BELMONT, Mass. — Voters routinely ask about it on the campaign trail. Pundits chronicle the slightest changes in its presentation. There is a Facebook page to devoted it — not to mention an entire blog. “Has it always been this good?” read a recent online entry.

The subject of the unusually intense political speculation and debate?

Mitt Romney’s hair.

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. Asked by the late-night-television host Jimmy Fallon on Monday what word she associated with Mr. Romney, a businessman, Olympics executive and governor, Representative Michele Bachmann replied, “Hair.”

Nobody has a more complicated and intimate relationship with Mr. Romney’s hair than the man who has styled it for more than two decades, a barrel-chested, bald Italian immigrant named Leon de Magistris.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/us/politics/romneys-image-expert-the-one-for-his-hair-anyway.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

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If Leon is as good as my barber, he'd trim Romney's nose foliage as well...

The deficit that should most worry us is a deficit of reasonableness. The problems the United States confronts are large but not insoluble. Yet sensible solutions that are broadly popular can’t be enacted.

Why? Because an ideological bloc that sees every crisis as an opportunity to reduce the size of government holds enough power in Congress to stop us from doing what needs to be done.

Some of my middle-of-the-road columnist friends keep ascribing our difficulties to structural problems in our politics. A few call for a centrist third party. But the problem we face isn’t about structures or the party system. It’s about ideology — specifically a right-wing ideology that has temporarily taken over the Republican Party and needs to be defeated before we can have a reasonable debate between moderate conservatives and moderate progressives about our country’s future.

A centrist third party would divide the opposition to the right wing and ease its triumph. That’s the last thing authentic moderates should want.

Let’s look at the record, starting with the congressional supercommittee’s failure to reach agreement on a plan to reduce the fiscal deficit. It’s absurd to pretend that we can shrink the deficit over the long term without substantial tax increases.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/divided-moderates-will-be-conquered/2011/11/25/gIQAhEsm2N_print.html

Multimillionaire White House hopeful Mitt Romney has been slammed as an out-of-touch elitist after offering rival Rick Perry a $10,000 bet during a televised debate in Iowa.

"Rick, I'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet," he said as they argued about whether Mr Romney supports requiring all citizens to buy health insurance - a lightning rod issue among conservatives who loathe president Barack Obama's health care reforms.

Democrats could not contain their glee as the offhanded remark went viral on the social networking site Twitter as people chimed in with the hashtag grouping "#What10kbuys".

"He's going to own that $10,000 bet line. Nothing else he has said in this debate matters," tweeted Brad Woodhouse, communications director for the Democratic National Committee.

"Don't forget, in the #IowaDebate where @MittRomney casually offered a 10k bet he called a $1,500 tax break for the middle class a band-aid," Mr Woodhouse added.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-12/romney-offers-10k-bet/3724992?WT.svl=news0