Romney's New Strategy Turns Right- “This is going to be a base election.” More God, less economy.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. Prevent a third party conservative splinter for the 2014 midterms

To shore up the base now means that they're worried the "base" will abandon the Party. You already see rumblings of this in Free republics reaction to Romney, and it will continue if he really starts losing Dole-style. They nominated him against their own wishes (preferring Gingrich and Santorum) largely because he was supposedly marketable to moderates and indies. if that proves to be false (as is rapidly becoming the case), then they will have felt cheated of their own candidates, who they will then imagine might have won. This will be a rift that may sunder the party for a decade. So Romney has no choice but to go hard right and try to salvage at least these folks, the consolation prize being that perhaps Santorum and Gingrich might have lost as well. Put plainly, it's disastrous for Romney to be courting the extreme right at this time, in damn-near late September. But he has no choice.