It’s a question that comes up every primary season: Does a competitive presidential primary divide the party too much to bring it back together for the general election?

As Republican voters pick sides in what looks to be more and more like a race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, the attacks are heating up.

While some condemn these increasingly personal attacks as dangerous to the Republican party in their divisiveness, Romney has a very different take on it. On the campaign trail this week, he made the claim that a competitive race does not divide the Republican party, it prepares it.

Yes, that may have just been putting a positive spin on negative campaigning. But it’s also a decent point. The attacks that come to the surface during the primary season are not going to go away. They will rear their ugly heads once again when the GOP nominee faces off against Pres. Barack Obama.

So, what do you think? Is it better to get those attacks out in the open now at the risk of fostering fights within the party?