GOP could do worse than this guy, and probably will

I guess I'm wondering at this point, with alternatives like Thune, Jindal, Huckabee, Pawlenty; Why do so many in the GOP seem so intent on following Romney and Palin?????

'Regular guy' Thune is hot commodity in GOP circles - CNN.com

With just 40 Republicans in the Senate now, Thune insists that there is
still a diversity of GOP views -- but one that he argues must be
expanded.
"We want to see more people joining our party," Thune
said.
"We've got to be able to accept the fact that a senator from the
Northeast, for example, from the New England states, isn't going to be the same
as a senator from the South."
In a leadership made up mostly of veteran
senators from the South, 47-year-old Thune brings youth and what he calls the
prairie sensibilities he learned growing up in small town South Dakota.