fta:
...all of this is not to castigate Romney. What’s done is done. Rather, this is a cautionary note to Republicans aspirants for 2016. Any Republican who makes a bid for the White House had better be damn sure that this is what he or she wants and wants it more than life itself. Because any Republican that does will have to accept everything that comes with it, up to and including being called a cheat, a felon, a murderer...

Amen, brother!

Once the Republicans put up a wimpish rich guy against a street smart Chicago politician and his crew who would go to any lengths to "kill" the wimp, the handwriting was on the wall.

Chances of the establishment Republicans learning from that is slim, as in the election before that, they had the same problem with their candidate who for all intents and purposes was a Captain Francis Queeg type character who also would not fight back.

Mitt, It´s killing me that you aren´t in the WH either.

So disappointed that he didn´t win (and I´m not 100% sure that it wasn´t a win which was stolen). Regardless, it´s a huge disaster for the entire country.

OK @2, who´d YOU want them to "put up"? I dont´t believe this BS one bit...if Romney had no interest in the job, he never would have run. And, IMO, picking Ryan as his running mate pretty much solidified the man´s objective...we´ve got an out of control government that needs some businesslike attention to straighten it out. Say what you want about Romney...I wish he was in that office right now. He´s a class guy who loves his country, and he´s smart enough to turn this BS around. Keep shooting for perfection folks...you´ll never get it.

I reject the premise. In all three debates, Romney thrashed the incumbent. Now, if you want to talk about the electoral strategy employed by the professionals, that left much to be desired. They were outclassed by the Chicago group.

Amen, #4.

#2, even you know that calling Governor Romney "Captain Queeg" doesn´t even make sense, particularly when you link it to some kind of physical wimpishness. If we wanted WWE or something similar in 2008, I guess we could have nominated Hulk Hogan. I don´t know about you, but I wanted someone who could do the job if he was elected and even his detractors believe Mitt Romney could have done so. I am always curious who a Romney detractor believes would have run a better campaign and had a better chance of winning. I´m pretty sure I know the name you would offer and it is to laugh.

2008 and 2012.

It was not Mitt´s lack of a killer instinct. It was his lacking advisers.

Wow. The schism in this party is growing bigger by the day.

George Washington didn´t want to be president, either. He didn´t want to put his family through the public exposure, he didn´t want to lose "all expectation of private happiness," and he feared he didn´t have the skills to pull the country out of the mess it was in at the time. So how did that work out?

Romney´s neither an egomaniac nor a malignant narcissist. He probably had misgivings--anyone remotely intelligent would--and overcame them. Maybe he thought by running he was answering the call of duty.

We´ve had two guys recently who desperately wanted to be president: Clinton and Obama. So how did that work out?

Desperately wanting to president doesn´t mean you´re going to be a good one it doesn´t even mean you´re going to win. Gore and Kerry desperately wanted to be president, too.

The Captain Queeg reference is made to John McCain.

Yes, it´s killing the rest of us, too!! What a waste of a good man and a crying shame all around! I do, however, disagree with the author´s assessment; I believe what Romney didn´t have the stomach for was the agonizing campaign process as it exists today. I don´t think he lacked for desire for the presidency at all.

You´re right, #11. I misread.

Thank you #4!

BTW, I thought #2 meant McCain was Queeg...though I don´t get it either.

I think the election was stolen. There are no protections against fraud in our voting. I watched an old British PSA short film recently on their elections for Parliment. I thought they had a great system back in the 50s and early 60s.:

-No absentee ballots (all done in person)
-Names not only double checked against list, but a numbered and certified stamp placed on the ballot before being given to voter.
-Ballot box was metal, impenetrable, tied close with a string & sealing wax and stamped with the registrar´s seal, so tampering could be identified.
-Boxes inspected before opening and ballots distributed to counters on open tables in front of many eyes, incl. the candidates themselves.
-Number of ballots counted in front of watchers to ensure the number matches the registration list BEFORE votes are counted,
and all sorts of other precautions.

The way we do it now, fraud is easier to commit than honesty.

This will all be lost on the GOP. They seriously want Jeb Bush in 2016.

That`ll shake up the conservative base.

/s

They can start by stop saying "what a good man obama is". That is one honking big lie.

Thank you #3.

The election was stolen in the battleground states.

The Romney´s are better off than if they had won and America is much much poorer in every way.

Mitt won and the election was stolen in the battleground states. Nationally 10% of blacks voted for Mitt. Mitt doesn´t get one single vote in 59 voting districts in Philadelphia. A mathematical and statistical impossibility. Same crap in Florida, ohio...

The reason Romney knew in his heart that he was good going to win is because he did win the actual, true vote...just not the final one. I´m sick and tired of these stories that lay blame other than where it belongs: vote fraud. The rats now have a system dug so deep, I don´t know if we can ever exterminate. But, for crying out loud, can´t we at least try?

I totally agree with those of you who say the election was stolen in the swing states. Why won´t these darn conservative columnists just come out and say so? Obama did not win fairly and squarely. He just did not. What scares me is that it is clear the Dems know how to steal elections....will we ever get our country back?

And, yes, it kills me too that the good hardworking man who is uniquely qualified to turn our economy around will never be our president.

As far as this article goes, Romney was criticized for running for president for upwards of eight years, but now he didn´t really want to be president? Give me a break.

To this day I still get fired up over this. Mitt sir it is killing us also that you´re not president of our great nation. I was proud to be a black man that voted for you. I knew from day one back before 2008 that the O´clown was bad news. Noody will ever convince me that there wasn´t massive voter fraud states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Case in point in my relative´s district in Ohio she told me that the voting mackine kept going back to Odummy everytime she hit Romney. They gave her a paper ballot and sent her on her way after she filled it out. Now as far as she knew the screwed up machine was still there being used that day.

There is not anything Mitt could have done to change the outcome of this stolen election

I am sick of the far right ,like Aaron Goldstein ,
trashing Mitt Romney.
Romney was far more conservative than the Republican base was led to believe.
Thanks to the holier than thou , purity and frankly dishonest crowd like Goldstein, Levin and Limbaugh.
Had they had a truthful and honest word about Romney, the outcome of the election might have been different.
They encouraged the base to stay home and it did.
Selfish jerks-all of them.
One thing is certain-in 2016 , the duly and fairly nominated Republican nominee will be run down and unfairly criticized , not just be the left wing media, but , also the right wing talkers.
The Goldstein, Limbaugh, Levin brigade trashed Romney 24/7 all through the election cycle and then bemoaned the fact that Obama was re-elected .
With friends like this, who needs enemies ?

An analogy. Following Germany´s loss in the Great War elements of the General Staff advanced the canard that the fatherland was defeated by a ´stab in the back´ from subversive elements in the homeland viz, communists, homosexuals, Jews etc. This theme gained traction and was trumpeted by the Nazis, to fatal effect. Fact is, Germany´s loss was the direct result of the gross incompetence of von Moltke and the Generals assigned to execute the plan to enfilade Paris; a fact. Fast forward to Romney who lost because ´the election was stolen´. Really? Not a shred of evidence is offered; just gossip, hearsay and rumor. It´s raging paranoia by republican types to avoid facing the cold hard truth. Principled conservatives know exactly why Romney lost. It´s because he was a grossly incompetent and inept candidate the voters saw through instantly, having neither convictions nor principles. Yet republican types continue to conjure up fantasies and hallucinations about his butt kicking. Expect much more of this, so light a candle for these poor delusional fools. Most importantly, a new party is in the womb. Wonder what ever happened to those poor old Whigs after 1856????

The Queeg reference makes no sense as to Romney or McCain. Queeg was a poor manager of the people under him and an inept captain. Isn´t Romney just the opposite? McCain is a Senator-a position, not comparable to the captain of a ship.

So true, #23. Don´t forget Laura Ingraham who did her share of bashing. I don´t believe that many people listen to her anymore though. She isn´t on the radio in my city anymore.