In the latest Gallup poll on the Republican Presidential Campaign conducted April 2-8 amongst registered Republicans and ‘Republican-leaning’ Independents, titled “Romney’s Challenge”, Gallup found that Romney now “faces the challenge of building enthusiasm and, hence, turnout among certain key groups of Republicans among whom he has done less well during the primary contests so far. These include Midwestern, young, highly religious, and conservative Republicans.”
This report summarizes well the challenge Romney and his organization faces, particularly amongst younger voters and Evangelical Christians who attend church regularly.
In my view, unless he can succeed in persuading these groups that he can be counted on to remain committed to the conservative values he claims to hold, his ability to defeat Barack Obama rests with the level of disenchantment and determination amongst the populace to remove the current President from the White House.
If he indeed ‘runs to the middle’ as his campaign manager indicated he would, he faces the prospect of further alienating conservatives and losing what little enthusiasm that currently exists on his behalf. Those are decisions he and his campaign team must address, and do so wisely. Our decision as conservatives and evangelicals is whether we wish to have 4 more years of Barack Obama or 4 years of Mitt Romney.