Our large cruise ship sailed within view of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a gathering of conservatives sponsored by National Review magazine considered the wreckage of the 2012 election. Most of the writers and commentators on board agreed with Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition that the last thing conservatives need to do now is to form a “circular firing squad.” But lessons must be learned.

Was Mitt Romney, as some suggested, “our best foot forward” — a highly intelligent, photogenic, generous, public-spirited, articulate man of great integrity whose loss can only be chalked up to the poor judgment of 2012’s voters? Or was he, as Midge Decter described him, “the sort of person you’d love to have as your next door neighbor,” but who couldn’t inspire political passion?