MittWatch: Caffeine Free Edition

We hear Mitt Romney doesn't do caffeine. That's a Mormon thing, but it's not unusual – plenty of non-Mormons eschew caffeine. But there's more to the no-caffeine-Romney connection than dietary choices.

Now that Romney has taken the lead in the New Hampshire polls, people are starting to wonder if he is the real deal – or if he's like caffeine-free Coca-Cola.

--Whether he's the real deal or not, he's launching a soda-pop-worthy ad campaign and spending the big bucks to do it. The Globe (uh, actually the New York Times News Service) states that Romney is setting records with "what is already the costliest early advertising push in a presidential campaign." He's spent $4 million on television advertising since February. It looks like he believes in the ol' business adage that you've got to spend money to make money.

--Not everyone likes the Romney flavor, anyway, especially one poor guy who couldn't get a pardon from Romney. It's not like Anthony Circosta is Scooter Libby or anything. He is an Iraq war vet with a clean record – except, when he was a kid, he shot another kid in the arm with a BB gun.

That's the only spot on his record, and he'd like it removed now that he's a grownup and would like to be a police officer. That seems fair enough. He's more than atoned for his mistake by serving in the military. But Romney had a strict no-pardon policy while in office as Massachusetts governor and denied Circosta's request twice, perhaps because he didn't want to get "Willie Hortoned" a la former Massachusetts governor/presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.

Plus, the news that Romney doesn't give pardons might irk those who want Bush to give a pardon to Scooter Libby.

--Romney must be doing something right with his ad campaign because McCain is attacking him as any opponent would a front-runner. Now, McCain is socking it to Romney over the abortion issue because, as our governor, Romney said he would "maintain the status quo" regarding abortion rights in 2005. Only two years later, Romney is saying something different, and McCain is making sure everyone else has noticed.

A Romney spokesman said that the McCain campaign's moves are "obviously borne of desperation."

--And, oh, yeah, Romney called the affirmation of same-sex couples to marry a "setback." He can bootlick the far right as much as he wants, but the decision of the Massachusetts legislature suggests that the train of moderates has already left the station. Gay marriage is here to stay, and Romney might want to adjust his campaign to it. Besides, he's adjusted his positions before.