The Republican presidential candidate field has been particularly tumultuous this year, with candidates rising and falling out of favor on a monthly basis. It seems like nearly every candidate — first Michele Bachmann, then Rick Perry, then Herman Cain and now Newt Gingrich — has had some time in the sun, only to fade back into the background after their 15 minutes is up.
There are a few exceptions, of course. Ron Paul has, as always, the consistent support of a small but vocal bloc but has been largely written off as too libertarian, whereas Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman just haven’t managed to draw enough attention to themselves and their campaigns. This leaves us with only one candidate left: the perennial contender Mitt Romney. Despite being the only Republican candidate who could give President Barack Obama a real run for his money, the GOP has been searching desperately for a candidate who is anyone — anyone at all! — but Romney.
The National Post, a Canadian newspaper, recently [published an infographic](http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/11/19/graphic-the-republican-nomination-race-so-far/) that examines this phenomenon as it has occurred over the course of the campaign season so far. It shows Romney polling consistently at around 20 percent while his competitors surge and dip over the past few months. The only ones to pull ahead of him in terms of numbers were Perry in September and Cain in November, but in both cases Romney regained the upper hand after a few weeks.
In spite of these polling numbers — not to mention his tremendous lead in terms of campaign funds — Romney can’t seem to catch a break from his party, which seems determined make him the last-resort candidate. But why?
Admittedly, Romney has flip-flopped on some issues — notably abortion — and his Mormon religion seems to be off-putting to the WASP-y GOP. The Massachusetts health care reform that he signed into law has also come back to haunt him, but he has since jumped on the anti-Obamacare Republican bandwagon.
Aside from those minor hiccups, Romney’s a solid candidate. His policies hold water, and his proposed economic plan is much more comprehensive and reasonable than certain other three-digit plans. He has the private-sector experience that conservatives value so highly as well as a wealth of experience in the public sphere. He certainly looks and acts the part, too: while his competitors have flubbed answers and forgotten which government agency they’d like to eliminate, Romney consistently appears commanding and dignified.
Most importantly, however, Romney’s fairly moderate, which means he’s got the best chance at picking up those voters who have become disillusioned with the Democratic party since Obama has taken office. The GOP seems to think that the best response to a moderate left incumbent is a radical right challenger, and most of the candidates have been pandering to the extremes of the party in hopes of proving that they’re crazy enough to win the nomination. Do they honestly believe that Americans are so disgusted with Obama’s presidency that they’ll swing all the way to the other end of the political spectrum? I think they’re in for a rude awakening come election time.
Ultimately, this futile search for an anyone-but-Romney candidate is hurting the Republican Party. The elections are still a ways off, and of course there’s still time for that mythical super candidate to appear, but it’s looking less and less likely that anyone better than Romney is going to come along. If the voters rally behind Romney, there is a very real chance that the 2012 election will go to the Republicans, and the sooner that rallying happens the better.
