The Rudy-Romney wars are in full swing today, and as always, the booty at stake is that ever-precious Christian-right vote.

Earlier today the Giuliani campaign accused Mitt Romney of "transparent pandering" and "desperation" in response to Romney's earlier comparison of Rudy to Hillary, which is of course the ultimate insult in GOP primary politics. Now Romney spokesman Kevin Madden has returned fire with this:

“Governor Romney is the Republican who can best represent the coalition of national security, economic and social conservatives that serve as the three pillars of the Republican Party’s foundation. Republicans can bring conservative change to Washington with a nominee like Governor Romney who is willing to speak about all three of these issue platforms, not just one or two of them.

“Mayor Giuliani’s positions on gay marriage and abortion are clearly at odds with many conservative Republicans. We simply disagree with those positions. If the Republican Party nominates a candidate who shares the same positions as Hillary Clinton on social issues, then we risk losing our identity as a party and we risk losing the White House to her.”

It's clear the Romney campaign thinks they have a winner in their "three-legged stool" argument against Rudy, which holds that only a Republican who's conservative on the triumvirate of national security, economic issues, and social issues can assemble a coalition that can win a general election. With Sam Brownback and many others beginning to predict that Rudy is doomed, and with the threat of defection from religious right leaders seeming more real by the day, the Romney crew may be on to something.