The presidential election in 2012 is more than a year away, but for the candidates, the campaign is already barreling full steam ahead. Many news websites now have an entire section dedicated to the 2012 elections, and debates between candidates are becoming more frequent.

The candidates are committed to their fundraising efforts, raising up to tens of millions of dollars for their campaigns. Currently, the front runners for the Republican candidacy are Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Herman Cain.

But Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has left the public confused.

During Romney’s term as governor of MA, he signed the Massachusetts Health Care Act into law, requiring that all citizens of the Bay State have health insurance. This health care act is often viewed as the model for Obamacare.

However, Romney reportedly believes that “Obamacare should be repealed and replaced.”

On his campaign website, Romney expresses his belief that a new health care law should give more power to the states in designing their own health care programs and less power to the federal government.

Instead of strengthening his campaign, Romney’s health care has become a popular issue for his critics to attack.

Romney is being questioned for taking inconsistent sides on other issues as well. There are multiple claims that he has changed his position on abortion, gay rights, gun control, immigration, and, of course, health care. Recently, Rick Perry released this video attacking Romney:

The Democratic National Committee recently created a website called “Which Mitt?” The website includes quizzes where the audience must select which stance, out of three, they believe Mitt Romney supports. Two of the choices are conflicting, and the last is “all of the above”. Not surprisingly, the “correct” answer to all six questions is “all of the above”.

Although Romney is the strongest candidate in the polls, he is undoubtedly going to be a very controversial candidate and will be featured in many attack ads.

Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, is also receiving a lot of press. However, Perry, who recently got 6% of the votes in the New Hampshire poll, is falling behind the other candidates.

Unless Perry has a strong showing at the next debate, he will most likely not remain a front runner for this election.

While Perry seems to be losing momentum, Herman Cain is gaining popularity. Cain recently won 13% of the votes in the New Hampshire poll.

Even though Cain is a political novice, he has already outlined a tax plan called the 9-9-9 plan. This plan will make the national sales tax and the income tax for people and corporations 9%. The 9-9-9 plan, Cain says, will help end America’s economic turmoil.

Although the 9-9-9 plan is controversial, Cain has been very clear and specific in outlining his goals and ideas to the public. This will undoubtedly help his popularity; the American people are looking for answers, and Cain is not giving them inconsistent positions or generalized ideas.

While each political competitor’s popularity rises and falls in the polls, we are being fed a steady stream of news and media surrounding each candidate. Attack ads are rolling out and fundraising efforts for each campaign are in full swing. The final election may be more than a year away, but one thing is for sure: political competitors don’t procrastinate.