If Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee for President

[Tony_FLADEM]

which looks likely since he is the closest to Obama in the polls, do you think the Tea Party will vote for him or will they stay home?

On one hand, they hate Obama and on the other hand Mitt Romney isn't really one of them.

[RZM]

1. They will vote for him, by and large

Just like most people here will vote for Obama. It's going to be tough for the Mitt-ster to get over the finish line though, even if the base comes out for him.

[damntexdem]

17. Vote maybe, though not all -- but will they work for him?

And it may be that many will pick ideological purity over trying to elect a president.

[JuniperLea]

2. I bet they stay home...

He's not their flavor of Christian, donchano, and he is a socialist!

[truebrit71]

4. Yeah I think so too...He's not extreme enough for them and he smokes the wrong brand of jesus...

...some inevitably will vote just to try and keep the Kenyan socialist/marxist/fascist muslim out of the WH, but for the vast majority of the knuckle-draggers they'll just stay home and masturbate thinking about a threesome featuring them, Batshit Bachmann and Snowzilla...

[JuniperLea]

9. Hahahaha! Awesome!

Yep! They are an all or nothing at all brand of extra crispy shit for brains bunch.

[Brother Buzz]

3. Amy Kremer, chair of the Tea Party Express is on board

Amy Kremer, chair of the Tea Party Express, admitted the so-called group of independents will endorse a Republican — any Republican — for President.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/41073

[existentialist]

5. Who knows?

It is, after all, 16 1/2 months until the election. So many things can happen to influence the results that I see little point in speculation on the point.

For similar reasons, and despite Romney's present lead in the Republican polls, I think its far too early to be calling Romney any favorite for the Republican nomination.

After all, how long ago was it that Donald Trump lead in polls among Republicans?

[Drunken Irishman]

6. The problem with Romney is that he doesn't have an enthusiastic base of support.

Pres. Obama does. DU aside, I think there are still millions and millions of Democrats who would walk on glass to get Obama reelected. Not so with Romney and Republicans. He doesn't inspire and certainly isn't able to tap into that conservative anger that like a Bachmann or Palin.

Just my take, anyway.

[Shagbark Hickory]

12. Good point. He's sorta like our Kerry in 04. nt

[bigwillq]

22. Good points (nt)

[JoePhilly]

7. They can't vote for him on religious grounds.

At least many of them can't.

Remember that these are religious zealots were talking about. Sure, they may be racists too, but that's not a religious thing.

They seem Mormons as a FALSE Christianity, and there is no greater sin than that.

These folks act based on religion first. So they can't vote for Romney to stop Obama because they end up in hell. They have to abstain, and let God's will control events.

No matter what happens, they did not actively help make it so.

[Erose999]

10. Well these are also people who believe that Obama is a Muslim. So they might rationalize that a

Mormon would be the safer choice because "at least he believes in Jeezus".

[JoePhilly]

18. Nope. The fact that Mormons say they believe is irrelevant.

They can't vote for either.

[JuniperLea]

13. Exactly right...

They are more likely to label him as the anti-christ than to vote for him.

These zealots are so far gone you can't convince them that they should feed the hungry and help the sick or visit the imprisoned... which is one of the few things attributed to Christ's teachings that was straight up and clear... to them this is socialism. And they are so effing judgmental... something they were expressly told NOT to do.

They no longer drink the Kool Aid... they are the Kool Aid.

[elocs]

15. Right. Maybe millions of religiously conservative evangelicals will NOT vote for Romney.

For them, Mormonism is a cult that masquerades as being Christian and they believe they are answerable to god if they were to vote for a Mormon to lead this country. However, that does not mean they will be voting for Obama either

[JoePhilly]

19. Right, they'll be in a "can't vote" box.

[Solomon]

20. But Mormons pray to the white Jesus too.

It's about white supremacy. They will vote for Romney if it's between him and Obama.

[elocs]

23. No they won't, and I know this to be a fact.

The religiously conservative will not vote for a Mormon to be the leader of this country and Romney needs every one of those votes and he will not get them.

[JoePhilly]

29. They really won't.

I think you are correct about the race thing. Mormons and far right wingers are on the same team there.

BUT ... the right wing fundies are religious zealots. If they have to pick between their racism, and their religion, they will pick religion.

In this case, they won't vote for Obama, we know that their racism ensures that. But they can't vote for Romney, because he is part of a false version of Christianity. And to vote for him would ensure that their soul ends up in a lake of fire for all eternity. So they have to sit this one out.

Now ... you and I scoff at that "lake of fire" nonsense. It is insane. But they absolutely believe it. If you drop a piece of buttered toast, and it lands "butter side up", they scream "praise Jesus", as if Jesus cares about their toast. These are crazy religious people.

If we go back to 2008, these folks didn't even want to vote for McCain because they knew is was Episcopalian for years. These fundies dislike Catholics almost as much as they hate Mormons. That's why McCain started to claim he was actually a BAPTIST during the GOP primaries.

[grantcart]

8. Depending on Romney's pick of VP..

A lot will depend on who Romney picks for Vice President. If he picks Bachmann then they would support it, if he gets
somebody like Pawlenty they will stay away.

From their point of view Mitt is virutally the same as Obama in policy but less honest than Obama in principle.

They will prefer to 'cleanse' the party with a landslide defeat and have more control of the message in 2016.

A lot will depend on who Romney picks for Vice President. If he picks Bachmann then they would support it, if he gets
somebody like Pawlenty they will stay away.

The polls are worthless. As it draws closer it will be clear that Romney will lose Mass, Mich, N. Carolina, and Florida, all states he must win to win the electoral college. Because of that I don't think that he will win much on the 'electibility issue' and will not get the nomination.

Right now only 22% of the public, including only 28% of the Republican Party are even paying attention to the race, so don't put much stock into any poll right now.

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. Above all, they are racists. They will turn out and vote. nt

[FrenchieCat]

14. Yep....any White person will do.....

They figured that perhaps enough real White "Amerikans" will vote for the White person in order
to stop the "hatin'" thing that they purposefully racheted up against the Brown American over the past 2.5 years!

[QuintanarooBoy]

26. ANY white person?

I dunno: The extreme purple-veiners might not cotton to one o them Church of Cheese & Fries of Labor Day Sales people.

[Eagle Mall]

16. We just need to keep playing that "Who let the dogs out?" clip.

Only the diehards would vote for someone so tragically unhip.

[krabigirl]

21. I don't think he will be the nominee.

But if he is, how will Obama distinguish himself from Romney? He won't really be able to.

[cbdo2007]

24. I don't understand the question. Tea Party = Repubes

[Johonny]

25. does the teaparty exist?

[Major Hogwash]

27. Some will go vote, but others will never vote for a Mormon.

That's just the way it is.

[NeedleCast]

28. My Hope Is They Wont Have To

Because one of the tea party candidates will run third party after they lose to Mittens.

I talk with only one tea bagger on a regular basis and he says that if Romney wins the nomination he will likely hold his nose and vote for him. However, a glance at a hardcore tea party site like Free Republic show's that he's probably in the minority.

[Lizzie Poppet]

30. What they lose in Tea Huggers...

...they'll make up for in those "undecided moderates" in swing states that actually decide the election. Romney is pretty much the only candidate in the current crowd of GOP hopefuls who could run will to that demographic. However, primaries tend to be dominated by either party's "base," which lean further to their respective ends of the spectrum. That may mean that while Romney could very well win in November, he may never get the chance.