I think you are mistaken. I think that McCain is quite possibly the most stupid politician in existence today and that he proved more than capable of undermining his own campaign. McCain did so much dim-witted stuff during that campaign that Romney would have been a fool to waste a cent on it. I think it is pretty paranoid to blame “Romney operatives” for the brainless actions of McCain himself. I don’t generally believe in conspiracies when common stupidity can explain a result.
Put it this way, you’re not entirely wrong on McCain. McCain also has no loyalty to the GOP (or to the point, Conservatism). He gave serious thought to leaving the party in 2004 to be Kerry’s running mate. His first choice for VP in ‘08 was Joe Lieberman (which was considered so audacious that even the leftists in the party establishment told him that was simply out of the question). As it was, the only good thing he ultimately did was choosing Palin and bypassing Willard (I’ll add, had he not chosen Palin, I would not have bothered to vote for McCain in the general).
However, I’m not wrong about Willard and how he operates. He always has his flunkies and disciples doing dirty work for him. These are folks without an iota of conscience. Willard loathes Palin for getting in his way. The question folks are asking now, especially since the primary race was fixed, is whether Willard is actually trying to win or if he is going to play the loser again (as McCain ultimately did). The fact that there are enough intelligent and informed people are wondering about the latter is yet another in a long line of reasons he needs to be removed from the ballot. If anyone can lose this race, it’s Willard (and even if he does win the general, Conservatives won’t win).