Like Coulter, she says she’s serious about the nuclear option, and (presumably) like Coulter, she thinks Mitt would be a tougher out for the Dems than McCain. Would he? We’ve already had this debate, more or less, in another context, but to imagine Romney being elected at this point you have to envision him winning not one but two races as the “anyone but” candidate. Has that ever happened? Has any guy ever swept through the primaries and the general on the tide of atmospheric loathing for his opponents? It’s a sure loser against Obama, who carries no baggage and whose charm and “authenticity” (and historical significance) match up, shall we say, very neatly with Mitt’s perceived stiffness and phoniness.

Anything’s possible against Hillary, but why does Tammy think Hillary would wipe out McCain, who’s always done better against her than Romney has head to head (possibly because of the greater name recognition), while Romney would give her a race? Her organization delivered an unlikely win for her in New Hampshire and an impressive six-point victory in Nevada; his organization’s 1 for 5 in hotly contested primaries against opponents vastly weaker than the one she has to contend with. Is centrist opposition to Hillary so strong that independents are going to come out in force for a weak candidate whose own party only turned to him at the eleventh hour out of panic about the alternative? Hard to believe. Which isn’t to say Hillary won’t beat McCain either, but that doesn’t seem to be Tammy’s fear. Her fear is that she won’t beat him and then we’re stuck with the RINO brand — another worry that I think is overblown.

People are sending me this piece about McCain’s possible Supreme Court picks too, I guess so that I can dump on it. Judicial appointment are one of the least worrisome aspects of a McCain presidency. He says himself he doesn’t care about social issues; appointing pro-life judges in the Roberts mold is a perfect way for him to buy himself credit with the base that he can then go spend on the leftist crap that makes his heart sing, like amnesty.

Exit question: These Tammy/Beckel tangles are really getting “edgy,” aren’t they?

Update: It’s all probably moot anyway.

[T]he winner-take-all/proportional split among the primaries has just sorted out terribly for Romney. He’s going to get a decent slice of the vote in McCain’s best states and absolutely no delegates to show for it, while McCain gets a few here and a few there in Romney’s best states, and California probably splits pretty evenly.