Bullshit. Have you even paid any attention? The Republican leadership pushed Romney like mad, and fought McCain every step of the way. They fought to have Romney as Veep when it became clear that McCain had won, even though the two men detest each other. The nomination of Palin was, among other things, a total defeat for the whole party leadership. And your use of Karl Rove as a kind of shorthand for Republican depravity is so typical of the dimmest kind of Dem talking point, it beggars belief.