I watched almost every 08 primary debate. I remember Romney being a much worse campaigner than in '12 and the only candidate who amazingly found a way to come off more condescending than Hillary. When a political junkie friend of mine was writing an explanation of why he hated HRC and wanted Obama, he began: "Other than Mitt Romney, she is the very personification of a poll-driven politician..."
He was also WAYYYY more "clueless rich guy". Bunch of weird, stupid, lulzy gaffes.....the dog tied to the roof of the car, using a Pro-Castro slogan during a speech at a Cuban Exile dinner, claiming to be a lifelong hunter when he'd done it twice, praising Battlefield Earth, endorsing Hitler's energy policy.....
"In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of the past."
(May 5, 2007)
He said that during a commencement address at Regents University. lol what the hell is that? dafuq did i just read?
But the worst was that gaffe w/ his sons where he had the nerve to equate the honor of military service to working for his campaign. That hurt really bad in a GOP with no shortage of veterans during wartime. There was a CNN debate soon after where a vet (w/ a son in Iraq iirc) from the audience angrily grilled him about it and Mitt could only respond with this stonefaced talking point apology....it was absolutely brutal TV and one of the most cringeworthy moments in the GOP debates.
Mitt simply wasn't ready for prime time imho.
There was a wistful article during the 08 RNC where a journalist chatted with a pair of failed GOP POTUS candidates off-the-record at a bar. They both cheerfully admitted that they wanted the job for personal glory, but McCain - to their utter amazement - sincerely wanted to help his country.
John McCain if nothing else is a patriot with an truly amazing life story that will make for a HELL of a big budget biopic someday. It was his turn.
btw Pawlenty was the "safe" VP pick, but considering the circumstances under which Palin was chosen (desperate need to shake up the narrative after a epic DNC, desire to cynically cash in on women that wanted Hillary, Googling around for Republican women in elected office) I could actually see Romney or any other 08 GOP candidate making the same error as McCain.