The New York Times looks at Mitt Romney’s “sometimes awkward style and aloof manner” which as governor affected his relationship with lawmakers he needed to pass legislation.

“For officials used to the glad-handing and alcohol-lubricated culture of local politics, Mr. Romney was an unfamiliar breed: a data-driven chief executive used to delivering unquestioned orders, a political newcomer who cast the legislature as a foe, a delegator who preferred working with just the leadership and an emotionally remote figure who tended not to socialize — and because of his Mormon religion did not drink. Even though he worked just a few hundred feet from them for four years, Mr. Romney displayed little interest in getting to know lawmakers and never developed real relationships with most members of the Democratic-dominated body.”

Interestingly, President Obama is also frequently criticized for his equally aloof governing style.

Ross Douthat: “While there are still scenarios in which the frontrunner ends up 50-100 delegates short of the magic number at the end of primary season, it would take a truly extraordinary turn of events (a huge scandal, say) to deny Romney the nomination at this point. The chaos-at-the-convention scenarios were almost plausible pre-Michigan, but they only made sense in a world where the leading candidate ended up well short of the necessary delegates. Now Romney is on track to win at least a clear plurality, and if he goes to the convention with over a thousand delegates, Jeb Bush isn’t going to sweep in and swipe the nomination out from under the man who won the most primary-season votes. It just … isn’t … going … to happen.”

Mitt Romney won nine delegates each from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands after Republicans there met Saturday at their state conventions, National Journal reports.

“I’m not really a politician.”

— Mitt Romney, quoted by National Journal, then correcting himself: “I
guess I kinda am, because I was governor for four years and I’ve run for
office. But my heart is a conservative businessman.”

Mitt Romney and some of his top aides used private email accounts to conduct state business at times when Romney was governor of Massachusetts, the Associated Press reports.

“The communications were legal, even though Romney’s own administration warned state agencies against the practice due to cyber security concerns. The state archives in Massachusetts — which learned about Romney’s emails from the AP — now says the private emails should have invoked rules about preserving copies of state records.”

There have been no polls ahead of Saturday’s GOP caucuses in Kansas, but the consensus is that Rick Santorum is the favorite.

Katrina Trinko: “Kansas is the first state to vote after Super Tuesday — and it looks likely that Rick Santorum will score another victory here… In fact, Santorum and Paul are the only ones campaigning in the state right before Election Day.”

Nate Silver: “The betting market Intrade has Mr. Santorum as a 97 percent favorite in Kansas. I certainly agree that Mr. Santorum is the front-runner there, but that’s an absurd degree of confidence, especially given the poor track record of the betting market in prior caucus states… To repeat, Mr. Santorum looks like the favorite in Kansas, but there’s a wide range of outcomes.”

All political campaigns tout their newspaper endorsements, but Ryan Lizza notes Mitt Romney’s press office “has no better friend than the ellipsis” and often removes “sensitive” phrases. A few recent examples:

“In fact, this newspaper does not embrace many of his ideas on taxation, which give too great a reward to the wealthy and not enough help for the poor and middle class.”

— Times Daily of Florence, Alabama, March 9, 2012

“That has been just one example of some of the shape-shifting Romney has done to appeal to conservative primary voters who believe he is too moderate. So, it’s not unfair to wonder who the real Romney is.”

— Birmingham News, March 7, 2012

“Perhaps that is why he sometimes appears so awkward in public, especially when talking about himself and, in particular, his personal wealth.”

— Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 3, 2012

A new Rasmussen survey shows President Obama now holds a modest lead over Mitt Romney in combined polling of the key swing states Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, 46% to 42%.

In late February they were tied.

A new study suggests President Obama’s health care reform effort cost Democrats their majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 election.

Washington Post: “The study ran 10,000 simulations of a scenario in which all vulnerable Democrats voted against the health care bill and found that the rejections would have saved Democrats an average of 25 seats, which would have made the House parties close to a tie. (Republicans won 63 seats overall, but the study suggests around 25 of them would have been salvaged.) In 62% of the simulations, Democrats were able to keep the House.”

A Mitt Romney campaign official told supporters in an email that Romney is within one point of victory in Alabama and can “end this process” by winning the state on Tuesday, Politico reports.

An Alabama poll released earlier today shows Romney two points behind Newt Gingrich. It’s not clear what poll the campaign aide was citing.

A new Mass Insight poll in Massachusetts shows Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) leading challenger Elizabeth Warren (D), 52% to 42%.

Key finding: “While 58% thought it was good for the state to have ‘an independent Republican like Scott Brown representing us in Congress,’ and 39% disagreed, voters were clearly begrudging about watching Republicans retake the Senate. Forty-nine percent thought the state needed to elect a Democrat to prevent the chamber from going Republican, 47% disagreed.”

In response to a question about gun control today, Mitt Romney claimed he owns guns himself.

Said Romney: “I believe in the second amendment, I’ll protect the second amendment, I have guns myself. Not going to tell you where they are. Don’t have them on myself either, alright.”

However, ABC News reports that in 2007, “after Romney claimed that he did have guns he later retracted his statement, saying that he himself does not have guns but his sons do.”