Romney have done better or worse then McCain?

[So rightwing that I broke the Political Compass!]

Well?

[feeblepizza]

I would have to say better. He would have kept all of Nebraska and maybe Indiana, and maybe made New Hampshire a bit more competitive.

[Niemeyerite]

he'd have won indiana but lost missouri and probably arizona.

[phk]

he'd have won indiana but lost missouri and probably arizona.

I could see him boosting Mormon turnout in AZ.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Worse. He'd have even more "base" problems than McCain, he doesn't have half of McCain's appeal in Appalachia, and I see him crashing after the financial crisis. He'd also do even worse in Massachusetts than McCain did.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

he'd have won indiana but lost missouri and probably arizona.

I could see him boosting Mormon turnout in AZ.

Aren't mormons pretty good at turning out already anyway?

[Napoleon]

Worse. He'd have even more "base" problems than McCain, he doesn't have half of McCain's appeal in Appalachia, and I see him crashing after the financial crisis. He'd also do even worse in Massachusetts than McCain did.

Romney had the support of people like Coulter, Limbaugh, and DeMint. I think he'd have had less problems than McCain.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Worse. He'd have even more "base" problems than McCain, he doesn't have half of McCain's appeal in Appalachia, and I see him crashing after the financial crisis. He'd also do even worse in Massachusetts than McCain did.

Romney had the support of people like Coulter, Limbaugh, and DeMint. I think he'd have had less problems than McCain.

I know that, but I still think Romney would prove unpalatable to Republican "base" voters. He did lose the conservative vote in the 2008 primary despite his prominent supporters.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Romney would have done worse with southern Evangelicals and Appalachian rednecks due to his Mormonism. The media and the comedians would have a field day with his flip-flops and his phoniness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDwwAaVmnf4 ). And he wouldn't have any lingering good will with independents and moderates like McCain had.

OTOH, the base indeed viewed him as much more palatable than McCain, despite changing many of his positions. He would have no problems raising money and thus going toe to toe with Obama's machine. He would certainly have made a much more sensible choice of a running mate. And finally, when the financial crisis broke out he wouldn't have looked like a fish out of water. 

[NHI]

D: 341
R: 197

[feeblepizza]

He would have at least broken 70% in Utah, and maybe gotten pretty close in Idaho and Wyoming.

[Phony Moderate]

Romney is more charismatic and wouldn't have alienated conservatives as much as McCain. So better.

["'Oeps!' De blunders van Rick Perry Indicted"]

Worse. Romney is almost the archetypal "country-club Republican", the kind that working-class voters have always distrusted, and particularly distrust during an R president's recession. With McCain, it took the financial crisis to push a lot of these voters into the Obama camp. With Romney, Obama would have had a significant leg-up from the start.

In terms of specific states, I think he'd have lost AZ, MO, possibly GA and fared far worse in WV, while gaining little ground elsewhere.

'12 is a very different dynamic. Now the Republicans' biggest problem is the Tea Party extremist image, so an old-style country-club R  is actually reassuring to some people in the middle.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Obama 304
Romney 234

slightly better because he would do better in CO, NV, VA, IN, and NC and FL, OH, and PA about the same.

[California8429]

Better due to the economy. Would have flipped a few states like

However if the economy never crashed, McCain would have preformed better and the election would have been closer since he wanted Iraq as the campaign theme and that faded from the scene

[Eraserhead]

Probably worse... although I doubt he would have picked Palin... so maybe not.

[SmokingCricket]

Romney by a small margin.

Part of McCain's problem was that he had to do more shifting in his beliefs because he had about as much charisma as Nixon circa 1960 - with an opponent who had charisma to match JFK in the same year. Then again, he also flubbed with Palin, although I'm not convinced that said selection destroyed him like most folks make out.

[J. J.]

I started out distrusting Romney and hating H. Clinton. By election day, I would have voted for either of them over the two candidates running.

Romney's business background would have helped him in the Fall of 2008.

[WillK]

Better.

1) He would have made a better selection for VP
2) He would have been a better debater
3) He wouldn't have done the moronic "suspends campaign" stunt
4) He wouldn't be "McSame"