The guy really has no class and if he ever was taken seriously, he would be trouble.

Fortunately for him, he never was taken seriously. We all got so involved in writing about his money and his good looks, his religion and his changing positions on virtually every issue that we never stopped to listen to his pronouncements on the world.

Before we consign Mitt to the ash bin of history -- meaning he will probably be the Republican nominee in 2012 -- it might be worthwhile to pay some attention to his speech Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, in which he announced the end of his campaign.

This is what he said about Europe:

"Europe is having a demographic disaster. That's the inevitable product of a weakened faith in the creator, of failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life and eroded morality."

Wow! Is all this true?

I guess it depends on one's perspective. For example, is Europe really in the midst of a "demographic disaster?"

Many European countries are facing a declining birthrate, that's true. As a result, many European countries are allowing large number of immigrants, many of them Muslim workers from heavily populated and less affluent countries.

So, is Mitt really saying the "demographic disaster" is actually too many non-white, non-Christian people?

I think that's pretty much what he's saying. Of course, he's also warning that the United States has too many immigrants as well, and most of those are Christian.

Think about the import of those positions for a minute and ask yourself just what Romney is saying about the rest of the world and thank whatever God you worship that he won't be in charge of winning the hearts and minds of people around the globe.

Organized religion in Europe is, indeed, facing hard times these days. But, when it comes to failed families and eroded morality, I doubt Europe compares badly with, say, most leaders of the Republican Party. Even the party's most likely candidate for president, Sen. John McCain, left a crippled wife to marry a rich, thin, younger woman. McCain treated his first wife, Carol, fairly, even generously, and took full responsibility for the failure of his marriage, which makes him a better man that Newt Gingrich or Rudy Giuliani, but not better than your average European.

What's the point?

The point is that Romney ought be awfully happy the press didn't take him seriously as a presidential candidate. If it had, he'd have gotten even fewer votes than he actually managed to attract.