Who, then, is almost certain to beat Obama in the general election if only he/she wins the Republican nomination?
I’d say it would be somebody we haven’t considered as a candidate yet (possibly Paul Ryan, although the socons might not like him), or possibly Gingrich (the only “cheerful” candidate, as even one of his detractors admitted) or possibly - well, I don’t seriously think that Sarah Palin has any interest in running.
But Romney really has no chance, and the fact that they tried to balance a bad Presidential candidate with a good VP the last time around has made that strategy unworkable this time. Nobody is going to vote for VP. That’s a waste of time.