A year, I would have predicted that Mitt Romney would be the GOP presidential nominee in 2012. A year later, that prediction still seems safe. The conservative base has been flailing about to the point of exhaustion in efforts to find someone who can embody the far right’s most demented aspirations, but such a candidate simply doesn’t exist. At least, not in an electable package. I’m still hoping Rick Perry can stage a comeback as he would make a ripe target for Obama, but he’s already imploding. The Tea Partiers will either have to grudgingly accept Romney or find the courage (and resources) to organize a third party movement. Romney’s strained relationship with the Tea Party will probably be one of the more interesting political dynamics to observe next year.
