Lack of front-runner splitting GOP

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The Republican Party is divided as it searches for a front-runner in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, a published report said.

In the absence of a leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, party members and supporters have begun to splinter, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

"There is no clear front-runner in this race, no primogeniture coming down from the White House, and leaders and followers split," said Republican strategist Joe Gaylord.

The growing divide is particularly evident when looking at the interest groups that traditionally back the party's electoral efforts, the newspaper said. While traditional powerhouses like the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association have struggled with which campaign to back, grass-roots activists have filled their void.

Smaller groups like Americans for Fair Taxation play an integral role in various GOP campaigns and threaten the stability once enjoyed by the traditional interest-group coalition, the Globe said.