The hope among establishment Republicans is that the succession of events will trigger an end to what they see as the silly season — that party activists will sober up and end their flirtation with the fringe.
“This is probably a wake-up call that the stakes of this game are very serious,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a veteran political strategist. “If the byproduct of this is that we get a little more serious about what it takes to lead the country in the Oval Office, then that will be a really good thing.”…
“Pawlenty, Daniels, Romney and Gingrich are all very serious candidates who have spent decades in public service,” he noted. “If anything, it creates even more of an opportunity for them to focus on what matters.”
Leading Republicans, however, conceded that for now their task of taking back the White House just got harder.
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