. . . is simple. He is smarter than Rick Perry.

He also won’t embarass us as another tongue-tied, cliche-speakin’, inarticulate “spokesperson” for Republicans that can’t explain conservative economics; and he doesn’t have any skeletons in the closet – like Perry seems to. Furthermore – for Romney, business and economics is a matter to be debated at the federal level – but faith is a private matter whether one is Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, or Atheist. Mitt Romney would never be caught dead around a two-bit charlatan like the Rev. Robert Jeffress. We don’t have religious tests in this country for political office – although someone needs to tell Perry and his good friend Rev Jeffress that. I wonder what Jeffress would have said to the crowd if Eric Cantor were running for President?

To the article at hand – amazing how you all take the bait over what Isikoff writes – the same guy who reported that Korans were being flushed down the toilets at Gitmo. And, most importantly so what about the article – if you actually read it, it names 3 people, none of who were even in the Romney Administration. It would be one thing if it was Romney himself or one of Romney’s long-time aides. But this is an MIT professor who was paid 380K to consult with the Obama Admin – would you expect him to say no? For 380K . . . and he probably got to keep his day job? Clearly this story will be brought up tonight at the debate – and I am sure Romney will point out that neither he, nor any of his aides in the Governors office ever worked with the Obama Admin – and nor did Obama ever call him. And once again – it will give Romney the opportunity to distinguish his plan from Obamas. And once again – Romney will do it articulately, will not get defensive, and won’t resort to saying that his opponents “don’t have a heart”. Watch tonight and deep down you’ll be thinking “I only wish Rick Perry was that articulate”.

Lastly – lets get a few facts straight here:

1) Romney got 49.77% of the vote in Massachusetts in 2002 – running for Governor for an open seat in a good GOP year. Running for reelection as the incumbent Governor that same year, Rick Perry got 57.8% of the vote. However – when you consider the hapless John McCain got 55.5% of the vote in Texas in 2008 and just 36.2% of the vote in Massachusetts that year, which win is more impressive? Lets also remember George Bush got 59% and 61% in his two presidential runs, and that Perry got all of 39% in his 2006 reelection and 54.97% in his 2010 reelection (less than 55% in a great Republican year?). All in all – you could say that Perry has underperformed in Texas as he never bested Bush even in a year like 2010 – and his best finish was only 2% better than McCain in a terrible Republican year.

2) Texas Economy and “47th in job creation” – give Rick Perry credit for not messing things up, but don’t give him credit for hitting a triple, when he came in to pinch run. Texas has no state income tax, is a right to work state, and has great energy resources. And I don’t want to bash Texas – I like Texas and think its business friendly climate is a great testament to conservative economics vis a vis a state like California. But unless you have lived in Massachusetts, you cannot really understand how hopeless it is and how challenging it is to turn around a stagnant northeastern economy that has had 50 years of hyper-liberalism baked into its cake. One of the reasons Romney was elected was because the Acting Governor – Jane Swift was powerless and basically complict in stopping a massive tax hike that was passed by the veto proof Democrat legislature. This tax hike went into effect as an “anti-stimulus” in 2002/2003 – right as Romney was getting started. Besides Massachusetts has one of the most bloated and corrupt public sectors in the country – that almost rivals Illinois or New Jersey. And Romney fought the good fight against bloat and patronage – because as a businessman it makes him sick to think of these unproductive people on the dole. Massachusetts also has something called the “Pacheco Law” – which is like Massachusetts own Davis-Bacon gift to the Unions – making all projects more expensive as its almost impossible for non-union firms to get contracts. Try getting that repealed! The fact is – high taxes; a bloated, inefficient government; a pro-union majority in the statehouse; and an excessively heavily regulated state like Massachusetts can’t be turned around in one-term.

Lastly – APA Guy – did you support Christine “I’m not a witch” O’Donnell or Sharon “I pissed away our chance to beat Harry Reid” Angle? If you did, please don’t criticize anyone else’s choice of candidates after supporting those two.