You keep talking about "the GOP" nominating Romney but in fact we all know it was the voters who did that.
It makes you seem pretty crazy, really.
I actually disagree with both of you - it was the media who picked him, just like they picked McCain in '08 and also "created" Obama in '08.
Look at the media content leading up to the first primary vote this year - so much was about Romney, the media marginalized every other candidate and then savaged each one that worked his/her way up to the point where support dropped as did contributions, forcing them to drop out, thus leaving their chosen candidate standing. They did the same thing with McCain and Obama in '08.
Your average person does not scour the cable channels and the internet to find out about all the candidates the way political junkies (like FReepers) do and so by default the media controls the nominating process.
It ain't the way it should be, but it is what it is.