Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

He's often described as one of the "front-runners" in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but the truth is that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has yet to really earn the title. He trails both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in all the polls, often barely ahead of Newt Gingrich, who hasn't even started running, yet Romney continues to be mentioned as one of the "big three" GOP contenders.

Why is that? Simple: Money. Romney seems able to raise it by the truckload - his first big fundraising event raked in $6.5 million in cash and pledges in one day.

Romney is aiming to win the money primary as a first step to mounting a real challenge to Giuliani and McCain.

The Associated Press puts it this way...

Trailing two better-known rivals in the polls, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is trying prove his political viability using a different yardstick - cash in the campaign account. The former Massachusetts governor had scheduled 20 fundraising events this month, all in advance of an end-of-the-month deadline that will give the first true look at the fundraising prowess of all the 2008 presidential contenders.

Reports detailing how much money was raised by March 31, as well as how it was spent, will become public by April 15. The first total is especially important for Romney, who has been trying to elevate his name recognition nationally after placing a distant third behind former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in several national polls gauging the GOP candidates.

”What he’s trying to do is establish himself as a leading candidate by being able to compete financially with Giuliani and McCain,” said Anthony Corrado, a government professor at Colby College who specializes in presidential campaign finance. ”If he were to beat one of those guys, that would be a news story.”

Romney doesn't have to bring in the most cash - he just has to be competitive with Giuliani and McCain. Romney's early goal is to establish himself as the conservative alternative to the two true front-runners, prepared to move up should either of them falter. If McCain slumps - and his poll numbers have been declining relative to Giuliani's lately - a cash-flush Romney campaign would instantly be portrayed by the media as the "conservative" alternative to the liberal-on-social-issues Giuliani.

But while Romney is reaching for the cash, his strategy is high-risk because of his low name recognition and the "flip-flopper" meme that is starting to stick to him. Boston Herald political columnist Virginia Buckingham describes yet another example of Romney's issues flip-floppery:

Add immigration to the long list of hesitations conservatives ought to have about Mitt Romney. What he thinks ought to be done about the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country depends on whether you asked him POC (pre-official candidacy) or AOC (after-official candidacy).

Ouch.

A true "star" candidate like, say, Newt Gingrich or Fred Thompson, already has the name recognition and high favorability ratings with conservatives that could vault either one of them past Romney despite his campaign bank account.