Nobody forced Romney at gunpoint to be the liberal governor of a liberal state. He did that voluntarily and without any apparent discomfort. If the Republican Party is to remain conservative in any meaningful sense that choice has to disqualify him as a serious candidate for the Party’s presidential nomination. It’s as simple as that.
Tom McClintock recently ran for Lt. Governor of a state every bit as liberal as MA. If he had won (he came within 4%), would that have disqualified him as a Conservative in your mind? Would that have disqualified him as a Republican nominee for national office? Should Massachusetts be abandoned by the Republicans and not contested at all? Which is more important to Right wing Republicans in MA, getting some of their agenda passed and some braking on the dominant Libs, or ideological purity that achieves nothing?