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A funny thing is happening to Mitt Romney on his way to Florida: ¡He is becoming so aware of Latino voters, that he’s practically becoming Latino himself! Oh, wait, amigos -- ¡Mitt is suddenly so Latino that he’s eligible for Mexican citizenship! ¿You think I’m kidding? Although up to now about the only time he’s mentioned Latinos is to say NO (a word conveniently the same in both English and Spanish), in one of his last appearances in New Hampshire, ¡he dropped the little known fact that his dad was born in Mexico! Yup, suddenly, Romney’s so one of us,...

(CNSNews.com) – Mitt Romney, who is considered by many Republican leaders as the conservative candidate strong enough to beat liberal Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race, says he opposes “gay marriage” but supports same-sex “domestic partnerships,” adoption of children by gay couples, homosexuals serving openly in the military, and does not think states should prohibit sodomy.

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...

It is time for Republicans to get serious. After flirting with just about every candidate in a large presidential field, is is time to come home to the one candidate who has the demonstrated ability to run the largest organization in the United States, the Executive Branch of the federal government; who has never been touched by the slightest taint of scandal; whose success in the private sector makes him the outsider that Republicans say they are looking for; and who has by far the best chance of beating President Obama: Mitt Romney.{Snip}

Romney is losing it. His coordinated assault on Newt does not make the case for Romney. And it’s embarrassing. Romney brought out former Congressman and former Senator Jim Talent to bash Newt’s leadership as Speaker. Talent forgets that the internet has a long memory, and that Talent supported Newt for Speaker of the House even after the issues Talent now complains about were raised: Old Quote from Talent: Allegiance comes from Rep. Jim Talent, R-Mo., who says, “I intend to support the speaker” As I mentioned last night, bringing John Sununu to the rescue just reminds us of the appointment...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will win the Republican presidential nomination, Dave Keene, former chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells Newsmax. “Romney has the discipline,” Keene says. “”He has the money. He has the organization.”

* Republican presidential hopeful's actions unprecedented * Aides purchased hard drives of state-issued computers * Emails and other communications wiped from servers By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Mitt Romney spent nearly $100,000 in state funds to replace computers in his office at the end of his term as governor of Massachusetts in 2007 as part of an unprecedented effort to keep his records secret, Reuters has learned. The move during the final weeks of Romney's administration was legal but unusual for a departing governor, Massachusetts officials say. The effort to purge the records was made a few...

Southfield, Mich. — As other Republican candidates have stumbled their way toward the presidential primaries, Mitt Romney has put together what would seem to be all the elements of a winning campaign: an effective staff, a robust treasury and smooth, knowledgeable performances both in debates and on the trail. But for months, the threshold of support for the former Massachusetts governor hasn't inched above a quarter of Republican voters in national polls. For many GOP voters in early primary states, hesitation about Romney comes back to one thing: their perception that he has routinely molded his views to suit the...

Washington and Des Moines - Throughout the roller-coaster Republican presidential contest, one thing hasn't changed: the stubborn refusal of many tea party supporters to warm up to Mitt Romney. The swift rise and abrupt fall of a succession of GOP candidates has been driven in part by the restless search for a Romney alternative by that group of voters, who energized the GOP's big turnaround in 2010. "They don't trust Mitt Romney," said Simon Conway, a Des Moines radio host popular with tea party followers. "Mitt Romney can be tea party one minute, and the next minute introduce 'RomneyCare'" —...

Don’t expect Mitt Romney to backtrack on his Massachusetts health-care plan at any point this election cycle. “I am sure there are many people who have calculated, and perhaps correctly, that the healthcare plan I put in place in Massachusetts is not good for me politically, and if I want to encourage my political future, I should say it was a mistake and walk away from it,” Romney told Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto in an interview set to air later tonight. “You have seen a lot of candidates look at their biggest vulnerability, call it a mistake, and...

For Mitt Romney this is like the good old days at Bain Capital, except this time his takeover involves not another company but the Republican Party. In fact, Romney is seeking a hostile takeover of the conservative movement, methodically moving to take over Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and finally Newt Gingrich. Conservatives might remember what Romney did after he took over companies. You did not want to be a worker in a firm Romney took over. He liked layoffs. I now expect Romney to move fast to the right for a few weeks while...

Does Mitt Romney have a political death wish? When I heard him utter the phrase, "There are plenty of reasons to vote against Mitt Romney...," I cringed, imagining endless repetition of this sound byte in the attack ads that will be the basis of the Obama re-election campaign, funded with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign cash. Why on earth would a smart guy like Romney hand Obama a video moment so damaging to his cause? Then there is this, a picture surfaced from the past, and certain to become ubiquitous once the GOP is committed to Mitt: [BIG...

I posted this same question back in June http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2731129/posts And got 218 responses. Just wondering since he seems to be as certain the grimreaper and taxes (minus Herman in the polls) according to the GOP. Could you see that sticker on your car or sign in the yard? What if he added Bachmann etc. as Veep?

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

Late yesterday, Ben Smith posted a pretty devastating account of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign strategy. Or rather, Smith documents Romney's strategy of not doing many public events, not engaging in daily issue fights, and focusing on fundraising while hoping to remain a somewhat unknown front runner. Plenty of political strategists then say this a bad or crazy idea, akin to the prevent defense in football (as a New York Giants fan, my experience is that this strategy only prevents you from winning). Time will tell whether or not Romney's low-impact campaign strategy will work or not. If the field today...

Here is the link to my original post, yes I think I was the 1st. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2106098/replies?c I have a CPA friend that is a self taught biblical scholar. He believes we grow into the meaning of our names, and always wants to know what you named the baby. So one day (10/15/2008 ) I did what he does and research the meaning of "someones" name :-).This is what I came up with.... Sarah : Princess (in Hebrew)... Louise : Renowned Fighter.... Heath : From the Outer Lands... Palin : Who will serve at the table….. So... She is: The Princess,...

Mitt Romney, speaking in New Hampshire on Saturday night for the first time since the midterms, plans a direct attack on President Barack Obama and what Romney has been calling “the Obama Misery Index.” Romney, in the unofficial kickoff of his Granite State campaign, will be keynoting the Carroll County Republican Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner. “Senator Obama campaigned hard in New Hampshire but he apparently didn’t like what he saw,” Romney says in prepared remarks. “He certainly didn’t learn from it. Instead of lowering taxes, he raised them. He wrapped businesses in red tape, he grew government, he borrowed trillions of...

When Mitt Romney returns to New Hampshire on Saturday to make his first public appearance since prior to the 2010 midterm election, he will have two key Republicans from the North Country and Lakes Region behind his likely presidential bid. Veteran Executive Councilor Raymond Burton of Bath and state Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley of Wolfeboro told the Primary Status they will endorse the former Massachusetts governor should he run, as is expected. They cited his background in the private sector and experience as governor as the best formula for growing the economy, creating jobs and reducing the deficit. Neither...

"I’m grateful that Massachusetts gave this a try. Tennessee had tried something almost identical to that... In both states it was a disaster. The point is since it didn’t work why on earth would we make it a national program? So that we could fail across the entire country? It makes no sense," former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) told David Brody of CBN News.

Part 2 in a developing series of in-depth analysis by Dr. Jeff Fuller (See part 1 here) It’s often revealing to turn conventional wisdom on its head and see what’s really hidden underneath. You’ve all heard it, I’m sure, that RomneyCare is Mitt’s doom, an albatross around his neck, his biggest weakness as a potential candidate. In Part 1 of this series I detailed not only how grave some people feel this issue is for Romney’s chances, but also pointed out that Obama and his team of key operatives (Axelrod, Gibbs, and Daley) are all praising RomneyCare as ObamaCare’s predecessor...

The presidential field may be wide open, but one candidate is playing the role of the inevitable front-runner, as his performance at the Conservative Political Action Committee Conference this weekend shows. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney brought with him to the event a large entourage that stayed for several days, while most other potential candidates dropped in and out of the conference to make their speeches and headline a reception or two. Other serious contenders brought just a few key staffers, but many didn't even have their top political aide in tow. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas...

Mitt Romney became, on Tuesday, the first of the potential 2012 GOP presidential contenders to call for the exit of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America," Romney said although President Obama should not publicly support Mubarak's removal, the time for it had come. "I don't know that I would say to the president, 'You should call for Mubarak's resignation,' " Romney said. "That, I think, flies in the face of a long history of friendship between he and our country and our friends, but it is very clear that [Mubarak] needs to move on and transition...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin led her potential rivals for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination in end-of-the-year fundraising, nosing ahead of her closest competitor, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Both Palin and Romney filed impressive year-end fundraising reports, due Monday at the Federal Election Commission. From Nov. 23 and Dec. 31, Palin's Sarah PAC hauled in $279,000. She finished the year with $1.3 million in her campaign account. Palin's total is particularly striking because she outraised Romney using only a federal political action committee. Romney's series of state level PACs set up in Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and South...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney continues to hold the pole position for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination in the latest National Journal Political Insiders Poll. But the surprise runner-up to Romney was the two-term Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who moved up from fifth place when the last ranking of the potential GOP White House contenders was conducted a year ago. Romney's assets and liabilities are well known and haven't changed much since last January. He has a national network of political and financial supporters left over from his unsuccessful run for the 2008 Republican nomination, a command of economic issues...

"It doesn't sound like her when you read the materials," former White House press secretary said on "FOX News Sunday" today.Dana Perino: Palin Doesn't Sound "Authentic"

On the same day that it was announced that Oregon remains mired in a 10.6 percent jobless rate, Republican Mitt Romney published an op-ed piece saying that unemployment insurance ought to replaced with a privatized insurance system. Of course, Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is looking toward running for president again in 2012. And his piece in USA Today - which denounces the tax deal President Barack Obama reached with Republican leaders - was aimed at inciting a little buzz among conservative activists. It may not have the short-hand verve of one of Sarah Palin's tweets, but Romney is...

As Republicans consider their presidential options for 2012, they ought to discard two dangerously misleading pieces of conventional wisdom: that Sarah Palin and her tea party supporters represent a triumphant, even dominant force in American politics, and that more centrist, veteran GOP officeholders exert little appeal to the electorate. National results in the last two election cycles conclusively disprove both assumptions: Palin's power as king (or queen) maker in 2010 produced spotty, unreliable results. And Sen. John McCain ran a stronger race and drew more votes in 2008 than outspoken conservatives who shared the GOP ballot with him.........

Sarah Palin wasted little time firing back at Barbara Bush, who used an interview with Larry King early this week to express her hope that Palin will stay in Alaska. "I think the majority of Americans don't want to put up with the blue bloods," Palin said on Laura Ingraham's radio show on Wednesday. "And I say it with all due respect because I love the Bushes. The blue bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition to pick and choose the winners." While it's true that Barbara Bush remains a well-liked figure, particularly within...

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, a likely GOP presidential candidate for 2012, told supporters he won’t announce his candidacy before the end of the year — but political analysts said yesterday the discussion is the strongest indicator yet that he’ll run. “We know who is running, they’re just doing everything but coming out and saying so,” said Andy Smith, director of the Political Center at the University of New Hampshire. Romney held a conference call with 245 of his top supporters Thursday and told them that unlike his failed 2008 run, he won’t be announcing until later in the cycle, according...

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...

George Martin has got to be still kicking himself today. Not because of his exceptional Bakersfield Business Conference: I am not aware of any event that compares to what George has been able to create. I am referring to him getting caught up in the moment and introducing Sarah Palin as "the next president of the United States." Come on! I always look forward to the Republican love fest that we call a business conference. It is the only time that I hear so much rational thought about how to clean up the mess in our state and federal governments....

Court documents obtained Saturday by THE WEEKLY STANDARD reveal surprising new details about the gender discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Christine O'Donnell in 2005 against her former employer, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a conservative non-profit based in Delaware.* O'Donnell, who is now challenging moderate congressman Mike Castle in the September 14 Delaware GOP Senate primary, sought $6.95 million in damages. In a court complaint, she extensively detailed the "mental anguish" she suffered after allegedly being demoted and fired because of her gender. And, although she didn't have a bachelor's degree until this year, O'Donnell implied she was taking...

Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door yesterday to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama. “Sounds pretty good,” Palin declared at yesterday’s Tea Party Express rally on the Common when asked about pairing up with the former Bay State governor - giving the idea a big thumbs-up as she left the stage after her headline speech.

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...

Former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney - believed by many political observers to be a clear GOP front-runner in the 2012 presidential race - is virtually in a dead heat with contender Sarah Palin, according to a new CNN poll. The poll shows Romney only 3 percentage points in front of former Alaska Gov. Palin, within the margin of error. “It’s a pretty open contest, and that’s interesting in and of itself,” said Suffolk University political professor John C. Berg. “It means the primary contest will be tighter.” Only months from the unofficial start of the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney...

A tantalizing bit of 2012 gossip dropped way, way down in an otherwise fun piece about amnesty shills boo-hooing over having (temporarily) lost McCain. Note to Politico: This is what’s called “burying the lede.” Their hope now is that Republican presidential candidates and former operatives under Bush, a reform proponent, can convince GOP congressional leaders that the issue needs to be dealt with before 2012 — or that they could risk alienating the burgeoning Hispanic vote in the crucial swing states of New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Florida.Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a front-runner for the nomination, has signaled...

The relentlessly rising cost of health insurance is prompting some small Massachusetts companies to drop coverage for their workers and encourage them to sign up for state-subsidized care instead, a trend that, some analysts say, could eventually weigh heavily on the state’s already-stressed budget. Since April 1, the date many insurance contracts are renewed for small businesses, the owners of about 90 small companies terminated their insurance plans with Braintree-based broker Jeff Rich and indicated in a follow-up survey that they were relying on publicly-funded insurance for their employees... The issue is coming to a head as the Patrick administration...

Huckabee’s taken potshots at her from time to time, but between this fusillade from unnamed Mitt advisors and the furious counterattack on Romney at Conservatives 4 Palin, I’d say that the 2012 primary is now, at long last, officially on. In the immortal words of Greg Stillson, “The missiles are flying. Hallelujah.” Still, few express much regard for Palin’s ultimate chances. One adviser to Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and, by traditional standards, the putative 2012 frontrunner, says of Palin, “She’s not a serious human being.” Another Romney intimate warns, “If she’s standing up there in a debate and...

To understand why Democrats ever picked Mondale, you have to understand where the party — and where the country — was in 1982 and 1983, when the nation’s verdict on Reagan and his policies was far less positive. In those days, with unemployment surging over 10 percent and the president’s popularity slipping to sub-Carter levels, Democrats mistakenly assumed that the ‘80 election had been a mirage. The electorate, they figured, had acted in haste and was rapidly returning to its senses. The results of the 1982 midterms, when Republicans (who had begun the cycle with claims that they’d win...

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,...

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.

DES MOINES — There was no doubt about the sentiments of many of those at author Mitt Romney’s book-signing at the Des Moines Public Library Monday. “I’d be interested if he ran” for president again, Scott Newland of Des Moines said as he thumbed through Romney’s “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.” Among those waving Romney campaign-like signs and wearing Romney t-shirts, Shirley Woodruff was more direct about wanting to see the former Massachusetts governor make another run for the Republican nomination. “He’s at least honest,” she said, displaying a photo of herself and Romney’s wife, Ann. “He has...

Critical Mass   [Mark Steyn] Kathryn, Grace-Marie Turner's analysis is well worth reading. I sympathize with Mitt Romney (his health-care plan was really the only big signature legislation of a very brief time in executive politics), but what he did is part of the problem, not the solution.According to what he's told at least a couple of NR audiences I've been among, he sought to solve a problem that doesn't exist — ie, that the uninsured are using emergency rooms as their family doctor, and supposedly the rest of the populace has to pick up the tab for that in...

An ABC News review of Mitt Romney’s new book ends thus: “If history is any guide, however, Romney stands a decent chance of getting his party’s nod. Although he was hurt last time by questions about his authenticity, Republicans have a long tradition of nominating second-time candidates: think Richard Nixon in 1968, Ronald Reagan in 1980, George H.W. Bush in 1988, Bob Dole in 1996, and John McCain in 2008″ This is the conventional wisdom; we’re all used to hearing it. It’s the idea that Republicans nominate the “next-in-line” candidate, or the runner-up from last season’s primaries. It’s superficially plausible....

Mitt Romney disagrees with radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s claim that Romney made a grave error in endorsing Sen. John McCain over more conservative former Rep. J.D. Hayworth in the Arizona Republican primary. “I find it hard to disagree with Rush Limbaugh on topics, but on this one I do,” Romney tells Newsmax.TV. “I know Senator McCain. I think his experience in the military, in the Senate, and the wisdom and judgment he has developed over a lifetime is something we need in the Senate. “I think it serves our country well. I also believe that it’s essential that...

I watched the Mitt Romney interview on Fox News Watch with Chris Wallace this morning. I actually watched twice, I was stunned. What a debacle! Apparently, this was his opening gambit in his 2012 Presidential campaign, since he has written a book. Wallace, by far the most skilled of the talking head interviewers, pressed Romney on his two primary claims: that Obama has spent his first year apologizing for being an American, and that his health care plan is awful. Romney was unable to delineate any major differences between the plan he developed in Massachusetts and Obama’s, except that the...

WASHINGTON - Later this winter, Mitt Romney will strike out on a national book tour, but unlike his party’s most successful recent author he does not expect to make headlines with bits of fresh gossip from the 2008 campaign, see his fans camp overnight outside bookstores, or chat with Oprah Winfrey about his family. “Inevitably there are going to be comparisons with the Sarah Palin book,’’ said Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman. “We’re not going to match her crowd size or sales. These are two different people with different ways of expressing themselves.’’ -snip- But Romney, considered by many in...

Mitt Romney is an empty suit. He puts his finger up and sees which way the political winds are blowing, then takes a position. Mitt signed MassCare (with Ted Kennedy no less in the background smiling about it) into existence in 2006, and it has been a proven failure. There are plenty of stories and analyses out there describing the abject failure that MassCare is. The essential storyline is that MassCare is basically Obamacare in one state. That state has gone bankrupt trying to give everyone there universal coverage, and the result of putting so many more people into the...

Massachusetts has the most expensive family health insurance premiums in the country, according to a new analysis that highlights the state’s challenge in trying to rein in medical costs after passage of a landmark 2006 law that mandated coverage for nearly everyone... The report by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care foundation, showed that the average family premium for plans offered by employers in Massachusetts was $13,788 in 2008, 40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent... Last month, the commission suggested that private and public insurers scrap their...

Many GOP insiders, Beltway mavens, and East Coast conservatives have held up Mitt Romney as the presumptive 2012 GOP presidential nominee and, indeed, he appears to be quietly laying the groundwork for another presidential run. However, with all of the Tea Parties, town meetings, and ObamaCare protests, he has been strangely silent. This is exceedingly odd behavior for a man who would be president. What could he be thinking? Well, I am not a mind reader, but I would guess that his silence is motivated by two concerns. First, he wants to keep his powder dry for 2012. He does...