes that McCain and Giuliani will fight for the votes of the Republican establishment.) “There’s a big group of pragmatic social conservatives who don’t want to waste their votes,” says a Romney aide. “We’re going to be the second choice of a lot of people who want to follow their hearts but want a strong candidate.” ~U.S. News & World Report

Via Kirsten Powers

Obviously, nothing would satisfy Romney and the other two more than to watch religious conservative leaders scatter to different campaigns in a such way that is absolutely guaranteed to minimise their influence.  Pretty clearly, they need to rally around someone (I really think their best bet is probably Hunter, because Brownback’s immigration views will kill him with actual primary voters and Huckabee may be quite charming but doesn’t have any experience with military or foreign policy).  In my fantasy world, they would rediscover their inner constititionalist and back Ron Paul, but I know that isn’t going to happen this side of the millennium.  

So the Romney campaign is appealing to “pragmatic” (read gullible) voters on the basis that Romney is a “strong candidate” they should rally around.  It seems as if they have everything they need to make this plan work, except for the strong candidate part.

Read the following and just try to tell me that you didn’t have the same puzzled, baffled reaction I had:

Of the three front-runners, Romney has been courting evangelical leaders most zealously. After a meeting at his Massachusetts home last fall with roughly 15 high-powered religious conservatives, Romney sent each attendee a wooden captain’s chair mounted with a brass plaque that reads, “You are welcome at our table anytime.”

Gar, mateys, ’tis time to vote for Cap’n Romney!

Wooden captain’s chairs?  Where does he come up with this stuff?