Yeah, cannot you just see that meeting...one guy too stupid to know he is way over his head in the job he has and the other wondering how the hell this dummy managed to beat him.
I see nothing in this as a gain for Romney. Frankly I’d rather have a colonoscophy than endure a few minutes with the jerk as he gloats about winning.
A: None of the above.
"The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy" - Friedrich Nietzsche
It's a usual tactical counterplay to elevate the [former] opponent who is least likely to cause you problems, who is the least respected and the most damaging to "his side" to a status of de-facto "leader" of the opposition.
From that point on, the "leader" or his "virtual image" can be used - just by name-dropping alone - time and again as a counter to "the extreme elements" of the other side - without any threat of being rebutted and occasionally even getting support on some issues where the [former] opposition "leader" can't credibly argue.
Exactly the same thing was done with John McCain who supported Bill Clinton's intervention in Kosovo/Bosnia, and later supported Obama's intervention in Libya and elsewhere, as having "credibility" on military / foreign policy issues and desperately desiring to be relevant and seen as a "leader" of GOP elected members (which stupidly and stubbornly refuses to renounce their put-upon by Democrats/media phony "leaders") while undercutting the actual serious arguments against the policy / strategy / actions.
It's a "war of attrition, by proxy" that's been practiced since, at least, Sun Tzu, and well understood since Niccolò Machiavelli.
Same thing has been done with Bob "The Dupe" Dole during the budget standoff between Gingrich's House and Bill Clinton - the Democrats/media were trumping up Dole (who had an interest in being a presidential candidate) as a "grown-up" in the Senate and a "big brother" to the "children" Newt Gingrich and his impatient House "revolutionaries." One or two days before Clinton was ready to give in to Gingrich's House terms on the budget, the Senate Leader Bob Dole folded and made a back-room deal with Clinton behind Newt's back and Gingrich had no choice but to accommodate Dole and his Senate "adult" dupes.
So the list of points for the meeting should read like this:
1. Show "the people" how "magnanimous" Obama is in winning.
2. Elevate ("appoint" / set up) liberal flip-flopping milquetoast punching bag Romney as the "leader" and the face of opposition, to be used later as a counter, to refute "extremists" on as-needed basis.
3. (Gravy on the side) A chance to humiliate both Romney and, more importantly, the GOP by appearing "constructive" in the "spirit of compromise and working together to solve the nation's problems, which are neither Republican or Democratic."
The egos of Doles, McCains and Romneys of the world make this easy strategy of flattery a no-brainer. You either recognise your real leaders or be stuck with the ones ("false leaders / false idols") they "assign" to you.