Religious Right still around Romney, but is the Bush clan moving to Rudy?

Mitt Romney has been intensely courting the Religious Right (with success), portraying himself as the only legitimate conservative with a chance to win. There have been new reports over the past two days indicating that the Religious Right is coalescing around Romney to stop Giuliani.

First, he got the endorsement of Bob Jones III, the controversial chancellor of the controversial Christian school. Jones was a surprising proponent of religious tolerance: "As a Christian I am completely opposed to the doctrines of Mormonism. But I'm not voting for a preacher. I'm voting for a president. It boils down to who can best represent conservative American beliefs, not religious beliefs." A first step towards the endorsement of the separation of Church and state?

Second, famous pro-life activist James Bopp Jr is now pushing for Mitt Romney. Trying to find a viable alternative to Rudy Giuliani, he writes in an e-mail to supporters:

Other evangelical leaders have weighed in on the acceptability of the leading Republican candidates. Dr. James Dobson, America's most influential evangelical leader, has expressed his opinion that Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Fred Thompson are not acceptable, based on their positions on various important conservative issues... Two other prominent evangelical leaders, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention have recently expressed their view that Mitt Romney is an acceptable choice for social conservatives.

So it does come down to two things: (1) the viability of the candidate, which only Mitt Romney has demonstrated among the socially conservative candidates, and (2) whether social conservatives will have the courage to rally around the only viable social conservative alternative to Rudy Giuliani. A divided field means that Giuliani is likely to win the nomination. This is our choice to make, and we don't have long to make it.

The Brownback withdrawal makes the field a bit less divided already!

Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani is getting endorsements as well. Yesterday, Giuliani was endorsed by the first sitting governor, Rick Perry from Texas! Perry is known as a social conservative, which is good for Rudy, but he is also not universally beloved, far from it. He won re-election in 2006 with only 39% of the vote, a really weak showing for an incumbent. On a less serious note, Jeb Bush Jr. (Jeb Bush's son) endorsed him today and is preparing to work on his campaign. Are the Perry and Bush Jr. endorsement combined a reflection of the Bush clan's preferences?