While the rest of the world was ringing in the year 2019, the election year of 2020 got underway in earnest in the United States.

Two days before he's sworn in as a new US Senator, former and likely future Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrote a scathing op-ed in The Washington Post attacking Donald Trump's character and disappointing performance in the White House.

"I do not intend to comment on every tweet or fault.  But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest, or destructive to democratic institutions," Romney wrote.  "To reassume our leadership in world politics, we must repair failings in our politics at home.  That project begins, of course, with the highest office once again acting to inspire and unite us," he continued.

"To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation," the former Massachusetts governor wrote, "A president should unite us and inspire us to follow 'our better angels'."

At the very least, Romney has planted his flag as an opponent of Trump's worst instincts and the champion of the old Republican party that recognizes international obligations and friendships among Western democracies.  As one of the wealthiest people ever to run for US president, he's in a better position to simply not give a hoot about any pressure the Trump wing might throw his way - making him a stronger opponent to Trump than exiting Republican senators Jeff Flake and Bob Corker who frequently tried and failed to stand up to Trump's belligerence. 

This came a day after progressive icon and Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren announced she was forming an exploratory committee, generally considered to be the same as announcing she's running for president.