Free Republic

As Mitt Romney puts the South Carolina primary in his rear-view mirror and hits the accelerator in a bid to win Florida, he may discover himself crashing headlong into the bitter legacy of Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor who defected from the GOP and was soundly defeated for the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio. Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Crist’s top political advisers — the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized in Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led...

Mitt Romney told CNBC Wednesday that he’s happy to have a debate about private equity alleged role in killing American jobs — because President Obama also forced companies to shed jobs at car dealerships during the auto bailout. So it is somewhat ironic that Romney’s former firm, Bain & Company, was among the private consulting firms that advised the Obama auto bailout team. And what did Bain recommend? Cutting dealerships. Romney’s ties to Bain Capital and its predecessor firm Bain & Company have come under scrutiny in recent days as his GOP rivals accuse him of “vulture capitalism” that made...

On the heels of his decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney took the attacks on his private sector record used by GOP rivals and turned them against President Obama. Romney’s critics have accused him of destroying jobs in order to increase profits for his investment firm, Bain Capital, but speaking Wednesday on CBS, Romney said that what he did was no different from the Obama administration’s auto industry bailouts. “In the general election I’ll be pointing out that the president took the reins at General Motors and Chrysler – closed factories, closed dealerships laid off thousands and...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Mitt Romney is the now the only candidate that a majority of conservative and moderate/liberal Republicans nationwide see as an "acceptable" GOP nominee for president. Conservative Republicans are more likely to say Romney would be an acceptable nominee than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum.

VIDEO"Uploaded by americanbridge21st on Jan 9, 2012 Though Mitt Romney has spent 5 years of his run for President mired at 25%, there is one group that is signaling their singularsupport: the Washington Establishment. And Karl Rove, the king of conventional GOP wisdom is working double-time to make sure rank-and-file Republicans know it's time to fall in line. Through his constant television appearances and weekly op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Rove has consistently favored Mitt Romney and done what he does best: work to tear down any credible rival to Romney."

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney has never looked stronger than he does today. He’s built up a huge lead in New Hampshire. The famously flat line of his support in Gallup polling is trending upwards. And, in South Carolina – SOUTH CAROLINA – the former Massachusetts Governor is leading the pack with almost 40 percent of the vote, while the only southerner in the contest – Texas Gov. Rick Perry – has fallen to 5 percent. It’s remarkable what an 8-vote victory over an underfunded and unknown candidate in Iowa can do to momentum. The only question now: can anyone...

Mitt Romney's numbers in South Carolina are surging, and he now has a solid lead over his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a new survey of likely GOP primary voters in the Palmetto state. ......................................................... According to the poll, 37% of likely GOP primary voters in South Carolina say they are currently backing Romney ..................................................... Santorum and Gingrich are battling for second place, with Santorum at 19% and Gingrich at 18%

MANCHESTER, N.H. — If this is Mitt Romney’s idea of a victory rally, one shudders to think what would have happened if he had lost the Iowa caucuses. The day after his impossibly thin eight-vote victory, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination flew here for a town hall meeting at Manchester Central High School, where he was to bask in the endorsement of his 2008 arch rival, John McCain. But the senator grimaced when he was introduced, and as Romney delivered his own stump speech, an increasingly impatient McCain pulled up his sleeve and checked his watch. McCain gave...

"I'll point at my record, and I the nice thing about New Hampshire for instance we looked at the Tea Party voters. Those who identify themselves as Tea Partiers and said, 'Who's your favorite candidate?' I have a good lead with Tea Partiers and people who consider themselves very conservative. So where I'm known pretty well, where my record is pretty well known, why I have very good support from very conservative Tea Partiers," Mitt Romney said when asked how he will make his closing argument to conservatives.

On the surface, the new (and final) Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers basically corroborates polling from Rasmussen and NBC/Marist earlier in the week, which showed Mitt Romney slightly edging Ron Paul, while Rick Santorum gained enough ground to move into third place. The numbers are almost identical, at 24/22/15 — but it’s not the topline that is the real news. The four-day poll of 602 likely caucus-goers, which is a larger sample than NBC/Marist but smaller than Rasmussen’s single-day survey, had significant change in the final two days of polling on Thursday and Friday: But the four-day...

The last Des Moines Register poll before Tuesday's Iowa caucuses was just released. Conducted from Tuesday to Friday, Mitt Romney leads with 24 percent, followed by Ron Paul at 22 percent, and Rick Santorum at 15 percent. Newt Gingrich is at 12 percent, Rick Perry 11 percent, and Michele Bachmann at 7 percent. Consider the last two days of polling separately, however, and it's Romney at 24 percent, Santorum at 21 percent, and Paul in third at 18 percent. "Momentum's name is Rick Santorum," said Register pollster J. Ann Selzer. That said, looking at only the last two days raises...

When Mitt Romney introduces himself to voters, he has a peculiar habit of guessing their age or nationality, often incorrectly. (A regular query: “Are you French Canadian?”) When making small talk with locals, he peppers the conversation with curious details. (“We stayed in the Courtyard hotel last night,” he told a woman at a diner. “It’s a LEED-certified hotel.”) And when he encounters a question he particularly dislikes, he smiles politely and behaves as if it never happened. (“Will you put Ron Paul in your cabinet?” a man asked. The candidate turned away, inquiry left unanswered.)

(excerpt...see article for more!) There are plenty of blatantly incorrect opinions about the Republican presidential primary floating around and some of them are perched in some rather prominent places... ... But none that I have seen has been more obviously and dangerously flawed than John Hawkins' column entitled "7 Reasons Why Mitt Romney's Electability is a Myth," which was recently posted at Townhall. ...And since Mr. Hawkins gave seven reasons why Romney's electability is a myth, in the spirit of conservative cooperation I offer the seven most underrated reasons that Romney is indeed the most electable Republican presidential candidate....

<p>Mitt Romney is zero for two when it comes to transparency in campaigning.</p> <p>First, Romney, breaking with the practice of previous Republican presidential candidates.....has refused to release the identities of his bundlers, the well-connected fundraisers who help the campaign haul in stacks of checks adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars....</p>

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a conservative. At least, that is the point the former Massachusetts governor is trying to make with a new TV ad airing in Iowa. The new ad, titled “Conservative Agenda,” shows Romney speaking on the stump and meeting with voters, as he makes a series of commitments. “I am going to do something to government. I’m going to make it ‘Simpler, and Smaller, and Smarter,’” Romney says. “Getting rid of programs, turning programs back to states, and finally making government itself more efficient.” Romney pledges to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul and balance...

Mitt Romney once again pitches himself as the presidential candidate best poised to effectively reform government, in a new ad set to run in Iowa. The 30-second spot, which features footage from a speech by the former Massachusetts governor, will run in the Hawkeye State ahead of the first-in-the-nation Jan. 3 caucuses. "I'm going to do something to government. I'm going to make it simpler and smaller and smarter, getting rid of programs, turning programs back to states, and finally making government itself more efficient," Romney says in the commercial, titled "Conservative Agenda."

Fox News Poll: Romney Bests Gingrich in Matchups Against Obama By Dana Blanton December 08, 2011 | Newt Gingrich has increased his lead over Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican nomination, yet the former House speaker is weaker than Romney with the general electorate. In a hypothetical matchup, Barack Obama is just 2 percentage points ahead of Romney (44-42 percent), according to a Fox News national poll released Thursday. Three weeks ago, Romney had a narrow 2-point edge over Obama in the head-to-head matchup (44-42 percent). In every other matchup of the two candidates over the past year,...

DES MOINES -- On Saturday afternoon at a megachurch in Des Moines, the Republican presidential candidates will gather -- with a notable exception. ....To add insult to injury, he [Mitt Romney] will be spending the day in New Hampshire. [SNIP] "Governor Branstad has enormous respect for Governor Romney, but he has decided it's time to hold his feet to the fire," Albrecht said. Steve Scheffler, head of another Iowa social conservative group, the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, also hosted six candidates -- but no Romney -- at a forum last month. "I think he's arrogant," Scheffler said bluntly in...

Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have referred to Republican insiders who would prefer lesser Conservative, less Tea Party supported candidates. Rush & Sean of course do not say their names all that often, but may refer to having named them before. Who are they? Are they Krauthammer? Rove? Kristol?

But it's a little deeper than that. Take a step back, understand why Republican voters are responding to Newt now, as opposed to a month ago, six weeks, two months ago. I mean Newt's been in the race since it began. Why now? Why now is Newt Gingrich at the top of the heap in Iowa and in some national polls as well? Why? We are three years into Barack Obama's war on prosperity and I think Americans are coming to grips with the upside, if not the necessity, of limited government. And now that people understand or are beginning...