President Barack Obama, who frequently appears battered and weary at the tail end of a bruising first term, came to Virginia this past Saturday in a vigorous mood. The POTUS chose the swing state he won in 2008 to formally launch his drive for re-election, casting the 2012 race as "a make or break moment for the middle class."

Compare this rousing event, where Obama declared himself "still fired up," in front of a crowd of 8,000 atVCU's Siegel Center, many of whom braved a downpour to get into see the president and first lady, to Mitt Romney's own opening salvo a little over two weeks ago. Romney officially launched his general election campaign in the State of New Hampshire at an afternoon barbecue held at the Bittersweet Farm, operated by Republicans Doug and Stella Scamman. Zzzzz.....

It's true that Ron Paul and Newt Gingrinch had not formally decamped at that time, which may account for some of the event's timidity. But Ron Paul never believed he had a shot anyway and as for Gingrich, this might be the last political office for which he was momentarily considered a serious contender. He was going to roll around in the spotlight and savor every ray before he and third wife Callista retreated to their cynical Catholic piety.

But back to Romney. CBS News noted the symmetry of the campaign's pivot toward the general election in New Hampshire, with reporter Sarah B. Boxer writing, "Romney's current bid for the White House began on June 2, 2011 on Scamman Farm in Stafford, N.H., and the campaign considers his return Tuesday as a full circle moment for the candidate."

Have we REALLY been enduring Romney's second Presidential campaign for nearly a full year? It's like the network television procedural that goes on for seasons while an entertaining, witty gem struggles to find an audience. He is the CSI: Miami of the political playing field. And perhaps for the second time that week, Team Romney selected an ill-advised locale for a photo op. Remember that shuttered dry-wall factory in Lorain, Ohio in mid-April? The one held up as an Obama policy failure that actually closed under the Bush regime? Yeah. Oops.

And it appears that the Romney people, sensing an obvious dearth of triumphant environments in their man's history, were poised to occupy their rightful place once more as fish in a barrel. As CBS News went on to note, "On Monday evening, the University of New Hampshire released a new poll showing President Obama ahead of Romney 51 percent to 42 percent in New Hampshire. Mr. Obama's re-election team is quick to point out that Romney's campaign cleared out of the state immediately following the primary - often noting that his bustling headquarters in Manchester went dark the next day."

By now we're used to this from Romney, right? Wherever he needs to go is where he wants to be! The trees in New Hampshire are so green! The people are so real! And what's that noise? Why it's the shaking of the Etch-a-Sketch, the sound that may preclude residents of New Hampshire from remembering that Team Romney skipped town the moment the State stopped suiting his immediate purposes.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: the Romney folks are strenuously refuting any suggestion that their candidate is out of touch with local voters. Mitt's senior adviser in New Hampshire, Jim Merrill was quoted as saying, "I would characterize what the Obama campaign says as nonsense, complete nonsense."

Ah yes, the "I'm rubber you're glue" deflection, a time-honored tool in the GOP debate arsenal. Game on. Good luck Mittens!