Voters' Anger May Hinder, Not Help, Republicans This Year MADISON, Va. - "Would you tolerate the U.N. and their mandates?" The question to a former senator, now a Senate-hopeful, George Allen came matter-of-factly from Anne Farmer, a diminutive 75-year-old bed-and-breakfast owner in a little park nestled in this very little town in Central Virginia. One Madisonian buttonholed the candidate to press him to reinstate the "don't ask don't tell" policy for the military. Al Cuppett, a Vietnam veteran, spoke darkly of black helicopters and a nearby Federal Emergency Management Agency base where foreign troops are stationed. Mr. Allen tried gamely to respond, warning about Agenda 21, a United Nations sustainable development plan that some conservatives fear has morphed into a global land-use agenda for their hometowns. But then he thought better of it and cautioned, "The Democrat nominee, Tim Kaine, will not be able to win with just Democrats. We are not going to be able to win with just Republicans. We need to welcome people, independents, and even sound-thinking Democrats, to our side. Republican candidates in 2012 face a dilemma they did not face in 2010. The anger and alienation that buoyed Tea Party-backed candidates two years ago is still out there, as are the talk of President Obama's secret Muslim religion and his forged birth certificate, and the sense among older white voters that they have lost their country. An election-eve poll last month before the Mississippi and Alabama primaries found that 52 percent of likely Mississippi Republican voters and 45 percent of likely Alabama Republican voters still believe wrongly that Mr. Obama is a Muslim. But the broader electorate that will come out in a presidential year is not likely to tolerate some of the rhetorical appeasement that candidates got away with two years ago, when a smaller electorate driven by anger over the Democratic agenda swept Republicans to power in the House - and nearly the Senate. In 2010, some Republican candidates who did not go along with some of the conspiracy theories being flung at them by their base sometimes did not survive. Witness Representative Michael N. Castle, Republican of Delaware, who was supposed to be a shoo-in for the Senate but lost to a Tea Party favorite, Christine O'Donnell, in the Republican primary. His unraveling began when he was confronted by a woman who demanded that he demand President Obama's birth certificate. This time around Republican candidates must somehow show they understand that anger and alienation, but they also must not share too much of it. Mr. Allen is a case in point. In small town parks, coffee shops and businesses, he talks up the themes he believes will appeal across the Virginia electorate. A former congressman, former governor and former senator who lost re-election narrowly to the now-retiring Jim Webb in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Mr. Allen is the essence of Republican establishment, the son of a legendary former pro football coach and a high school quarterback to boot. His preferred themes are gas prices, energy exploration and tax code simplification. But in a state still seething over legislation that initially would have required many women seeking an abortion to have an invasive, transvaginal ultrasound, the Republican electorate may not be so compliant. One voter was blunt, saying Virginia does not need anymore Republicans in name only. Social issues are going to be very focused on. They have to be," explained Ms. Farmer, a member of the Madison County Republican Women's Club. Obama, he's trying to control us from womb to tomb. He comes more from a Muslim profile than a Christian profile.