Could Perry take the fight to suburbia?

….. The issues, in short, are who can get to 270 electoral votes and whether Perry is too bluntly conservative to be viable in large swaths of purple America. Choice A: The Hippocratic oath strategy – first do no harm. Under this approach, the party would nominate the safe-but-not-sexy Mitt Romney to keep the election focused as much as possible on Obama and to have a better chance to appeal to swing voters and independents. Choice B: Go big. Given the nation's economic troubles and the vast majority who believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, pastels just won't cut it. Bold, bursting differences between Obama and the GOP standard-bearer are a must. By this scenario, Perry, the tough-talking, job-creating machine, would be Ronald Reagan to Obama's Jimmy Carter. [Snip] But a New York Times poll out Friday should give Romney's camp pause. Republican primary voters were equally divided – 48 percent versus 48 percent – when asked what would be more important: a nominee who is right on the issues or a nominee with the best chance of beating Obama. The results indicate that for all the anxiety among party elites over nominating somebody who can defeat the president, many in the base don't think they have to settle to win. (Excerpt) Read more at dyn.politico.com …