LLS
If memory serves me, there were two RINOs in the primaries, and only one of those was ever a factor in the race.
There were five conservatives and one libertarian.
If the discussions on this board were any indication, every single one of these six had something in their personality, mannerisms, beliefs, plans, or background that rendered them unacceptable to a segment of the FR population.
There was never any consensus amongst FReepers as to which of those should be the nominee, and the viciousness with which they attacked supporters of other (non-Romney) candidates was disturbing, to say the least. Just about every candidate was accused of being a stalking horse for someone else, and FReepers who were vocal in their support of their choice were slandered as “bots”.
It might be personally comforting to point the finger of blame at Romney, the GOP-E, the media, etc. but the real problem was that we had a marginal set of choices to begin with. Once the field started to thin out, the ones that remained were so involved with their own ego trips that they were never able to agree to stand aside for any of the other candidates for the good of the country.
The general voting public seemed to have the same reaction as people on this board, in spite of all those who dismiss them as being uninvolved.
I’m not a fan of Romney in any way, and for the record, I voted for Newt in the primary. But the fact remains, Romney never stopped running after the 2008 election, and you have to give him some credit for having his act together organizationally, something the others were never able to achieve.
The best example of that was the snafu in Virginia.
The Tea Party movement is a hopeful sign, but it needs to become more organized and focused to the point where it can be a force for supporting true conservative baggage-free candidates, especially at the national level, and give them the organizational backing that they would need to compete with the establishment candidates.