Smokin, on the mark; but as for Romney, a reflection.
More than half a century ago, Barry Goldwater, a distinguished AF Major General
and the force behind the AF Academy, was the GOP candidate for POTUS in 1964.
More significantly, he was a Principled Conservative in the mold of Madison and Monroe.
But the likes of lefty R governors Rockefeller, Scranton and Romney, refused to support
him, instead running an aggressive tv ad campaign, in the millions, against him.
Those three scumbags never paid a political price for their treachery and Romney
Junior is little more than another fraud, hustler and scumbag.
Here's what killed Goldwater, more than anything. He was painted as a warmonger, even as LBJ buried the first big installments of 58,000+ Americans in VIetnam.
Error 404 (Not Found)!!1Goebbels would have been so proud.
Democrats have been pointing the finger at Republicans and blaming them for the things the Dems do ever since, and it still works!
Actually what slowed the Rockefeller crowd was Gerald Ford, who refused to step down (as I believe he was intended to do) and let Rockefeller take over. Then Rockefeller died (and I heard three very different versions on the radio of how and where in a half an hour before the story was 'settled').
It is a pity Goldwater didn't win. Wallace was shaking things up, too, before he got shot (maybe
why).
It seems the tables are conveniently cleared of contenders from any but the 'big two', as Ross Perot was likely threatened as he said, something just outlandish enough to have plausible denial, and to allow Perot to be presented as nutso.
Obama's Administration used that formula with great success, doing things so outrageous they read like overblown dime novels, in plain sight.
Romney showed his stripes in Mass.with gay marriage and Romneycare, both moving the ball toward the Communists goal.