Mitt's strategy

I've heard that Mitt wants to keep the "Anyone But Mitt" GOP faction divided for as long as possible, because with Newt and Rick and Ron--and, I guess, the other Rick still in the game, it continues to look at if the Far Right has no one to turn to besides Mitt if they want to beat Barack.

On the other hand, I've also heard that President Obama wants as many of the far right candidates to stay in the race as long as possible.

Why? Because as long as Mitt faces one or more competitors to the right of him, he doesn't dare change his political tune to a centrist one that would be more appealing to centrists. He has to keep talking to social and fiscal conservatives as if he's one of them, as long as he has this opposition.

Plus he can't just talk about Obama in his speeches if he has viable competitors. He can't act like they don't exist and get away with it if he keeps getting just 25% of the Publican vote in polls and primaries. He acts as if he has already won the nomination, and that only works if his competitors all drop out.

And because Mitt's been acting as if he's Mr. High Road while his surrogates have been down in the gutter with massive attack campaigns on his competitors, now he's got competitors who may be happy to lose the nomination as long as they can take him down. Newt Gingrich has already declared jihad against Mitt because of both his pretence of virtuosity and the reality of his gutter politics (which people outside the primary states mostly haven't seen yet).

So Obama may wind up with Newt, Rick and Ron inadvertently working for his reelection.

Divide and rule.