He's been running for about 4 or 5 years!
He's been running since he took the job overseeing the Olympics, a loooooooong time ago. At the time, we here in Massachusetts knew that his next stop was the Massachusetts governorship, which he would then use as his springboard to the presidency. We knew the strategy: "A conservative wins in Massachusetts! He could win nationwide!"
Of course, to win, he changed his position on abortion, and did nothing to oppose homosexual "marriage." He essentially abandoned the governorship two years into his term as governor to run for the presidency in 2006. He was AWOL for TWO YEARS, and they give Sarah grief for resigning? Good grief.
And BTW, Romney didn't do anything to help Massachusetts fiscally. It was one of the last pro-life, conservative Democrats, the Speaker of the House, who kept spending from getting completely out of control in those years. Romney was s doorstop. Nothing more.