Free Republic

Don't be conned into nominating Mitt Romney.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — If this is Mitt Romney’s idea of a victory rally, one shudders to think what would have happened if he had lost the Iowa caucuses. The day after his impossibly thin eight-vote victory, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination flew here for a town hall meeting at Manchester Central High School, where he was to bask in the endorsement of his 2008 arch rival, John McCain. But the senator grimaced when he was introduced, and as Romney delivered his own stump speech, an increasingly impatient McCain pulled up his sleeve and checked his watch. McCain gave...

Viewed in isolation, Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential candidacy is doomed. In 2008, Romney earned himself a reputation as a flip-flopper as he dramatically attempted to reshape himself as a stanch conservative despite having previously staked out liberal positions on abortion, guns, immigration and a litany of other issues. This time around, Romney faces the additional burden of trying to explain away his most significant legislative accomplishment as governor of Massachusetts -- a big government health care plan that was a model for ObamaCare. In his last presidential bid he was largely able to get a pass, because health care wasn't...

The 2012 presidential election may be 29 months away, but the potential players are stalking each other like chess grandmasters. Tonight's round of gubernatorial and Senate primaries could provide early indicators of who is most shrewdly mobilizing their pieces into position. Three states with big races on Tuesday represent potential game-changers in 2012. Iowa and South Carolina occupy key early positions in the presidential-primary calendar, while California boasts a mother lode of winner-take-all delegates. For presumed hopefuls like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee, the calculation is simple. Endorse a statewide candidate who wins (both tonight and in November's...

Sometime around the time Barack Obama won the White House, I started wondering who would inherit the Republican Party. I have to admit I felt a little schadenfreude when George and Dick drove the GOP off a cliff, but I also named this space “Common Ground” for a reason. We need to focus on what unites us more than the things that divide us. Here’s some common ground: We need two functioning political parties to continue to meet the challenges of our times. Unlike Karl Rove, I don’t want one party to run the country. Hammering out public policy through...

The political axiom is familiar today. Republicans nominate the next in line. So it's been from Richard Nixon to John McCain. The next presidential cycle could prove otherwise. The GOP establishment no longer rides herd over today's elephants. Conservative activists are both exceptionally galvanized and autonomous. It's a unique mix unseen in decades. And critically, the establishment's early favorite has an Achilles heel. This conservative milieu begs the question: is 2012 the year of the Republican dark horse? Mitt Romney should be the next Republican nominee. No less than 81 percent of Republican "insiders" say that Romney is the "most...

Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door today to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama. “Sounds pretty good,” Palin declared at today’s Tea Party Express rally on the Common when asked about pairing up with the former Bay State governor - giving the idea a big thumbs-up as she left the stage after her headline speech. Earlier tonight, as Palin stopped for cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End, she said she was “serious” about the...

As you all know, we don't do opposition research. If we did, it would probably look something like this: I'm sure you'll have seen the media rumors about Romney supporters rigging the SRLC straw poll: I spoke to a young female delegate who said she planned to vote for Romney in the poll. I asked her how she had ended up at the conference. She said "Evangelicals for Mitt" had contacted her and offered to pay for her to have a limited-access ticket -- so long as she agreed to vote for Romney in the straw poll. Asked how "Evangelicals...

(SALT LAKE CITY) – Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney is preparing a more prominent presence on the national scene with a new book coming out in the spring. His new book, “No Apology: The Case for America’s Greatness” comes out March 2 and Romney is kicking off a book tour at the Salt Palace March 13 with a book signing hosted by the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics. Kirk Jowers, a long-time Romney backer, is its director and says the book will offer ideas about turning around a nation some see in a decline. Jowers said he hopes...