As the GOP prepares to take control of the House and map out an agenda for the next Congress, even immigration reform is returning to a focus on jobs.

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King has been ranking member of the Immigration Subcommittee in the House Judiciary Committee for the last four years and has served on the committee for eight years, so he likely will play a major role in leading the House GOP's charge on the issue next year.

King hedged on whether the issue will be as high on the agenda as it was in 2006 and 2007, when it dominated headlines for months and sparked massive rallies around the country. But he did warn that a push for comprehensive reform is unlikely.

In a recent interview, King began talking about the subject by saying, "We've got at least 8 million jobs in America that are occupied by illegals that could just as well be occupied by Americans or by legal immigrants. That does open up jobs."

King said he would prefer to "start with a hearing process and identify where jobs can be created for Americans by enforcing immigration law."

King also wants to streamline the use of resources set aside for border patrol, as he pointed out the waste in associated costs. He noted that current estimates show that the government is spending $6 million per mile on securing the southern border.

"If we're watching 90 percent of the illegal traffic pour through and not be interdicted by law enforcement, then you look at $12 billion for a 10 percent efficiency rate," he said.

King's tone has changed slightly as he prepares to lead on the issue; in the past, his rhetoric on immigration did not contain the same kind of jobs focus as it has now.

And for the congressman, how he handles the issue over the next two years could prove very important to his political career: On the horizon is a potential run for the Senate in 2014.

Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin ran successfully for re-election in 2008, when then-Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer of New York convinced him not to retire.

King considered a run at the time but said in the interview, "My instincts were telling me not to challenge Harkin last time."

As for the next time the seat is in cycle, "they look pretty good," he said of his prospects.

If Harkin does not seek re-election in 2014, a likely Democratic contender for the seat is Rep. Bruce Braley.

Washington's chattering class may be consumed with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's presidential prospects, but a popular theory has nonetheless gripped some of that group: In 2012 it will be former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's "turn" to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee.

He's been through the presidential campaign crucible before and come up short, then lent a hand to other Republicans and bided his time. For Republican presidential primary politics, it's a rule, and some Republican operatives promoting Romney have bought into it over the past few years.

Bill Greener, a Republican media consultant currently neutral in the coming presidential fight, explained in an interview that in the past, "the general milieu of the party has been, ‘whose turn is it?' That was how doubt was resolved." He went on, "Part of being a Republican is that we hate confusion and ambiguity."

Inside Romney's current inner circle, strategists say they don't put any stock into the idea that it's the former governor's turn to be the GOP nominee. They say it's never something that has been mentioned in a planning session or discussion.

Romney strategists declined to be quoted on the record for this story, as they maintain that they are not ready to map out the next presidential race because it has not begun for them yet. Some of their strategizing, however, does suggest that even though the Romney team may not be banking on the idea that he is next in line, it has colored the team's approach to the current primary process.

A Romney confidante put it this way: "If there's one thing running before has earned us, it's that we do not have to flex or adapt because of something a speculative candidate does or says."

And a top Romney messaging strategist from the last campaign said: "I think one of my main takeaways from ‘08 was that it takes six years to run for president if you start out at one or two percent - on the GOP side at least."

Polls show that Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are in the double digits nationally and in the early nominating states for the Republican primary electorate. Romney, Huckabee and Palin were all part of the last presidential race, and Gingrich considered it; Romney aides have begun to argue that Huckabee and Palin could also claim it's "their turn" to get the nomination in 2012.

Still, Romney has culled support from the establishment in a way Huckabee and Palin haven't. Should he ultimately be the nominee and find himself across the debate stage from President Obama in 2012, Romney will have been running for president for about six years since ending his term as governor, and seven if his final year in office is factored in. At that time, he ran the Republican Governors Association to catapult onto the national scene.

Two years from now, he will have run for president twice, run an expensive political action committee over multiple cycles and penned two books, including the recently released political tome, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King said his own re-election campaign team polled the entire first caucus state and peered into the presidential field just before Election Day. "It turned out that one and two in the polls were the way they finished up in the caucuses," he said, noting that Huckabee was first and Romney was a close second.

"So that told me whoever was there last is first now," he said, adding that winning the Hawkeye State will be difficult for both of them this time due to unique vulnerabilities, including the passage of health care reform in Massachusetts for Romney and Huckabee's role in the release of convicted rapist Wayne DuMond from prison.

Huckabee and Romney barely registered in polls after the 2006 midterms, and Palin wasn't a factor then. While the Beltway establishment refers to Romney as something of a disputed front-runner in what is considered a fairly open field, a cadre of GOP consultants says any of the three could argue that it's his or her turn.

Aides to Romney believe that as long as he remains within a leading trio of candidates he will be in a strong position if and when he announces he's running. They point out that according to polling and conventional wisdom, he is among a small group of front-runners - and that the Republican nomination usually goes to a front-runner.

That hypothesis is strikingly similar to the message he communicated after the primary season began in early 2008; Romney said he earned a "silver medal" in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary after he finished behind Huckabee and Arizona Sen. John McCain, respectively. The talking point was an allusion to his role in running the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

McCain went on to win the Republican nomination, but his candidacy seemed to rise and fall on the notion that it was his turn to represent the GOP in the general election.

McCain had effectively lost the nomination in July of 2007, not simply because of his then-moderate stance on immigration reform, but also because of how his campaign operated.

That July came a trickle of campaign staff departures and layoffs followed by a mass exodus, and McCain's campaign was broke and pronounced dead. On Saturday, July 14, 2007, Washington Post political writers Michael Shear, Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza described in a lengthy piece why the campaign imploded. They wrote that it was due in large part to a many-headed monster that was over-spending and operating under the assumption that McCain was next in line and that his eventual general election candidacy was inevitable.

For the next few months, McCain didn't even have a traveling press corps while the surging Huckabee wedged into what was then a duel between Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

McCain became the nominee as each of the other top candidates effectively lost.

George W. Bush swooped into front-runner status in 2000, became an establishment candidate and won the general election. In 1996, Republicans note it was former Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole's turn to be his party's nominee -- though he failed to give President Clinton much of a fight.

Romney will be operating in a different political reality than McCain had should the former governor run this time; as a multimillionaire, he can afford to keep his campaign afloat during lean times. But like it did for McCain, a wide swath of the Republican electorate and the grassroots have drifted away from him a bit and are enamored of newer, more conservative faces.

But as another leading Romney adviser told RealClearPolitics recently, "McCain weathered all of that because it was his turn."

Throughout the better part of the last two years, the narrative among influential political operatives and opinion makers in Washington remained unchanged: Sarah Palin would continue to be a dynamic media presence and possible kingmaker in the next presidential election, but she would not be a serious presidential candidate herself.

That conventional wisdom cut across party lines, and even some of Palin's most fervent backers wrote her off as presidential material. "Forget about Sarah Palin as the Republican presidential candidate in 2012 and probably ever," Fred Barnes, one of Palin's earliest and most vocal supporters, wrote in The Weekly Standard after Palin resigned as governor of Alaska in July of 2009.

As other prospective 2012 candidates began to build their organizations, courted prominent fundraisers, and meet with influential powerbrokers in Iowa and New Hampshire, Palin was widely seen as having missed the boat. Her political apparatus was frequently dismissed as disorganized, amateurish, and hesitant to take the fundamental steps thought to be necessary to lay the foundation for a viable presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, Palin's small inner circle kept their eyes on the prize, pausing every now and then to chuckle at the dismissiveness of the Beltway establishment.

"Look at what's happened over the past two years, and you tell me that we don't have a more effective strategy than our peers," Palin aide Michael Goldfarb told RealClearPolitics. "Who's been able to get their message out more effectively? Who's had greater influence? And you tell me why we should play by the same rules that the press wants everybody to play by. It doesn't make any sense."

Since resigning from office, Palin has proven time and again the primacy of her influence in the Republican Party, setting the tone and defining the parameters on issues ranging from health care to monetary policy. And she has done it by shattering the traditional rules of communication, using Twitter, Facebook, and her regular appearances on Fox News and conservative radio to bypass the traditional media to whom she and her staff have taken a special delight in deriding.

"She's been very effective at setting up a new paradigm for communicating with people, and it's been a great success," Goldfarb said. "If that marginalizes reporters sometimes, well then boo-hoo."

Now that the midterms are over and the campaign before the presidential campaign has begun, Palin is making some adjustments, fully aware that she cannot tweet, Facebook post, and Sean Hannity her way to the White House. She recently granted extensive interviews to the New York Times and ABC News, and her SarahPAC staff intends to make a more concerted effort to highlight to the media her prepared remarks on the frequent policy speeches she gives.

Meanwhile, Palin's ratings-shattering TLC show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," will continue to show millions of American homes the kinder, gentler side of Palin's personality each Sunday night for the next seven weeks.

Palin's outsized influence on the midterm elections and her most recent pronouncements about her presidential intentions have caused the D.C. narrative to shift in recent weeks, as Beltway logic now holds that Palin is indeed seriously interested in running for president and could be a strong contender to win the Republican nomination.

SarahPAC officials have begun fielding more frequent calls from reporters asking about her revamped focus on policy and newly candid statements about being interested in the presidency, leading Palin confidantes to jokingly speculate that "the Beltway herd" suddenly woke up and decided that she is indeed serious about a presidential run after someone began talking about it at a cocktail party.

"She hasn't changed her statement that ‘if the door is open, I'll go through it'; she hasn't changed in any way what she's said all along." Rebecca Mansour, a close Palin aide told RealClearPolitics. "None of them really understand her or get her in a lot of ways. They underestimate her, which makes me laugh. They don't really understand how she thinks. She always keeps them guessing because they just don't get it."

For over two years, Palin has been more candid about how she is leaning toward a presidential run than just about any other likely Republican candidate. After all, it was in her very first national television interview after the 2008 election when she told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren in not-so-coy language that she would "plow through" any doors that God opened for her to the presidency.

And by all indications, members of Palin's staff appear to expect her to run and are acting accordingly.

"I think she'd be an excellent president," Mansour said. "Of course, I would support her absolutely if she ran."

When Palin traveled to Iowa in September to speak at a Republican Party dinner, her speech was greeted with media attention befitting a presidential address, but the former governor was widely panned in Washington for neglecting to meet with key players in the first caucus state.

Mansour laughed at the criticism that holds that Palin has shown herself unwilling to do the necessary grunt work of running a grassroots campaign.

"Of course she understands what she needs to do," Mansour said. "At that time, we were trying to get people elected, and she was doing what she needed to do to get them elected. I think she's one of those people who really takes that old adage that there's a time for everything, and when the time comes to do that, she'll do it."

Mansour paused before adding, "if she decides to run."

The consensus may have shifted to the idea that Palin is indeed preparing for a presidential campaign in earnest, but many establishment Republicans write off her chances of ultimate victory in private conversations and unattributed quotations. Meanwhile, Palin aides continue to be unfazed by the lack of respect that the former governor engenders among some in the media and many of her likely opponents' aides.

"If she was out there making the case for bigger government and more welfare and universal health care in the same tone and in the same vein, she would be a hero of the New York Times editorial board," Michael Goldfarb said. "They don't like what she's saying. It's not how she says it or the basis of why she says it. They don't agree with her, and they see her as threatening, so what you get is this, ‘She's not up to the job,' and there are people in the Republican Party who will say that, too, because people have different preferences as far as leaders in the party and have different agendas. But out there in the real world, Republicans respect Sarah Palin and they listen to what she says, and she has a real impact. And that's why she was the most coveted endorsement among Republicans in the last election."

Along with longtime McCain foreign policy aide Randy Scheunemann, Goldfarb briefs Palin primarily on foreign policy. Both men were publicly loyal to Palin during the internal civil war that developed in the final days of the 2008 campaign, and no Palin aide disputes that loyalty remains her foremost requirement for anyone who wants to work for her.

As some other prospective candidates have selectively chosen their battles, in fear of overexposure or offending the wrong person, Palin has weighed in frequently and forcefully on a wide range of topics. But when asked to define her foreign policy views, Goldfarb was careful enough not to put her in a box.

"I don't see it in that binary set of choices," he said. "She supported the president on Afghanistan, his call for increased troops there. She's also been at odds with the president over his rather shabby treatment of some of America's key allies, particularly Israel, but more broadly she's made statements about Japan, and she spoke out clearly on missile defense when that was shelved, and the poor treatment of allies in Eastern Europe around that."

A visit to Israel is high on Palin's current to-do list, and her staff is still hoping to arrange a trip for her to meet with one of her political heroines, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Palin has taken a particular interest in the European debt crisis as of late, and SarahPAC recently hired Joshua Livestro - a Dutch newspaper columnist who has also contributed to the pro-Palin web site Conservatives4Palin.com - to research the topic for Palin on a freelance basis.

Palin's second book, America By Heart, will be released on Tuesday and is a near shoo-in to join her first title, Going Rogue, as a quick bestseller. Unlike Going Rogue's biographical focus, Palin's new book is mostly philosophical in nature and reads as a series of essays on well-travelled topics ranging from the role of faith in the public sphere to the concept of American exceptionalism.

Palin and her aides recognize that her poll numbers with independent voters are nowhere near where they need to be, but they believe that she will find a way to rekindle the enthusiasm she engendered among the middle of the political spectrum when she was first announced as John McCain's running mate and delivered a barnburner of a speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Her ideas poll well, they say, and she is far more interested in ideas than in party politics. During her first year-and-a-half as governor, Palin often worked more closely with Democrats than she did with Republicans, her aides will remind anyone who questions her broad appeal.

But hasn't the scathing and often derisive tone she has reverted to in engaging with the other side made her irredeemable to everyone outside her conservative base?

"People don't understand this, but she's a happy warrior," Mansour said. "She enjoys a good debate-she really does. When she was goofing on Politico and calling them ‘puppy kicking, anti-dentites,' she was saying that tongue-in-cheek and smiling. It's not really that she's thin-skinned."

Mansour granted that Palin's casual use of the Twitter medium has made it difficult for many observers to understand that she has a smile on her face when she makes her most biting criticisms, but she insisted that Palin is "one of the happiest people I know."

Asked if Palin would put her record up against any other elected official in the country, Mansour did not hesitate. "Absolutely," she said. "And we would win on that undoubtedly because of what she accomplished in the time she was there."

Mansour cited Palin's achievements ranging from her successful fight to invite competition for plans to build a natural gas pipeline in Alaska to education reform. Mansour also offered without prompting her take on Palin's record on public employee retirement systems-an issue that sitting governors are currently facing nationwide.

"I don't think that people realize she had to reform that in Alaska, as well, and there was tremendous pressure put on her to return to the unfunded underwater defined benefits program, but she had to reform it to make it solid, and because she didn't cave on it, the unions ran full page ads against her in Juneau," Mansour said. "She knows these issues because she's been at the forefront of them for 20 years in public office."

Palin was first elected to the Wasilla City Council in 1992, which was technically 18 years ago. But then again, the new "20 years" talking point in Palin world might work quite nicely once the calendar flips to 2012.

Team Palin does not seem overly concerned about the question of the former governor's "gravitas," in light of her social media persona and TV stardom, but the question continues to be raised. After all, skeptics charge, how many "documentaries about Alaska" include scenes in which the matriarch of a family is shown warning her teenaged daughter not to bring boys into her room?

"If you have to sit and complain about gravitas then you don't have any," Mansour said. "I remember a time when everybody was appalled that Bill Clinton appeared on the ‘Arsenio Hall Show' to play the saxophone. Politics adapts to the times and how you reach the people."

Palin's aides are certainly cognizant of the difficult road they have to navigate in explaining to the broader public Palin's decision to resign with a year-and-a-half left in her first term as governor.

Perhaps just as daunting in a Republican primary will be the squirming Palin will have to endure when she is inevitably pressed by free market fundamentalists over her support for TARP during the 2008 campaign.

"When you are running at the bottom of the ticket, you have to follow the top of the ticket's lead; that's just the way it goes," Mansour said in a likely preview of Palin's own explanation. "But I think she's adamant that this is not good-adamant that the interference, picking winners and losers, and too big to fail, is not right."

Palin's challenges remain numerous as she comes to a decision on whether to run for president. If the answer is indeed "yes," one of her first big moves will be planning the official announcement of her campaign-a date that one Palin confidante privately agreed will likely come later in 2011, after her lesser known opponents launch their own runs and she can assess the field.

Although Palin's obstacles remain formidable, Mansour offered a warning shot to anyone who still assumes that the former governor's star has shined as brightly as it ever will.

"They should not underestimate her," Mansour said. "Well actually, they're welcome to, because that would make it fun for us."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision Monday to back a ban on earmarks jolted the GOP, as other influential Republicans quickly followed suit and the Club for Growth praised the Republican leader.

In a speech on the Senate floor on Monday, McConnell said he would join House Republican leadership in switching course to support a ban on earmarks during the next Congress after listening to his constituents and viewing the results of the midterm elections. He proceeded to discuss some success stories that have come from earmarks.

But Club for Growth executive director David Keating commented, "Today Senator McConnell showed that Republicans really do ‘get it.' His support for the earmark moratorium is a great victory for economic reform and fiscal sanity. Sen. McConnell did the right thing by listening to the will of the American people and the principled reformers who led this effort."

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee released a statement supportive of the ban, but with reservations.

"We should not mislead Americans by saying that an earmark ban will do much to reduce the federal debt. Cleaning up earmarks is good short-term policy, but as long-term policy it would undermine the Constitution because instead of placing a check on the president, it turns the checkbook over to him," Alexander said in his statement. "This moratorium will help put the spotlight on executive branch earmarks, which in 2008 spent more than congressional earmarks."

Republicans who are likely to campaign next year for the GOP's presidential nomination in the next election threw their weight behind the effort, too.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's spokesman, Alex Conant, said, "Of course Gov. Pawlenty supports the Republicans' ban on Congressional earmarks. It's important that the Republicans we send to Washington govern as they campaigned, and fight wasteful spending."

And former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney used the media focus on the subject to collect contact info from potential supporters as he gears up for a likely presidential run. He launched an online petition midday on Monday for those supporting the ban; signing up takes supporters to a page that thanks them for signing up for his newsletter and grassroots network, but it doesn't show a list of people who've added their names to a petition.

Romney's statement on the subject was a clear nod to the effort's sponsor, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, whose endorsement he received during the last presidential contest and who he is likely to court for support again.

"Sen. DeMint is courageously standing on conviction with his much-needed proposal to ban earmarks, which will curb wasteful spending and restore accountability to the way Congress spends taxpayer dollars," Romney said.

"We all need to recognize that Washington can't responsibly begin to address out-of-control debt and deficits until the practice of cramming earmarks into spending bills is stopped. While earmarks are not the only cause of our budget problems, they have come to symbolize what's wrong with Washington."

RCP ranks the Top 10 Upsets of the 2010 Midterms. Also on RCP, Jed Babbin writes that Attorney General Eric Holder will face increased scrutiny with the Republicans in control of the House.

On RCW, Aparna Pande writes about the partnership between the United States and India.

Louis Woodhill argues on RCM that the Fed's quantitative easing won't work. Diana Furchtgott-Roth writes that the Paycheck Fairness Act would be an enormous burden on business, "driving small firms out of business and sending larger corporations overseas."

On RCS, Jeff Neuman argues that Marvin Miller, a former executive director of the players' union, should be voted into baseball's Hall of Fame.

On RCP, Sean Trende breaks down the Illinois gubernatorial race and the Pennsylvania and Colorado Senate races and details why GOP candidates underperformed in all three. Scott Conroy writes about the challenge some non-candidates for president face as they try to convince the media they're not running in 2012. Erin McPike details the rapid turnaround for the New Hampshire Republican Party.

On RCM, John Tamny argues that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is ignoring basic principles of economics. Larry Kudlow writes about the worldwide opposition to the Fed's quantitative easing.

RCS ranks the Top 10 MLB Award Winners on Non-Playoff Teams. Tim Joyce writes about Andy Roddick's struggles against Roger Federer.

On RCP, David Paul Kuhn sits down with Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who, as a Reagan Democrat, finds himself increasingly out of place in today's Democratic Party.

On RCW, Todd Crowell writes that Japan feels like it is being disrespected and pushed around by China and Russia.

Writing on RCM, Bill Frezza describes the private stock markets that have emerged as a result of government regulations. On Forbes.com, RCM Editor John Tamny argues against revenue sharing in the NFL.

On RCS, Jeff Neuman lashes out against "tired" topics in sports such as the BCS, Brett Favre and the debate over steroids in baseball and the Hall of Fame.

Also, be sure to check out the newest RealClear sites, RealClearReligion and RealClearScience. Writing in the "Newton Blog" this weekend, Science Editor Alex Berezow argues that Stephen Hawking should keep his opinions on topics outside of physics to himself.

The GOP presidential primary battle to determine who will take on President Obama in 2012 begins in earnest this week now that the midterms are over, and FOX News is jumping in.

Special Report with Bret Baier is launching a 12-day series on the topic called "12 in '12" that each day will feature a profile of one of 12 Republicans who may launch presidential bids for the 2012 race. Exclusive interviews with 11 of the 12 candidates are planned for the profiles, which begin Thursday evening with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Other candidates being profiled include: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

A thirteenth story is also planned with long-shots such as former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and others like Donald Trump. All 13 stories will air again after the series in a one-hour special.

In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Baier pointed out that now that the midterms have ended, the focus will shift to the presidential race, beginning with the Republican primary.

"There is the potential for a long list to get in" to the primary, he said. "Most of America does not know a lot of these names."

Baier flew to several of their home states to interview potential contenders, including South Dakota for Thune and Indiana for Daniels.

The anchor said he got a lot of access to Daniels and interviewed him in his office in Indianapolis. He spent a lot of time behind the scenes and caught Daniels on one of his infamous motorcycle rides. Baier got to Barbour on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi.

"These pieces will feel a bit bigger," said Baier, who added that the mission of the series is to introduce potential candidates and press them on issues. There will be analysts in each of the pieces to assess each candidate's vulnerabilities and assets in the race, as well as their chances.

So which one of the 12 candidates was the one who opted not to sit down with Baier for an interview? Romney.

Baier said he still has to tape an interview with Christie as well, but that has just been a scheduling issue, and he's talking to Christie's team today to iron out a time.

"Gov. Romney is a different story," Baier said. "We've talked to them a number of times. They've told me they are hesitant to do anything that has a 2012 connotation to it."

He added, however, that most of his interview subjects still say they aren't running or couched their answers in some way.

Nevertheless, Baier said, "I don't think many people in politics would bet against Mitt Romney running."

He said he's going to try one more time to get an interview and is still holding out hope.

"If not, we're still going to be very fair with the piece," Baier said. "He's one of the leading contenders. He'll get a lot of attention."

An official for Romney's Free and Strong America PAC told RealClearPolitics that Romney did participate because FOX News was able to gather footage of Romney stumping for candidates on the campaign trail in the midterms in recent weeks.

Romney appeared on Sean Hannity's program on the network on Monday night and was asked about the presidential race as well as the health care law he pushed through as governor. Baier said that for now, they will use the sound from that interview.

Dan Balz wrote in the Washington Post over the weekend that as Romney prepares for a likely 2012 bid, he's been keeping his head down - with the exception of headlining dozens of events all over the country for high-profile Republican candidates.

"The Romney team thinks there is only limited value in time spent on cable television, particularly when the focus is on the outrage of the moment and politicians are forced to react to events rather than make a case for themselves," the story reads.

Indeed, in conversations with RealClearPolitics, Romney strategists say they don't like to talk about the presidential race and often offer the familiar refrain that for now, "We're just a PAC."