Alex Castellanos: “Month after month, dollar after dollar, debate after debate, we’ve seen we’ve Mitt Romney at his best, yet failing to pull away from the field. Romney is still leaving the door open to those who have fallen to the ‘B’ tier. He is giving all his opponents the opportunity to get back into this contest. If Romney doesn’t energize his campaign soon, somebody might actually try to win this race besides him.”

“That might not be hard to do. His competitors are about 10 minutes away from figuring out it is in all their interest to go negative on Romney and drag him down to their level. If they test Romney and fail, nothing is lost. In fact, they’ll strengthen Romney and probably make him President. But if any candidate effectively cuts Romney, others will see blood in the water. The sharks will circle…”

“Somewhere Barack Obama is smiling. If they bring Mitt Romney down, it’s jump ball for the GOP.”

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson — “left out of all but two of the seemingly endless Republican presidential debates” — tells the Santa Fe New Mexican that he’s seriously considering running for the Libertarian Party nomination for president.

Said Johnson: “I feel abandoned by the Republican Party. The Republican Party has left me by the wayside. If I’d have been included in 16 of the last debates we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX) said he won’t seek re-election, the San Antonio Express-News reports, “a decision that will end the congressional tenure of a Democratic family whose name has been synonymous with the city of San Antonio for more than half a century.”

“Gonzalez, who sued the state over a redistricting plan that carved downtown out of his central San Antonio congressional district, said it was not reapportionment, but the need to provide financial stability for his family that’s forcing him to seek a new career.”

Said Gonzalez: “I still find the job hugely rewarding, but the demands pull me somewhere else. I’ve been in Congress for 14 years and I want to do something else — what that is, I really don’t know. But financially, I would like to be productive and have the resources to make a better life.”

Pollster Ann Selzer tells The Atlantic that GOP presidential candidates are approaching the Iowa caucuses very differently this campaign cycle.

Said Selzer: “What’s different is — and maybe this will change in the next month — [in past cycles] you had this feeling of candidates here, kind of a pulse of their supporters, lots of public events. You felt things happening. I haven’t felt that at all [this year]. You look at the number of candidate days here, it’s really small. The way that they’re campaigning is very different. We have all of these debates that have been very high-profile. It’s a different campaign.”

A bipartisan group known as Americans Elect “has raised $22 million and is likely to place a third presidential candidate on the ballot in every state next year,” the Washington Post reports.

“The goal is to provide an alternative to President Obama and the GOP nominee and break the tradition of a Democrat-vs.-Republican lineup.”

“The effort could represent a promising new chapter for political moderates, who see a wide-open middle in the political landscape as congressional gridlock and bitter partisan fights have driven down favorability ratings for both parties… The group is relying on an ambitious plan to hold a political convention
on the Internet that would treat registered voters like fans of ‘American Idol’, giving everyone a shot at picking a favorite candidate.”

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has asked a judge “for permission to reference portions of until-now confidential undercover recordings,” NBC Chicago reports.

Said the Blagojevich legal team: “The defense does not seek to play any wiretap recordings in their entirety. The brief excerpts of recordings or transcripts that Mr. Blagojevich is seeking to play in court and to reference in his written sentencing submission…do not involve sensitive, personal, or embarrassing comments about, or references to, any individuals.”

The AP notes Blagojevich’s lawyers say those tapes will describe his state of mind and “lack of ill intent.”

The sentencing hearing for Blagojevich is set for Dec. 6 and 7.

“I don’t look at his being stuck at 25 percent as a weakness. I see it as a show of strength in a very strange primary. As other candidates’ vote share falls away, I think he’ll get stronger.”

— GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, quoted by Businessweek, on Mitt Romney’s poll numbers.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch (D) tells Politico he thinks current Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) should mount a presidential bid to address the “lack of leadership” in Washington.

Said Koch: “I believe there is a major chance of a third party winning and I would like to see him pursue it for 2012. What I believe he offers is independence and money to finance a campaign and to be president.”

The New York Times interviews Mitt Romney’s hair stylist.

“By far his most distinctive physical feature, Mr. Romney’s head of impeccably coiffed black hair has become something of a cosmetological Rorschach test on the campaign trail, with many seeing in his thick locks everything they love and loathe about the Republican candidate for the White House. (Commanding, reassuring, presidential, crow fans; too stiff, too slick, too perfect, complain critics.)”

“Mr. Romney’s advisers have been known to fret about the shiny strands, and his rivals have sought to turn them against him.”

The latest WMUR/UNH poll in New Hampshire finds Mitt Romney continuing to dominate the GOP presidential race with 42% support, followed by Newt Gingrich at 15%, Ron Paul at 12% and Jon Huntsman at 8%.

“Also of note is that just 16% of these likely primary voters say they know who they are voting for. So, while Romney might like his commanding lead right now, there is no telling where 84% of voters will go in the six remaining weeks before the primary.”

Mitt Romney was asked in Iowa earlier today how he will stop the gridlock in Washington and Politico notes he “drifted into talking about Bob Dole as an ‘American hero’ who he’d model himself after.”

Interestingly, Romney told Fox News four years ago that Dole was “the last person he’d want” in his corner.

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