Free Republic

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) campaign honeymoon appears to have ended, as other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination begin voicing open criticism of Romney. Romney, by virtue of his status as the putative frontrunner in the race, is now facing increasingly vocal criticism from his competitors, criticism that had otherwise been muted or nonexistent so far in the campaign. The attacks suggest that the campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination hasn't just begun, but has advanced to the point where candidates have started to throw elbows in order to jockey for position with primary voters. There was no...

Mitt Romney, the leading contender to become President Obama’s Republican opponent next year, had just finished working the room at Blake’s Creamery here when he paused for a photo with the restaurant’s owner, Ann Mirageas, and decided to tell her a joke. “I saw the young man over there with eggs Benedict, with hollandaise sauce,” he said. “And I was going to suggest to you that you serve your eggs with hollandaise sauce in hubcaps. Because there’s no plates like chrome for the hollandaise.” The proprietor laughed weakly. “Good luck to you,” Mirageas said. The hubcap joke must have killed...

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change. "I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that," he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire. "It's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors."

Is Mitt Romney trying to woo the teenage girl vote ahead of next year's presidential election? In a potentially campaign-changing development, the 2012 presidential hopeful admitted to NBC's Jamie Gangel that he happens to be a fan of the "Twilight" series. The revelation came up during a discussion of books the former Massachusetts governor has read, including George W. Bush's recent memoir. But that's not all, Romney added. "I like silly stuff, too," Romney volunteered. "I like the 'Twilight' series. That was fun."

The new survey of Massachusetts from Public Policy Polling (D) shows President Obama continuing to lead various possible Republican challengers in this deep-blue state -- including former Gov. Mitt Romney, who comes the closest to Obama but still trails by a significant margin. Obama leads Newt Gingrich by 57%-33%; Mike Huckabee by 57%-33%; and extends his lead to 61%-32% against Sarah Palin. Against Romney, who was governor of the state from 2003-2007 -- and did not seek re-election in 2006 in order to run for president in the 2008 cycle -- Obama leads by 52%-43%. Obama's approval rating in Massachusetts...

Mitt Romney was on the David Letterman show last week and hit a home run. It was two white guys from the Midwest, born in 1947, chatting amiably about the icons of yesteryear: Earl Scheib, the car-painting magnate; the Studebaker (a car, for you younger readers) and the Rambler Classic, manufactured by AMC, the automobile company managed by Mitt’s father, George. AMC and Studebaker were wiped from the face of the earth by better cars made in Japan by more diligent workers, although that is not a subject that came up. Letterman saved the last minute of Romney’s appearance for...