The GOP's Long and Winding Road

[Flaylo]

Bill Schneider: The GOP's Long and Winding Road

Will a long, competitive race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich give Republicans a boost? Don't bet on it.

A hard-fought race for a party's nomination often does the party a lot of good. That was certainly the case for the Democrats in 2008. The spirited race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wasn't decided until June. Both contenders ended up enhancing their reputations. Clinton scored points for being a resilient fighter. She never gave up. Obama looked like a conquering hero after beating the Clinton machine.

The 2012 Republican race may not be resolved quickly. Far from rallying around a frontrunner, Republican voters seem more and more uncertain. The latest Gallup tracking poll shows the GOP race tightening up. At the beginning of December, Gingrich led Romney by 15 points. Now his lead has been cut to four points (28 to 24 percent). Meanwhile, the number of undecided Republicans has been going up, not down. That's not supposed to happen as the voting gets started.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

 

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Could the same not be said of the United States itself? We are certainly divided against ourselves.

Take a look at all the hatred that gets spewed daily on these forums.