McCain was hopeless but Romney may have had a shot at winning if he had proper direction. But neither one has a taste for the jugular, which is what you need to win. You need to destroy your opponent if necessary, in order to win.
And look at McCain today. Recently, he tore into Michele Bachmann, after she demanded an investigation into Huma Abedin's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which are not really denied by anyone. Abedin was or is, of course, a close aid to Hillary Clinton, the who was Secretary of State of the United States for four years. Bachmann simply wanted to know if Abedin, who never obtained a security clearance, was or should be privy to sensitive government information. McCain thought Bachmann's demand was outrageous -- no wonder he got trounced by Obama.