The Republican Party establishment is running scared all over the country. That something this outrageous would surface in the buckle of the bible belt is hardly surprising. Much of the core party establishment is currently composed of social conservatives, but they're being ousted in numerous places by the relatively young libertarian wing of the party.
Delegate battles have turned into screaming matches all over the country. It bordered on open warfare in Nevada in 2008, and several counties there fell to the insurgency before the 2012 caucuses.
Very little about these battles is being reported in legacy press, but it's not hard to find details if you go looking. We'll be hearing a lot more about loyalty oaths as the old fogies who have been running things try to protect their turf from the young upstarts who are intent on kicking their asses to the curb.
Whether the party can be turned or not is still open for debate, but the more ridiculous the establishment looks, the more they destroy their own chances of preventing the takeover. If they manage to nominate Santorum or Gingrich and end up with the worst defeat in their history, there will be nothing left but a shell ripe for the taking.
