Free Republic

Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his conservative bona fides following doubts expressed by Sarah Palin. The former Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate told Fox News Sunday that she is "not convinced" by Romney's conservative instincts, indicating he may not be conservative "enough" for her. "And I don't think that the majority of GOP and Independent voters are convinced, and that is why you don't see Romney get over that hump," she said. (VIDEO AT LINK) "I'm not quite sure what she'd be referring to," Romney responded Wednesday, also on Fox News. "I'm pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, I believe in the...

At 10:45pm, MSNBC reported that 21% of the votes were in. Romney with 3642 votes (39%), and Gingrich with 2573 vote (27%). Here is the screen shot: And here is the screen shot with a time stamp: Six minutes later, at 10:51pm, MSNBC reported that only 19% of the votes were in -- Romney with 3569 votes (42%) and Gingrich with 2059 votes (25%). Here is the screen shot: And here is the screen shot with a time stamp:

Surveys keep coming in showing Mitt Romney wresting control of Florida from Newt Gingrich. The latest -- a Monmouth University poll of Florida. 1. Mitt Romney 39% 2. Newt Gingrich 32% 3. Rick Santorum 11% 4. Ron Paul 8% The internals show the typical gaps. Men pick Gingrich by 5%, but women go massively to Romney (19% lead over Newt). Newt does better with those who call themselves "very conservative" but Mitt does best with the more moderate set. Gingrich leads by 13% among evangelicals. There's some good news for Mitt on the tea party front. He and Gingrich are...

Romney aides tell Fox News they expect a second place finish based on exit polls.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month's presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Texas Governor Rick Perry is demanding Mitt Romney release his tax records, warning there can't be any surprises should the GOP front-runner become the party's nominee. "Anita and I put out our taxes every year since back the 80s, and every candidate up there, they should put their taxes out, including Mitt," Perry insisted during a town hall meeting. "You know, November, or excuse me, September and October, is not the time for us to be finding out that whoops, there's something out there that is a problem. We need to know it now." Perry has...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is appealing to South Carolina's evangelical Christians with a direct and urgent message: Christians are under attack, and Republicans shouldn't trust Mitt Romney to oppose abortion at all times. "We will not tolerate a speech dictatorship in this country against Christianity," the former House speaker told a crowd of 300 in Rock Hill, S.C., on Wednesday, railing against what he has called government intrusions on Catholic charities and other religious organizations. Gingrich is one of three conservatives, along with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, trying to rally...

Mitt Romney has realized that he can't avoid the issue of his Mormon religion, so he might as well embrace it. The Republican frontrunner's new South Carolina mail campaign emphasizes Romney's deep religious beliefs and 42-year marriage, in an effort to win over 60 percent of the state's Republicans that are evangelical or "born again" Christians. The ad, however, doesn't dive head first into touting Romney's Mormonism, but instead refers heavily to his "faith" and how it will influence him as president, also assuring South Carolina voters that the White House contender is "pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-family."

UPDATED: Mitt Romney got 20 fewer votes in Moulton precinct, Appanoose County GOP chairman says!!!!!

A New Hampshire surrogate for Mitt Romney said at a local political event that it's evident he will be the Republican presidential nominee and suggested that "beliefs and principles" should not be the deciding factor for voters. State Sen. Gary Lambert said the most important thing is to nominate somebody who can defeat President Obama. "I don't get it. This is not about picking a favorite, it's not about picking someone you like," Lambert said. "It's not about picking someone even with your own beliefs and principles. This is about picking a person who can beat Barack Obama, period."

This little snippet from last night's Iowa caucus coverage is just a taste of what Fox News served last night. Ed Rollins summed up their praise for SuperPACs quite well here. I only have one remaining question: Why is Karl Rove still employed by Fox? Key point by Rollins: BAIER: We were talking tonight about SuperPACS and how much they're going to play. If there is a lot of support that coalesces around Santorum as the conservative alternative, SuperPACs could play in places like New Hampshire or South Carolina. ROLLINS: SuperPACs can play anywhere at this point in time and...

The fight to place all seven Republican presidential candidates on Virginia's primary ballot is moving toward the courts while one candidate bumped from the ballot, Newt Gingrich, insisted Wednesday that he was the victim of fraud. The conservative Citizens for the Republic and former Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Paul Goldman said Wednesday that Virginia failed to follow its own laws in determining which candidates should make the ballot. The state delegated its duties to the political parties without double-checking their work, Goldman said. Virginia requires candidates to submit signatures from 10,000 registered voters, including 400 from each of the...

Don't be conned into nominating Mitt Romney.

"It has recently come to our attention that your station has either been asked to run, or may soon be asked to run, various advertising spots produced by the Mitt Romney aligned SuperPAC “Restore Our Future” or Romney for President, the principal campaign committee of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Included among the Romney advertisements submitted to your station for broadcast are likely to be various advertisements which specifically mention Speaker Gingrich and purport to quote or reference the findings of a 1997 report issued by the House Select Committee on Ethics (the “Report”). The content of these advertisements state...

"I don't have lobbyists running my campaign. I don't have lobbyists tied to my..." [then a reporter takes Romney to task].

All I'm hearing from those-who-like-to-tell-us-how-to-vote (MSM/GOP establishment/Ann Coulter) this week is how Romney is "feeling confident" while Rick Santorum is soaring  (an unsinspiring politician Romney/Obama would love to face), yet Reaganite warrior Newt Gingrich (of whom they are both terrified) is now 'demoralized', with 'little chance of winning', etc... and all this derived from a vote count representing of just 4% of Iowa's tiny, rural population.  Yes, MSM/Left know perfectly well that this is the flakiest GOP primary electorate in history -and Santorum not even 10% as brutally-vetted/slandered as Bachmann, Cain, and Gingrich have been: might be good to consider at this point why some...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is shrugging off reports that the vote count from Iowa’s caucuses might be wrong, saying the errors appear not to change the fact that he and Mitt Romney were nearly tied. Santorum tells Fox News that a party official says the two cases in which errors were reported in the count from Tuesday night nearly cancel each other out. A Ron Paul supporter told Des Moines TV station KCCI that the posted count from his precinct in Appanoose County gave Romney more votes than he actually received. The GOP chairman...

DES MOINES, Iowa - With only eight votes separating them, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have proved after last night’s Iowa primary vote that the battle between moderate and conservative forces in the Republican party will continue to both define and divide the GOP 2012 caucuses. Ron Paul landed in a close third place, while U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, one of the strongest social conservatives in the race, announced the end of her candidacy Wednesday after coming in at sixth place. In the final count released this morning, Santorum’s 30,007 (24.54%) votes were defeated by 30,015 (24.55%) cast for the...

From the W moment he launched his presidential campaign on a windy New Hampshire morning in June, Willard Mitt Romney has been the acknowledged front-runner in the Republican race. He has raised more money, earned more support from his party's establishment, hired more paid staff and secured more endorsements than any of the seven other "major" GOP candidates. There is but one nagging thing keeping Romney from being dubbed the "inevitable" GOP nominee in 2012 - a solid 75 per cent of the voters in his party simply cannot stand the guy. "He is cold gravy," said Stephen Schneck, a...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans are most likely to name Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as their first choice for their party's 2012 presidential nomination, with Herman Cain close behind. Among all Republicans nationwide, Romney is the choice of 20% and Gingrich 19%. Among Republican registered voters, Gingrich is at 22% and Romney at 21%. [snip] ....Implications With the first official nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses, now just six weeks away, there is no clear national front-runner for the Republican nomination....