McCain burned a lot of bridges over the past eight years and his transgressions have been mostly forgiven if not forgotten by Republicans. Maybe Romney can do the same thing, but when you add his Mormon faith to the mix I think it is too much to overcome. Mormonism is a negative in Presidential politics, especially with Catholic voters.
McCain started off with at least as many positives as Romney and fewer negatives and it was all he could do to get the Republican base back in his corner. Maybe Romney can get back in the good graces of the base of his party, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
I’m Catholic, and I collected signatures to place Mitt Romney on the ballot for our Congressional District.