mitt romney?

Mitt Romney, thus far the most quiet (and arguably the most boring) GOP candidate, will probably shape up to be the 2012 Republican presidential candidate. As other hopefuls have essentially crashed and burned (Perry, Bachmann, Cain) Mitt Romney has continued campaigning and rasing money. The most likely reason for his victory will be sheer necessity- there are quite honestly very few prospects for the Republican candidacy. Additionally, Romney has a successful record in Massachusetts and has proved himself to be more personable than he was in 2008, thus eliminating the critical stumbling block of his previous campaign.

However, Romney has two critical problems he must overcome- if he can't, he won't get the ticket. The first is Newt Gingrich. Though Newt Gingrich wouldn't have seemed like a viable candidate a mere two months ago, he is steadily rising in the polls and could indeed overtake Romney if his momentum becomes great enough. Romney's second problem is his past with healthcare. Critics have been drawing attention to his "flip-flopping" record on healthcare reform, pointing out that he implemented policies during his tenure as Massacusetts governor that are very similar to Obamacare.

As the start of the primary season nears, I think we will see Newt Gingrich more heavily scrutinzed by both the press and the public. By the time the party nomination comes around, I think it's more likely than not we will see Romney vs. Obama in 2012.