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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...

"He could have stopped it, and should have stopped it," Huckabee said. CNSNews.com: Governor Romney should have stood up to the Court and said, "No"? Huckabee: He should've. (August 2008) Old news? Yes — and Mitt Romney hopes it will be ignored or forgotten. How does Romney manage to bury his past political sins? With a lot of help from his former critics — including Governor Huckabee — who seem to suffer from amnesia. But what of the media's duty to vet the candidates? Shouldn't every significant action in a candidate's record be under review? Why is the media —...

As his formidable campaign marches inexorably toward the nomination, Mitt Romney should learn a vital lesson from the guy who beat him in his first race for public office: Sen. Ted Kennedy. In 1980, Teddy lost his own bid for the presidency because he couldn’t answer a simple question about why he wanted the job. Like Kennedy, Romney could undermine his confident drive to unseat a stumbling incumbent unless he prepares clear, concise, and forceful responses on what he means to do with the office he seeks. Near the end of the disastrous Jimmy Carter administration, most analysts expected an...

Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he supported tying the federal minimum wage to inflation, a move that would result in automatic increases to the pay rate. The position is a break from fiscal conservative orthodoxy — which generally seeks to eliminate the minimum wage — but could help Romney rebound from damaging comments he made earlier Wednesday when discussing the "very poor" in America. "I haven't changed my thoughts on that," Romney told reporters aboard his campaign plane on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. He was apparently referring to a statement he made in 2002 when running for governor...

The Romney yesterday campaign denied knowing about a 2002 flier distributed by the Romney campaign during Gay Pride Week in Massachusetts while he was running for Governor. Fehrnstrom told the Huffington Post's Sam Stein, "I don't know where those pink flyers came from. I was the communications director on the 2002 campaign. I don't know who distributed them... I never saw them and I was the communications director." Fehrnstrom continued "I never saw them and I never approved them. I'm not quite sure where they came from." But a former Romney campaign volunteer who is now a fiscal policy scholar...

Mitt Romney’s father, liberal Republican George Romney, met with and endorsed infamous progressive activist Saul Alinsky; meanwhile, in a defense of Mitt Romney against charges of racism, the National Black Chamber of Commerce points out the significant influence the elder Romney had on son Mitt and credits the Romneys for a long history of progressive activism. Emphasis mine. No, Mitt Romney is not a racist. As I researched history, over the years I have come to find that the opposite is the case. The Romney Family has a legacy of pro-civil rights, progressive activism and an understanding of how poverty...

If frontrunner Mitt Romney survives the Republican primary process and becomes the party's presumptive nominee, a majority of Democrats surveyed in this week's National Journal Political Insiders Poll say he will enter the general election campaign a weaker candidate than when he began his run. But by an overwhelming margin, Republican Insiders feel the primary campaign has been a benefit, leaving Romney stronger and more prepared to take on President Obama. (GRAPH AT LINK) Many Republicans feel the primary process has been a critical pressure-test for Romney's campaign skills, resulting in a more honed and prepared candidate. "He has weathered...

In a recent article published by The Daily Beast, its Washington bureau chief, Howard Kurtz, reasoned that if “moderate” Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination for President, he’ll need to choose a running mate with the conservative bona fides to balance the ticket. While the notion that Mitt Romney is "on the verge of sewing up the Republican nomination" is still just a neo-con fantasy (especially in light of Ron Paul’s surging poll numbers and his respectable showing in Iowa and New Hampshire), pundits and soi disant opinion makers have suggested that the former Governor of Massachusetts choose a VP...

A funny thing is happening to Mitt Romney on his way to Florida: ¡He is becoming so aware of Latino voters, that he’s practically becoming Latino himself! Oh, wait, amigos -- ¡Mitt is suddenly so Latino that he’s eligible for Mexican citizenship! ¿You think I’m kidding? Although up to now about the only time he’s mentioned Latinos is to say NO (a word conveniently the same in both English and Spanish), in one of his last appearances in New Hampshire, ¡he dropped the little known fact that his dad was born in Mexico! Yup, suddenly, Romney’s so one of us,...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: There is a story on the Drudge Report today from Sarah Palin in which Sarah Palin says that the White House wants Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee. Now, not only did I tell you that the Broncos were gonna beat the Steelers, for months I have been telling you that the Democrats want Romney -- and you all know it. You've been listening here and you've heard people call me and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, that I'm full of it, that they're scared of Romney. "Romney is the only guy...

Mitt Romney's top ten is made up of Goldman Sachs, followed by Credit Suisse (Switzerland), Morgan Stanley, Barclays (UK), Bank of America and JP Morgan. In contrast Romney's co-frontrunner in Iowa, Ron Paul, has a top three donor list made up of the US Army, US Navy and US Airforce.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer sat down with Mitt Romney and his wife Ann Romney to talk about a wide range of issues from Mrs. Romney’s health to who convinced Mitt Romney to run for president again. Highlights from the interview are after the jump. Please credit all usage of the interview to CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Romney: I would vote for Ron Paul EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Romneys discuss their darkest hour Highlight: Romney on Newt Gingrich THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. M. ROMNEY:...

Cranky liberal standard-bearer U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s bombshell retirement announcement sent shock waves rippling through the Bay State and set the stage for an epic national clash as Democrats and Republicans prepare to do battle over a seat that until yesterday seemed staunchly and securely blue, observers said. “It will be a fun race to watch — at least fun from a distance,” said U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville), who said Democrats are launching a major push to recapture the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. “It’s not the only race in the country that both sides will be...

Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt has compiled 10 good reasons why Christians should reject Mitt “RomneyCare” Romney as a Republican candidate for president. Those 10 reasons are just as relevant and applicable for Republicans in general as they are for Christians, because in all those ways, Romney is inconsistent with Republican values and the GOP platform. This is a quick summary, but you can read the full list with details at WorldNetDaily: 1.Romney forced homosexual marriage upon Massachusetts. 2.Romney is pro-abortion. 3.Romneycare is the reason we have Obamacare. 4.Romney opposes our Second Amendment rights. 5.Romney appoints liberal Democrats as judges. 6.Mitt...

Yesterday I noted here that national Republicans have opened up a new front in the Massachusetts Senate race by attacking Elizabeth Warren for embracing Occupy Wall Street—the latest effort to turn blue collar whites and independents against the protests and their populist message. Republicans are seeking to tie Warren directly to protesters who clashed with cops in Massachusetts, an effort to exploit a cultural fault line between working class whites and liberal activists that has been key to our politics for decades. This is the sort of thing that has traditionally spooked Dems, but it appears Warren is standing by...

Goaded by his rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has finally staked out his position on the controversial deal to raise the federal debt ceiling. Perhaps not surprisingly, the GOP frontrunner opposes the plan and places the blame for the “crisis” squarely on the shoulders of U.S. President Barack Obama. Color us stunned … “As president, my plan would have produced a budget that was cut, capped and balanced – not one that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table,” Romney said on Monday. “President Obama’s leadership failure has pushed the economy to the...

“Add GOP presidential candidates to the list of Republicans who aren't thrilled by House Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the debt limit,” USA Today writes, adding, “Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said Tuesday that Boehner's approach is ‘wrong.’ … Ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney praised Boehner, but not the plan. Spokeswoman Andrea Saul told Politico yesterday that Romney ‘applauds’ Boehner for ‘standing firm against raising taxes when our nation can least afford them.’ Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman was the first GOP presidential candidate to come out with a statement Monday supporting Boehner. He called it a ‘good first step.’” Pawlenty...

A poll unveiled this week from American Research Group shows that three Republican presidential candidates -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska -- are gaining serious momentum in Iowa, site of the first presidential caucus. Bachmann, who declared her candidacy in June and has been surging in polls at both the national and state levels, topped the poll with 21 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts placed second with 18 percent. Paul, who was the Libertarian candidate in 1988 and ran for the Republican nomination in...

In the past few weeks we’ve seen the media scrambling to promote a cat fight between Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. As the UK’s Telegraph recently wrote: The first shots have been fired in what could become an ugly battle between Sarah Palin and her potential rival Michele Bachmann for the Republican presidential nomination. [...] A Republican consultant who declined to be named because he is aligned with a rival camp, said: “The claws are out. It’s the cat fight everyone has been waiting for – Queen Sarah being taken on by the Palin mini-me.” This is all obviously designed...

Reporting from Concord, N.H.— As Democratic and Republican leaders in Washington struggled to find agreement on spending cuts and extending the debt limit, Mitt Romney struck a conciliatory note in New Hampshire on Monday by lamenting partisan feuding while touting his record of working with Democrats -- even the Senate's onetime liberal lion Edward M. Kennedy. Taking a pause from a fundraising tour for two campaign appearances, Romney faced questions from voters that reflected frustration with the gridlock in Washington. During a business roundtable at a technology company in Salem, state Sen. Chuck Morse pressed Romney to explain how he...

Looking at the current GOP field, I share what seems to be the ubiquitous feeling of “blah.” Apart from Michele Bachmann, no one in the field appears to be serious about beating Obama, and the two guys getting the most love from the mainstream media, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, are destined to lose if they secure the Republican nomination. To be honest, just the fact that the mainstream media keeps them front and center should be warning enough for every lucid Republican. After all, this is the same way the media carried John McCain through the primaries in 2008:...

President Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist is dismissive of the Republicans who want his boss' job, saying they are eager to criticize the Democratic incumbent without offering substantive ways to help the country. David Axelrod says it's too early to start sizing up the competition, but he took on the emerging field of candidates when asked to assess the GOP' first major debate of the campaign season last Monday in New Hampshire. Republicans at that forum condemned Obama's handling of the economy and pledged to repeal his health care overhaul....

Democratic strategist James Carville spoke with Don Imus this morning about the Republican field of presidential candidates. While Imus joked he had a better chance of being President than Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich, Carville was more interested in sharing his thoughts on Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. Carville though Romney would be a very strong candidate and admitted that based on his record in Massachusetts, “I can almost vote for him.” Imus agreed and humorously suggested, “he probably knows what Paul Revere did.” Imus hesitated to take further jabs at Palin and her view on Paul Revere, instead suggesting...

Sarah Palin’s “One Nation” bus tour just happens to be rolling through New Hampshire today, en route to a big clambake on the Seacoast. Some reporters noticed this is happening on the same day Mitt Romney formally announces his Presidential bid, and asked Palin about it. She told them it was a coincidence, and took the opportunity to wish Romney “more power” and the “best of luck” before teeing off on him. It has been strange listening to some people complain this is unfair to Romney. June 2 is not Mitt Romney Day. If he wants an audience, let him...

2012 is an election of direction, will we recommit to our original economic, political and social values, or will we accept Obama's "Hope and Change"? I would offer as a premise the concept that social values are the core of the American government. One of the most important original motivations bringing pilgrims to America was freedom of Religion. People came to the new world to find a place to practice their faith in God. This motivation was so important that all colonies required potential candidates for public office to be a member of a church! In New England, the first...

Old friend Mitt Romney understands that if the occasion should ever arise, he’s not actually allowed to use a PowerPoint presentation during a presidential inaugural address — right? Mitt, right? After his performance in Michigan last week, you’ve got to wonder what form his marriage proposal took to Ann. “Listen, Sweetie, as you can see from the bar chart on this next slide, the genetic risk of me ever losing my hair is incalculably low.’’ Romney’s use of a projector and overhead screen at least week’s health care speech — billed as the most important event of his young campaign...

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee front-runner, Willard Mitt Romney kicked off his campaign today with a day-long fundraiser in Las Vegas. The day-long event features a large phone bank staffed by around 700 Romney supporters. Via a conference call, Romney informed supporters, "We're activating our campaign today." He will announce how much money was raised later today. With former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee declaring his intention not to pursue the Republican nomination, and Donald Trump bowing out today, Romney is the clear-cut front-runner for the 2012 Republican nomination. The former Massachusetts governor is joined by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty,...

Mitt Romney must really want to distance himself from health care once and for all. The former Massachusetts governor wrote an opinion piece in Thursday’s USA Today in which he says his first act as president would be to repeal the health-care overhaul law—which President Obama has said was modeled after Romney’s own legislation in Massachusetts. Romney calls for a market-driven approach to fixing health care while “reforming” the tax code to promote individual ownership of health insurance. The plan bears some similarities to Sen. John McCain’s 2008 proposal. Romney, one of the expected 2012 GOP candidates, will speak about...

While some potential Republican presidential candidates have criticized President Barack Obama’s decision not to release photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body, presumed frontrunner Mitt Romney agrees with the president. "It's best not to release the photo because it has the potential to incite retaliatory violence against Americans," Romney said in a statement to Politico. That was the same point made by Obama....

According to Romney family lawyers it doesn't matter if Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, Kenya, or even Paris: Because his mother was an American (and not even Donald Trump questions that), he is eligible to be President. The Romney lawyers investigated this question in the 1960s, when Mitt Romney's father, Governor George Romney of Michigan, was vying for the Republican presidential nomination. George Romney had been born in a Mormon colony in Chihuahua, Mexico, as his grandfather moved there with his wives in the 1880s after polygamy was outlawed in the U.S. While some opponents nicknamed him "Chihuahua George,"...

Mitt Romney tonight pushed back against those in his party who are questioning President Obama's citizenship, suggesting his fellow Republicans should put their energy into more substantive issues. "The citizenship test has been passed," Romney said tonight on CNBC's Kudlow Report. "I believe the president was born in the United States. There are real reasons to get this guy out of office...but his citizenship isn't the reason why." Several prominent Republicans -- including Donald Trump and Sarah Palin -- have once again tried to stoke controversy by questioning Obama's citizenship even though his birth in Hawaii has been confirmed by...

This has been my best week in politics since John McCain lost to Barack Obama. I face two huge problems: getting nominated and getting elected. To get nominated, I need to discredit the Tea Party before it can veto me. To get elected, I need a double dip recession in 2012. Thanks to Paul Ryan, both these outcomes have just come a big step closer. Here’s how Ryan helps me win the nomination: This budget proposal will end in tears, especially if there is a government shutdown tomorrow. The Democrats know that few Americans understand the difference between the 2011...

Former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum slammed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney Thursday, yanking his support for the potential Republican presidential candidate. “I have a lot of concerns about him in this election cycle because of the pre-eminence of health care and the issue of Romneycare,” Mr. Santorum said. Mr. Santorum, who endorsed Mr. Romney in 2008, said he does not plan to support Mr. Romney in 2012 because “It’s a different field. It’s a different set of issues.” The announcement comes as Mr. Santorum prepares for his own run for president. The Pennsylvania Republican has traveled to a number...

It is tempting -- very, very tempting -- to write off Willard "Mitt" Romney as a serious contender for next year's Republican presidential nomination. And, in fact, several knowledgeable observers already have. Romney, in case you haven't heard, embraced a healthcare reform law in Massachusetts five years ago that ended up being the model for the national program that President Obama pushed through Congress without a single Republican vote last year. He's also dogged by the impression that he's an unusually spineless opportunist (the result of the extraordinary pains he took to win over socially liberal voters in Massachusetts before...

Bartlett, NH - Leftover 2008 campaign signs outside the Carroll County Republican Committee dinner announce what's on everyone's minds, even Ann Romney's. "And I'm the one that is encouraging Mitt to think about pushing forward and think about running. So, yes, yes I am. I'm pushing him," she said before her husband took the podium. It's his first public speech in New Hampshire since the mid-term elections, and Mitt Romney sounded an awful lot like a candidate. "It's gonna take more than a good speech on his part, more than rhetoric to put Americans back to work. It's going to...

Former Gov. Mitt Romney came under new fire from all sides yesterday over his landmark Bay State health-care overhaul as potential 2012 Republican rivals and local Democrats took turns blasting the GOP presidential front-runner. “I’ve talked to residents of Massachusetts, and what I’ve gotten is that (health-care reform is) really not working well at all,” said former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who is believed to be considering a 2012 bid. Johnson declined to comment on whether health care will hurt Romney’s candidacy, saying, “whatever the criticism is about a candidate, everyone already knows it. I don’t (have to) say...

The presidential field may be wide open, but one candidate is playing the role of the inevitable front-runner, as his performance at the Conservative Political Action Committee Conference this weekend shows. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney brought with him to the event a large entourage that stayed for several days, while most other potential candidates dropped in and out of the conference to make their speeches and headline a reception or two. Other serious contenders brought just a few key staffers, but many didn't even have their top political aide in tow. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas...

Link only, due to copyright issues: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/mitt-romney-supporters-anti-sarah-palin_n_821957.html

Now that it's official Jon Huntsman is resigning the U.S. ambassadorship to China effective April 30 (presumably to make a run for the White House), the question du jour becomes whether a candidate's Mormon faith precludes a viable candidacy for the U.S. presidency. Mounting evidence is increasingly pointing to a brave new world where the perceived biases that potentially derailed Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign are dissolving and, lo and behold, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could realistically be elected president of the United States in 2012. The Washington Post currently has two articles...

DANIELS: “Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may not be a household name, but the potential 2012 Presidential contender beat out better-known politicians in a straw poll of Washington state GOP activists over the weekend,” the Seattle Times writes. In the Roanoke Conference straw poll, “Daniels led with 31 percent, well above second-place finisher Mitt Romney of Massachussetts (14 percent.)” “Daniels is reportedly close to making a decision regarding whether he will leave office in order to seek the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination,” The State column writes. “’I think I have got to make up my mind fairly soon,’ Daniels said...

Mitt Romney may very well be the front-runner for the Republican Party presidential nomination, but the big (as Donald Rumsfeld would put it) "known unknown" looming over his candidacy is to what extent the albatross of RomneyCare — the health-care reform enacted in Massachusetts under Governor Romney in 2006 that is similar in many ways to the reviled ObamaCare — will hinder him in the primaries. Romney will be endlessly assaulted about health-care reform by his primary opponents, and because the White House would prefer to face a divisive tea partier over the more broadly appealing Romney, they'll do their...

Most them aren’t definite no’s, but even if they’re holding out for the time being merely to see who else jumps in, that’s … not encouraging. Some, like Judd Gregg, may end up endorsing him anyway but might want to see if Daniels (or Huntsman?) declares first. Others, like DeMint, who have embraced the tea party full-fold almost certainly aren’t going to endorse him unless the entire “true conservative” bench decides not to run. Either way … not encouraging. My favorite part? Hot on the heels of a rumor that Mitt might skip Iowa, there’s now a rumor circulating that...

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie hosted a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday night, sitting down with Mitt Romney for dinner at the governor's mansion. Nearly two dozen people, including some of Christie's top political advisers and party leaders, gathered for the meeting with the former Massachusetts governor at Drumthwacket, according to three sources. The sources described the dinner as an informal discussion without any specific talk of endorsements in New Jersey's Republican presidential primary, which is still a year away. Romney has been laying the groundwork for a second presidential campaign, although he has not yet formally...

Mark DeMoss, a well-connected figure in the evangelical community and Mitt Romney supporter, sent a memo last week to Christian conservatives urging them to consider “a new litmus test” beyond traditional cultural issues “A candidate for president of the United States should be capable of becoming president, and then competent to be the president,” DeMoss wrote in a five-page missive sent to about 200 top pastors, donors, intellectuals and leaders on the Christian right. DeMoss, a public relations executive who also backed Romney in 2008, offered an impassioned case for the former Massachusetts governor but also took some barely-veiled swipes...

You might expect that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of the top likely candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, would cozy up to tea party followers anytime he can. But he’s actually steering clear of the movement, The Boston Globe reports. “Romney for the most part is inaccessible,’’ says Andrew Hemingway, chairman of New Hampshire’s Republican Liberty Caucus. “[Minnesota Gov. Tom] Pawlenty, I could call him right now and say, ‘Let’s have coffee.’” Romney has kept his distance from tea party activists in key primary states, including the state viewed as a must win for him – New...

Belmont, Mass. — Long before it came time to actually choose a career, Peter Flaherty knew he wanted do so something exciting. “In Massachusetts, you kind of grow up with two things in your blood: sports and politics,” said Flaherty, a Belmont resident and father of three. “When I realized I was not going to be a professional athlete, I realized politics was the adult equivalent of professional sports.” Flaherty has always found room for public service in his professional life, which has seen him prosecute homicides, produce big-budget children’s movies and serve as a senior advisor to then-Gov. Mitt...

Potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, looking to bolster his foreign policy credentials, is on a Mideast swing that included a visit to Afghanistan on Sunday. Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said Romney met the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus. Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 only to lose to John McCain. He has shown multiple signs of planning to seek his party's nomination again for the right to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012. Romney could be among as many as a dozen Republicans seeking the...

Did you get your Christmas card from the Romneys this year? No? That's odd. Did he not confirm your address the last time you ran into him at the yacht club's semi-formal restaurant? What's that? You don't belong to the yacht club? Yikes. This is slightly embarrassing. I certainly do have egg and vanilla-infused aloe facial scrub on my face ha ha ha ha. Anyway, here, you can take a peek at the one that Mitt Romney's campaign website somehow managed to get their hands on… Yes, that is a picture of Mitt Romney and his wife Ann posing with...

We thought you’d like to see Governor Romney’s wonderful family Christmas card… The inscription on the bottom reads “Guess which grandchild heard that Papa might run again?” Any guesses? Those are fourteen adorable grandchildren, for sure! An inside look…What a fantastic family!

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....