Huntsman is too moderate for the nomination and Tim Pawlenty is too dull to fare well. The best pick for party leadership in the 2012 field would be Rick Perry.
Perry would be painted as a return to George W Bush and he had the issue that he was on pain killers for back problems during the campaign.
Perry would probably be much softer on immigration than Romney and excite the base more. He was a leader on prison reform and criminal justice reform too (
see here).
Perry probably does better in Nevada and Colorado over Romney. He's just a better fit for southwestern states.
The issue of Romney's Mormonism wouldn't happen with Perry either. I think Romney's Mormonism hurt him with evangelical Christians. Between this and latinos, that hurt Romney in Florida.
However, Perry not being as tough on trade or immigration probably hurts him in the midwest where such things are popular.
Get him a good running mate (I'm thinking Pawlenty, Portman, or Christie) and I could see him doing well.
If Perry makes Criminal Justice reform a big issue in an effort to outflank Obama, Christie is a strong running mate due to his being a former prosecutor. He had approvals around 50% in pre-Sandy too.