It's now settled: the GOP nominee won't be Mitt Romney

That's right. The GOP nominee won't be Mitt "Etch a Sketch" Romney. Oh, he'll be the one on the ballot, all right. But even his supporters don't love him. Have you heard their half-hearted endorsements? And 20+% of the most fervent Republicans say they won't vote for a Mormon. They must be persuaded.

So the nominee will be "Anyone But Obama." Palin stated it plainly yesterday. Romney did his thing, too, by strongly implying that Obama is an atheist. Because there are two religious categories that Republican anti-Mormons loathe even more than Mormons: Muslims and Atheists. "Muslim" is a good fallback--that one has suckered in at least a third of Republican voters. But it won't woo Independents.

"Atheist" will. Hence Romney's "War on Christianity" leitmotif that he's launched.

As for Romney's lack of likeability--his constantly reminding people how rich he is, his only proven political stance being a belief that he deserves the Presidency (and that it should be as some sort of Republican--let's grant him that)...

That leaves the ploy of defining Obama as the dedicated enemy of America. They won't say that in so many words in any medium Independents read/hear/see, & that can be connected directly with Romney, who will continue to smile as he lies about Obama. But that will be the gist of all things they will say. Everything will point to that.