Romney as the candidate to beat

It's looking increasingly evident:

Since the last debate, the early primary and caucus states have moved up their contests by about a month. There is no evidence that has quickened the pulse of Romney’s competitors to knock him down. In the portion of the evening where they could pose questions to one another he got four, the most of anyone, but it gave him only more free time to repeat his forceful positions. Romney appeared to react to the compressed calendar by looking to the general election, talking repeatedly about the middle class. More and more, unless one of his opponents steps up, it looks like Romney is going to be the one sitting at the head of the Republican family table in November.