Free Republic

It was two weeks before Election Day when Mitt Romney’s political ­director signed a memo that all but ridiculed the notion that the Republican presidential nominee, with his “better ground game,” could lose the key state of Ohio or the election. The race is “unmistakably moving in Mitt Romney’s direction,” the memo said. But the claims proved wildly off the mark, a fact embarrassingly underscored when the high-tech voter turnout system that Romney himself called “state of the art” crashed at the worst moment, on Election Day. To this day, Romney’s aides wonder how it all went so wrong.

Stuart Stevens was the chief strategist for the Romney presidential campaign. Over the years, one of the more troubling characteristics of the Democratic Party and the left in general has been a shortage of loyalty and an abundance of self-loathing. It would be a shame if we Republicans took a narrow presidential loss as a signal that those are traits we should emulate. I appreciate that Mitt Romney was never a favorite of D.C.’s green-room crowd or, frankly, of many politicians. That’s why, a year ago, so few of those people thought that he would win the Republican nomination. But...

Romney Adviser: It Was the Messaging By Robert Costa | November 7, 2012 Boston — A Romney adviser partly blames last night’s defeat on a weak message. “Turnout was the big problem, since we didn’t get all of McCain’s voters to the polls, but we really should have been talking more about Benghazi and Obamacare,” an adviser says, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Those are major issues and Romney rarely mentioned them in the final days.” The adviser expects Stuart Stevens, Romney’s chief strategist, to bear the brunt of the blame, but not all of it. “There is a...

Last night Barack Obama mocked the use of horses and bayonets in the military. Today Bayonet Inc. told Obama to “get educated.” TMZ reported: TMZ spoke with multiple people in the bayonet industry who tell us they were shocked and even offended when Obama brought up the weapon during last night’s debate. According to the official U.S. Marine Corps website, every Marine is STILL required to complete a bayonet training program … because “the weapon becomes just as effective [as a rifle] in close combat situations.” We spoke with Dan Riker from Bayonet Inc. — a leading military surplus outlet...

...primaries how many would he have? Just wondering if Newt or Rick has EVEN a ghost of a chance or is it OVER?

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

...Rupert Murdock, Rupert Murdock's Kid, Roger Ailes, News Corporation and the Rommney Campaign.

The nature of this peculiar primary season – the reason it seems at odds with both the 2009-2010 political narrative and the seriousness of the times – was determined by Mitt Romney. Even if you don’t mind RomneyCare, or the abortion flip-flop, or any of the rest, there’s a more basic problem: He’s not a natural campaigner, and on the stump he instinctively recoils from any personal connection with the voters. So, in compensation, he’s bought himself a bunch of A-list advisors and a lavish campaign. He is, as he likes to say, the only candidate with experience in the...

Mitt Romney stands the best chance among Republican presidential contenders of beating President Barack Obama in next year’s election, according to a new Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday. The former Massachusetts governor also was the favored GOP candidate among independent voters, with Texas Rep. Ron Paul following close behind, according to the online survey of 2,462 adults taken in mid-September. The news was also good for Paul when pitted against Obama in a head-to-head matchup. While survey participants gave Romney a 53 percent to 47 percent edge over Obama in a general election race, they said Paul could also beat...

January 30, 2008 -- Democrats in 22 states across America go to the polls next Tuesday to pick between two presidential prospects: Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. We urge them to choose Obama - an untried candidate, to be sure, but preferable to the junior senator from New York. Obama represents a fresh start. His opponent, and her husband, stand for déjà vu all over again - a return to the opportunistic, scandal-scarred, morally muddled years of the almost infinitely self-indulgent Clinton co-presidency. Does America really want to go through all that once again? It will - if Sen....

Add immigration to the long list of hesitations conservatives ought to have about Mitt Romney. What he thinks ought to be done about the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country depends on whether you asked him POC (pre-official candidacy) or AOC (after-official candidacy). Back in 1994, when the U.S. Senate, not the Oval Office, was in Romney’s sights, he said in those now infamous (on YouTube anyway) debates with Sen. Edward Kennedy: “I do not believe that we should deny all services to people who come here from across the border.” And more recently, but still POC, Romney...

Romney to sign DNA bill today Measure to cover all felons in state By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 11/12/2003 All convicted felons in Massachusetts, from those who commit murder to those who steal live poultry, will be required to submit DNA samples to the State Police under a controversial bill being signed today by Governor Mitt Romney. The legislation, which will expand the state's DNA database from 20,000 samples to nearly 100,000, has enjoyed bipartisan support on Beacon Hill and has been lauded by law enforcement authorities and the relatives of crime victims. John and Magdalen Bish, whose 16-year-old daughter...