Will the GOP eventually bite the bullet and start nominating "moderates?"

[Vepres]

Apparently the RNCC is recruiting moderates for senatorial races. There are more moderate Republicans than people think, they just don't hold office right now.

[Vepres]

McCain was the best candidate for this year. The only other GOP candidate whom I believe could have done a comparable job was Romney. His economic credentials would've been a huge asset during the financial crisis. Under certain scenarios, I can envision him doing better than McCain (though not winning). On the other hand, he had his own problems. His religion may have cost him Georgia where McCain held it. His flip flopping on social issues may have hurt him further with the southern base, and lost him credibility with the moderate and libertarian bases in the rest of the the country.

All in all, if it is true (and I'm pretty sure it is) that after the financial meltdown no Republican had any realistic chance at winning, then McCain was the best person to lose, so the GOP wasn't embarrassed by a major Obama landslide (as opposed to the minor one he had this year). 

[Vepres]

In hindsight, Romney was the best GOP choice for November 2008. He wasn't the best GOP choice in January 2008, though, so he didn't win.

Maybe, but then you would've eliminated the GOP's best chance (among current likely candidates) to win in 2012.

[Vepres]

In hindsight, Romney was the best GOP choice for November 2008. He wasn't the best GOP choice in January 2008, though, so he didn't win.

Maybe, but then you would've eliminated the GOP's best chance (among current likely candidates) to win in 2012.

Romney would have been a good candidate in 2008 because, at the end of the election campaign, all anyone cared about was the economy. Romney was all about the economy, and actually had real, tangible experience where Obama and McCain clearly had none.

He's wishy-washy as all hell when it comes to social issues, but that would have been largely irrelevant.

And for what it's worth, unless the economy is still in the dumps in Nov. 2012 (God help us if it is), Romney will be a terrible candidate for President that year. He's a niche candidate.

If he runs as the guy who won the Massachusetts governorship, or the guy who almost unseated Ted Kennedy, than he would be a very strong candidate. He has the opposite problem of McCain, he needs to loosen up and let people get to know what his positions really are (whereas McCain was, rightly or not, viewed as erratic and indecisive).