The Republican Party is in the midst of change. It is seeking to define itself which could be one reason for the wild swings in these primaries. It didn’t help Mitt Romney to bank right and try to woo social conservatives in the 3 state primaries yesterday. But was it a set-up by the White House during an election year? Did the Democrats put the issue of mandated coverage of contraception out there because they were waiting to see if Romney would use it to try to court social conservatives? According to today’s Washington Post, the Obama campaign might have set Romney up so they could paint him as a flip-flopper since Massachusetts offered similar coverage while he was Governor. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels considered running for President but reportedly opted out after saying he hoped the party wouldn’t lose sight of pressing economic issues because it was so easily sidelined by social ones.  Hopefully, Romney wasn’t tricked into getting sidetracked or sideswiped yesterday. There was a great article in the New York Times today about how the culture wars have played a big role in the race so far. Our advice is stay moderate, Mitt! Because it will be the moderates who define Election Day. 

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/the-persistence-of-the-culture-war/?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/white-house-gives-romney-a-social-issues-death-hug/2012/02/08/gIQAH94PzQ_blog.html