Romney was tolerated, but never adored, by the Republican base. You might say that Mitt never found his true followers until Donald Trump came along. When the base fell in love with a Manhattan real estate developer, it left a vacuum of leadership among the remaining 3% of the GOP: the Never Trumpers. All the conservative establishment consultants, corporate lobbyists, and think tank "intellectuals" who had impotently stood against Trump's victory now needed a leader who understood the pain of their lost promotions. To whom could these lonely and disaffected souls turn, if not to Romney?

The GOP's disgraced managerial class finally found true love with the GOP’s discarded 2012 nominee. Romney is the ultimate symbol for them: the clueless patrician politician who refuses to leave the stage after his curtain call. He is the natural leader of the GOP wannabe elite that nobody wants around anymore. (Like those clingy college ex-boyfriends who can't quite believe it's really over, they keep hanging around your dorm until you have to call the cops.) That's why Romney's solitary vote to convict Trump was celebrated like the 4th of July among the Never Trumpers. It offered one last chance to collectively thumb their noses at the President who had embarrassed them all by winning in 2016 despite their cranky opposition.

https://emeralddb3.substack.com/p/mitt-romney-the-model-senator-for