Is the GOP Base Willing to Lose in 2012? - Paul Waldman

http://prospect.org/article/gop-base-willing-lose-2012

You could argue that the contemporary extreme wing of the GOP—call it the Tea Party if you want, but it's bigger than that—has already taken over the party, so they don't need to nominate their candidate to shove the process along. But if Newt wins the nomination, it will prove once and for all that the Republican establishment may still exist, but its power is a shadow of what it once was.