Mitt Romney, fresh from victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, continues to attack President Obama and focus on how he has the business background to..."get America working again." But he can thank the Wall Street Journal, an angry Newt Gingrich, and opposition research for testing the mettle of the man early! Voters are going to find out now whether Mitt Romney has what it takes to defend our messy but essential free enterprise system--a system that both destroys and creates, rewards innovation and allows failure, fires and hires.

Many worried Republicans are attracted to a "nice" business man like Mitt Romney. He helped put a Winter Olympics into the black, worked to fund successful companies like Staples, and has been a successful governor untainted by too much time in Washington. It's hoped this "safe, attractive" candidate can win over independents and send President Obama to a well-deserved retirement.

The desperate anti-capitalist attacks by Gingrich and Perry that criticized Romney's track record at Bain Capital and his out-of-context comments on loving "to be able to fire people" who are not providing good service may be a great gift to Romney. The unfair criticisms and anti-capitalist attacks have damaged the credibility and campaigns of both Gingrich and Perry. It has also given Romney a chance to deal early with an issue that could have derailed his chances late in the campaign.

In the most recent 2010 California governor and senate races, we saw two touted, "safe," well-funded business leaders rise and then fall in the polls. In the final weeks before the November elections, the Democratic candidates, well-funded PACS, and threatened unions did a great job of using Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina's wealth and business record to frighten voters and defeat what Republicans thought were "best bet" candidates.

One verse from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association’s attack ad aimed at undermining "Wall Street Whitman's" campaign for governor provides a good sample:

Since she moved in she’s been the head of eBay,

And in that short time a lot of job’s she’s sent away,

Two out of five eBay jobs are overseas,

Wonder if she’ll outsource all the state employees?“

Meg could've cut costs, lowered the state deficit, and run our state government like a business, but...remember...she's filthy rich, flip flops on issues, and shipped 40% of eBay jobs overseas as a CEO.