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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina voters have approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, making it the 30th state to adopt such a ban. With 35 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial returns showed the amendment passing with about 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent against.

(Reuters) - Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum endorsed his one-time fierce rival Mitt Romney on Monday, a move that may help the party's presumptive White House nominee win over religious conservatives. Santorum said in an unusual late-night statement that the two have differences, but that he came away from a meeting with the ex-Massachusetts governor impressed with Romney's "deep understanding" of economic and family issues central to the campaign. "Above all else, we both agree that President (Barack) Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is...

The Republican National Committee attempted to walk back a potentially bruising, botched response Tuesday after an official said Mitt Romney is still making up his mind on immigration. "As a candidate, to my understanding, he's still deciding what his position on immigration is," said Bettina Inclan, the Republican National Committee's (RNC) director of Hispanic outreach. Inclan was speaking at an RNC event unveiling six new regional staffers who will direct Hispanic outreach in swing states. But asked how the RNC will speak with Hispanic voters about immigration, Inclan said she couldn't speak about what policies GOP candidates would put forth....

The Republican National Committee attempted to walk back a potentially bruising botched response Tuesday after an official said Mitt Romney is still making up his mind on immigration. “As a candidate, to my understanding, he’s still deciding what his position on immigration is,” said Bettina Inclan, the RNC’s director of Hispanic outreach… Within minutes, as Inclan’s comments started spreading on Twitter, RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski stepped in and said Inclan’s comments had been misconstrued. “We never said the governor is still deciding on immigration,” said Kukowski. “I want to make sure we are exponentially clear.”

As many as 21 of Maine's 24 delegates to this year's Republican National Convention could be barred from participating if national party officials determine that selection rules were violated at the state convention in Augusta this weekend. Supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul seized control of the two-day convention, electing the chairman and 20 national convention delegates who are loyal to their candidate. Backers of Mitt Romney, whose top attorney attended the event, have said the delegate selection process was unsound, claiming numerous violations of state party rules. Charles Cragin, a Romney supporter who lost a bid to chair the...

Texas Congressman Ron Paul appears more interested in influencing the direction of the Republican Party than in running as an independent presidential candidate. But perhaps Democrats should be careful what they wish for: Even if Mitt Romney’s remaining GOP challenger should run as a third party candidate, new Rasmussen Reports surveying finds Romney the winner of a three-way race. The latest national telephone survey shows that 25% of Likely U.S. Voters think Paul should run as a third party candidate. Sixty-one percent (61%) disagree, but 13% more are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) The national survey...

Democrats and Republicans have slammed Mitt Romney for his 2008 view that Detroit should "go bankrupt," but the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said Monday his views played a big part in the auto industry's recovery. "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back," Romney told WEWS-TV in Cleveland. Speaking after a campaign stop at a metal stamping facility in nearby Euclid, Romney said the industry needed to enter a "managed bankruptcy" process in order to fully recover – and that was what eventually helped American automakers get back on their feet.

The first USA TODAY/Gallup Swing States Poll since the GOP settled on moderate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as its presumptive Presidential nominee shows an interesting dynamic for Romney and the GOP. After the Republican Party nominated one of the most moderate candidates in the field, enthusiasm for Romney is down among self-identified GOP moderates and Romney’s likely victory or defeat now hinges on “swing states” where Tea Party backed candidates made strong showings in the 2010 Tea Party wave election. Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin are the swing...

Cher Tweets "@cher "If ROMNEY gets elected I don't know if i can breathe same air as Him & his Right Wing Racist Homophobic Women Hating Tea Bagger Masters" And again, @cher "TOO HARSH ? Thats me Holding BACK! They care nothing about the POOR The OLD The SICK The HUNGRY CHILDREN & People striving 4 a Better LIFE !" Finally,(Mercifully) @cher "Tell The Truth (lyric of new song) Supreme Court GONE,Women & Children Left Behind! GOD HELP US !" What the heck happened to Cher? Dumped Sonny. Too many drugs with Gregg Allman? Hired a lesbian sitter for Chastity....

Instead of letting the establishment act like everybody is happy with Mitt Romney, how about if everybody in the remaining primaries votes for Ron Paul in protest? What is the worst that could happen? At least Ron Paul is pro-life and wants to get rid of the vile, evil, Marxist income tax. Mitt Romney is saying a lot of the right things, but talk is cheap for politicians at election time. It should be ALARMING for conservatives to see how many of Romney's people have been advising the Obama administration!! If you look at their history, instead of their promises,...

Tuesday's primaries are three of the nine contests in the 2008 and 2012 cycles held when the presumptive GOP nominee and Ron Paul were the only active candidates left in the race While the most closely-watched contest on Tuesday may be the Indiana Republican U.S. Senate primary battle between six-term incumbent Dick Lugar and Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock, there will still be a few things to keep an eye on at the top of the ticket in the Hoosier State, North Carolina, and West Virginia. For these three presidential primaries will be the first in which Mitt Romney faces only...

WHAT WILL RON PAUL DO? By Roger Stone In 1977 as Treasurer of the National Conservative Political Action Committee, I went to Houston Texas to work in the Special Election campaign of Ron Paul, the first time he was elected to Congress. I have long admired his faith in and consistent support of the US Constitution and the proper limits of government. I have also always admired his willingness to go against the grain and sometimes tell the unpopular truth. Congress Paul was a little disingenuous when he told the Washington Post that he would decide about an independent candidacy...

President Obama’s new web campaign ad, “The Life of Julia,” (watch) is perhaps the most blatantly statist political advertisement yet from one of the two major parties. Pitched, I suspect to single women, primarily those college-aged and worried about the responsibilities of adulthood, it posits that government programs are essential to every stage of a woman’s life. It’s fascinating for its sheer ideological purity. From Head Start as a toddler to Social Security and community gardens volunteering late in life, big government is the most intimate partner of Julia’s life. Once Julia’s taken advantage of ObamaCare to stay on her...

WASHINGTON –  Former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum urged his supporters to back fellow Republican Mitt Romney's campaign Monday in a late-night email that ignored that Santorum once calling Romney the "worst Republican in the country" during their bitter contest. He added: "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated. The task will not be easy. It will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. Gov. Romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this the most critical election of our lifetime."

It should come as no surprise that the Republican National Committee has been “covertly” supporting Mitt Romney throughout the primaries, as POLITICO recently “revealed.” It was the worst-kept secret in Washington Reagan, the über outsider, called for a “new Republican Party” back in 1977. Reagan wanted the GOP to shed its country club, corporate boardroom image and become a genuine conservative movement, focused on the individual. Reagan’s words threatened the status quo of the scions and heiresses of the country club and corporate boardroom set. The former California governor and his conservative followers were never accepted by these insiders [...]...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Santorum is endorsing his one-time bitter rival Mitt Romney in a late-night e-mail to his supporters. Santorum on Monday urged his supporters to join him in working with the effective Republican nominee to deny President Barack Obama a second term.

The Obama campaign is floundering before our eyes, even if the Obama media won't characterize it that way. From the thousands of empty seats at the Ohio campaign kickoff on Saturday and the mystery burka woman ejected from the follow-on Richmond event to today's embarrassingly incompetent press release, the Axelrod PR machine is a shadow of its 2008 mastery. Reminding the American people of the Obamas' penchant for his & her luxury vacation travel via government jets is an unforced error on Team Axelrod's part.According to report by ABC News and MSNBC, the Obama campaign took umbrage to statements made...

“In a second term,” Mitt Romney darkly warned in a speech to the National Rifle Association last month, President Obama “would be unrestrained by the demands of reelection.” But Romney was cagey about what, exactly, that would mean: His only specific prediction was that Obama would “remake” the Supreme Court. So it was helpful when, at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner a week ago, the president opened up about the “secret agenda” he has planned. “In my first term,” he joked, “we ended the war in Iraq; in my second term, I will win the war on Christmas. . . ....

...After Supporter Says President ‘Should be tried for treason’ The Obama campaign slammed Mitt Romney Monday for not confronting a supporter who said during a town hall event in Cleveland that the president “should be tried for treason.” “We have a president right now that is operating outside the structure of our Constitution,” a woman said during a question-and-answer session. “And I want to know — yeah, I do agree he should be tried for treason — but I want to know what you would be able to do to restore balance between the three branches of government and what...

It’s almost become expected at this point. In the nearly four years he’s been in office, Vice President Joe Biden has awed the country with his gaffes (see here, here, and here, just to name a few). And on Sunday, he struck again. During an interview with David Gregory on “Meet The Press,” Biden’s mind seemed otherwise occupied when it came to consistently and correctly referring to who he was talking about. For example, at one point, and much to the joy of Republicans, he referred to Mitt Romney as “President Romney.” But as if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, he...