Mitt Romney's Finest Hour?

I don't recall WSJ's editorial board making any endorsements in the GOP race, but this sure comes close, "Romney's Finest Hour":

A friend of ours quipped recently that Mitt Romney could do his Presidential candidacy a lot of good if he took even a single position that is unpopular in the polls. Well, we can report that he has done that on housing policy, that he's being pummeled for it, and that it may be his finest campaign hour. It also contrasts favorably with the latest temporary, ad hoc and futile housing effort from President Obama.

Campaigning last week in Nevada, the epicenter of the housing bust, Mr. Romney was asked by the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board what he would do about housing and foreclosures. His reply:

"One is, don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up. Let it turn around and come back up. The Obama Administration has slow-walked the foreclosure processes that have long existed, and as a result we still have a foreclosure overhang."

How's that for refreshing? After five years of politicians trying without success to postpone disclosures and levitate the housing market, Mr. Romney dared to tell the truth. Parts of the U.S., including Nevada, still have too many homes, and that supply needs to be sold off and fixed up so the market can find a bottom before home prices can start to rise again. The faster that process proceeds, the faster the recovery will take hold.

That sounds good to me. I just wish Romney was so sure-footed on some other issues, like collective bargaining in Ohio.

Continue reading the editorial at that top link.

RELATED: At MSNBC, "ROMNEY'S KILLING IT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE."

Toronto Airport Security Employee of the Month!

Via Kathy Shaidle, "Toronto airport security employee hopes plane blows up! (video)"

Herman Cain 'Impresses' in Power Outsiders Poll at Huffington Post

From Mark Blumenthal, "Herman Cain Impresses GOP Power Outsiders":

Businessman Herman Cain may be the latest in a string of Republican presidential candidates to enjoy a bump in the national polls, but his appeal is real, even among GOP activists and party regulars in early primary and caucus states. That's the key finding of the latest Power Outsiders survey conducted by The Huffington Post and Patch.

Cain has impressed these local influential Republicans with his story of success and his advocacy of conservative issues. A surprising number believe he can beat President Barack Obama in 2012, although they are more hesitant about Cain's ability to win the Republican nomination.

The HuffPost-Patch Power Outsiders poll of political activists, party officials and officeholders in the early primary and caucus states attempts to listen in on the "invisible primary" under way among influential local activists and political insiders that has historically driven the outcome of party nomination campaigns. This week, we heard from 51 Power Outsiders in Iowa, 45 in New Hampshire and 63 in South Carolina.

As with the announced and prospective candidates tested previously, we began by asking respondents to pick just one word to describe Herman Cain. Nearly three out of four (74 percent) used a positive word to describe Cain, a slightly more favorable response than we have recorded for any of the others tested to date, including Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Chris Christie. The most frequently used positive words were "impressive," "leader," "successful," "likeable" and "charismatic."

Check the link for the tag cloud.

And you gotta love this. The poll shows Cain with the highest favorables among the entire GOP field:

There's lots more at the link.

GOP activists, party leaders, and elected officials were polled in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. It's not a scientific random sample, but the list of participants looks pretty good.

See also Fox News, "Fox News Poll: GOP Primary Voters Get on the Cain Train" (via Memeorandum).

RELATED: At The Other McCain, "James Carville Trashes Herman Cain."