HMM: Romney 45, Obama 39. “I think what we’re seeing is that as Romney emerges as the winner within the GOP, his winner status makes him seem more appealing in comparison to Obama. And it’s an upward spiral: The more Romney looks strong compared to Obama, the more Republicans should want him as their nominee.” Is this how it will work? Some aren’t buying it yet.

Related: NYT quotes Washington insiders calling Obama “remote,” “distant” and “perfunctory.”

UPDATE: Reader Eliot Picard writes: “One thing that has occurred to me is that, while Romney is not the ideal ‘Reagan Republican’ that so many in the rightosphere want to see he is, thus far, the only R who does not melt under pressure like the others. Another thing is that, here in Massachusetts, having Romney at the top of the ticket may be just the thing to help put Scott Brown over the top against Liz Warren. Having a left-of-right-of-center local figure on top will certainly swing moderates and even bring out the not-so-small R base in MA which can only help down ticket. The union PACs have been dumping $millions around these parts for months with ‘Rethink Brown’ and have only yielded a within-the-margin-of-error lead for Warren so this could easily be the key bit.”

Meanwhile, Don Surber on Obama’s worst nightmare: “They have been saying a generic Republican could beat him. They don’t get more generic than Mitt Romney.”