Pots of money aside, one -factor above all helped bring victory to Mitt Romney in Saturday's informal Iowa "straw poll" of Republican presidential candidates - a reputation for competence.

Without directly criticising George W. Bush, his class-mate at -Har-vard Business School in the 1960s, Mr Romney en-thused enough Iowan Republicans with his ability "to get things done" at a moment when cynicism towards politicians is close to an all-time high.