Stephen Hayes, in a lengthy read in the Weekly Standard about the genesis of Rep. Paul Ryan's current role as leader of the GOP masses on the issue of entitlement reform and debt, unearths this nugget from Mitt Romney's book about the presidential candidates being let off the hook too easy by the press in the last race:

Mitt Romney’s first statement on the Ryan budget, though, seemed to fall well short of a full-throated embrace. “I applaud Rep. Paul Ryan for recognizing the looming financial crisis that faces our nation and for the creative and bold thinking that he brings to the debate,” he said in a press release. “He is setting the right tone for finally getting spending and entitlements under control. Anyone who has read my book knows that we are on the same page.”

The comment was characteristic of Romney’s cautious approach. But those interested enough to flip through his book, No Apology, discovered that Romney did discuss entitlements with some specificity. More interestingly, he lamented that candidates in 2008 hadn’t laid out detailed plans for entitlement reform, and he scolded the media for failing to demand specifics:

I admit to having been more than a little surprised that many of the serious challenges facing America today were not forcefully examined by the media during the 2008 primary and general election campaigns. It’s well understood by those who have studied the federal budget, for example, that our entitlement programs will eventually swamp us. But neither party’s candidates were pushed to explain what they would do about it. In one of our Republican primary debates, for example, we were asked, “Specifically, what would you do to fix Social Security?” Most responded by restating the problem—“Social Security is bankrupt”—rather than by addressing a solution; politicians have learned from experience that it is unwise to touch the “third rail of politics.” But why is that? Why is it that the media doesn’t hold accountable those who duck this critical issue? Why isn’t it instead that failure to address entitlement and Social Security reform is the “third rail?”

Now that he’s the Republican nominee, does Romney want to press this case? He’s certainly been more specific on entitlement reform than Barack Obama. And there’s an obvious opening for Romney to run a campaign focused on Obama’s failure of leadership on debt and deficits.