If he wins the nomination, that does not make him the leader of the party.
If he wins the general election, that does not make him the leader of the party either.
Do you think that G. W. has ever lead the party? I don't! He always went along with the foolish GOP congress with nary a veto. When he tried to go against conservatives on amnesty, he got spanked.
If Romeny wins, I will refuse to be led by him. I will watch him like a hawk and fight at the grassroots level to undermine every liberal move. Please don't surrender the party, fight to keep it in spite of any setbacks. Regan's win came after Ford's loss. You don't have to vote for him or any other fool candidate. You should not compromise, but save the baby when you trash the bathwater.
No. There are three things that are non-negotiable: The nominees for POTUS and VPOTUS, and the pro-life platform. Romney negates two of those, which makes the third utterly meaningless.
You’re kidding yourself if you think the President doesn’t have complete control of the party. He absolutely does. Which is why we are where we are. The Bush/Rove legacy is one of turning over all the power to completely unprincipled hacks.