Romney's Progress

The Washington Post's Dan Balz has a long piece today summarizing the strategy that has put Mitt Romney where he is today. Balz puts into print what every honest observer already knows:

[Romney's] standing in the states that will kick off the nominating process has risen dramatically.

In New Hampshire, Romney leads both McCain, who won there in 2000, and Giuliani, who leads virtually all the national polls. In Iowa, his campaign's organizational depth recently drove Giuliani and McCain to drop out of an August GOP presidential straw poll -- seen as a trial run for next year's first-in-the-nation caucuses -- rather than risk a costly and embarrassing defeat at the hands of their lesser-known rival.

The entire piece is well worth reading.