[Hoot Gibson]

I disagree on both points.

I agree but I don't think either can deny Romney the nomination. Santorum was too underfunded to set up the kind of national organization that he needed, given his low name recognition. Gingrich has the name recognition but he has made too many tactical blunders since he resigned from the House to win the nomination, IMO. A recent poll shows that even Ron Paul is in a statistical dead heat when paired against Obama. Any halfway competent opponent will have the upper hand this fall against Obama. Obama will be forced to make some desperate moves to stay competitive.

The thing that worries me most about the upcoming election is an October surprise that would give Obama a short term bump in popularity just before the election. For example, replacing our nitwit VP with Hillary or starting a war with Yemen or some other small Al Qaeda infested country.

If I were Romney, I would have one of my high level surrogates publicly predicting that Biden will not be on the ticket in November. Force Obama to defend and embrace Biden early and make sure that if Biden is ultimately replaced, the element of surprise will be gone.