There was a point in 2007 when it looked like John McCain’s campaign was dead. He had no money. His staff was leaving. He wasn’t doing great in the polls. But he had one thing going for him. The competition was ludicrous. There was no way that the people were going to make Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, or Mike Huckabee the president of the United States. Mitt Romney was far too moderate (as Massachusetts governor) to win the nomination. And Rudy Guiliani couldn’t expand his oratory beyond a noun, a verb, and 9/11. When Fred Thompson almost literally couldn’t wake up, McCain wound up winning the nomination by default.
I think that the same formula might work for Romney this time around. I can’t see how else he could win. He certainly isn’t going to be the first choice of any tea partiers after having imposed the health insurance mandate on the people of the Bay State. But he looks the part, and has the connections and money and support of the Establishment that you need to make a serious run at the presidency. You can’t really say that about any of the other prospective candidates on the Republican side.
Somebody has to win. It’s not gonna be Palin. So, who? The Huckster?
