David Frum dismisses everyone but Romney for various reasons; then claims it all comes down to Good Mitt vs. Bad Mitt.
There are two Romneys: the pragmatic, results-oriented candidate who got himself elected Republican governor of Massachusetts—and the phoney hyper-ideological ex-candidate who addressed the Republican convention in St. Paul in 2008
.... The big question for Republicans is: Which Romney will show up in 2012? The electable or the unelectable, the serious or the cynical, the commanding or the pandering? All Republicans have to hope that Romney brings his best self to the next election cycle—if only because after this week, we are seriously running out of alternatives.
Ideologically, Romney seems to be cutting a straight path. His disposition is a more schizophrenic thing.
He's actually the one politician who suffers when he attacks and smiles simultaneously. When he does, it tends to cheapen his core competence as a public figure: namely, that schoolyard fights don't belong in a boardroom, and especially not in one he owns.
Huck and Palin can both smile while they murder you, because they're not boardroom types.
And as for Tim Pawlenty, original sin clearly hasn't affected him, so we're not even sure he can get angry.
