Is Trump the Romney of this cycle?

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Is Trump the 2012 Romney of this cycle, as in he has the most consistent base and is "inevitable", but has to compete with rotating "flavors of the month"?

[Maxwell]

Absolutely. Trump is the frontrunner, has been the frontrunner, and the people dancing around 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place are merely playing musical chairs on the Trump Yacht.

[JonathanSwift]

Yes, he is, and the sooner those who voted "No" come to terms with The Donald's inevitability, the easier this cycle will be for them.

[Figueira]

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No. 2016 is not 2012.

[Pyro]

Ehhh.. yes and no.
He is leading decisively, but unlike Romney, he's at ends with GOP leadership.

[Broken System]

The question is unclear. If you mean the 2016 nominee, then very likely yes. If you mean the establishment candidate that everyone expected to win, then no. Trump deniers are still alive and well.

Like I always believed, this election cycle is like no other. Jeb Bush was supposed to be dominating with his consistent polling by now, but it fell through the cracks.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Ehhh.. yes and no.
He is leading decisively, but unlike Romney, he's at ends with GOP leadership.

He is in the electoral position Romney was in during the 2012 cycle, but he is far more like Romney in the 2008 cycle in terms of issues and relationship with the establishment.

[wolfsblood07]

My gut reaction to this question is no.  Romney was a safe, reliable establishment candidate.  He had endorsements from people like the Bush family.  He was always the inevitable nominee, despite surges from Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Santorum.
Trump is unlike any other candidate that I know of.  The establishment GOP guys hate him, and he them.  Trump has no chance to get the nomination because of this.  End of story.
And I say this as one who loves what Trump says about trade and immigration.  I would vote for him in a heartbeat if he were the nominee.  But he will get nowhere.  He has zero chance.  He does not control the party apparatus like the Romney campaign did.

[The Other Castro]

Trump is the Trump of this cycle and no one else, and trying to fit a square Trump peg into a round Romney hole will yield little success.

[mencken]

Ehhh.. yes and no.
He is leading decisively, but unlike Romney, he's at ends with GOP leadership.

He is in the electoral position Romney was in during the 2012 cycle, but he is far more like Romney in the 2008 cycle in terms of issues and relationship with the establishment.

Exactly.

[Ljube]

Ne, because Romney was inevitable in 2012 and Trump is not in 2016. Romney had a larger lead and a larger unwavering support.

[Phony Moderate]

Ne, because Romney was inevitable in 2012 and Trump is not in 2016. Romney had a larger lead and a larger unwavering support.

On the contrary Romney was behind for much of the race: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_2012_presidential_primaries

And Trump's support has been very solid for months.

[Phony Moderate]

Ehhh.. yes and no.
He is leading decisively, but unlike Romney, he's at ends with GOP leadership.

He is in the electoral position Romney was in during the 2012 cycle, but he is far more like Romney in the 2008 cycle in terms of issues and relationship with the establishment.

So Trump has decent relations with and support within the establishment?

[Ljube]

Ne, because Romney was inevitable in 2012 and Trump is not in 2016. Romney had a larger lead and a larger unwavering support.

On the contrary Romney was behind for much of the race: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_2012_presidential_primaries

And Trump's support has been very solid for months.

At a level lower than the constant/lowest Romney's level. There were rotating candidates that went up and down in a quick succession (the so called flavors of the month), but Romney's support never dropped and eventually only increased.

Trump has two very strong opponents who also have consistent numbers. Romney didn't have such opposition.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Ehhh.. yes and no.
He is leading decisively, but unlike Romney, he's at ends with GOP leadership.

He is in the electoral position Romney was in during the 2012 cycle, but he is far more like Romney in the 2008 cycle in terms of issues and relationship with the establishment.

So Trump has decent relations with and support within the establishment?

Romney was not the establishment candidate in 2008. He had some endorsements yes, but there were elements that were rather hostile. McCain got the Governor endorsements in both Florida and California instead of Romney at critical points ahead of their state's primaries, as well as the endorsement of Rudy when he dropped out. Ahead of the Super Tuesday primary, McCain had Arnold, Crist, and Rudy out campaigning for him whilst Romney had defeated Senators Santorum and Talent. Except for the Mormon states, Missouri and a few other places where Romney did well with establishment endorsements, most of the big name people went to McCain. Even in Masschusetts, he lost the endorsement of two of his Republican predecessors (Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift).

Trump is a more extreme version to be true, but it is not like Trump has no endorsements.

[I support Sanders]

No. Unlike Romney, Trump will win the general election (assuming his opponent is Clinton, due to low turnout and exciting his base).

[SillyAmerican]

He's the frontrunner, yes. But he is a complete different personality.

Agreed. Actually, I'd argue that Mr. Trump is much more politically savvy than Mr. Romney, and won't make some of the silly mistakes that were made last cycle, including maintaining an adversarial relationship with the news media, not releasing tax info, and picking the wrong VP for the ticket. I find Trump fascinating, and say what you will, his political senses are quite good and so far, he's playing the game very well.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Ehhh.. yes and no.
He is leading decisively, but unlike Romney, he's at ends with GOP leadership.

This.

I'll note something else:  Trump is going to push Carson aside because of the PERCEPTION that he knows more about foreign policy than he's indicating.  Carson appear advisor-dependent, and once folks take in just who Duane R.(Dewey) Clarridge is, his credibility will take a massive hit just for associating with him.  Trump's foreign policy ideas, his plans for mosques and deportations, are things his supporters have been for long before Paris and ISIS.  It helps to gain foreign policy chops when folks already buy into your program.