[shhrubbery!]

But—Romeny was not tough enough. He ran a Mr Rogers campaign. Nice guy—not tough enough for dealing with the lying, dirty, cheating left. Don’t bring a wet noodle to a smash fest.

You mean, we needed a tough guy candidate like Barry Goldwater?

If Romney had done as you say, he would've gone down to a crushing defeat a la LBJ trouncing Goldwater in '64.

Sorry, I liked Goldwater too, up until he went squishy in his dotage.

[two23]

Yeah, you may have it right there. But Romney still was defeated.
Fight hard and lose or go soft and lose?
Hard to say.

[JediJones]

You mean, we needed a tough guy candidate like Barry Goldwater?

Nobody's ever been as tough on Obama in person as Romney was in the first debate. He surged to a 5-point lead in the polls right after that, polls we now know were probably accurate all along. All he had to do was keep that up. Instead he ended the campaign whining about Obama attacking him, saying bland patriotic platitudes, and reciting a litany of economic statistics that went in one ear and out the other of the average dumbass voter.