He won by attrition. He had a small but consistent base and knocked down each flavor of the week one by one.
Part of the problem was that Perry really was the strongest alternative but he botched up during the debates and looked like another Dubya. Nobody wanted that again.
No, Cain was the best bet but unfortunately, this clown folded like an accordion at a really simple problem easily solved by PR people: issues of infidelity. All he had to do was pull a Clinton and say ‘i messed up’.
That wasn't the only thing though, remember convention story where the bus circled the convention three times, refusing to let the delegates [from VA?] get to the convention in time to vote on a rule-change? It was about a rule change that benefited Romney; further do you remember the several states where Ron Paul supporters got him in and then the GOP retroactively changed the rules?
Romney wasn't just a liberal, he was anointed and foisted on us.
I, for one, am not disappointed he lost -- for that built on a lie is never stable.