In this ever so tepid race for the race for the Republican nominee, the lackluster start has enabled celebrity businessman Donald Trump to take second in a couple of opinion surveys last week, simply by his appearances on television over the last month questioning President Obama's birth certificate.
There is only one man who bests Trump in those surveys - former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who announced Monday afternoon that he has formed an exploratory committee - the first step before officially entering the 2012 race.
Romney's announcement comes on the same day that the St. Petersburg Times, NBC News, the National Journal and the Florida Council of 100 announced they will all come together to sponsor and produce a GOP presidential debate from the site of the Republican National Convention next year, the St.Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa. No specific date was given. The best organizers could come up with was "some time early next year," presumably because it would be before the Florida Presidential Primary,which currently is scheduled for January 31.
