Romney is the best choice for the GOP nomination

Mitt Romney is the best — the only — choice for Nevada Republicans when they consider the four presidential contenders in their caucuses on Saturday.

Of those remaining, the former Massachusetts governor is the candidate who best represents the long-held values of Republican Party. Equally important, he is the one candidate who can be elected and the one best able to deal with the political realities in Washington, D.C., to accomplish what he and his party hope to accomplish if he’s elected president of the United States.

The discomfort of some conservative Republicans in Nevada with Romney is understandable. Although Romney made his mark when he took over the scandal-plagued Winter Olympic Games in nearby Salt Lake City, his first political victory was the governor’s race in “liberal” Massachusetts, which automatically raises suspicions among some members of the Nevada GOP.

Romney’s term as Massachusetts governor was widely considered a success, however, and he demonstrated an ability to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle, a skill that would serve him well should he win the presidency in November and find himself dealing in the highly partisan atmosphere of the nation’s capital next year.

He has the extensive, successful business experience that Republicans say the country needs in a president. He is the Washington outsider they say they want. And he has solid conservative, if not always firm, credentials.

Romney is being challenged for the nomination by former Rep. Newt Gingrich, current Rep. Ron Paul and former Sen. Rick Santorum.

Paul, of Texas, has a lot of supporters in Nevada because of his unusual mix of libertarian views on the issues. He is a strict constitutionalist who offers something for just about everyone, from those who want to decriminalize marijuana to “gold bugs” who like him because he promises to abolish the Federal Reserve and bring back the the gold standard. The anti-war left likes him because of his call for a smaller military, and so do the right’s isolationists who welcome his plan to bring all of our forces home.

These are views that the party needs to hear and consider in its platform later this year. The difficulty for Paul, however: He’s not electable.

Neither is Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives who eventually was forced out by his own party. Gingrich represents everything Republicans say they don’t want. He is the consummate insider seeking the nomination of a party that claims to dislike insiders. He’s twice-divorced and claims to represent family values. He promises to cut the federal budget but proposes colonizing the moon.

Santorum has garnered little support since his narrow victory in Iowa. He’s served in both the House and the Senate but was rejected by his own state in his 2006 bid for re-election to the Senate.

Romney clearly is the GOP’s best choice.