Politico’s assessment of the surging Romney campaign.

Key graphs:

And, as we enter the final push before primary votes are cast, Romney has accomplished a remarkable objective: He has gone from being a little-known governor of a liberal-leaning Democratic state to the leading Republican candidate in public opinion polls in both critical early-primary states, New Hampshire and Iowa.

In other words, by historic measures, Romney is better-positioned to win the nomination than former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson -both of whom are trouncing him in national surveys. 

Which raises the question: How did he get here?

To find out how, read the Politico article.