Why is Romney flailing so badly?

[k2qb3]

16. Mitt is a reflection of the party that nominated him.

Focusing on his personal shortcomings kinda misses the point IMO.

The Reagan coalition that made the modern Republican party possible fractured during the W years.

Mitt has to try to appeal to four or five completely incompatible groups within the GOP just to get the "base". These groups have been fighting over control of the party since the neocons were discredited but none of them have succeeded and the same old crew that the American people overwhelmingly rejected are running Romneys campaign, because they're still the majority in the base of the party.

A big part of the reason the RNC was such a flop is that the R party itself was looking for hope and change. They failed to rebrand and present a credible vision for the future to compete with the Dems.

All of which is IMO a result of the fact that conservatism is a horrible organizational principle to build a political movement around, inherently defensive, obstructionist and doomed to increasing incoherence as the status quo is compromised by inevitable incremental losses. Conservatism is always reactionary, always looking backward. The devolution into bitterness and frustration is simply getting too blatant and Romney is nowhere near talented enough to hold it together.