Too, honor and personal integrity are the foundations of COURAGE.
It would take a lot of courage -- more than conservatives have yet mustered in a very, very long time -- to refrain from voting "R" in any presidential race, let alone one against the most toxic secular statist Democrat incumbent this nation has seen, and who would have been thought impossible just a generation ago.
Let the chips fall where they may, a vote for Romney would make statism and liberalism stronger in both parties. That is an absolute certainty.
People are scared sh*tless of the prospect of four more years of Obama for good reason. That's for certain. Another truth: Reactions made out of sheer terror are usually stupid reactions.
A vote for Romney, in my opinion, is just that. The aftermath would be worse and more long-lasting than Obama. Omama we can fight. Romney is as slick as oil. IF, God forbid, it comes down to being in that booth, just me and God and the ballot, I pray I find the courage to reject Romney, because it would take a lot of courage. Let's hope we end up with a better, more hopeful alternative.
This is the calculus that will doom Romney's chances of capturing the nomination, or of going on to challenge Obama. He simply is not fit to do the job that Americans know must be done to restore our nation.
As you said, he'd actually cause untold damage to the conservative Republican brand, because he'd do nothing to alter Obama's plotted course, and the resultant destruction would be hung about the necks of the right for decades to come. Mitt as president nearly ensures the complete demise of America, because of this.