Paul Graham asks the question so many were thinking.

He's so transparently insincere. Both Romney and Obama are intelligent men, but Romney's electoral strategy requires him to tell and re-tell blatant lies that he doesn't for a minute believe.

He must be constantly telling himself that the ends justify the means, but that will only be the case if he wins, which he is unlikely to do. More likely, he has sullied a great career of business leadership and public service with an incompetent and stomach-turning presidential quest.

I cannot recall anything like him that has gotten as far as he has in American politics.

Are there any examples of Romney's strategy being successful?

Richard Nixon.

Oh. Well, that didn't end well. :)

But he did open US relations with China, so he wasn't all bad.