Let’s be honest, the GOP had to fulfill two diametrically opposed requirements in a nominee: A “true conservative” that didn’t scare the ever-loving shit out of anybody with two-functioning brain cells. Once the also-rans had been weeded out, Romney was the only choice left. The party sees this as a failure to pick somebody who pleases the base. The rest of us see it as the reality that the GOP as a party is out of their gourds.