Romney’s job was to stop a conservative from getting the nomination. He accomplished that. He mailed it in during the general campaign.
I agree with the first part that argument. The GOPe (and the Democrats who voted in the Republican primaries) rallied around Romney. I don't believe that it was an active conspiracy but it accomplished its goal of keeping real conservatives off the top of the ticket by promoting the "severely conservative" candidate. I still say shame on any conservative who voted for this clown in the primaries - next time do your homework. I'm less critical of those conservatives who voted for Mitt in the general election, although I didn't.
The part of the argument that I don't buy is the second half. Once the GOPe had secured their man as the nominee, why not go all out to win the general election? There have been few better openings for the GOPe to get their guy in as POTUS than in 2012. Obama was struggling and America appeared poised to change leaders if one emerged. While the GOPe agree with a lot of Obama's policies, they are generally more aligned with Romney's corporate welfare, socially liberal mindset. What would they have to lose? IMO, Mitt Romney ran a poor campaign because he is a poor campaigner. In his previous campaigns (of which he won exactly one), Romney was an uninspiring candidate.
Well said!