The Hill’s Erik Wasson, quoting Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots:

She described Romney as a “weak, moderate candidate hand-picked by the country club elite Republican establishment […] They didn’t see a clear distinction so they went with what they know,” she said of voters.

"Conservatives" is not an accurate descriptor of Tea Party sympathizers. "Extremists" and "fundamentalists" are better descriptors.

Actually, I think Romney’s farthest-right positions are the very ones that lost him this election. I keep hearing and reading about a growing movement among moderate Republicans (the original and, many would argue, “real” Conservatives) to take back their party.

If that narrative is accurate, and if that movement succeeds, the Republican party has a chance to put someone in the Oval Office in 2016. Those who would prefer a president with an (R) next to their name would do well to show the extremists and fundamentalists in their ranks the door.