Is it Romney's time? Mitt methodically preparing for 2012 bid

WASHINGTON — During a fundraiser at Lucky Strike Lanes last week, 2008 presidential contender Mitt Romney stepped up to roll his first ball down the bowling alley as newly elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and others cheered him on.

Strike!

"Now, that felt really good," Romney recalled happily, saying he hadn't picked up a bowling ball in years before the $150-a-head event for his political action committee in Washington's Chinatown. "That doesn't mean I did that the whole evening, but I did get off to a good start."

One pin at a time, the former Massachusetts governor is laying the groundwork for a second presidential bid.

While former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sparks more passion among many Republicans and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee conveys more folksy charm, Romney is waging the most deliberate and methodical campaign of any GOP presidential contender in at least two decades for the nomination in 2012.

After spending the first year of Barack Obama's presidency out of the public eye, Romney will launch a 19-state, three-month tour next week to promote his new book, "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness." Included are speeches and appearances in the states that hold early contests in 2012, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The book's subtitle might as well be "The Case for Mitt Romney."

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Romney, 62, finished second in a straw poll to libertarian Texas Rep. Ron Paul but well ahead of more likely 2012 rivals.

Many establishment conservatives who once viewed Romney with suspicion because of his roots in liberal Massachusetts and his past support of abortion and gay rights have been won over, says Tony Fabrizio, a GOP pollster who ran the straw poll.

"They view him as one of the party's elder statesmen," Fabrizio says. "They see him as more thoughtful and measured than before, with nothing to prove. He's earned his spurs."

However, he adds that Romney's appeal to the emerging Tea Party movement, which views Palin as a particular hero, hasn't been tested. And "Romney-care," the health care plan he signed as governor that is cited by some Democrats as a model, could prove problematic among Republicans.