I think it’s possible the “prevailing wisdom” that it would be Romney crested too soon. It gave conservatives time to respond.
I’m actually more confident now that Romney may not be the nominee than I was even a couple days ago.
Does a flatline have a crest? Romney has been right around 25-30% the whole time. That's the "base" for the moderate candidate in the GOP. They will stick with Myth until the last dog dies.