Gingrich and Santorum were not the greatest candidates, but certainly more electable than Romney was. Romney lost far more conservatives than he won moderates, and he consistently waffled around health care (he could have said “I was an idiot and learned from my mistake”, but he never did). Overall, he was only slightly to the right of Soetoro.
I have no regrets for my Constitution Party vote that year. I’m glad Trump is the candidate this year instead of someone unwilling to take on the Left.
Romney had no ideology or issue he cared about other than upholding some establishment way or life. That came off to the people. Listen, I don’t like and never have liked Obama but Obama believes his own bullshit. That made Romney look as stiff as his hair.