Romney will run

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney launched his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He announced on Twitter and Facebook and in a YouTube video that he has formed an exploratory committee, which allows him to raise money in advance of formally declaring his candidacy. Romney is the second Republican to announce, following former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Romney assailed President Obama’s economic record, saying he doesn’t “know how jobs are created in the private sector.” But Romney faces strong GOP skepticism over his involvement in Massachusetts’s health-care plan, which served as a model for Obama’s health-care reform.