Free Republic

Mitt Romney says he rejects efforts to use President Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in ads attacking the president, insisting the campaign should remain focused on the economy. "I repudiate the effort by that PAC to promote an ad strategy of the nature they've described," Romney said in an interview with Townhall.com. "I would like to see this campaign focus on the economy, on getting people back to work, on seeing rising incomes and growing prosperity—particularly for those in the middle class of America."

Now that the choices are narrowed we should have a Gingrich-Romney debate They would have more time than ever before to say their side, and Gingrich would get a lot of time to speak

Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum have agreed to a debate in May sponsored by the Texas Republican party. “Both my staff and myself have reached out to the campaign of Governor Mitt Romney and have been told that they are considering attending the debate,” state-party chairman Steve Munisteri says in a press release. The statement notes:.....

Ann Romney: No more debates for MittBy Keith Laing - 02/25/12 03:10 PM ET Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's wife Ann said the former Massachusetts governor would not participate in any more debates in the GOP primary. Introducing Romney before his speech to the conservative group Americans For Prosperity's forum in Troy, Mich., Ann Romney said that she decided that her husband should stop debating the other Republican candidates. "I've also decided no more debates," Ann Romney said to laugher in her introduction of her husband. "If we do another debate, he's going to sit in the audience and watch...

This Tuesday, voters in Florida will have their chance to tell the country which Republican candidate they favor. The winner will say the people have spoken, thank them for their support and move on. The losers will say they’re moving on to the next primary. The media and DC powerbrokers will hype it all like it matters, but if it goes the way they’re predicting, the way they want, nothing will change. Given the millions of dollars he’s dumped into the state, both directly and through supportive SuperPACs, and the early voting in Florida, Mitt Romney is expected to win....

MOUNT DORA, Fla. -- Newt Gingrich trained his full arsenal of weaponry on Mitt Romney at a rally here Thursday morning, charging that his opponent wouldn't stand up to President Obama in a general election and questioning his commitment to the GOP. It was the harshest critique Gingrich has leveled to date and may be a reflection of his slackened showing in the polls. It also underscored Gingrich's strategy of capitalizing on the free media and momentum he tends to capture in debates; tonight CNN is hosting the final debate before Florida voters render their judgment on Tuesday, and the...

Romney Touts Himself As Successful Consensus Builder Philip Rucker December 23 When Mitt Romney was governor, he had a routine: Every Monday afternoon at 3, he would meet with the two Democrats who controlled the Massachusetts legislature. They rotated offices each week and, over cheese, juice and popcorn, the three negotiated the budget, taxes and health care. Sometimes they just chitchatted about movies, leaving Romney to wonder whether he had just wasted an hour. This was how Romney governed as a Republican here on Beacon Hill, where the legislature was 85 percent Democratic. He was practical, not ideological. He was...

Newt Gingrich intends to draw a contrast of his own with Mitt Romney when he buses through Iowa next week in the lead-up to the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses – and he’s going right for Romney’s economic plan and experience. The Gingrich campaign has spent the past week on the defensive in the face of criticism from Romney himself that the former House speaker is unreliable, from the Romney campaign for not being staunchly conservative, and from a Romney-affiliated “Super PAC” with an onslaught of negative advertising. But after spending the week scolding the Romney camp for negativity in order...

Newt challenged Mitt Romney to debate him on the lies Romney's attack ads are spewing out over the airways in Iowa. America Live, on FOX News, just now (1:08 p.m. CST), questioned Romney about it and asked if he would accept the Speaker's challenge to debate. Surprise, surprise; Romney said that as long as there are still other candidates in the race, he must respect them and not debate without them. WHAT A LOW-LIFE, LYING, SCUMMY COWARD MITT ROMNEY IS!!!

BETHLEHEM, N.H. (AP) - Mitt Romney is telling The Associated Press that he won't agree to debate Newt Gingrich one on one. The former Massachusetts governor says in an AP interview that he's not declining his rival's debate challenge because he's afraid to square off against Gingrich, as the former House speaker has implied. Rather, Romney says he doesn't want to define the contest as a "two-man race." And he says that debating Gingrich alone would be disrespectful to other candidates. Romney also is continuing to distance himself from the Washington standoff over the payroll tax-cut extension. He suggests it's...

There’s Good Newt, Bad Newt, and now Righteously P.O.’d Newt. The image of Romney as a gutless, too-slick moneybags who’s paying others to do his dirty work for him while pretending that he’s powerless to stop them would resonate deeply if Gingrich can really push it over the next two weeks. But how’s he going to do that? There are no more debates scheduled before the caucuses and people are tuning out of politics for the holidays. And even if Newt decided to run ads about it, the likely beneficiary as Romney suffers and slumps in the polls would be...

GOP Candidates to Trump Debate: You’re Fired Planned debate strikes some as a publicity stunt for the moderator. By Walt Cronkite Updated: December 6, 2011 Donald Trump may have mastered the art of the real-estate deal, but when it comes to debates, he’s still an apprentice. From National Journal: The celebrity businessman is having difficulty securing commitments from Republican presidential candidates for a Dec. 27 debate that he’s planning to moderate in Des Moines, Iowa. Mitt Romney became the latest big-name candidate to send his regrets, telling Fox News’ Neil Cavuto that he informed Trump earlier on Tuesday that he...

The National Journal has an article about the Trump debate that is to happen on December 27th. Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman aren't going to be there, and now Romney says he won't "kiss the ring" of the Trumpster either. You know, if I was Trump, I'd ask Sarah Palin to join him to moderate the debate. The left in the media are talking about how Trump is just a publicity hog, and how he's not a serious journalist who can moderate a debate, forget that, if Sarah Palin, who did go to college for journalism's sake and knows a...

n an interview Tuesday with Neil Cavuto on Fox News, Mitt Romney announced that he will not be participating in the NewsMax debate on December 27 — which will be hosted by Donald Trump, the businessman, media personality and, most controversially, prominent birther activist. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have so far accepted the invitation. Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman have turned down the invitation, and gone out of their way to reject Trump himself as a debate moderator who would demean the process. In Romney’s case, however, he is simply chalking it up to scheduling. “No, I’m not participating...

With the Republican presidential primary appearing to have narrowed into a two-man contest, Human Events and Red State moved quickly to lock down a date for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. The two organizations went so far this past Monday as to firm up the Annenberg Theater at the Newseum in Washington as the venue on Dec. 19 after another debate originally scheduled that day was canceled. For its part, the Newseum was excited to host the pre-primary forum. There was just one problem. While Gingrich was ready to take his place on the stage, the...

The LDS Church is politically neutral, as is MDL. Mormons hold elected office and positions of responsibility in both US political parties and various parties worldwide. When we respond to any issue regarding politics, we do so only to correct misinformation and misperceptions about the Church, not in an effort to promote a particular candidate or party. Recently, Politico reported that part of President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign strategy will be to portray Mitt Romney, a Mormon and possible Republican presidential nominee, as “weird.” The Politico report did not specifically tie the “weird” charge to Romney’s Mormon faith, but many...

Hohmann: Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace publicly called out Mitt Romney this morning for avoiding press scrutiny. At the end of a 26-minute interview with Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Austin, Wallace noted that he has now interviewed all the major candidates as part of his 2012 one-on-one series, except the frontrunner. ---- “He has not appeared on this program or any Sunday talk show since March of 2010,” Wallace said. “We invited Gov. Romney again this week, but his campaign says he’s still not ready to sit down for an interview.” Because of the influence Fox wields among...

Mitt Romney must have really been angry after last night's debate, because today his campaign released an attack ad which questioned Governor Rick Perry's intelligence, debate performances, and his ability to lead. According to reports, it portrayed Mr. Perry as a "moron" and an "idiot in general." And just as quick as it was put up, it vanished. And now the only thing you get when you try to watch the video is this: A conservative website that saw the video described it thusly: ...[With] some doofy facial expressions and looooong pauses mid-sentence during answers, it’s clear enough what lesson...

“You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!” – Taylor (Charlton Heston); The Planet of the Apes, (1968) This classic line is all that came to mind when I read this piece in POLITICO—following New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision not to enter the presidential field, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s law firm made a number of calls requesting early state filing deadlines… that’s right. She thinks she can blow it up. She just might. Poll Shows Palin Within 5 Points of Obama She Has A Documentary Out, Doncha Know? Palin’s political action...

Election '12: The Republican presidential front-runner is oddly silent on Washington's momentous budget talks. Mitt Romney can run, but he can't hide his positions forever. Massachusetts' former governor went to North Hollywood, Calif., on Wednesday with a "what else is new?" observation. "The president's policies almost without question have caused this recession to be deeper and longer than it would have been," he said. There's no "almost without question" about it. But it takes more to be elected president than pointing out what 14 million unemployed Americans — 6.3 million of them out of work for more than six months...