And so the debate rages on. Erickson, the Georgia blogger, actually backed Romney in 2007—only to yank the endorsement in disgust. Now, he says, “we are in a bizarre world where Ann Coulter argues Romneycare is conservative.” The flamboyant Coulter once declared that Republicans would lose if Romney got the nomination. Now she is vouching for his right-wing credentials—and bluntly informing the former governor that “you owe me.”

The dreariest scenario for conservative media types, as a Fox executive admits, would be having to halfheartedly defend a Romney administration. Opinion-mongers are in the business of attracting audiences, generating clicks, building brands, stoking outrage—which is very different from assembling a governing coalition.

And what will the dead-enders do if Romney falls short? Lowry sees an “internal bloodbath,” with some pundits already “setting themselves up to say, ‘We told you he was going to lose because he wasn’t conservative enough.’ There’s no question it would be better for everyone’s place in the marketplace to have another Obama term.”