Does MITT regret not running?

[Averroës Nix]

I mean, Romney might be winning if he were running, but I don't know how anyone who watched last night's debate could conclude that being a Republican candidate in 2016 is a good idea.

You can blame Trump for this, but I think that Jeb's selfish sense of entitlement deserves more blame for this unfolding disaster within the Republican Party than we usually acknowledge. Jeb chose to run as the "inevitable nominee." He attempted to bully other viable candidates (including Romney) out of the race early on, by starving them of money, endorsements, and other resources. He has remained in the race well past the point where his non-viability as a candidate has become clear, all while his superpac continues to run a $100M smear campaign against every other broadly acceptable candidate in the race.

I'm increasingly convinced that the party's apparent failure to decide has everything to do with the fact that it's effectively been held hostage by the still-formidable Bush apparatus, and that Trump's potency as a candidate is mostly just a reaction to these conditions.