A year ago, I could be counted among the vast majority of political observers who were prepared to tell you why Mitt Romney couldn’t win the Republican nomination. Today, in the aftermath of last night’s Texas Primary that allowed the former Massachusetts governor to gain a clear majority of delegates to the Republican convention, the nomination is securely and officially in his pocket. Why was I — along with a lot of other people — so wrong about Romney? There were many reasons, and more about that in a moment.

But the main point about the GOP nominee today is that after a difficult, long and bitter primary fight that was supposed to have left him weakened and with a well-funded incumbent president who is already launching brutal personal attacks on him with the eager assistance of most of the mainstream media, Romney is right where he needs to be. Though President Obama has some real advantages, the presidential race is a virtual dead heat. The economy, which is Romney’s strongest issue, is showing no signs of the sort of robust recovery that could guarantee the president’s re-election. The initial Democratic assaults on Romney’s business record (the Bain theme) and on the Republican Party in general (the faux “war on women”) have more or less flopped. A lot can happen in the next five months, but having weathered so many negative attacks from both sides of the political aisle in the last year, only the most starry-eyed Obama idolaters or the most hardened GOP pessimists could deny that Romney has, at worst, an even chance of being sworn in as the 45^th president next January.

The main reason why Romney didn’t seem likely to be the GOP nominee in May of 2011 was RomneyCare. With the GOP grass roots up in arms largely because of ObamaCare, the burden of defending his Massachusetts health care bill struck me as too great a disadvantage. Romney’s record seemed to render him anathema to the Tea Party at a time when that movement seemed to exercise a veto over who would be nominated. Though health care remained a liability for him throughout the GOP race, the further decline of the economy last year as well as the shift in focus on the part of many activists to deficits, taxes and spending during the debt-ceiling crisis made it easier on Romney. Had a credible more conservative alternative to Romney arose that might not have mattered. But that person never materialized. Almost all of those who did run had their moment in the sun, but none of them gave the Republicans as good a shot at the White House as Romney, a point that was made over and over in exit polls that showed electability was the most important issue for GOP primary voters.

Though we are told the Democrats are still seeking to define Romney for the public, the truth is all of his shortcomings have already been brought out and endlessly rehearsed. We know that he has a record of flip-flopping on social issues; that he is too wealthy; that his business success was built on making tough decisions that sometimes involved pain for individuals working at failing companies; and that he is awkward in public, gaffe-prone and doesn’t connect well with individual voters. And, oh yes, 30 years ago, he took a vacation trip with his dog riding in a rooftop pet carrier, and he played a prank on another student in high school.

And yet despite all this he has won the GOP nomination, is in the process of raising more than enough money to offset what was supposed to be a huge Democratic advantage in fundraising and is on firm ground on the one issue that voters agree is the most important this year: the economy.

Romney will have to weather even more vicious attacks in the months to come and must learn to curb his propensity for foolish quips. He’ll have to choose an able vice presidential nominee who will demonstrate an ability to make good decisions and stand up to the president in the heat of the debates. But having already come so far and overcome so many clear disadvantages, it would be foolish for anyone to discount his chances of prevailing in November.