I think we saw in two months what took three years to play out with Obama. A candidate comes along who is overhyped and a bandwagon affect occurs amongst people desperate for someone, anyone other then what they have now. Then as they see what they are actually getting, the magic vanishes and is replaced with panic and despair.
They real question is who gets a 'second' chance?
the rest are all too extreme (Paul) or tainted (Newt) or both (Santorum).
What the GOP grassroots wanted was a Ryan/Rubio kind of ticket....but Ryan has said no.
...I still think my economic and environmental views (willing to spend on our energy infrastructure in order to keep a good portion of $700B we're sending overseas each year for oil, willing to protect the oceans so that fish stocks can rebound, cutting ties to Japan unless they stop whaling, etc, etc) would be a good sell to the GOP and to the nation during the general election....the problem is these pols, on both sides of the isle, have ZERO imagination to rebuild this country and they stand for very little.
There is a problem with Ryan that would manifest itself if he rose beyond Budget Chair. It's the dirty word that begins with the letter I, that just screwed Perry six ways to Sunday. Christie also has the same problem, by the way. It is not surprising considering that Ryan is a protege of Jack Kemp, that he would also share Kemp's views on this.
That is one thing about Romney that set's him apart from most of the semi-Moderate/Economic Conservatives. He hasn't sold himself to the WSJ and the COC on immigration. Even though Romney supports legal immigration and supported increased levels of such in 2007 (this time Romney has linked it to direct economic need rather than blanket increases), the deal breaker for these irreconcilable corporate suits is the opposition to Amnesty, the support for an employment verification system, and amongst some even just the call for more border security. All three hurt the bottom line. This is why the establishment isn't completely behind Romney and there is just as much desperation for more candidates amongst them as there is amongst conservatives.
There isn't a WSJ/COC candidate in this race at this time, save possibly for Huntsman. Perry was actually being considered for this spot and it's vast amounts of money. But that was yesterday and this is today.
