Don't you think Romney's probably kicking himself in the bee-hind?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

He lost to our Shining Star by only 4 points.

He could come out and say..."About that 47%...I have seen the light ! I love poor people now"...the kind of flip flop I like.

Who would be easier to beat? Trump, Romney, or Carson ?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

1. BTW...researched old polls today - Romney won above the other GOP...nt

[Frustratedlady]

2. I keep waiting for him to pop up and say he's decided to run again.

Is it possible? Have all the deadlines passed him by?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

7. Good question - hard to find - First primary Feb 1 - Iowa

Feb 9 - NH. Thought there was one in January - guess not.

[Frustratedlady]

10. Isn't there a deadline for getting your name on ballots in each state?

I'm sure someone on DU will have the answer. I can't keep up with all the rules and regulations.

[karynnj]

17. Yes and we are either nearing them or beyond some - from various articles speaking of the timeline

for Biden. Here is a link - scroll down to a table that includes the filing deadlines by state. Many are in early November. http://ballotpedia.org/Important_dates_in_the_2016_presidential_race A very casual look shows Alabama, Arkansas and Arizona having November 9th dates. Then there are some including New Hampshire that are November 20.

Romney has a house in NH and this has always been a strong state for him. I assume he might be able to enter too late for Alabama, Arkansas, and Arizona -- but it is hard to see a path if he doesn't run in NH.

I agree that - if he were willing to fight for it - he has a better chance than the alternatives. I have no idea how he does in a general election. What is really funny is that if he opted not to run in 2012 - thus didn't disown his own real credit on health care and didn't take the right most position on immigration, he would likely be very competitive in a general election in 2016. It is hard to believe that Trump and Carson won't implode.

After losing the primary in 2008, losing the general election in 2012, I doubt he wants to subject his family to this again.

[SheilaT]

3. Thinking in terms of which Republican candidate would be easier to beat

regardless of which Democratic candidate you favor, is a huge mistake. The focus should be on what makes our candidate (both at this point and later when the nominee is chosen) the best choice for President. Yeah, the general election will pit two specific candidates against each other, but meanwhile we want to concentrate on why our person is best.

Me, I'm a Bernie supporter, and I think if he is elected he'd be the very best President in many years.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Not sure I follow that logic. It's a given that we have the best nominee - but it's

pure reality that an opponent would be easier or harder to beat...IMHO

[SheilaT]

13. It may well be that we simply have different takes on this,

but over and over on this site I've seen posters make gloating predictions about how easy so-and-so would be to defeat. The focus is entirely on the weakness of the other side, with not much focus on the strengths of our candidate.

This is true at all levels of electioneering, which is why the vast majority of ads are purely negative ones. Alas, they work all too well, mainly because most people don't stop and think about what has actually been presented in the ad. They just believe what they see on TV.

And while we will probably think we have the best nominee, although depending on how vicious the primary season winds up being, that's not assured, around half of the country won't agree with us. We all see things through the prism of our own beliefs and convictions, and it is genuinely scary to me that a lot of people out there seem to honestly believe Donald Trump or Ben Carson would actually make a good President. Not that any of those running for the Republican nomination strike me as remotely acceptable as President.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. I hear you. And agree with what you are saying. But...think here

at DU, we already know the strengths our candidates have - like it's a given.

I do agree that how they present these strengths is very important as they campaign now and in the general. It will be interesting to watch. And, it will be interesting to see how the weaknesses in our opposition will be called to light without falling into the abyss.

Levels of GOP weakness in each candidate equate to a better chance for us to succeed. I think who has the most, who is craziest, is a very worthwhile thing to discuss. It's called opposition analysis

[SheilaT]

18. Here on DU a lot of people

are saying Bernie is unelectable. I don't agree with that.

A lot of people say Hillary is the only one who can possibly beat the Republican, whoever is nominated. I don't agree with that either.

Yes, we will want to be paying attention of the levels of weakness for each potential GOP candidate, but that should not at all be on the radar screen right now. We should be looking at the candidates and assessing how best to understand their strengths.

It's my opinion that it's really a shame that this early on we only have two Democratic candidates, although a lot of people think we actually have only one, Inevitable Hillary. Narrowing the field so very early is a mistake, because we don't get any real discussion of the issues, just a looking at who either candidate might perform best against.

[Kalidurga]

4. There is no easy electoral vote path for any Republican

That is just how it is. This election is Democrats to win. So, I am not worried about anything Republicans have, especially since Romney was their best shot and they replaced him with candidates that are mostly toxic. Rubio might be a problem. But, he seems like a lightweight.

[Frustratedlady]

8. Rubio seems to have a lot of problems in his past.

I imagine Jeb! will dig up the truth and expose him if he can stay awake long enough. He also doesn't seem to care whether he gets the nod or not.

That said, someone will have to answer the questions about Rubio's financial shenanigans in more detail before he is considered.

[Kalidurga]

11. Nah won't disqualify him in Republicans eyes.

They have a serious problem with applying ethics to their leaders. It won't go over well in the GE though so even Rubio won't be hard to beat. Plus he is a lightweight. Sadly he might be the best of the lot.

[lpbk2713]

5. Given the current disarray of the GOP campaign circus ...

I think rMoney could have had a good shot at it if he had stuck with it a little longer.

[NightWatcher]

6. He just keeps downing milk shots, watching his car elevator go up and down

muttering "gosh darn it all to heck"

[TexasProgresive]

9. You left out, While sitting in his magic underware.

[Township75]

15. He and the rest of them would all lose big time to Hillary

She isn't going to lose to any of them, just like she isn't going to lose in our primaries.

[Johonny]

16. I can't see how he wouldn't be leading in the poll and get another nomination at this point

so yes I think he's kicking himself. I imagine Paul Ryan is too.