Yet in style and brain power there are surprising similarities. They both are graduates of Harvard Law School; Obama was the editor of the law review; Romney simultaneously got an MBA from Harvard Business School.

On their signature health-care measures — Romney’s passed in Massachusetts in 2006, and Obama’s national plan passed in 2010 — their approaches were alike substantively and politically. Each mastered the details of the problem and the proposals…

While Obama and Romney command fierce loyalty from longtime aides, neither much connects with political peers. In the last presidential run, both Senator John McCain and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took a dislike to Romney, finding him cold and calculating. More than a few Democratic politicians use the term cool or cold to describe the president…

The two probable 2012 rivals each bring impressive discipline to their work and a capacity for political growth. Over the course of the 2008 contest, Obama went from struggling novice to polished performer; as a candidate, Romney today is far surer than the version of four years ago.