there are those who believed that when suddenly loads of states decided to move their primaries up that this would have a positive effect on mitt romney’s campaign.
as the theory goes, the democrats like to look for new meat in their primaries while republicans let different candidates court them, yet ultimately go for the person with the brand name. in 1980 ronald reagan beat george w. bush. in 2000 george bush beat john mccain and in 2008 mccain won the gop’s primaries.
so when newt gingrich imploded last summer and seemed to be wallowing in the 5 – 10 % wilderness for the next few months, the u.s. press along with the uk press (namely the economist–which should be ashamed of itself) decided to hand the mantle to mitt romney.
but is he a brand? this is the question.
