More from The DC on Romney v. Palin

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In another Daily Caller opinion piece by a freelance writer, Aaron Guerrero says that as the 2012 race heats up on the Republican side, Romney and Palin "may quickly become more foes than friends":

With the kind of buttoned-up, disciplined political operation Romney runs, it seems implausible to think such attacks on Palin were not part of a coordinated strategy, one in which Romney green lighted himself.

A trial balloon for how he and his inner-circle may go about undermining Palin in the months ahead. A good cop-bad cop routine permitting those around him to play dirty while he keeps his nose clean. It’s an eerily reminiscent tactic that was used to great effect by top operatives within the McCain campaign, who through a slow drip of media leaks portrayed Palin as a combustible diva.

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Still, for all of her flaws and baggage, higher ups within the GOP consider Palin a legitimate threat to win the party nomination. No other Republican commands the kind of loyalty and bedrock support amongst the party faithful that she does. And in a primary filled with dull suits, Palin’s electric presence, accompanied by her litany of red-meat bombshells, could galvanize GOP primary voters in a way that no other candidate could.

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But Romney has his share of weighty liabilities too. Perceptions of him as a chronic panderer never went away in 2008 and questions regarding the sincerity of his conservatism still linger today. He’s been called more robotic than authentic, and his past life as a corporate big shot may not sit well with a Tea Party crowd who holds the bailout of the banks as the grand and final betrayal of Big Government Republicans. Oh, and wait until his primary opponent’s begin running ads comparing his Massachusetts health care plan with that of president Obama’s. It could have a devastating effect on his candidacy.

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Romney’s candidacy would garner the support of the prototypical northeastern, moderate Republican, a group more open to a campaign embedded in political pragmatism rather than ideological crusade. Palin’s candidacy would attract those who favor a wholesale and voluminous rejection of the Obama agenda, decrying any hint of bipartisan squeamishness.

You can read the Guerrero op-ed in its entirety at The DC.

- JP