Free Republic

A ghost from 1968 haunts the campaign of Mitt Romney—and no, it’s not the memory of his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, who stumbled as a leading GOP contender 43 years ago. For the younger Romney, the more worrisome blast from the past involves the campaign of Richard Nixon, who ultimately won the nomination by default but never managed to inspire real enthusiasm from the party faithful. As with Mitt, nearly all Republicans considered Nixon acceptable as a standard bearer as the former vice president positioned himself in the safe center of the party.But grassroots activists felt far...

Other than the part of the evening where Michele Bachmann compared Herman Cain’s tax plan to the work of Satan, the Washington Post/Bloomberg Republican debate was fairly uneventful. In fact, it reminded me why I dislike Jane Austen novels. It takes so long to get to what seems a foregone conclusion, and the protagonists always irritatingly fail to understand that the man who is “good” for them is in fact superior to the the temporarily exciting fling who wants them to run off with him in a carriage. Mitt Romney has stopped running circles around the rest of the field...

A new poll shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney narrowly leading President Obama in a hypothetical general election matchup in Florida.

BOSTON — Republican Mitt Romney is finding it hard to avoid comparisons between the Massachusetts health insurance mandate he signed into law and the federal version enacted by President Barack Obama as he weighs another presidential run. A federal judge struck down the Obama mandate last week, and appeals of that ruling and other court challenges are likely to wend their way to the Supreme Court during the next two years, legal experts say....

As evidence against my skepticism of Sarah Palin’s supposed front-runner status for 2012, I give you the latest round of Public Policy Center polls: PPP’s newest batch of 2012 Republican primary polls conducted right before last week’s election finds Mitt Romney ahead in the critical early state of Florida, Tim Pawlenty surprisingly weak in his home state of Minnesota, and Sarah Palin posting leads in Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Maine. All of her leads are relatively slim, but the fact that she’s ahead of Huckabee in Texas and West Virginia is notable, and her leads in Maine (by 23...

FOR MITT Romney, running for president in 2012 looks a lot like running for governor in 2002. All he has to do is elbow aside a Republican woman, run against Democratic leaders and their liberal lockstep politics, and keep talking about the economy. Eight years ago, that was the Massachusetts game plan. After Romney thrust himself into the governor’s race as the can-do candidate with a Harvard MBA, acting Governor Jane Swift took herself out of it. Romney then turned Shannon O’Brien, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and the Democratic leaders of the Massachusetts Legislature, into the so-called “gang of three.’’...

Is O'Reilly in the tank for Romney? I realize this was a charity event, but O'Reilly's snarkiness towards all things Palin leads me to believe that Romney has already made his choice for 2012. http://twitpic.com/2gt3orCheck out Romney's twitter feed for more photos.

See how they try to lead people into buying into certain "convention wisdom's"....this is silly and CNN knows it, and the RINO's in the party of course will claim that they support the teas party when they actually don't. "More than half of all Republicans we questioned consider themselves Tea Party supporters or active members of the Tea Party movement," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Romney tops the list among Tea Party Republicans; Gingrich is next on that list and Palin is in third." -CNN

Laura Ingraham was on the Glenn Beck radio show in the last hour this morning...While talking about potential candidates for 2012, She was asked if Romney was a "progressive" she said NO he isn't one of them at all...I've heard that she loves Romney like a Ken doll and is a Romneybot, but this is amazing! She also said that she would take Newt as President in a heartbeat! What gives?

Like her or not, Sarah Palin will play a decisive role in who gets the Republican nomination in 2012. Since being plucked out of relative obscurity by 2008 GOP nominee John McCain, Palin has emerged as a celebrity in her own right. Anyone longing for the nomination will have to deal with her persona, her influence, and her supporters. Along with Palin’s notoriety, the rise of the Tea Party movement has created a number of inviting venues for the Palin message. She is now a regular commentator on Fox News, adroitly uses social media to comment on current issues, and...

While I was traveling last week, I missed the spat that erupted between the Romney and Palin camps. Steve Kornacki reviews Romney’s track record competing against different women over the years, and he reasonably concludes that Romney comes off looking like a heel whenever he competes against a woman for political office. That seems fair enough, but what seems to have been lost in the discussion is that Romney defeated all of his women opponents. It is quite a leap from saying “Romney treats women opponents badly and wins every time” to saying “Romney cannot possibly defeat Palin,” but somehow...

Former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney, who’s campaigned hard for Republicans across the country as he eyes a presidential run in 2012, earned high praise but couldn’t secure a solid endorsement from some GOP governors yesterday. “I think he’s going to be one of several people that are going to be seriously considered for the nomination,” said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who was recently elected after Romney helped his campaign. “He’s an incredibly talented spokesman for the conservative cause.” Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declined to comment on Romney’s 2012 chances yesterday, saying he’s too busy running his own state. Crist...

To understand why Democrats ever picked Mondale, you have to understand where the party — and where the country — was in 1982 and 1983, when the nation’s verdict on Reagan and his policies was far less positive. In those days, with unemployment surging over 10 percent and the president’s popularity slipping to sub-Carter levels, Democrats mistakenly assumed that the ‘80 election had been a mirage. The electorate, they figured, had acted in haste and was rapidly returning to its senses. The results of the 1982 midterms, when Republicans (who had begun the cycle with claims that they’d win...

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney and his strategists expected his Mormon faith to fade as an issue for fundamentalist Christians during his first presidential campaign. This time around, should he choose to run again, they have doubts. ...But even as the national Republican establishment warms to Romney as never before, the former candidate and his closest aides now believe a group of voters will always be off-limits because of his religion. SNIP In Iowa, three-fifths of caucus-goers considered themselves “born-again or evangelical Christian,’’ according to a survey, taken for a media consortium as voters entered the caucuses. SNIP More than one-third...

Ann Coulter Hang-Ups shows Coulter repeatedly punting and ending interviews instead of answering valid questions about her defense of Romney who instituted 'gay' marriage & funded elective abortions. She can take it from the left, those soft-ball criticisms, but Ann Coulter refuses to substantively answer accusations from Bob Enyart, Bill Keller, Steve Deace and Gregg Jackson about her defense of aggressively pro-abortion, anti-marriage politicians.

It appears Mitt Romney is getting a bit nervous as a result of all the well-deserved credit Governor Palin received for helping Nikki Haley in South Carolina, both in the media and by Haley herself. In fact Romney is so nervous he feels compelled to return to South Carolina to campaign for Haley before the runoff on the 22nd. Via the Politico: Former Massachusetts GOP Gov. Mitt Romney will soon travel to South Carolina to stump for Nikki Haley in the state’s runoff of the GOP nomination for governor.

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...

Yesterday, I was interviewed by a reporter for CBS, for a story on the diverse groups of people supporting Sarah Palin online. The reporter authored a book on Palin last year, after being embedded with her vice presidential campaign, following a stint covering Mittens Romney. I can’t imagine how many cucumbers-and-mayonnaise sandwiches this guy had to eat on the Romney Express (to nowhere), but I gave him the same kind of awed respect I grant anyone who’s ever spent more than half an hour with Tim Pawlenty — and didn’t succumb to T-Paw induced narcolepsy. We (the reporter and I,...

Link only, per FR posting rules

The Maryland Republican Party cordially invites you to The 20th Annual Red, White and Blue Dinner Thursday, June 10, 2010 Featured Guest Mitt Romney 7:00 p.m. VIP Reception 7:00 p.m. General Reception 8:00 p.m. Dinner and Program BWI Airport Marriott 1743 W. Nursery Road, Baltimore, MD 21090 Please join us for an evening to celebrate our Republican principles and help us prepare for Victory in November! $200 Guest One Ticket to the General Reception and Dinner $500 VIP Guest One Ticket to the VIP Reception and Photo Op One Ticket to the General Reception and Dinner $1,800 Table of Ten...

PPP has polled Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul for the first time in the potential 2012 Republican presidential race nationally, and their presence reduces support for the other candidates, particularly Mitt Romney. What was a decent advantage for Romney in a three-way race with Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee is now a four-way draw, with Paul in a distant fifth and Romney slipping to a close second. Huckabee has 25 to Romney’s 23, Gingrich’s 21, Palin’s 20, and Paul’s 8, with only 3% undecided versus last month’s 17% with more limited options. Gingrich’s entry into the field erodes Romney’s support...

Mitt Romney received Boos in Utah? Although Mitt was through once Obamacare passed, it changed everything.....IMHO Larry Sabato - Mitt Romney was backed almost unanimously by Utah GOP presidential primary electorates in '08. But his intro of Bennett this a.m.? Boos & no effect. WOW! Frum - Q: How much does Bennett's loss signal Romney trouble? Romney also backed TARP, also had healthcare plan.(Massachusetts)

Mitt Romney has much explaining to do about his on-the-record support for liberal causes -- affirmative action and legalized abortion, just to name two -- if he hopes to fend off any conservative insurgency on his way to facing President Obama in the 2012 general election. From that standpoint, the darkest blemish on his record will no doubt be the healthcare reform bill he signed into law in 2006 while governor of Massachusetts, a program similar to Obamacare in that it levies tax penalties on those who willfully go uninsured, among other things So how might Romney defend his record...

Here is one thing I am certain about: A President Mitt Romney would never have bowed to anyone -- not to Saudi King Abdullah, not to Japanese Emperor Akihito. Here's another thing: A President Romney would not have traveled around the world badmouthing his country and making apologies for it. Here's a third: A President Romney would never have ordered the closing of the prison at Guantanamo Bay or lowered the American flag in Haiti.

Why Vote For Romney: Supports Mandatory Health Insurance Why Vote For Romney: Supports Mandatory Health Insurance Many Americans want mandatory health insurance. Mitt Romney was the leader, being the first in the nation to introduce mandatory health care. Thanks to Mitt Romneys generosity. 80% of Massachussetts residents are now insured, and the other 20% are receiving health insurance while serving there jail terms for failure to buy insurance.

t’s page 258 – and suddenly we are back in Campaign Mode. The transition is very abrupt. On pages 256, Romney is describing an interesting program he advocated in Massachusetts: “a Parental Preparation Program for every underperforming school district. In order for parents in these districts to enroll their children in public school, the parents would have been required to attend classes themselves, where they would learn about the value of education as well as ways in which they could support their children’s educational experience.” On p. 257, a funny story about Romney’s business career, about his unsuccessful attempt to...

SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney brought his book tour Saturday back to the city where he led the 2002 Winter Olympics, telling an enthusiastic audience he could decide by Christmas whether to run again for president. "That's not a decision we've made at this point," Romney told a 12-year-old boy from Bluffdale who said he was "asking a question that a lot of people are wondering and that's, 'Are you going to run for president?' " The cheers the question received were among the loudest during Romney's hour-long appearance at the Salt Palace as part of his national tour for...

Romney fans, please don't shoot the messenger. Mitt Romney's book has debuted at #1 atop the NY Times best-seller list among non-fiction hardcover books. However, the NY Times also provides some additional information that may explain how Romney's book hit the #1 spot. Whenever the NY Times places a "dagger" symbol next to a book, it signifies that "some bookstores report[ed] receiving bulk orders" for the book. The NY Times placed not just one, but two, daggers next to Romney's book. You can draw your own conclusion as to who it was that purchased Governor Romney's book in bulk. By...

In a USA Today analysis of Mitt Romney's pre-2012 groundwork for a second presidential bid, Susan Page highlighted the contrasts between Romney, the choice of the Republican establishment, and Sarah Palin, favored by conservatives and anti-Washington activists such as those found in the Tea Party movement: -snip- Page notes that Romney's book, heavy on policy prescription, includes his familiar "three pillars" reference. It has also become part of every major Romney speech, especially his address to CPAC this year: Romney said there are three pillars upon which we should build: economy, security and family.This is where Romney misses the mark...