Self-described white, “born-again,” or “evangelical” Christians represented more than three quarters of the GOP vote in Alabama and Mississippi, providing Santorum with his margins of victory, but that group amounts to only one-quarter of the overall national electorate. In 2008, the born-again vote went overwhelmingly for McCain, but Obama won by comfortable margins among the three fourths of voters who don’t embrace the evangelical identity.

If the ongoing primary battles make the Republican Party look like the God Squad, that identification could cripple congressional and senatorial candidates as well as destroying the presidential contender, while alienating the disproportionately secular young voters who are crucial to the party’s future…

If both candidates use the term “moderate” as a curse word or as the ultimate insult, it can only serve to drive remaining moderates decisively from the Republican big tent and alienate the independents that any candidate will need for victory in November.