Mitt Romney tells the Des Moines Register he's confident he can win Pa in a general election contest next year:

Asked which states he could put in play that no other GOP candidate could, Romney in an interview with The Des Moines Register answered: “I’m not at this stage a general election campaign strategist.”

He paused for thought, than launched into an optimistic recitation of the states he has confidence in claiming were Republicans to select him as their nominee: Michigan, Nevada, Iowa, Massachusetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania.

“If I’m effective about communicating my message about growing the economy and creating jobs, then I’ll be able to pick up a lot of states where the economy is in trouble,” Romney said today during a three-city campaign tour in Iowa – his first visit here since August.

. . . “I’d like to be able to win Pennsylvania. I think we can do that, we’ve got a Republican governor now, Republican senator,” he said. “We ought to be able to pick those up.”

The Trib has a Susquehanna poll backing up those claims, saying President Obama would lose to any Republican last year 45-38%.