The Republican Elite in the Beltway and the Northeast seem bound and determined to slit their own throats and the country’s by nominating another squishy, reach-across-the-aisle, Moderate Republican to go against President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmm) in 2012.

Per washington times.com:

South Carolina’s Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, proclaimed on Sunday that Mitt Romney is the party’s leading potential presidential candidate for 2012.

Grahamnesty said on NBC’s Meet the Press:

He’s got his problems, but so does everybody else.

Hey, isn’t that the guy who looks like Lyle Wagonner from the Carol Burnett Show?

Romney, affectionately known to most Conservatives as Mittens, is a former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate.  As that state’s governor, he was responsible for signing into law a state-run health care plan which is a direct precursor to Obamacare. Recently, this solid conservative (cough) opposed the deal the GOP made with President Obama and congressional Democrats that extended the Bush-era tax rates.

John McCain’s buddy, Grahamnesty, said:

Not only do you have to be conservative, you have to carry the day.

Carry the day? If he runs, he won’t even carry his state.

According to Senator Graham, a good GOP presidential candidate also…

must be focused on immigration issues and the current economic situation, including the price of gas headed toward “$4 a gallon.”

Uh-huh.

Love her or hate her, with Sarah Palin, you always know where she stands.  Mittens?  Not so much.

Even the voice of the squishy Elite, David Frum, admits that you never know what you’re going to get with Mittens:

From his website, frumforum.com:

There are two Mitt Romneys, one bad, one good.

The good Romney is the decisive executive who built a great venture capital business in the 1980s, saved the 2002 Olympic Games and delivered comprehensive health insurance as governor of Massachusetts.

The bad Romney is the Romney who delivered the governor’s last major public address, at the Republican convention in St. Paul in August 2008.

“You know, for decades now, the Washington sun has been rising in the east. You see, Washington has been looking to the eastern elites …. If America really wants to change, it’s time to look for the sun in the west ….” A strange thing to hear from the ex-governor of America’s second most easterly state.

2008 marked the end of a two-term Republican presidency and the recent expiry of 12 years of Republican congressional majorities. Bad Romney disregarded that history to score a crowd-pleasing point:

“Last week, the Democratic convention talked about change. But what do you think? Is Washington now, liberal or conservative? … Is government spending, putting aside inflation, liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It’s liberal.”

Whoa.  Waitasecond.  Was Romney actually trying to hop aboard the Tea Party Express at that point?  Heh.  It sure seems so.  How is Romney standing against Elitism bad, Mr. Frum?  As Vinnie Barbarino used to say:

I’m so confused!

Apparently, so is Romney. 

This is nothing new, as the video showed.

Neither is the animosity between the Mitt Romney camp and Sarah Palin. From spectator.org, posted October 27, 2008:

Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers, some of whom are currently working for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin’s bid for the White House, have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election. “Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won’t be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,” says one former Romney aide, now working for McCain-Palin. “The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney. He’s in charge on November 5th.”

Okey-dokey.  No one told the rest of America.

According to publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com, who did a poll in Florida in December, Mittens is not doing so well in the Sunshine State:

The poll we did last week found him at only 21%, behind Huckabee’s 23%, with Gingrich at 18%, Palin at 13%, and others combining for a total of 15%.

That’s a drop of 31 % since a poll  that PPP did last March.

So, evidently, Romney is not going to be able to ride the wave of the national resurgence of Conservatism.  The reason? Tea Partiers have serious doubts about where he stands.

From ksl.com, out of Salt Lake City, Utah:

Republicans might consider Mitt Romney a Presidential contender in 2012, but he may not have the backing of the growing Tea Party movement.

Related: Republicans promise limited government

Republicans are echoing the unrelenting demand of tea party activists whose energy and votes helped to fuel the largest turnover in the House in more than 70 years. Utah Tea Party organizer David Kirkham tells KSL, the problem with Mitt Romney is his record.

“You know, he supported TARP, big supporter of TARP, and of course that’s what took Sen. Bennett down — and Massachusetts Romney-care,” Kirkham said.

The grand old good ol’ boys in the Grand Old Party had better sit up and take notice.  The 2010 Midterm Elections were a refudiation of not just the Democrats, but big government, business as usual politics.  If the Republican party views things from a Beltway/Northeastern Corridor perspective, instead of listening to the Heartland, and paying attention to the lessons that were taught on November 2nd, 2010, they are going to sadly disappointed.