they are scared to death of obama and really aren't sure are he can be beat. so the calculation is best opportunity, the only electable in this field they think is romney. even if he doesn't win you have got enough down ballot pull to maybe take back the senate which is i think their real objective. if they were honest they would tell you that it what they think the most realistic objective is, is to capture the senate and get their precious chair manships back. if you remember back in the 2010 mid terms the establishment just came unglued at kristine o'donnell and jared engel because both of them are conservatives and opponents weren't. but they thought those people had a better chance of winning. was all about getting committee chair-ship. the republican party is not