It’s not that Romney never let the voters in to see the the real Mitt as the Boston Globe piece implies.  If it were that simple his handlers and media advisors would have picked up on that and fixed it quickly.

Romney’s problem was that he was a fake diamond: a diamondique. 

In Mass. he governed from the center, maybe a little center left.  For him to win the GOP nomination, he had to paint a picture that he was a  far right (or at least righter than Newt and Perry) fed up conservative free market capitalist.  From the nomination to election day, Romney had to repaint a picture of a “compassionate” conservative to appeal to the masses. 

At the end of the day, voters didn’t know who the Hell Mitt was.  And, neither did the Republicans. 

Romney flip flopped in so many directions that he became a political contortionist.  That works in DC but it doesn’t work for middle of the road voters looking to get a “warm and fuzzy” feeling when they go to the polls.  And it doesn’t get you elected president.

So goes the Republican party for the foreseeable future.  To gain traction and ultimately get the GOP nod, a candidate has to be far righter than middle of the road.  Sadly, if a candidate gets labeled a RINO—and it sticks—they might as well throw in the towel.

As a diehard Democrat it pains me to say: Mitt Romney had the track record, with a center/right flare, that should have won him the presidency.  So, what happened?  The GOP didn’t play it because the GOP couldn’t see it.

If Mitt had been Mitt (assuming anyone really knows the real Mitt—including Romeny himself) he would have sounded genuine: the real McCoy.   Instead, he came off as fake…as diamonique(ish). 

Know thyself and embrace it.  Work with it.  Advertise it.  Shout it from the highest mountaintop.  This is a lesson I don’t mind sharing because the Republicans and the handlers, spin doctors, talking heads and whatnot will never get it.  The GOP is way to invested in their own image of what is winnable. 

The GOP believes that anything the big money super PACs are willing to invest in—is winnable in a general election.  It’s not so.  It just isn’t true.  Obama won by greater margins and from a wider electorate (except for North Carolina) than in the 2008 election.