Romney the Frontrunner?

I'm not as sure as Newsmax seems to be:

For weeks, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney couldn’t get no respect, to borrow deceased comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s classic line.

Many party members complained that a field with Romney in the lead lacked punch. But that view may change soon, as Politico reports.

Potential competitors have fallen to the wayside. Romney snapped up $10 million of cash in a fundraising spree that lasted less than two days. A poll last week from ABC News/Washington Post showed Romney leading President Barack Obama by 3 percentage points.

“Romney has clearly solidified his role as the front-runner. He’s shown that money is not going to be an issue, and he’s made some strategic decisions on the early states,” Republican strategist Scott Reed, who advised Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on a possible run, told Politico.

“He got a nice bump out of the combination of the announcement and the jobs news that reinforced his campaign message: Obama has made things worse.”

Meanwhile, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that 24 percent of Republican voters nationwide support Romney.

First of all, that $10 million fundraiser was well orchestrated. Yes, he raised $10 million, but the donors had been primed for some time to make their donations during that specific period so they could make a big deal out of it.  It wasn't a spontaneous eruption of campaign cash.

Secondly, there seems to be an assumption that the remaining 76% of Republicans who don't currently support him will jump right on board if he ends up the nominee. I'm not so sure. I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of them just sit it out because they can't pull the trigger for the guy who invented Romneycare and thinks mankind is killing the earth.  If he does win the nomination he better hope for a VP nominee that can motivate those people the way Sarah Palin motivated people to hold their nose and vote for McCain.

And, all of this is academic if Rick Perry gets in the race. I think support for a lot of the lesser candidates, as well as some of Romney's, will jump to Perry in a heartbeat.