The Hill News

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would have likely been the Republican nominee for president in 2012 if not for the "Tea Party" infusion in the GOP, former White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Wednesday evening.

Axelrod, the departed administration aide who's expected to play a hand in President Obama's reelection campaign, said the GOP field was the "most unfathomable" of his career.

But under the old rules, Axelrod said he'd be expecting to face Romney in the general election.

"You know, in the past, the Republican Party has traditionally had a kind of pecking order and a hierarchical system where the next guy in line is the nominee and generally, that's how it happens," Axelrod said on CNN's "John King, USA," pointing to the examples of past nominees John McCain, Bob Dole, and George H.W. Bush.

"It's a different process now; The Tea Party has changed the dynamic, the rules are different," Axelrod added. "Unde! r the old rules, Gov. Romney would be the likely nominee. I don't know that anybody on either side could tell you right now who the likely nominee would be. So I'm intrigued by the whole field."

Indeed, the Republican field is wide open. The latest Gallup Poll of GOP voters' preference showed three candidates -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), Romney, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- clustered toward the top of the pack, but not with a commanding lead.

About whether Palin runs, Axelrod said, "I don't know."

"She seems to be enjoying being Sarah Palin," he said. "Being Sarah Palin seems like a pretty good gig.  Whether she wants to give that up to be a candidate is something I can't answer."

! Obama's own reelection effort, on which Axelrod is expected to! serve a s an adviser, is coming soon.

"I think the process will begin in the spring," Axelrod said, adding that he expected to be able to quickly build the grassroots infrastructure needed to run a national campaign.