Just give him the nomination now

Next stop: The White House! Mitt Romney’s eight-vote ass-whupping of a candidate known just last week as “that other guy, you know the one” is surely proof that Romney is the GOP’s choice to go mano y mano with the evil Barack Obama. Not just five votes, folks. Eight. Count ’em. Who can stand against such a juggernaut?

Then again, it was just Iowa. And again, it was against a slate of candidates who might have been selected at random from a Rotary convention in Dubuque. And since such a convention is an accurate cross-section of the select few who like to schmooze at the Iowa caucuses, there’s that.

Still, it’s a great victory. A vindication of all that Romney stands for. Which is admittedly vague at this point, since you don’t want to offend anyone in the early going. Or, hopefully, in the middle or late going either. Better to do what all the GOP hopefuls have done, which is wink at those seductive Tea Party ladies and cough real loud when you’re asked about specifics by anyone else.

Now everybody’s going to New Hampshire. But really, why? Can’t we just have the GOP convention at a Denny’s someplace and give Romney the nomination now? With this eight-vote mandate, he’s good to go. Anybody really think Santorum or Gingrich or Paul is really in it now for anything more than TV time? Wake me in November.