Romney Inevitability Factor Forces Republican Skeptics to Choose a Side

By Julie Hirschfeld Davis - Nov 10, 2011 9:00 PM PT

Growing numbers of Republican conservatives now see Mitt Romney as most likely to win their party’s presidential nomination -- and that is forcing them to make a choice.

They can resist the former Massachusetts governor’s primary candidacy at all costs. Or they can back him and use that leverage to pressure him to hew to the party’s agenda, including opposition to abortion rights, gay marriage, a hard line on illegal immigration and skepticism toward global warming.

“We’re at the 11th hour of this process, and there are really one of two ways to go,â€