Mitt Romney & the GOP’s Nationalist Rump

The great thing about Mitt Romney is that he’s so darn subtle. Hence the title for his new campaign* book: No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. Gee, I wonder what that means?

Romney must be considered the front-runner for the 2012 Republican nomination if only because other would-be candidates have either ruled themselves out (Huntsman), shot themselves in the foot (Palin, Stanford Sanford. [Thanks commenters]) or remain incapable of setting the heather alight even when armed with a can of gasoline (Pawlenty). And since front-runners have won every Republican nomination since 1988 (McCain was unusual in as much as he was a front-runner who slipped and was nearly lapped before staging a comeback which relied heavily upon everyone else demonstrating their inadequacy before the Senator from Arizona could remind voters for a second time of his own short-comings), one would do well to pay attention to what Romney is up to.