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Will, I don't think that you grasp the basic tenants of the Iranian Revolution, an event that's the basic foundation for their political system.
The clerics on the Council of Guardians (who are the clerics that keep getting mentioned) are not going to allow the nomination of a pro-Western candidate. It is in their best interest politically to make sure that happens since any detente erodes their hold on power.
You seem to be operating under the assumption that any Iranian president is a free piece on the board when that's just not the case. The office of the presidency is the SECOND most powerful in the country but it is beholden to the office of the Supreme Leader in the Iranian Constitution. At best Mousavi can dial down the rhetoric and criticism that flow from Tehran so that constructive process can be made. But it seems quite clear to me that while the generation of students that led the Revolution are still alive, and moves towards the West in general and the US specifically will be necessarily both small and easily reversible. The younger generation has some influence at the ballot box, but virtually none of the seats of power in the country are held by elected officials.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
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