In the Playbook this morning, Mike Allen writes that Mitt Romney’s team is hoping Sarah Palin gets in the race, because they believe it will make it easier for him to win the primary:

Romneyworld strongly believes that if Palin gets in, he wins more easily. “The shock value would cause elected officials and party officials to rally around Mitt, because she’d scare the daylights out of them,” one official said. “And it would allow him to position himself very much in the middle of Republican, conservative thinking and avoid the fringe, and look more moderate for the general election.” Rep. Michele Bachmann would have the same effect, the adviser said. Either of them “gives Romney a bogeyman: ‘Stop this crazy woman.'” Another top Republican said he relishes the idea of a Palin candidacy: “She’ll be defeated, and we’ll be done with her.”

This may be just bluster and spin from Romney’s campaign, because they’re fools if they actually think a Palin candidacy would make Romney a sure thing. Romney is not, and will never be, a palatable candidate for many Republicans because of his health care stance. If he wins the nomination, it will only be by default, because the rest of the field is even more unappealing than he is.

Palin presents a problem for Romney because she is able to electrify the grassroots in a way that he can’t. Her campaign would dominate the media coverage, and suck energy and attention away from Romney. While it’s true that party and elected officials might balk at the idea of her candidacy because they think she can’t win in the general, conservative voters have also shown that they’re not easily swayed by the entreaties of GOP officials. So Romney shouldn’t be so sure about this.

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