Des Moines, Iowa – Earlier today, down the street at Java Joe’s, Mitt Romney appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “If all goes well, I hope I become the nominee,” he said. “At this stage, I think it’s hard to predict exactly what’s going to happen. But I think I’ll be among the top group. I don’t know whether that is one, two, or three, but all three of us will get a good sendoff going into New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida, and so on. It’s a long road, as you know.”

“I expect people to come after me,” Romney said. “If I do well here, I’ll have a target painted on me. So I expect other folks to come after me. You know, if I can’t stand up to that, I shouldn’t be the nominee.”