Romney's greatest vulnerability, as well as his greatest strength, is his predictability:
Romney has [told political allies] he is intent on running to the right of Jeb Bush.... Romney has signaled to conservatives that, should he enter the race, he shares their views on immigration and on taxes — and that he will not run from party orthodoxy.
I recall hearing Bobby Fischer once say that he had had a hard time beating Bob Hope in a game of chess, because Hope's moves were so illogical, they baffled Fischer and he wasn't sure how to proceed. Romney's vulnerability in terms of predictability is the mirror opposite. He may be the world's worst politician on the stump, but he conceives strategy at a profession level — which makes him vulnerable to other professionals. Who in the politics racket couldn't have guessed that he'd attack Bush from the right? And who won't guess his every move, from here on out?
But, as noted, Romney's predictability is also his strong suit. He's like a McDonald's hamburger — tomorrow's will be exactly like yesterday's. Oh, he'll flip on this issue and flop on that one, for sure, but he'll always be the same Mitt Romney: a prefabricated, preprogrammed prevaricator who will serve up endless dishes of whatever politics' mass consumerism wants. Mitt doesn't mind; as far as he's concerned, the customer is always right. In this case, to the right.