As April 2012 drew to a close, we saw both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum withdraw from the Republican primary race for President, conceding the race to Mitt Romney, the apparent nominee. Now that it is May, we have a real presidential race on our hands: Obama v Romney.
The president has officially launched his campaign. He is no longer spending taxpayer dollars to travel about the nation pretending that he is not campaigning. He is in full campaign mode, floating trial balloons on a number of topics in an attempt to find something that will energize his base.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney will coast through the remaining primary elections until the August convention in Tampa, at which time he will be crowned the Republican nominee. He has 4 months to craft a message that will find a home with conservatives and convince independents at the same time. In order to do that, he must be aware of the dynamics of this race.