Romney Runs

I don't know why any of the Republican Party's various right wings thinks that anyone asked them, or is going to ask them. On five of the last six occasions, the nominees have been Bush I, Bush I again, Bob Dole, Bush II as he presented himself in 2000, and John McCain.

Next year, either it will be Mr Socialised Medicine, the man who ran for the Senate from Ted Kennedy's left, or else the RNC will hoodwink Republican primary voters into backing Tim Pawlenty as the "conservative" alternative.

But neither of them will win, and the party's great and good do not want to win in 2012. They want to win in 2016, which would not involve beating Barack Obama, and which they plan to do in the person of David Petraeus, who is currently a serving member of the Obama Administration, and who may yet remain one until the day of his Inauguration.