There were a couple that I would rather have had as the GOP nominee than Romney, but that isn't the real issue.
The real issue is that, taken alone, none of them was particularly attractive. This is what kept the primary electorate from coalescing around any one of them.
There are always going to be naysayers. Reagan had plenty of naysayers, too.
But the liberals are better at organizing their naysayers and talking them into STFUing when it’s important to do so. You didn’t hear any liberal naysayers of Romney, did you? You think that’s because they weren’t there? If you think that, you’re wrong.
It’s because liberals are better at organizing their troops than we are. We do good on some things, like congressional races. The Tea Parties did great in 2010 in state and local elections. But when it comes to national organization, we really suck.
You can blame the candidates all you want but the problem is the candidates will never be perfect. Neither will we be... but we can do a heck of a lot better than we did in 2012.