# Can a viable Republican candidate survive the primaries?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-viable-republican-candidate-survive-the-primaries/641724>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [November 21, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-viable-republican-candidate-survive-the-primaries/641724 "2012-11-21T15:14:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 41

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-viable-republican-candidate-survive-the-primaries/641724/41 "2012-11-22T00:25:13Z")

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> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> The far-right absolute loonies will never change. We need to abandon them.

You can’t afford to abandon a sizeable fraction of your base. These “far-right loonies” supported Perry, Bachmann, Cain, et al in your primaries, when given a choice.

You should abandon them, of course, and you will, eventually, but it takes a lot of guts to stand up to ridicule by Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump and Ann Coulter. You don’t have that kind of fortitude now.

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