This election cycle, most of the party’s elites are lined up behind Mitt Romney. But Romney, though ahead in the delegate count, has struggled to unify the base of the party in a way that will force his challengers out of the election. It shows how far the influence of those elites has fallen.
In the 2012 election, the Republican primary contest has shifted to Illinois. It’s the latest state where voters are trying to choose from among the four, remaining mainstream Republican candidates, including Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.