I read an interesting interview with James Carville in the latest edition of Rolling Stone. He might be the enemy but he's no idiot. He articulated that come 2016, it'll be the Democrats who "fall in line" with whatever candidate the party offers. Republicans will only need to field a candidate who's electable in a general election. Doesn't have to be the most conservative guy on the block. Simply "electable" will fit the bill. Jeb Bush was the guy Carville was thinking about.
Interesting observation. I think we’ve got to define “electable” a little better than last time, though: Romney, after all, was supposed to be “electable,” but quite frankly he awakened so little enthusiasm that I think he might have lost even against somebody other than Obama. No matter who their candidate is, the Dems have a huge advantage in their GOTV strategies and even though Obama got significantly fewer votes overall than last time, the dem operation was and probably will be enough in the future to ensure the success of their candidate unless we oppose it with our own strategy and a good candidate.