... And the Mitt is Off!

On Willard 'Mitt' Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential front-runner that isn't Sarah Palin or Donald Trump.

Democrat and Republican attacks aimed at Mitt Romney, after the former Massachusetts governor announced the first steps of a presidential bid, confirm that he's already the GOP's front-runner, writes Michael Shear in the New York Times. “That Mr. Romney has become the focus of so much criticism from both parties ... is in part a manifestation of the new, hyperspeed of politics in America,” says Shear. “But it also reflects the fact that, whether he likes it or not, Mr. Romney is considered by many in both parties to be the Republican to beat in the 2012 presidential race.” Shear speculates that Romney's restrained announcement video served to separate him from a rabble-rousing GOP class featuring Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, and newcomer Tim Pawlenty.

James Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations provides a handy and exhaustive primer on Romney (bookmark it for 2012), from who's already endorsing him to mud that'll be thrown at him (quickly: Romney's health-care plan, his massive personal fortune, his Mormonism). “His natural audience is Republicans who worry first and foremost about maintaining a pro-business climate,” writes Lindsay. But to shore up those red-state credentials, and prove how badly he wants to be panderer-in-chief, “Romney has taken to showing up at Nascar races, wearing Bass Pro Shops shirts, and getting his hair cut in a strip mall.”

Romney's campaign hinges on the health-care plan he passed five years ago today that looks awfully similar to Barack Obama's, says Erin McPike of Real Clear Politics (another must-bookmark). Given the rancour from the American right over Obamacare, Romney's “biggest accomplishment as governor is now a huge liability,” says McPike. Massachusetts' experiment has led to 98.1 per cent of residents being covered by health insurance, the highest in the country, but “the irony" for Romney on health care is that "although he appears to know more about it than even his toughest competitors, in all of the years he has been running for president, he hasn't been able to graduate to a place where he's able to show off that expertise.” The 2012 campaign would appear to be that place.