Free Republic

President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney may be dead even in the polls, but some pundits insist the president will prevail on Election Day because 2012 is the new 2004. The story line is President George W. Bush had roughly the same numbers at this point in 2004 that Mr. Obama has today. Mr. Bush went on to win a narrow victory by building a massive ground game that focused on the GOP's base and by relentlessly attacking his opponent, Sen. John Kerry. Mr. Obama is executing the same strategy. What worked for Mr. Bush, the theory goes, will...

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has now secured at least 88 of the 155 delegates at stake in the Texas Primary, bringing his secured delegate total to 1174, 30 more than necessary to win the majority of the delegated needed for the GOP nomination. With 4% of Texas precincts now reporting, Romney has consistently maintained or increased a 60 point lead over his nearest competitor, Congressman Ron Paul. In the contested race for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, David Dewhurst is holding a 48% to 31% lead over his nearest rival Ted Cruz in a nine person contest.

Each are Reaganest, in how they speak.

Mitt Romney’s campaign manager rejected efforts to use President Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in ads attacking the president, as reportedly planned by a “super PAC” working toward electing Mr. Romney in November. “Unlike the Obama campaign, Gov. Romney is running a campaign based on jobs and the economy, and we encourage everyone else to do the same,” the campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, said in a statement on Thursday morning. “President Obama’s team said they would ‘kill Romney,’ and, just last week, David Axelrod referred to individuals opposing the president as ‘contract killers.’ It’s clear President Obama’s team...

Levin is livid over the fact that Romney repudiated anything to do with bringing up Rev. Wright in this campaign even though in the primaries he went full throttle against Newt Gingrich, even with false attack ads:

In their never-ending crusade to destroy traditional conservatives, we expect the corrupt media to lie. It's what they do and what they've done for decades. What we don’t expect, though, is to have our presumptive nominee fuel those lies and allow those lies to affect his crucially important vice presidential pick. This is why this morning's report in the left-wing Politico is so troubling: [emphasis added] Mitt Romney and his top aides are building a strategy, partly by design and partly because of circumstance, around what they consider John McCain’s disastrously run campaign in 2008. The strategy: whatever McCain did,...

Bully story a black eye for Mitt Romney "Straight-laced and squeaky clean Mitt Romney must show he’s not the teen bully critics now say he was, if he hopes to limit the damage from a published report on his prep school days that paints him as a cruel and possibly homophobic prankster who once pinned a vulnerable schoolmate down and cut his bleached-blond locks .... Republican consultant John Feehery called the Washington Post report “troubling” for Romney’s presidential bid.... “For independents, it’s a troubling story. ... They don’t like bullies, and anti-bullying has become a issue on the national stage,”...

There may be a good reason voters can’t get a good bead on Mitt Romney. And it may be because the real Romney has a troubled, sadistic history. High School classmates of Romney recall an incident that’s disturbing to its core. Romney, then a popular senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School in Michigan, disapproved of classmate John Lauber’s long, blond locks, which Romney allegedly took as a clue that Lauber was a homosexual. So Romney assembled a posse of bullies and held the boy down and brutally chopped off his hair. “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look...

Reince Priebus – Wisconsin Shenanigans Scott Rohter , May 2012 The word was when Reince Priebus was first being touted for a position as the National GOP Chairman in January 2011, that he was a good strong conservative from Madison Wisconsin. Hummm… I thought. “A strong conservative voice from Madison Wisconsin.” Is that even possible?.. While I thought it was a bit unlikely that such a thing could actually be coming from a place like Madison, the home of the University of Wisconsin, nevertheless I stifled my skepticism and tried to keep an open mind. A lot of things are...

The GOP attacks on Palin.   After the Inauguration of Obama, the first time that the manhood of the GOP was called into question was the Stimulus package.  Rick Santelli was so upset with it that he issued his now famous diatribe calling for something like a national tea party.  A long simmering emotion within conservative ranks now had a name. Meanwhile, back in Alaska, Sarah Palin's return to work involved dealing with these stimulus package issues, and she did what she felt that she must.  She took those which were appropriate, but turned away those that weren't.  This was...

On Tuesday night, as he celebrates expected victories in Pennsylvania, New York, and other states, Mitt Romney plans to accept the title of presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Certainly the overwhelming majority of party insiders, along with the rest of the political world, already views Romney as the GOP choice; Tuesday will be just more confirmation. So given those circumstances, why are some prominent Republicans in Delaware, which also votes Tuesday, throwing their support, at this late date, to Newt Gingrich? In recent days Gingrich has announced the endorsements of Terry Spence, a former Speaker of the Delaware House; Jerry...

Mitt Romney was not his first choice for president, but conservative political activist Scott Magill has come to accept that Romney is now his only choice. So Magill is looking for reasons to get jazzed about the candidate he once dismissed. His list so far: Romney is a Republican who would sign into law legislation passed by a GOP-led House. Romney has started to hit the right talking points. If elected, Romney would have to listen to the conservative base - or risk its wrath at reelection time. Also, and perhaps most important, Romney is not Barack Obama. The conservative...

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Saturday that his cash-strapped campaign machine will march forward into North Carolina next week -- despite reports that stops in that state and elsewhere had been placed on indefinite hold, according to a report by Fox News. Filed federal reports indicated that the Gingrich campaign had $4.3 million in debt and has $1.22 million cash on hand. The campaign raised $1.6 million in March but spent $2.01 million, Fox News reported. Other public records revealed that Gingrich started the month of March with $1.55 million in debt and only $1.54 million in cash reserves....

For those of you who did not get or see the memo from Vince Haley, Mitt still has some major problems. Here is the Haley Memo, in relevant part: [H]ere is the crucial news about why --- with 17 states to go -- the Romney forces are worried, worried that the frontrunner's weakness is surfacing again in the Republican primaries. Here are two crucial news items causing Romneyites to worry. -- Despite much pressure from Romney forces, Colorado Republicans last weekend at their Denver convention surprised political observers by electing - and by a large margin -- more uncommitted than...

LANCASTER, Pa. - Two of the Republican candidates for president are in Pennsylvania a week ahead of the state's primary election. Mitt Romney, the GOP's all-but-certain presidential nominee, and Newt Gingrich, are scheduled to speak at the Republican Committee of Lancaster County’s spring event in Lancaster on Tuesday evening. Rick Santorum, who suspended his campaign last week, has canceled his appearance. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania U.S. senator, hasn't hinted whether he'll eventually endorse Romney, but said he'll say soon how he'll continue to press for conservatism in politics.

Mitt Romney caught in a Bill Clinton truth-telling moment. More proof of the constant lying of Mitt Romney

. . . . . What sort of justice to the Supreme Court will Mitt Romney nominate - a Souter or a Thomas? A Miers or an Alito? A Kennedy or a Scalia? His record as governor of Massachusetts gives no cause for optimism. Mr. Romney nominated 36 judges while governor, just nine of whom were Republicans. What he says of this record today is that the Massachusetts Governor's Council had to confirm the nominees, and the members of the council were all Democrats. So his answer was to nominate persons palatable to Democrats. But this all-Democratic Governor's Council is...

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Five different political contests are being conducted right now. Only two are evident to the naked eye. The first of the visible contests pits Mitt Romney against Rick Santorum for the Republican presidential nomination. The results here in Maryland and in Wisconsin this week tell us who has a commanding lead there. The second visible contest pits Romney against President Barack Obama. That one began this month with their twin addresses to the convention of editors in Washington. Obama has a 4-point lead, according to a Gallup poll conducted last week for USA Today. Now to...

Coming off of his primary wins in liberal Maryland and DC and a relentlessly negative campaign in Wisconsin, Mitt Romney’s campaign has signaled to the other candidates for the Republican nomination for President that there will be no let-up in the negative tenor of his campaign going into Pennsylvania and the other spring primaries. Mitt Romney As Bloomberg’s Heidi Przybyla noted, the “defining feature of the 2012 Republican presidential primary race” has been Romney’s relentlessly negative campaign. According to Przybyla’s research, “Since the contests began, Restore Our Future has spent $35 million on commercials attacking Santorum and Newt Gingrich” and...

Fox News & CNN are projecting Romney wins MD in their banners. Santorum wasn't on the DC ballot. Wisconsin polls close at 8pm CDT/9pm EDT.

The Romney campaign, renowned for its oppo-heavy strategy, didn’t even have an oppo book on Rick Santorum a few days before the Iowa caucuses, so surprised were they by his surge. Jon Huntsman nearly decided in November to leave the GOP and run as an independent. And before one of the debates, Rick Perry sang “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” in a restroom. These details are from Mike Allen and Evan Thomas’ new e-book, Inside the Circus, as are these additional factoids below. Mitt Romney raised millions in March by warning would-be donors a brokered convention could mean a...

APPLETON, Wis. — Mitt Romney’s advisers and top supporters have begun informally discussing potential vice presidential candidates and although they are careful to note that the campaign is far from putting together a short list, key supporters and strategists said Friday that they are beginning to see the outlines of the kind of person Romney will choose — and the kind he will avoid. The conventional thinking has been that after a long and divisive primary campaign, the challenge of uniting the GOP would force Romney to pick a running mate with strong appeal to tea party activists and evangelicals....

The Washington Times is usually pretty good, but they really blew this one. They claim that Romney is now getting Tea Party support. The writer for the Times either didn’t know better or engaged in some creative writing. Among other things, he claims that Freedomworks has dropped its opposition to Romney, something that Freedomworks denies. The Times in its blatant desire to see Romney as the nominee claims that Freedomworks launched the Tea Party movement. Ignoring the fact that is not true, I don’t think even Freedomworks makes that claim. They did help organize a big DC rally in 2009,...

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama holds a double-digit lead over GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in hypothetical general election matchups, according to a new poll. And a CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday also indicates that the president's approval rating has inched over the 50% mark in CNN surveys for the first time since last May, when the polls were still registering the after effects of the death of Osama bin Laden. The number of Americans who say the economy's in good shape has jumped 13 points since January, though the survey shows a majority still think...

. . . . . Romney’s Jobs’ Initiative Worsened the Housing Crisis in Massachusetts So when President Bush’s administration was attempting to regulate GSEs to avert a financial crisis, Governor Romney’s affordable housing policies in Massachusetts were significantly contributing to the bad assets on the books of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston the number of subprime mortgage originations in Massachusetts spiked between 2003 and 2006 during Romney’s tenure as Governor of Massachusetts. Given that there were prominent conservative whistle-blowers warning about the potential dangers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,...

...Romney said, “If they are 45 years old and they show up and say I want insurance because I have heart disease, it’s like, hey guys. We can’t play the game like that. You’ve got to get insurance when you are well and then if you get ill, you are going to be covered.”

Every time I decide to waste my valuable time on God's green and cooling Earth talking to a Mittiot (A rabid follower of former Taxachusetts governor Mitt Trotsky), the following intellectually dishonest and lazy argument always comes up, especially when discussing Romneycare(less). "He was the governor of a bright blue state! What do you expect ?!" To me, the above statement is just as annoying as hearing a Paultard whine "Ron Paul is the only...." or "Only Dr. Paul....". It's like Wolverine's claws on Glenn Beck's chalkboard. Use of a statement like that shows that person using it is utterly...

The Big story this weekend is that “a congressional committee is investigating how $1.6 billion in customer funds went missing from bankrupt brokerage MF Global said Friday that it’s found evidence that then-CEO Jon Corzine directed a senior executive to use $200 million of clients’ money.” It’s such a shame to see the former Governor getting probed like this. I thought Dems were not subject to financial and accounting laws because they created the laws for us. All Corzine needs to do is go before the judge and jury, then tell them they are stupid and he knows better. He...

ERIC FEHRNSTROM, ROMNEY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think he hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes, it's almost like an Etch A Sketch you can kind of shake it up and restart all over again. GINGRICH, R - PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some people talk about making pledges that are in stone. But the idea that a Romney pledge is on Etch A Sketch, this should remind everyone in the conservative movement why they are very worried about a Romney presidency and about a Romney candidacy. And it really makes you doubt and wonder about his sincerity. RICK SANTORUM: When...

On Wednesday, former Florida Governor and Republican Party heavyweight Jeb Bush endorsed Mitt Romney for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. But some believe the Bush endorsement may actually have more to do with Sarah Palin (and her tacit endorsements of Newt Gingrich) than Mitt Romney. "I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our Party¹s nomination," Bush announced Wednesday. "We face huge challenges, and we need a leader who understands the economy, recognizes more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed." To state categorically that some in...

Newt Gingrich is joining team Obama by mocking Mitt Romney advisor Eric Fehrnstrom's "Etch-A-Sketch" comments today. Asked about how Romney would handle his pivot from primary to general election, Fehrnstrom said, “Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes." Fehrnstrom said on CNN, "It’s almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all of over again." After highlighting Mitt Romney's inconsistancy on the issues, Gingrich handed the Etch-A-Sketch to a child in the audience and said, "Here you go, you can now be a presidential candidate." Obama's SuperPAC has...

No link yet. I'm just seeing it on CNN. Reuters said Fox called it as well.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure is mounting on Republican Mitt Romney to win next Tuesday's presidential primary in Illinois, a state considered friendly territory as he seeks to fend off a growing challenge from conservative rival Rick Santorum. Romney and Santorum have added campaign events in Illinois over the next few days to try to get a leg up in the state, where a Chicago Tribune poll last week gave Romney a narrow lead of 35 percent to Santorum's 31 percent. The former Massachusetts governor is pouring money into Illinois and sending an ally, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to campaign...

Assuming Romney is the projected nominee, he will need a VP that will please the GOP,Tea Party & Conservative Base. Most of us want Marco Rubio, but he still hasn't shown any serious interest. That leaves McDonnell&Ryan next in line. Either one will give Romney a boost against Obama. Virgina&North Carolina being crucial would be the reason to choose McDonnell. Wisconsin & the rust belt would be the factor with Paul Ryan. It's a tough decision. There are a few others, but if there was a poll, Ryan would probably be the choice if Rubio bowed out.

Over the course of the GOP primary season it is quite easy to get so absorbed or distracted by the day to day happenings and events on the campaign trail that one loses sight of the current political reality and loses one's perspective on what is really happening on the ground. And in respect to how many voters view Mitt Romney and his campaign, correctly or mistakenly that is no exception. Well here are 10 most glaring myths or misconceptions that have surrounded Mitt Romney and the Romney campaign, many of them admittedly spun by Romney's own propaganda machine or...

Alabama's Republican governor has some advice for Mitt Romney the next time the former Massachusetts governor campaigns in the Deep South: Cut out the y'alls and references to "cheesy grits'' and be himself.

Ten days before the 2008 presidential election, as blame was beginning to be laid out for John McCain’s “likely defeat,” a top communications adviser to the campaign wrote a detailed strategy memo focused on how to preserve the reputation of another key adviser, Steve Schmidt, POLITICO has learned. *** The protective maneuver sheds more light on the final days of the 2008 campaign, a period of low morale marked by tensions between the Palin and McCain camps and the expectation of defeat. *** “Thankfully, and rightfully so, some members of the political punditry are already coming his defense (Rove, McKinnon,...

"Mitt, It's Time To Quit!" Mitt. It’s time you quit! Your credibility isn’t worth spit. RINOs, the “Establishment”, and Democrats all agree, But in the General Election, to Obama they’ll flee. Against Obama, liberals and moderates know you’ll lose. But conservatives, Romney they’ll never choose. Mitt, our loyalty you can’t buy. Back to Massachusetts, you’d better fly. Just like Gerald Ford, Bob Dole, and John McCain, Nominee Willard Mitt Romney will result in the same. As a Governor, your record isn’t that great. Out of 50 states, your popularity was number 48. Your experience, the “Establishment” types tout. Defending...

Newt Gingrich says, "Between us, Santorum and I are stopping Romney."

A day after losing Mississippi and Alabama to Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney took his campaign to a state where he had no public schedule, no time carved out to mingle with voters, and no rallies or town halls. While Mr. Santorum and Newt Gingrich hunted for votes in Puerto Rico and Illinois, Mr. Romney traveled to New York City to raise money and reassure top Republican donors — a constituency that favors his candidacy, and one perhaps most rattled by his inability to win the confidence of the party’s conservative base. Mr. Romney has raised more than $63 million, twice...

The GOP-e is starting to blame the GOP Primary and Newt Gingrich for what they see as a weakened Romney going into the General Election. BLAME Romney! BLAME the GOP Establishment! Newt Gingrich is the only conservative still running in the GOP primary! By employing a drumbeat of damaging headlines, using misleading delegate counts and by calling for him to leave, the GOP-e and their friends in the MSM have hurt Newt but they have not succeeded in knocking him out or silencing the base.

Another Tuesday, another failure by Mitt Romney to line up the party faithful behind him. Not only did Romney lose yesterday's contests in Alabama and Mississippi, but he finished third in both, putting him behind Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Even though Romney remains well ahead in the delegate count and even though he'll still likely win the nomination, he just can't put those nagging doubts among conservatives to rest. CNN political contributor Paul Begala writes for The Daily Beast that Romney has gone from inevitable to unelectable: "Somebody strap him to the roof of one of his Cadillacs and...

In state after state, evangelicals have sent Mitt Romney a clear message: We’re just not that into you. Some evangelicals do pull the lever for Romney. But consistently there is a wide gap between Romney’s support among evangelicals and his support among other groups. On average, there is a 19-point difference between Romney’s support among non-evangelicals and his support among evangelicals in Republican primaries, according to ABC News’s survey of primary states with exit- or entrance-polling data available. That’s a sizeable gap — and one that has complicated Romney’s path to the nomination. Evangelical leaders are dismissive of the notion...

MATHEMATICALLY MR. ROMNEY CANNOT CLAIM THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE OUTRIGHT (Vanity) After March 13, after Alabama and Miss., Romney gets total of 391 bound delegates and he needs 1,144 for nomination. So he still needs 1,144 – 391 = 753 bound delegates. About 100 bound delegates of Florida and Arizona that Romney “won” will be challenged and will be re-allocated proportionally by CD or will be unbound, so his number will be reduced even further. In the remaining elections, I consider the following states which traditionally more conservative and growing weary of Romney’s electability, the bound delegates probably will be allocated...

5 PM ET: NETWORK EXITS SHOW ALABAMA TIGHT; ROMNEY TAKES MISSISSIPPI... DEVELOPING DRUDGE POLLS HAVE CORRECTLY PREDICTED EVERY RACE

Mitt Romney’s transformation into a cheesy grits- and catfish-loving, ya’ll-uttering good ol’ boy in the face of tight contests in Mississippi and Alabama today is being panned by critics — skeptical Southern party officials and pundits. “If you’re going to pander, at least pander well, and this isn’t pandering well,” said Stephen Gordon, a Republican consultant based in Birmingham, Ala. The former Bay State governor is a Yankee, Gordon said, and will always face skepticism no matter how many catfish filets he raves about. “People in the Deep South have a bit of a natural distrust for Northerners, especially folks...

Hot on the heels of his eight-vote Iowa-caucus landslide, Willard Mitt Romney is crisscrossing New Hampshire before Tuesday's key primary. Romney is masquerading as a limited-government, free-market executive from next-door Massachusetts. From the Golden Gate to the Granite State, voters should greet Romney's impersonation with a quarry full of skepticism. In fact, Romney increased taxes by $309 million, mainly on corporations. These tax hikes, described by Romney apologists as loophole closures, totaled $128 million in 2003, $95.5 in 2004, and $85 million in 2005. That final year, Romney proposed $170 million in higher business taxes, the Boston Globe reports. However,...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19 (see trends). Looking at Tuesday's upcoming primaries, the GOP race in Alabama is essentially a three-way tie, while Mitt Romney leads by eight in Mississippi. Nationally, Romney now leads Rick Santorum by 12 points. Regardless of who they want to win, 80% of Republican Primary Voters nationwide believe Romney will be the party's nominee. With the...

Back Stab Sarah Palin As Portrayed By Her Disloyal Staff. MAR 19, 2012, VOL. 17, NO. 26 • BY JOHN PODHORETZ Nicolle Wallace was the onetime consultant to CBS News and media aide to George W. Bush who was assigned to work with Sarah Palin after the Alaska governor was chosen as John McCain’s running mate. It was Wallace who assured the McCain campaign that her dear friend Katie Couric, a committed liberal with a history of interviewing Republicans and conservatives in a quietly nasty way, was the right journalist to conduct a major early interview with the extremely conservative...

MITT ROMNEY may be as close to a walking, talking dollar sign as presidential politics has ever witnessed. If money were made flesh, it would apparently have fair skin, flawless hair and an off-key tropism toward patriotic anthems. I say that only partly because of all of those awkward asides of his, the ones that keep reminding voters, who need no further reminding, that he’s loaded. And I’m not really focused on just how loaded he is. With a personal net worth in the vicinity of $225 million, Romney is no Warren Buffett, no Bill Gates. There have been more...