Free Republic

Mitt Romney sent a clear, unambiguous message to hundreds of conservative activists gathered for the 2012 Conservative Political Action Committee, the largest annual gathering of conservative activists. He’s a conservative. The man mocked as a “Massachusetts moderate” (or worse) by his Republican presidential rivals used his family values, business background and experience as Massachusetts governor to defend his conservative bona fides. Romney used the word conservative more than 20 times in a span of 25 minutes.

In last night's debate it was brought up that Romney had stock in Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac among other controversial investments. He told the audience that his stock was not picked by him and it was taken care of through a blind trust. Hands clean? Well, not quite. Here is what Romney said in 1994 about blind trusts. "The blind trust is an age-old ruse," Romney told the Boston Globe in October of that year. "You give a blind trust rules. You can say to a blind trust, don't invest in properties which would be in conflict of interest...

If former Florida frontrunner Mitt Romney hoped Newt Gingrich's rise in popularity was a temporary blip, Gingrich's campaign appeared to prove otherwise Tuesday as it drew crowds estimated at 4,000 in Sarasota and 6,000 in Naples. The size of the early afternoon rally at a hangar at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport surprised even Gingrich. "When they told me how big the crowd was, I was stunned," he said. Then came the rock star treatment at an evening event at Cambier Park in Historic Old Naples, where the throng screamed with excitement as he spoke from under a bandshell with the American...

GREENVILLE, South Carolina--Outside Tommy's Ham House here this morning--where Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich scheduled back-to-back visits--a boisterous crowd of young, fresh-faced supporters was waving Romney signs and chanting, "MITT! MITT! MITT!"But this wasn't a grassroots youth movement rooted at the University of South Carolina. No, many of the students cheering on the candidate told BuzzFeed they were actually BYU students and young Mormons from D.C. and Virginia who traveled to the Palmetto State to give their coreligionist's presidential effort a much-needed jolt of energy.Kat Wardle, a 23-year-old BYU student who is spending the semester in Washington, D.C., said she...

Last night, BuzzFeed got a hold of the 2008 John McCain campaign's research book on Mitt Romney. In over 200 painstakingly researched pages, it notes every slip-up, political fib, and potential liability for Romney going forward. And of course it picks apart all the times Romney has said one thing, and then when the political winds changed, said something else. Read more: 14 Bald-Faced Mitt Romney Flip-Flops That Were Dug Up By John McCain

An intern from Mitt Romney's 2002 gubernatorial campaign says that his campaign did authorize and pay for the distribution of a Gay Pride Week flier, despite adamant denials from Romney's current staff that the handout was authorized. The flier, printed on pink paper, wishes recipients "a great Pride weekend," and could prove the latest ammunition for Romney's GOP foes seeking to paint the former governor as not sufficiently conservative. "On pride weekend, the campaign sent a contingent of about a half-dozen of us to the post-parade festival on Boston Common to hand out those fliers," Josh Barro, a former Romney...

While rhetorician Mitt Romney charms his way through the 2012 Presidential Campaign, he is banking that you will believe what he “says” and not look to what his record demonstrates. Pardon the history lesson here, but isn’t this how we got Barack Obama? If he speaks well (and Mitt does), is attractive (and Mitt is), and comes across as “the one” who can save us all (and he does), he’s electable. Nothing more to see here, move along. Let us ignore his abysmal economic record in the state of Massachusetts in which under his governorship, his state placed third highest...

Newt Gingrich on Wednesday suggested his attacks on rival Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital have not been rational - though a spokesman insisted Gingrich is not backing off the attacks. Gingrich's comment came after a voter in Spartanburg, South Carolina, told Gingrich that he believed the former House speaker has "missed the target on the way you're addressing Romney's weaknesses." "I want to beg you to redirect and go after his obvious disingenuosness about his conservatism and lay off the corporatist versus the free market," said the voter. Gingrich replied: "I agree - I agree with you." "I think...

With Wall Street out of fashion this election season, can Mitt Romney fend off the attacks on his tenure at Bain Capital? Some GOP presidential rivals, especially Newt Gingrich, have laid into his private equity past, accusing him of "looting companies" and laying off workers. While those attacks may backfire now — conservatives have rallied to Romney's defense — they might work in the general election.

Let me go ahead and stipulate that Mitt Romney has presidential height and hair, and appears to have presidential composure in debates and interviews (at least, when not being mauled by the Great Grizzly of Interviewers, the always fearsome Bret Baier). He also has a history of business success and has the longest private sector career of any participant in the GOP primary – though it’s obviously worth noting that his lengthy private sector career has largely been the result of his utter failure to enter and remain in the public sector, despite trying over and over and over and...

He’s worth $250million and is running for the White House, but Mitt Romney is still trying to portray himself as an ordinary down-to-earth guy. The GOP presidential candidate has been condemned for saying he has been worried about getting a ‘pink slip’ at least twice in the past. Opponents said this was a poor statement to give about job termination notices because Mr Romney has always had money to fall back on.

Reuters published a blockbuster story today on GS Technologies, a steel mill in Kansas City that was acquired by Bain Capital, leading to the layoffs of some 750 workers. In this case, the workers lost promised severance pay and health insurance; their pension benefits were slashed. and a federal government insurance agency had to bail out the company’s pension plan — even as Bain raked in millions and millions of dollars in profits. Now a man who says he worked at the plant for 34 years — a self-described conservative — is speaking out about Romney. Glen Patrick Wells, who...

It was a rare reflection by Mitt Romney on his life as a young Mormon, offered as proof to struggling Americans that despite being born into privilege and amassing a $250 million fortune, he too had known hard times. A day after being labelled “out of touch” for casually offering a $10,000 bet to a rival candidate, Mr Romney told supporters he had experienced austerity as a missionary in France, using a bucket for a lavatory and a hose for a shower. “You’re not living high on the hog at that kind of level,” he said. But the Republican presidential...

Because elections are typically decided by a few percentage points, and a critical mass of gun owners simply will not hold their noses and vote for the guy. In spite of the cajoling, in spite of having future Supreme Court nominees held over our heads, in spite of accusations that those who refuse to chip in to procure the campaign whore du jour being pimped by devoid- of- principle party apologists will bear responsibility for whatever politically transmitted disease follows.

Mitt Romney, under fire from all sides on the strength of his political convictions, said Thursday he has been as consistent as a person can be during his political career. "I've been as consistent as human beings can be," the presidential candidate said in a meeting with the editorial board of New Hampshire's Seacoast Media Group. "I cannot state every single issue in exactly the same words every single time, and so there are some folks who, obviously, for various political and campaign purposes will try and find some change and try to draw great attention to something which looks...

If you could only use one word to describe Myth Romney, what would it be ?

<p>The editors at Red State and Free Republic (among others) have had the wool pulled over their eyes. They seem to actually believe the lies originally propagated by supporters of President Obama and, in some cases, even by President Obama himself. Now, for some reason, these editors/moderators are so insecure in their prejudice against Gov. Romney that they ban people who openly support Gov. Romney. Free Republic (mostly because of it’s owner Jim Robinson) has purged all of the Romney supporters they could from the site in two waves of purges over the last few years. The anti-Romney and anti-Mormon bigotry evident at Free Republic now is absolutely sickening.</p>

After watching the GOP presidential debate the other night, it was hard to avoid this conclusion: Mitt Romney looks more and more like the GOP presidential nominee. He's the best debater. He's got his issues and his rejoinders down pat. He brushes away his opponents like lint on his lapel. And all with such ease. That said, there's a teensy problem he just can't seem to beat: Conservatives don't like him. Or trust him. Or really want him to be the GOP nominee. Sure, you say, Republicans never like their nominees, and they still manage to vote for them. There...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was pressed on abortion and homosexual “marriage” at a town-hall style meeting Monday. At the campaign event in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, Romney reaffirmed that he is “firmly pro-life” and that he views marriage as a “relationship between one man and one woman,” but said that he is in favor of same-sex “partnership agreements” that would afford certain rights. When a young woman told Romney that she was raised by her mother and grandmother, Romney said that while some people are raised by one parent, through divorce, through death, or through a parent out of wedlock,...

Newly obtained White House records provide fresh details on how senior Obama administration officials used Mitt Romney's landmark health-care law in Massachusetts as a model for the new federal law, including recruiting some of Romney's own health care advisors and experts to help craft the act now derided by Republicans as "Obamacare.".........

Romney is Obama-Lite. Take the simple pledge: I will not vote for Romney for any reason.

Washington (CNN) - With the Republican base largely unified in its contempt for President Obama's health care law, Sen. Jim DeMint, an icon of the tea party movement, has been forced to explain his early support for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's health care plan, which was a model for reform on the federal level. The South Carolinian cited the "innovative" Massachusetts health care plan when he endorsed Romney's 2008 presidential bid, saying the plan leveraged "good conservative ideas" like bringing private insurance companies into the process. DeMint told CNN over the weekend at the Republican Leadership Conference in New...

While spewing venom at the Communist Left at Moveon.Dork, I noticed something rather odd at the bottom of the propaganda-filled screen: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "MoveOn.org Civic Action is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important national issues. MoveOn.org Political Action is a federal political committee which primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values through a variety of activities aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election. MoveOn.org Political Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action are separate organizations." http://front.moveon.org/hows-the-voting-republican-thing-working-out-for-ya/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahhhhh....but what is a 501(c)(4) organization ? Let's ask the goosesteppers at the IRS: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

He’s a flip-flopper who can seem disconnected from average citizens, and wears health care reform as a political albatross around his neck. That’s the standard line of attack against Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But, the same critique could also apply to President Obama. That means if Romney gets past GOP doubters and wins his party’s nomination, the 2012 election could be a head-to-head between two men with similar vulnerabilities. On the surface, they have little in common. Romney and Obama represent dramatically different backgrounds and cultivate vastly different political images. But they share some interesting traits. With or without...

The fact is that Mitt Romney is an unprincipled chameleon with ZERO core beliefs... a synthetic, calculated opportunism has taken their place. Meanwhile, most of what he actually has said and done betrays a Big-Government social liberal. Other fun facts regarding this 'conservative' fraud'spast actions, positions, and failures: refused to endorse the 1994 GOP "Contract with America" distanced himself from the Reagan legacy: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush" lost GOP House seats in both Massachusetts elections of his tenure, 2004/2006 (leaving Republicans with the least # of seats there since the Civil War)   strongly supported gay rights...

Over the past two years, Massachusetts state government has made enormous progress. Together with the Legislature, we've tamed out-of-control budgets, revamped housing policy, accelerated the building of new schools, opened higher education scholarships to working families, and streamlined excessive bureaucracies -- all without raising taxes. Now, in the same bipartisan fashion, let's tackle the issue of healthcare. Next year I am committed to working with the Legislature to pass a comprehensive, market-based reform program for healthcare. It will not be a government-mandated universal coverage "pay or play" scheme nor a single payer system. It will not require new taxes. What...

In late spring 2005, Mitt Romney gathered with a dozen top policy and political advisers in a conference room near the governor’s suite on the third floor of the State House. For two years, they had grappled with the abstruse complexities of health care reform, sifting data, evaluating input from experts, and testing theories to craft a plan that would expand coverage to nearly everyone in the state and not break the bank. This was a bold move for a first-term Republican governor, some of whose more conservative advisers doubted the wisdom of a foray deep into policy turf long...

Washington — Defying his reputation as a 1950s square, the new, more casual Mitt Romney is popping up around the country as he readies a second run for president. He's going tieless on network TV, strolling NASCAR pits in Daytona and sporting skinny Gap jeans bought for him by his wife. His latest campaign book, just out in paperback, opens with a regular-guy scene: wealthy Mitt in a Wal-Mart checkout line, buying gifts for his grandsons and comparing the surroundings to Target, another discount store he says he's familiar with.

When Mitt Romney's second book, No Apology, came out a year ago, it looked like he was moving away from the far-right demagoguery of his 2008 bid for the presidency, and toward a more moderate centrism for the 2012 election cycle. (See "New and Improved Romney," Talking Politics, February 10, 2010.) But times change, and so does Mitt. A year later, with the Tea Party–fueled extremism of the 2010 midterms foretelling a rightward tilt to the GOP presidential primaries, Romney is tacking back — as evidenced by changes made to two sections of the text in the new paperback edition...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin remains a top favorite of Republican voters, but she’s also the front-runner they least want to see get the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 81% of Likely GOP Primary Voters have a favorable opinion of Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Seventy-nine percent (79%) share a favorable opinion of Palin, the party’s 2008 vice presidential nominee, and 77% express positive feelings about another 2008 contender, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. These findings include 44% with Very...

I usually don’t write about single-state 2012 polls, but hoo boy. He was at 52 percent in March, more than 30 points ahead of Huckabee, and now? 21 percent, two points behind Huck. What happened? PPP’s theory: Why has Romney fallen so far? I think part of the reason he polled so well earlier in the year is that he was the anti-Palin. Palin’s favorability numbers with GOP voters in Florida are a good deal worse than they are most places and Romney did well in those earlier surveys as one of the few named alternatives to her. As more...

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!

Former Gov. Mitt Romney will have to grapple with the growing political clout of Tea Party activists — many of whom are steaming mad about his role in Massachusetts’ universal health care — as he gears up for a likely 2012 GOP presidential bid, party activists said yesterday. “It’s gonna be something he’s going to have to explain — and it might just be a disaster for him,” said Christen Varley, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party.

Meghan McCain had a few choice words for Christine O'Donnell on 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated), questioning the GOP Senate candidate's state of mind, but declining to comment specifically on Sarah Palin. "I ... called her a nutjob," McCain said tersely of O'Donnell. "I feel the same way right now." When asked by Julie Chen whether she thought Palin was unfair to father John McCain's campaign team after the 2008 Presidential election, McCain was cagey and instead mentioned who she plans to support in 2012. "It's irrelevant at this point. I've so moved on," she said. "I'm looking at 2012. I've...

Mitt Romney’s political operation raised $1.7 million from July through September, again pacing the field of prospective 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls. The former Massachusetts governor, who lost a bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination and is widely believed to be preparing another run, has built a robust political operation including political action committees at the federal level and in five states with strategic significance in the pending battle for the Republican nomination: Iowa, New Hampshire, Alabama, South Carolina and Michigan.

It’s time honored tradition to attempt to gauge the political landscape and prognosticate who our next elected leaders will. But now, you can gamble money on it. According to data provided to TFoP by bodog.com released its 2012 odds for the Republican presidential nominees. Coming out on top, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is an early favorite at 3/1 (+300), along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at 4/1 (+400). However, one of the bigger eye-catching surprises seems to be how high Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., is on the list, giving him the third best odds at 6/1 (+600). Rounding...

[snip] In addition, Romney is presenting a more "easygoing and accessible" image instead of again offering up "the formally dressed, perfectly coiffed, carefully rehearsed candidate" of the 2008 campaign, according to the Globe. "Mitt is doing a better job at low-keying it,'' former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Steve Duprey told the newspaper. "He would be wise to stay with it right through a presidential primary.'' Romney has been spending the summer at his $3.5 million home on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, where he drives a Chevy Silverado truck and can be seen in jeans, not suits. (That's an image...

Newsweek reports that Mitt Romney is taking a different and unique approach than other potential 2012 candidates are. Unlike other politicians, including Obama himself, who feel compelled to offer their opinion on every issue that stirs controversy, Mitt Romney remains focused on the core issue that worries, as well as, unites Americans: the economy. But now, while Palin and Co. are using the Ground Zero mosque controversy to burnish their far-right bona fides, Romney is seizing on the kerfuffle as an opportunity to do something else entirely: prove that he’s the only potential Republican nominee with the fortitude to ignore...

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...

Normally I wouldn’t ask, but since Huck and Sarahcuda have both anted up — he for DeVore, she for Fiorina — I think it’s about time everyone shows their cards, no? This has been a constant source of irritation with Romney, exercising prudence to a fault in not endorsing Doug Hoffman or Marco Rubio until it became politically “safe” to do so. Grassroots conservatives want to see some nerve; a principled candidate who’s out for more than his own political self-interest should find someone to like between Campbell, Fiorina, and DeVore. Assuming that Romney’s only out for his self-interest, though,...

Many Sarah Palin devotees seem shocked that Sarah Palin endorsed Carly Fiorina for Senator. They believed Sarah Palin to be representative of the Tea Party–who all endorse Chuck DeVore. Sarah Palin is first, a Republican. Sarah Palin has shown loyalty to John McCain and Carly Fiorina is a friend to John. Perhaps she feels it’s only right. Sarah Palin speaks at Tea Party events and likes certain principles, but by her own admission she does not represent the Tea Party. In fact, she arrived late to the Tea Party–it had been growing and thriving for months before her first speech...

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A new poll shows Republican Mitt Romney leading all current GOP challengers by more than 20 points in New Hampshire. A Public Policy Polling survey released this week shows Romney crushing other GOP contenders among New Hampshire Republican voters with 39 percent of the those polled. Sarah Palin came in a distant second at 13 percent, while Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee tied for third with 11 percent. Ron Paul came in fifth. 13 percent were undecided.

Truth in advertising: I've been an off and on, Mitt Romney supporter. By and large, off. But I'm beginning to wonder if maybe Mitt deserves a second look.

April 10 Mitt Romney Wins Presidential Straw Poll at Republican Leadership Conference Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the straw poll by one vote over Rep. Ron Paul, 438-437. The person who didn't attend the Southern Republican Leadership Conference won the 2012 GOP presidential straw poll. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the straw poll by one vote over Rep. Ron Paul, 438-437. Sarah Palin finished in third place with 330 votes, while Newt Gingrich rounded it out with 321 votes. Several potential candidates addressed the three-day gathering which ended Saturday. Eyeing another presidential bid, Texas Rep. Ron Paul told...

Results are in from the Southern Republican Leadership Conference 2012 Presidential Straw Poll. Here are the top four: 439 Mitt Romney 438 Ron Paul 330 Sarah Palin 321 Newt Gingrich Fox News' Carl Cameron just reported that Romney supporters were "handing out gifts" to attendees, and that Ron Paul sold cut-rate tickets to the event on his website. So, considering that, I would say Palin and Gingrich made pretty good showings.

NEW ORLEANS -- The grassroots group Evangelicals for Romney has made a decent-sized splash here at the SRLC, with massive signs in the hall across from the ballroom, piggy banks with their slogans carved on the side ("Elect a president who won't break the bank!"), and a key banner placement in the background of the bar where Sean Hannity will film his show. But while the group isn't talking about where its money came from, founder Nancy French told me that it bought "a couple hundred" tickets for supporters to come in and support Romney in the straw poll. I...

If Sarah Palin, with her mega-wattage superstar status sucking up all the available oxygen in the room, is it worth sharing a stage and competing for some attention? Between now and the first GOP nomination season debate a year from now, that will be the question asked over and over again by the smart political operatives plotting Tim Pawlenty's, Mitt Romney's, and other nonreality show starring Republicans' paths to the White House. The cattle call season for the 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls is upon us, but the media obsession with all things Palin and her knack for dominating a news...

Mitt Romney may end up being the biggest GOP casualty of ObamaCare -- his 2012 presidential hopes dashed before he's even announced a bid. Mr. Romney has continued vociferously campaigning against ObamaCare even while defending a very similar universal health-care plan he signed into law as Massachusetts's governor in 2006. Last week, he inveighed on the National Review blog that "President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation . . . . he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends." Critically, Republicans need to win the presidency in order to...