Do you wish that Romney had won in 2012?

[OSR stands with Israel]

Of course

[OSR stands with Israel]

Romeny was the best nominee either party has produced since 1988 and maybe 1984

[OSR stands with Israel]

First off, with four less years of birtherism, Trump likely would've found some other way to keep in the spotlight. Second, the non-birther part of his shtick could've played in either party. So a Romney 2012 victory doesn't guarantee no Trump in 2016, just that if Trump ran and won, it wouldn't have been as a Republican. Trump defeating Romney in 2016 isn't an impossibility, just unlikely. Sure, his message would've been different if he ran as a Democrat, but since his only core belief is in himself, it could've happened, especially if only the Democratic primaries were a viable route for his attempt at brand promotion that proved to be both more successful than expected and ultimately his undoing.

Against Romney in 2016, Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan would've worked quite well as a Democratic campaign theme. The only needed change would've been that the hats would need to be blue.

So really, you can't argue that a Romney victory in 2012 certainly keeps Trump out of the Oval Office, only that he'd have to take a different path to get there and that he'd promote different policies once there if he did win.

I'm as big a critic of the left/Dems as anyone and I even I would say they definitely weren't crazy enough in 2016 to nominate someone like Trump. They might get their Trump a few cycles down the line.

The Dems in our 2016 hadn't experienced four years of a Romney presidency, and in this alternative timeline while Trump would've had the same basic personality, he'd have been pushing considerably different issues than in the actual timeline, something closer to what Sanders pushed in both 2016 and 2020. If in this alternative timeline, Donald is facing off versus just Hillary and Bernie for the 2016 nomination, I'd say he's probably the favorite to win the Democratic nomination in that field. Of course, in such an alternative 2016, I doubt the field of Democratic contenders is so sparse. But just like with our Republicans in our 2016, the more mainstream Democrats in the field, the better Donald likely does, precisely because they'll all be focusing on each other and hoping to attract Donald's base once his vanity campaign ends.

except Trump did his Birther thing in 2011 not 2013