Mike Pesca

Bush wasn't denied it.

Doesn't mean they don't have to work for it.

They got a Walter Mondale even as an ex-VP, right?

Gets it.

It is just very difficult.

They when you think about how state parties are sort of filled with.

Loyalists, you know, you're going to have you know, it's not like, you know, look who runs the state Republican parties right now.

There's not many people from the Romney Bush wing party.

of the party sort of in charge anymore anywhere.

So I don't know where you would get a base of support to actually win a majority of Republican primary voters.

To pull this off, McCain pulled it off because there really wasn't a consolidated conservative to stop him.

I mean, had Romney...

Had Romney been a more trusted conservative in 08, right?

And he just wasn't yet.

He was the guy still four years, frankly, only two years removed from Romney care, only two years removed from flipping on the abortion issue as he left the Massachusetts governorship.

So he wasn't, he couldn't consolidate conservatives completely.

So the sort of the social conservatives were splintered, the sort of more conservative

Bush-Ryan wing of the party was kind of splintered and it gave room for McCain.

Look, it's possible, right?

But the more probable outcome is that, you know, Vance gets it.