How did they set it up?
From the outset, Romney was touted as "the frontrunner" and "likely nominee". In the very first debates it was all Romney all the time with his hour-long rebuttals every time his name was mentioned. The media was all about his money and organization that the others lacked. It was from all sides and continues to be.
Pair that with Romney's negative brutal attacks on the other candidates and you come up with a "frontrunner" eventually. And what a shame! I'd kill for Perry, Bachman, or Cain to still be in the race.
We also can't rule out simple behind the scenes chicany on Romney and the GOP-E's parts.
Take Virginia, for instance. Both Perry and Gingrich sincerely thought they had met the signature requirements to be on the ballot. Yet, Perry and Gingrich - who were the only two candidates whose submissions were subjected to strenuous scrutiny - somehow both managed to have just enough of their signatures rejected to disqualify both of them.
Now, are both of these men and their candidates really just a bunch of flaming incompetents, or is there more, in fact, to all of this?
We should note that Romney's and Paul's signature submissions went basically unchecked.
It's almost as if the "powers that be" wanted Virginia to be a two-man race between Romney and Paul, which they knew Romney would win.
Perry was my choice. He got out way too soon - IMO.