Romney is a liberal, big government statist. That disqualifies him...matriculated wrote: Ron Paul never had a real chance (and besides, his foreign policy views disqualify him from the presidency) and Gingrich has faded into non-viability.
Santorum is a conservative, big government statist. That disqualifies him...
I don't consider Romney or Santorum to be a good candidate (better than O... yes). BUT I don't dismiss them as crazy (unelectable seems to be a buzzword) and move on. We're all supposed to be on the same team here at this point. Find a conservative candidate who will beat the current communist out of his throne. For a lot of people, Paul is their dream candidate. I'll talk about Romney's and Santorum's (and Paul's) faults, but I won't dismiss them as unelectable or disqualified. Stuff like that serves to alienate conservative folks who lean to the libertarian side on most issues. Don't be surprised when none of them show up to vote for "your guy" when you make "their guy" out to be some kook who never had a chance and never should have.