Will Mitt Romney Be the Last Republican President?

In South Carolina, Mitt Romney is leading in the latest GOP presidential primary polls, and he is the clear favorite to win the Republican nomination in the 2012 election. But not everyone is excited about his presidential bid.

In an op-ed today published in The American Thinker, Steve McCann writes that a Romney victory could spell the end of the GOP for years to come.

"Are the American people prepared to sit through another term of George H.W. Bush? The chances are that Romney would be the last Republican president, as the Party may fly apart under his rule. The country would then have to face another round of the Left-dominated Democratic Party in charge and the inevitable collapse that would bring about."

McCann writes that selecting Romney would be "nominating a moderate under the guise of electability," and that in order to deal with the country's immense challenges, the country needs a more radical candidate. Here's an excerpt:

At no time in the past 150 years has the nation needed a bold and decisive leader that could not only initiate change but be honest with the American people.Yet the current governing class and in particular the Republican establishment is treating this election cycle as if it were no different from any other during the past sixty years. Their reaction to the Tea Party movement is indicative of this mindset, as they choose to denigrate and dismiss this grassroots uprising as just another passing crusade by conservative ideologues. They fail to understand that the appeal of Ron Paul is that he is willing to stick it to the ruling class. The primary concern of the establishment, either Republican or Democrat, is to retain power through the control of the purse strings, and to put off any difficult decisions while "compromising" with the opposition.

Thus, he concludes that Mitt Romney will tear apart the GOP:

This is the last hurrah of the Republican establishment. The conservatives and libertarians will vote for Romney in November, but only because he is not Barack Obama. There will be no enthusiasm, which will hurt the down ballot contests for the U.S. Senate, the House and state governorships. Despite the factors weighing against Obama in this upcoming election, it will be a much closer contest that it should be; perhaps a razor thin victory for Romney.If Romney were to lose the election, there will be a grass-roots revolt against the Republican Party which will spell its demise. If he wins and the nation, through the mis-directed policies of Romney and the Republicans in the Congress, continues on its current path of compromising and nibbling around the edges of the nation's problems, then Romney will be the last Republican president and the specter of the Democrats re-assuming power will be a reality.

Share your reaction: Do you agree with McCann or does he overstate his case? Is Romney too moderate of a candidate? Will a Romney victory divide the GOP for years to come?

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