Seriously. We would have loved the guy. He wouldn't have had to flip flop on anything, and his experience as Governor, health care success in Massachusetts, and leadership with the Olympics would have had us salivating in 2008. He would have been the second coming of Bill Clinton - a handsome hunk of a pro-health care, pro business, Roe v. Wade defending moderate former governor willing and able to trump the Republicans on many of their own issues.
He could have been consistent. As a severely moderate Democrat, he would have just as easily been elected Governor of Massachusetts, and he would never have had to back off from his progressive positions or pretend to be a varmint hunter.
Democrats would have been eating out of his hand. We don't care that he is rich. We love the Kennedy's, Warren Buffet, Al Gore, and even loved John fucking Edwards. We would have loved Romney, too. We don't care that he is Mormon.
So the guy is a little stiff. So what? We nominated Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry, for Christ's sake!
Facing the economic crisis, candidate Romney would have been far more credible than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. And they had nothing on him on foreign policy. Hell, neither of them can even speak French.
A chickenhawk Mormon had little chance against John McCain in the 2008 Republican primary, but as a moderate Democrat, he would have easily beaten McCain in the general election.
There was a point in Romney's life when he made a calculated decision to enter politics as a Republican rather than a Democrat. He blew that decision, and it cost him the presidency.