Hypothetical situation:

[PCIntern]

Suppose Mitt Romney did not exist. Who then would have been nominated by the Rethug powers that be?

[LiberalLoner]

1. My guess, Paul Ryan.

[baldguy]

2. Who would the people with all the money have supported?

The GOP nomination goes to the highest bidder. Mitt was never the most popular; he never won any primaries, until the others started dropping out; and he had a large portion of the RW punditocracy actively opposed to him.

The reason he got the nomination was because the other candidates ran out of money to fund their campaign before he did.

[PCIntern]

3. Yes...thus my question

Who?

[Tennessee Gal]

4. My guess: Jeb Bush or Chris Christie

With no Romney, they would have needed someone else to step in.

Cain, Paul, Newtie, Santorum, Bachmann ..... all crazy and too radical.

[Tennessee Gal]

5. Romney is crazy, too.

But he hides it better.

[Orangepeel]

6. Whomever had come in second place in 2008

Romney will be nominated because he doesn't threaten the status quo and it is his turn. If he didn't exist, it would be someone else's turn. It's hard to say who, because that person would have been running since 2006.