This piece seems to echo what Mark was saying about a seperation between Republican pundits and Republican people. John Heilemann of the New Yorker explores why Romney has faced such challenges and how this represents a change from old school(beltway) Republicans and a new direction coming from the heartland. Money quote:
“In the past, of course, none of these campaigns would have stood a chance in the GOP: the orderly party, the disciplined party, the party of primogeniture. What the old Republican Party would have done is anoint a front-runner and let him run the table. Someone who’d touched all the bases, ticked off all the boxes. Someone like Mitt, that is.”