Second Edwards Blogger Quits

"With his 20-minute announcement," says the New York Times, "Mr. Romney took the latest step in his transformation from a Republican who managed to get himself elected governor of Massachusetts, one of the more Democratic states in the nation, to a someone trying to capture the Republican presidential nomination in a process dominated by social conservatives . . .

"Mr. Romney has spent much of the past two years trying to calm concerns among conservatives about his views on such issues as abortion rights; as a younger man, he supported abortion rights, but now opposes them. Similarly, running for the United States Senate in Massachusetts, he pledged to be an all-out advocate for gay rights; a large part of his appeal to conservatives has been campaigning against gay marriage."

The Boston Globe feels dissed: "It's been his foil, his punch line, and his source of political achievement, but yesterday Massachusetts earned just two passing mentions in Mitt Romney's presidential announcement.

"Though a Bay Stater for most of the past 40 years, Romney paid the Commonwealth little heed during his speech, focusing instead on what his native Michigan has meant to him and his family . . .

"In fact, Romney spent more time talking about his father's record in Michigan than talking about his own in Massachusetts."

That is kinda odd, no?

Roger Simon goes out on a limb:

"Running for president means never having to say you're sorry. Or at least Hillary Clinton thinks so.

"She steadfastly refuses to admit that her vote to authorize the Iraq war was a mistake. She refuses to say she was wrong.

"I will make a prediction: Before we get to the Iowa caucuses, Hillary will say she was wrong. She will admit she made an error. Because if she doesn't, she risks losing."

In effect, Dick Polman takes the other side of that bet:

"A Clinton apology would provide opponents with the opportunity to paint her as a flip-flopper who is capable of being duped. Which is not the ideal image for the first serious female presidential candidate.