Why Does the GOP Hate Mitt Romney?

By Rick Moran

The New York Times thinks it has the answer:

Campaign insiders and outside strategists point to several factors driving the ill will, most notably, Mr. Romney’s attacks on opponents in television commercials, the perception of him as an ideological panderer and resentment about his seemingly unlimited resources as others have struggled to raise cash.

Mr. Romney’s campaign contends that the hostility is driven by the fact that he has aggressively sought to win the early primaries, setting himself up as the chief antagonist, first, to Mr. Huckabee in Iowa and then to Mr. McCain in New Hampshire. Mr. Romney continues to be a mountain in the paths of both men, as well as Rudolph W. Giuliani, to the nomination.

Editor Tom Lifson adds:

The dues-paying argument is another way of saying he's not a DC insider. Which is not as much a problem with voters as with DC insiders. I think the money and the pandering and the attack ads are most of it, with a certain amount of envy.

AT Political Correspondent Rich Baehr weighs in:

A goody two shoes with lots of money. The GOP establishment may not like McCain, but other candidates did or do like and respect him, other than Romney.

Which leads one to conclude that there really wouldn't be very much excitement generated by a Romney nomination win.

This could be trouble because polls in Florida show a developing two man race between McCain and Romney with Giuliani falling behind. If Romney were to win Florida, it would basically make it a two man race on Super Tuesday as well. And given Mitt's money advantage, he may be able to pull a few surprises and slow McCain's march to the nomination.