Jim Hightower, Columnist

Ready or not, the race is on for president.

Yes, Election Day is still nearly two years away, but the candidates are already on the loose — and they’re as goosey as ever.

So far, the goosiest has been Mitt Romney. The GOP’s 2012 loser was asked last year if he would try again, and he said — in these exact words — “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” That’s 11 not-uhs, which would seem pretty final.

But in January, Romney suddenly back-flipped into the race. Even more stunning, the multimillionaire plutocrat proclaimed that he was running this time as the candidate of the poor and the middle class.

That was going to be fun to watch, but only two weeks later, Mitt quit. He said he wanted to give some of the new faces a chance. What a guy. So Romney’s out. Unless he gets back in.

Meanwhile, some of those “new faces” have an old and weary look, such as Mike Huckabee. He recently informed us that being gay is a “lifestyle” choice, like choosing to drink alcohol. Really? How does he know?

And don’t forget Rick “Oops” Perry. He’s back, this time wearing horn-rimmed glasses that are supposed to make him look smarter. You be the judge.

Rick’s latest handicap, however, isn’t stupidity. It’s trying to look presidential while under felony indictment for abusing his gubernatorial power — plus having his office under scrutiny for awarding handouts of public dollars to campaign donors and political cronies.

You know you’ve got image issues when your press conferences keep featuring photo-ops of you flanked by your covey of high-dollar criminal defense lawyers.

Still, the goofiest thing about the 2016 race is that it’s expected to come down to Bush vs. Clinton. Haven’t we seen that movie before?

Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown.