Is Romney unstoppable?

[CJK]

The only person who I think could beat him in the primary is Huckabee and the cop-killing scandal probably ended that.

So who, if anyone, can realistically stop Romney? And how?

[The Age Wave]

Pawlenty is the most obvious answer, but there are others out there somewhere.

[Conservative frontier]

Romney ain't superman. He's not unstoppable.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Romney could stop Romney.

[Sewer]

Palin

[ARescan]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

[fezzyfestoon]

Uh...no.  It's 2010.

[CJK]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

But McCain was well-known already and had frontrunner status for a while.

[TheGreatOne]

Anyone could stop Romney.  If I was in the GOP primary, I would prefer Romney over Palin and Huckabee.  He is just so weak with the base.

[fezzyfestoon]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

But McCain was well-known already and had frontrunner status for a while.

McCain didn't have front-runner status until he won Florida.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Romney can't win the GOP nomination. 

[TheGreatOne]

The only person who I think could beat him in the primary is Huckabee and the cop-killing scandal probably ended that.

So who, if anyone, can realistically stop Romney? And how?

I don't think Huckabee is out by any means.  There are plenty of Republicans who don't care about him shortening the length of criminals, especially criminals who were given unusually long sentences.

[TheGreatOne]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

But McCain was well-known already and had frontrunner status for a while.

McCain didn't have front-runner status until he won Florida.

I would say he was the front-runner after South Carolina, which was suppose to be a sure win for Huckabee.  Once he won Florida the primary was basically over.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

But McCain was well-known already and had frontrunner status for a while.

McCain didn't have front-runner status until he won Florida South Carolina.

[TheGreatOne]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

But McCain was well-known already and had frontrunner status for a while.

Yep.  McCain was known for being solid on National Security and voted mostly with the Republicans on Economic issues.  He crossed party lines for issues he felt would help the country.  You could tell he really cared about helping people.  I think Huckabee has that same quality even though I donm't agree with his politics.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

I hope not!

[12th Doctor]

Romney unstoppable?  No.  The Tea Party people hate Romney, and while I don't think they will run the table in 2012, I do think that there "white knight" will have a major impact in the primaries.

One scenario:  The major players for the nomination of Palin, Romney, Pawlenty, and Gingrich.  Romney leads in all the national polls, but the party is divided between the ultra-right (under Palin), the social-moderate/pro-business conservatives (split between Romney and Pawlenty), and the intellectual, all-around small federal government wing (under Gingrich).  With the middle-wing split in the early primaries, Romney fails to gain traction.  By the time Pawlenty drops out, its too late.  In the mean time, the early primaries have been split between Palin and Gingrich, but have largely favored Palin.  The business wing is naturally uncomfotable with Palin and abandon Romney in favor of Gingrich.

There are obvious dozens of possible primary scenarios, but I can only imagine a handful that give Romney a clear advantage.

[12th Doctor]

Eitherway, Romney gets zero traction in half the early primary states, if the primaries work as thy normally do.  This becomes all the more apparent if the Ohio Plan goes through.

[J. J.]

Uh...no.  It's 2010.

^^^^^^^^^^

[Max Electric]

This is ridiculous, for oh so many reasons.

Two years out, Romney is seen as a viable general election candidate with experience in a national campaign and establishment support... excellent, Romney is about as unstoppable as Gary Hart and Ed Muskie were.

[Mr. Morden]

Eitherway, Romney gets zero traction in half the early primary states, if the primaries work as thy normally do.  This becomes all the more apparent if the Ohio Plan goes through.

Even if the Ohio Plan goes through, most states will ignore it, hold their primaries whenever they want, and suffer only minor sanctions for it.

[Mr. Morden]

I think Pawlenty will win the nomination. I think he'll really pick up steam once he starts his campaign. He seems more like the Conservative version of the McCain, aka the compromise.

But McCain was well-known already and had frontrunner status for a while.

McCain didn't have front-runner status until he won Florida South Carolina New Hampshire.

And really, you could make the case that he was the frontrunner as soon as Huckabee won Iowa and McCain held the lead in NH polls.  And of course, he was the frontrunner, or at least co-frontrunner as early as 2006.  It's just that he temporarily lost that mantle during the first half of 2007.  Just like Kerry was an early frontrunner in the 2004 cycle, then lost the lead to Dean, and regained it just as the primaries were starting.

[Psychic Octopus]

No, but he certainly will be hard to overcome.

[RosettaStoned]

Romney will never be President.

[Mr. Morden]

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