Name recognition is perhaps the biggest draw any candidate has at this point. But we have had NO analysis of which one would be best for the good of the territory once known as “the United States of America”.
A nation I would like to see re-established.
Romney is certainly benefitting here from name recognition, but also from the serious buyer’s remorse over reelecting Obama in 2012.
In a similar vein, a lot of people voted for George W. Bush for sentimental reasons: giving him the second term many felt, after 8 years of Clinton, his Dad should have received in 1992.
It doesn’t mean that Romney will be competitive, let alone win the nomination again, in 2016. However, those Conservatives who are really worried/upset/angry/outraged over such a possibility (or the possibility of ANY RINO getting the nom) need to be the first ones advocating for Conservatives to coalesce around a single Conservatie candate early in the 2016 cycle.