Well in Michigan he tied Santorum but the state GOP changed the rules after the fact and gave the win to Romney.
That kind of thing helps.
“If he was the weakest, how did he win the nomination?”
Been away this year?
It was well covered here for months how establishment Republicans destroyed Romney’s competition.
He had outside help whose goal it was to promote the weakest candidate.
He also lied and slandered every other Republican candidate, but practically fellated Obama.
he won the nomination because the overall turnout in the primaries was less than 20%...
mathematically, 10% of registered republicans put his name on the ballot..
there is no other excuse
In 2006 Romney had a strategy of shaping the primary by keeping out other major candidates by having an early series of big money fundraisers and making it clear that he would be using his own vast wealth to self fund, when needed, that strategy worked and no other major players entered.
Romney broke records in spending, and self funded with about 45 million of his own dollars, which he could inject at the most opportune times, of his own choosing, even when fund raising went south, Romney still ended up losing to two totally unfunded, mediocre figures, Huckabee and Senator McCain
Naturally 2012 was a forgone conclusion, and the establishment was constantly working against Palin to make sure that she wouldn’t disrupt the game. As it was, no big boys ran, since Romney was clearly the well funded, machine candidate.
2012 was a replay of 2008, with Bachmann no serious threat, rookie Cain, same thing, Santorum had been booted from the Senate with a history making 17 point loss, Gingrich who hadn’t held office for many years was a last minute fill-in for conservatives similar to Fred Thompson in 2008, none of the challengers were the kind of major figures with organizations to take on Mitt’s continuous presidential campaign machine, which had been operating for 7 years.
Romney’s inertia launched in 2006, was unstoppable, his campaign and his establishment support of the party and of the national media, could only have been broken by a charismatic, game changing, Reagan/Palin type figure charging through the massive gaping hole that was open on Romney’s right flank.
Rick Perry, the SECEDE TEXAS, GUN WAVING swashbuckler. closed that gap with his sudden, puzzling, half hearted feint at the role before he quickly disappeared, having done nothing but having removed Romney’s vulnerable weak spot.
Romney was the result of deep, institutionalized, machine politics by the national party and the national media, and with full support of the democrats, who all were on the same page, of who the 2012 candidate was going to be.