Free Republic

Mitt Romney has been criticized for not speaking out more forcefully on the debt-ceiling negotiations. But Mitt Romney, the Republican front-runner, has taken a subtler tack, avoiding the issue of the debt ceiling as he presses a more general assault on President Barack Obama's economic record. That has attracted the attention of his GOP challengers, who have begun to accuse him of ducking the most vital issue of the campaign so far. "The current debate is about what kind of leadership you're going to show," former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said in an interview Monday. "If you're running for president,...

Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) formally announced his White House bid last week. Yesterday, in an interview with John Roberts on Fox News, he took aim at Romney, slamming the "Obama-Romney economy." "Unemployment rising, people struggling in the Obama-Romney economy," McCotter tweeted Friday. The congressman expanded on that critique during a Saturday interview with Fox News. "We have Obama as the champion of big government, we see Romney as champion of bail out banks in Wall Street bailout. They are less rivals than they are running mates," he said. Representative McCotter defended his support of auto bailouts, "saying he's [in] favor...

Any candidate for president can fall victim to occasional stumbles, lapses, gaffes and clunkers. But Mitt Romney has a shot at raising ineptitude to an art form. The other day, he had to answer a question about how the economy has fared under the current administration. Before he was done, though, Romney managed to give the impression that if he dove off a dock, he'd miss the water. He also undermined his chief assets in the campaign: a supposed mastery of economic issues and a reputation for competence. Over and over, the former Massachusetts governor has accused President Barack Obama...

July 3, 2011 2 Republicans Open Door to Increases in Revenue By JOHN M. BRODER WASHINGTON — Two senior Republicans said Sunday that they might be open to raising new government revenue as part of a deal to resolve the dispute over the federal debt ceiling, but they warned that there was little time to enact a comprehensive deal. One of the senators, John Cornyn of Texas, said he would consider eliminating some tax breaks and corporate subsidies in the context of changes in the tax code, provided there was not an overall increase in taxes. “I think it’s clear...

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...

The talking heads in the media are all tingly that "Mitt"-for-brains Romney is "winning" the GOP Primary polls by "double digits" because he got 27% in a Florida poll. You expect this kind of baloney from CNN but even "Fox and Friends" was repeating this nonsense this morning. Since Romney has 27% and Palin (who is not even running yet) has 17% and Bachman and all others get 10% or less, they report this as somehow showing Romney being in the lead, and a repudiation of the TEA party in the GOP. This is totally ass-backwards. Romney is LOSING by...

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has refused to sign a pledge being circulated by a pro-life group, citing concerns with the language used in the pact. Romney, a spokeswoman said, is concerned that the pact could block some federal funding from going to hospitals and would restrict his ability to appoint Cabinet members in his administration. "Governor Romney pledged in the last campaign that he would be a pro-life president and of course he pledges it today. However, this well-intentioned effort has some potentially unforeseen consequences and he does not feel he could in good conscience sign it,"...

Romney, Bachmann, Cain Lead The Pack Among GOP Primary Voters Thursday, June 16, 2011 Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to lead the race for the Republican nomination, but Michele Bachmann has surged into second place following her Monday night entry into the campaign. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters, taken following the candidates’ Monday night debate, shows Romney earning 33% support, with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a surprise second at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10% of the vote. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich picks up nine percent...

Mitt Romney may be leading in the polls, but his status as the GOP “frontrunner” is fragile at best. For all the talk of Romney’s “did-what-he-had-to-do” performance in the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, it’s widely accepted that the former Massachusetts governor is an uninspired choice for the GOP nomination. ... Historically, Republicans have nominated the runner-up from the previous election cycle, and Romney was the runner-up in 2008. But his second-place finish was exceedingly narrow — and in the end, closely contested. Once John McCain beat him in New Hampshire and South Carolina — after Mike Huckabee had...

DERRY, N.H. — Mitt Romney says he can appeal to Tea Partiers, even though activists and groups aligned with the movement are stressing that they need to defeat him in 2012. “I think I line up pretty well with the Tea Party,” he said in response to a question from The Daily Caller after touring the Derry Feed and Supply store. “They want to see smaller government. So do I.” But not everyone associated with the movement see Romney as one of them. Joe Miller, a former U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska and a Tea Party darling, is now running...

National Rifle Association President David Keene is predicting a Mitt Romney victory in the 2012 Republican presidential nominating process , and working to burnish the credentials of the liberal former Governor of Massachusetts. Here's the problem: As Governor, Mitt Romney banned guns. From July, 2004: Governor Mitt Romney has signed into law a permanent assault weapons ban that he says will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on these guns. "Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts," Romney said, at a bill signing ceremony on July 1 with legislators, sportsmen's groups and gun safety advocates. "These guns...

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination for president, Tea Party activists may not show up at all to vote in the general election, one leading group associated with the Tea Party movement is warning. “I think that’s a potential problem,” said Matt Kibbe, FreedomWorks’ president, during a wide-ranging interview with reporters at The Daily Caller. He also warned that if Republicans nominate another “John McCain,” activists might even vote third party in 2012. “I believe in redemption, but at some point, you sort of give up,” he said. “And we’ve given up on Mitt Romney.”

RUSH: Right. So the media was listening intently as I played the sound bite this week, Monday or Tuesday, and said, "Bye bye, nomination." Remember that? I said, "Bye bye, nomination." Well, the media has glommed on to that. They are thrilled. Listen. BASHIR: If Romney stands by his view that the world is getting warmer and that man is an important contributor, then how will he fare when so many Republicans believe that global warming is, in the words of Rush Limbaugh, a "complete hoax"? UYGUR: You've got 99.9% of the scientists in the world in one camp and...

One thing is for sure; U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., won’t be backing fellow Michigander Mitt Romney for president. “Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama are not rivals, they’re running mates." McCotter said at a Plymouth, Mich. event held Wednesday afternoon, a day before Romney's arrival in the Wolverine state. McCotter added: “In the area of cap and trade, the President and Mr. Romney both believe in climate change. In the area of health care, both the President and Mr. [Romney] believe in comparative effectiveness research and government controlling the supply of health care. What you see in the area of...

Mitt Romney won't be doing any apology tours on climate change. The early GOP presidential front-runner has broken with his party's conservative ranks to declare global warming a real threat to the planet that merits some sort of action to curb heat-trapping emissions. But the former Massachusetts governor is also quick to trash cap and trade, carbon taxes and other controversial policies that have been kicked around over the last decade in Washington. In a sense, Romney's initial global warming stance sounds a lot like that of former President George W. Bush, who during his two terms reluctantly accepted climate...

Washington (CNN) - Mitt Romney has a message to Tea Party candidates nationwide: If you lose your Republican primary bids, stay on the sidelines. The former Massachusetts governor on Monday warned the grassroots movement not to mount third party efforts in general elections, which he said would siphon votes from Republican nominees. "If there is a conservative candidate that runs in the general election, then obviously, divide and fail is the result," Romney said in an interview with the conservative Web site Newsmax. "Hopefully Tea Party candidates will run in respective primaries and they will either win or lose. And...

In the first town hall of his freshly announced presidential campaign, Mitt Romney yesterday reaffirmed his view that global warming is occurring and that humans are contributing to it, a position that has been rejected in recent years by many Republicans as the issue has taken on a greater partisan tinge. "I don't speak for the scientific community, of course," Romney said. "But I believe the world's getting warmer. I can't prove that, but I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer. And number two, I believe that humans contribute to that . . ....

In case you missed the lead story yesterday, likely because you were following the Weiner Saga, Mitt Romney is running for President. Though he had a hard time defeating Huckabee last timeand whom he seems to have an ongoing feud with, Romney seems to be thinking that all the major issues that plauged his last candidacy have evaporated and the only real issue the Conservative Republican base has with him is RomneyCare. This could not be further from the truth. The list of Romney's problems is a long one, so buckle up. **YOUTUBE VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP**

"Men like you make me SICK! Go home, Willard!"

Palin fires shot at Romney at Bunker Hill By NBC's Shawna Thomas, Alex Moe, and Mark Murray In remarks made at Bunker Hill in Massachusetts -- of all places -- Sarah Palin fired a shot at Mitt Romney over the health-care mandate that Romney signed into law in the state in 2006.The remarks came just before Romney formally announces his presidential bid in nearby New Hampshire, which Palin also plans to visit later today."In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, so obviously ... there will be more the explanation coming from former governor, Romney,...