I'M SURPRISED THEY ARE THIS OPEN

POLITICO talked with some GOP insiders and found that they believed the nominee field is now set and it won't matter if someone enters later.  What I found most interesting is these disparaging comments about Palin and Bachmann:

Republicans officials have no idea what she’s [Palin] planning, although they agree she would have tons to lose by entering a race that would cost her the mystique she has built up. And Romney advisers said her entry would help the former Massachusetts governor dramatically.

“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.”

Bachmann would have the same effect, the advisers 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.”