Ross Douthat says there’s no point in pretending that Mitt Romney is not going to be the GOP nominee. Republicans don’t like it, but they have only themselves to blame:

Romney owes his current position to two failures: the Bush era’s serial disasters, which left the Republican establishment without a strong bench of viable national politicians, and the Tea Party’s mix of zeal and naïveté, which has elevated cranks and frauds and future television personalities to the party’s presidential stage.

To date, neither the establishment nor the populists have come to terms with the failures of the last age of Republican dominance. And despite occasional flashes of creativity, neither has groped its way to a credible vision of what the next conservative era should look like.

What they have to offer instead is a largely opportunistic critique of a flailing liberal president. So it’s fitting that America’s most opportunistic politician is destined to be the standard-bearer for their cause.

Harsh words, but true ones. The GOP really has nothing major to say that it didn’t say in 2004 and 2008, except, “We’re not the party of Barack Obama.” That may be enough to win the White House in 2012. But it’s still pathetic.