bq. What I’ll be watching for is whether any of the four successfully finds policy positions that appeals to movement conservatives but is difficult for Romney and Pawlenty to embrace, either because it’s opposed by important interests within the party (such as some anti-immigration measures that businesses don’t like) or because it’s highly unpopular with median voters in the general election. Some of the latter, of course, has already happened with the House budget and Medicare plan. And the severe blowback that Newt encountered after criticizing the Medicare plan is a sign of just how rocky things can get when a 2012 hopeful departs from the party line on an issue that’s viewed as intensely important by the base.
