Wall Street Journal Not Thrilled With Romney's Jobs Plan

See, "Mitt Romney's 59 Economic Flavors." After the praise, some criticism:

On taxes, Mr. Romney would immediately cut the top corporate income-tax rate to 25% from 35%. His advisers say there's already a bipartisan consensus that the U.S. rate hurts American companies, and they're right. Even Mr. Obama agrees.

But on other taxes, Mr. Romney shrinks from a fight. He says he favors tax reform with lower individual tax rates but only "in the long run." His advisers say that means in the first two years of his Presidency, but then why not sketch out more details?

The answer may lie in his proposal to eliminate the capital gains tax—but only for those who earn less than $200,000 a year. This eviscerates most of the tax cut's economic impact and also suggests that he's afraid of Mr. Obama's class warfare rhetoric. He even picked Mr. Obama's trademark income threshold for the capital gains cut-off.

If Mr. Romney thinks this will let him dodge a class warfare debate, he's fooling himself. Democrats will hit him anyway for opposing Mr. Obama's proposal to raise taxes on higher incomes, dividends and capital gains in 2013. Perhaps Mr. Romney feels that his wealth and background make him especially vulnerable to the class charge, but if he won't openly make the economic case for lower tax rates he'll never get Congress to go along.

On spending, Mr. Romney joins the GOP's "cut, cap and balance" parade, setting a cap on spending over time at 20% of GDP. What Mr. Romney doesn't do is provide even a general map for how to get there, beyond cutting spending on nonsecurity domestic programs by 5% upon taking office.

That does sound a bit timid.

RTWT.

Rick Perry's Surge May Force Mitt Romney to Shift Gears

At LAT:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be forced to shake up his strategy to win the Republican presidential nomination now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has seized the top spot in the latest Gallup poll.



Among Romney's likely shifts: softening his focus on New Hampshire, the first primary state, and starting a more aggressive campaign in Iowa, where the race actually begins.



Romney invested heavily there in 2008 and fell short. But this time, a battle between Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota for supremacy among Iowa's social conservatives could create an opening for his more moderate brand of conservatism.



Also up for discussion inside the Romney camp: an accelerated advertising push, including attack ads against Perry.



"This nomination fight will not be a coronation," said Scott Reed, a GOP strategist who is neutral in the race. "He's got to show that he's willing to fight for it."

Romney's been campaigning as the inevitable nominee, but that's obviously not going to cut it.

Rick Perry Campaigns as Presumptive GOP Nominee

Look, things are going really well for Governor Perry, but he's still facing formidable candidates in the primaries. Watching the news on this reminded me of Hillary Clinton, who seemed all but assured the Democrat nomination in 2008. She campaigned on an inevitability platform as if she was a political heiress to the party's throne. And while I know Obama's been going after Perry in interviews, the media honeymoon coming out of Iowa won't last too much longer and pretty soon the campaign will focus on who's the best Republican in the race. Perry's looking good, but it's the voters who'll make the pick, and Michelle Bachmann's blazing in Iowa and that's not likely to fade too much between now and the caucuses. And here's this at KXAN Austin News, "Perry trying cast himself as nominee."

I remember watching Hillary Clinton in a couple of the Democrat debates in 2008 and it was like worker bees swarming around a queen. This year on the GOP side, Romney's been so far getting those kinds of benefits, and he's not going to give up the mantle of frontrunner so easily. So, stayed tuned. The Republican race is up for some bloodletting before much longer.



See New Hampshire Journal, "Poll: Romney rocks, Perry pops, Bachmann doesn’t bounce" (via Memeorandum).



RELATED: At The Hill, "GOP torn over whether Romney or Perry can best make case against Obama."

Mitt Romney Heckled in Iowa

This gets pretty heated, especially after 2:00 minutes at the clip:

See Legal Insurrection, "Obama campaign tactics against Romney already surface."



More at London's Daily Mail for the details, "Mitt Romney shouts at heckler as he remains in pole position for president nomination ahead of GOP head-to-head debate."



EXTRA: Robert Stacy McCain's on the ground in Iowa, "Mitt-Mania In Des Moines." Also at Memeorandum.

Robert Stacy McCain Covers Mitt Romney in Iowa

See: "Mitt Romney Comes to Des Moines, Attracts Massive Media Coverage."



And a Romney campaign ad, "Civility":

RELATED: At New York Times, "With Return to Iowa, Romney Heeds Call of G.O.P. Strategists."