It isn’t surprising, really, that the NRO has decided to annoint Romney as the next Bush (and what a compliment!). McCain opposes torture, Giuliani is flopping and scandal-plagued, and Huckabee’s fate was sealed when those in the know took a look at polls like this. At any rate, here is an excerpt from the NRO:

Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate. In our judgment, that candidate is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest. While he has not talked much about the importance of resisting ethnic balkanization — none of the major candidates has — he supports enforcing the immigration laws and opposes amnesty. Those are important steps in the right direction.

This is laughable on so many levels that it is difficult to figure out where to begin. Saying that Romney is the most conservative is akin to putting me in a skirt in the women’s locker room and claiming I am the most feminine. It is preposterous. There were and are actual conservatives in the race- Mike Huckabee is a true-blue social con. Sam Brownback is a true-blue fiscal and social conservative. Fred Thompson is startingto sound like a traditional conservative. And so on. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is an unprincipled flip-flopper who will say ANYTHING to become President. Hell, you don’t have to rely on me, you can ask Erick at Red State:

Romney is a text book perfect candidate. He’s right on the issues. He’s right on the looks. He’s right on the money. He’s right on the executive experience. He’s right on the organization. He’s right on the family. He’s right on the strategy. He’s right on the pre-campaign book launch. He’s right on who he got to support him in the conservative opinion community. It’s like his campaign checked all the boxes before he started and expected things to just work. The problem of course, is that Romney did the same thing in 1994 and 2002 and on both occasions he checked all the boxes on the other side. You’ll have to forgive voters, particularly evangelicals who’ve seen their hopes go up in flames before, from trusting the guy now. There is a manufactured, astroturf feel to all of this and it wouldn’t matter whether he was Methodist or Mormon. Republicans have a track record of producing poor self funders who check all the boxes expecting campaign flowers to grow. Just ask Pete Coors.

NRO’s choice was forced upon them- Giuliani is tanking, Thompson is sleeping, and, most importantly, Huckabee is surging (and you can expect to see more attacks like this from the establishment), and something had to be done, and done quickly, or the corporate establishment might lose all control of the race. As such, NRO offers a glimmer of honesty:

More than the other primary candidates, Romney has President Bush’s virtues and avoids his flaws. His moral positions, and his instincts on taxes and foreign policy, are the same. But he is less inclined to federal activism, less tolerant of overspending, better able to defend conservative positions in debate, and more likely to demand performance from his subordinates. A winning combination, by our lights.

Everything but the bolded portion is simple nonsense. They think Romney can win, and that is all that matters. Because it sure as hell isn’t Romney’s record that is convincing them to support him. At any rate, it should be fun to watch the evangelical base get alienated by the party elites as the establishment candidate is rammed down their collective throats and the go for-the-throat right-wing media do what they can to strangle Huckabee’s campaign in the crib.

Sit back and enjoy the show.

*** Update ***

And what a show it is going to be:

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, ”Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” The article, to be published in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn’t know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The authoritative Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992, does not refer to Jesus and Satan as brothers. It speaks of Jesus as the son of God and of Satan as a fallen angel, which is a Biblical account. A spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Huckabee’s question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.

Grab the popcorn and soda, because the GOP is providing the nuts.