by Maisie Allison
Contra Douthat, Ed Kilgore wants Romney to start taking some risks:
Mitt Romney is going to have to begin making not only a more positive case for his candidacy but a comparative case by way of attacking his rivals…Mitt cannot safely continue to just raise money and lie in the weeds hoping the 2012 nomination will be delivered to him. He’ll have to get out there and expose his personal shortcomings as a retail politician to mockery, and expose his positioning as a generic Republican above the fray to the ideological demands of a conservative base that wants the most right-bent nominee that can possibly win next November.
Ryan Lizza has his eyes on GOP elites:
Assuming New Jersey Governor Chris Christie does not get in the race (a safe bet), watch to see whether the intellectuals, donors, and Beltway class reluctantly start to coalesce around Mitt Romney in an effort to stop Perry, as the New York Times’s resident conservatives David Brooks and Ross Douthat have.
Meanwhile, Stephen Stromberg parses Romney's shaky views on climate science.
(Video: A heated Romney at a townhall in New Hampshire on Wednesday, via AmSpecBlog. Christian Heinze accuses Romney of trying to "reproduce some Chris Christie magic." Elspeth Reeve adds: "Romney tried his hand at being belittling and sarcastic. It doesn't really suit him.")
The Dish 