Alas, Mormonism is a valid discussion on this thread. It is a major reason Romney won the nomination and lost the General. I know Christians who voted for 10 straight elections and did not vote for him due to his cult. Trump will not have that issue.
Him running the worst campaign ever also contributed.
Well, ok, but which Mormon is running now? The Romney campaign, thank God, is history. He was a loser, and is now on the ash heap of history.
The Trump candidacy in a way owes its success to the disaster that was the Republican Party and Mitt Romney’s ascension and failure.
Wasn't McCain's run even worse? Romney got more votes and more electoral votes than McCain. Obama was an unknown in 2008 and could have been challenged on experience, something McCain didn't do. By 2012 he was an incumbent, so I say Romney had the harder race and out-performed McCain.
If Trump managed to beat Romney's Electoral College totals, or even come close, then I don't think anyone can say he ran a terrible race.
What that really means is that the POTUS is probably out of play for the GOP at this point, due to demographic changes (aka: Obama's "fundamental transformation") which is turning us into a Latin American / Asian Immigrant dominated nation.
These groups might be hard working and assimilate to many American norms but the historical vision of America means ZIP to them.
Muh Constitution ... whatever. They are here for "goodies" and the good life and will not hesitate to support gun-banning, affirmative action, and other SAtatist nightmares that support their lifestyle goals.
If we lose this election a lot of conservatives are going to have to rethink what they are trying to accomplish. It will probably be the case that POTUS elections are not something to invest energy into at that point.