Romney officially enters 2012 race

STRATHAM, N.H. -- Just as Mitt Romney declared he's in, he might have more big-name competition for the Republican presidential nomination.

While Romney made his candidacy official in New Hampshire yesterday, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin caused a stir of their own with visits to the first-in-the-nation primary state. Both assailed the Massachusetts health care law approved while Romney was governor in that state.

And rumblings about Texas Gov. Rick Perry, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota further challenged Romney's standing as the closest thing the GOP has to a 2012 front-runner.

"I'm Mitt Romney and I believe in America. And I'm running for president of the United States," Romney declared on a farm in southern New Hampshire.

Unswayed by possible competition, the former governor and business executive aggressively challenged Democratic President Barack Obama while trying to pitch himself to the modern GOP: fiscal and social conservatives, evangelicals and libertarians. Romney included nods to all as he sought emerge as the strongest candidate.

"It breaks my heart to see what is happening to this great country," Romney said. "No, Mr. President, you had your chance."

Romney, who lost the GOP nomination to John McCain in 2008, hopes it's now his turn. He comes to a Republican presidential contest that lacks a true front-runner: repeated polls show party members unimpressed with or indifferent to the declared candidates.

Romney's strengths are substantial: He's well known and an experienced campaigner. He has a personal fortune and an existing network of donors. He has a successful businessman's record and knows the logistics of a national campaign.

But he must confront his record of changing positions on social issues including abortion and gay rights, shifts that have left conservatives questioning his sincerity. He's also struggled to allay some skepticism about his Mormon faith.

On top of that, Romney championed a health care law enacted in Massachusetts that's similar to Obama's national health overhaul, which conservatives despise.

His rivals, giving him unwelcome company in New Hampshire, weren't about to let it go. "The reality is that Obamacare and Romneycare are almost exactly the same," Giuliani said in North Conway. "It's not very helpful trying to distinguish them. I would think the best way to handle it is to say, it was a terrible mistake and if I could do it over again, I wouldn't do it."