If you are looking for an alternative to Thesis (I just looked at version 2.1 and its still a "need to know lots and lots of code" theme now).  I might've found a close replacement. It's called Goodnews and after watching a few videos I can see where it has its own drag and drop page builder. It has a bunch of widgets, and unlimited colors. It also ties in with Google fonts and is complete responsive. Best of all its only $45. Here are just a few of the built in features.
Alert bar Unlimited Sidebars Strong focus on typography, usability and overall user-experience- (care with every single detail) Social Icons in header and footer Built in Slider Built in advertising.
Videos at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/203