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Another Tuesday, another failure by Mitt Romney to line up the party faithful behind him. Not only did Romney lose yesterday's contests in Alabama and Mississippi, but he finished third in both, putting him behind Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Even though Romney remains well ahead in the delegate count and even though he'll still likely win the nomination, he just can't put those nagging doubts among conservatives to rest. CNN political contributor Paul Begala writes for The Daily Beast that Romney has gone from inevitable to unelectable: "Somebody strap him to the roof of one of his Cadillacs and...

FOX News says Romney & GOP kept Gingrich off of Virginia ballot

Only twelve states have held primaries or caucuses, and shockingly, many of them have either been scandal ridden, had their dates manipulated in violation of proposed nomination calendar, or broke the delegate distribution rules set by the Republican National Committee. State GOP chairs in Iowa and Nevada have resigned in disgrace, and others have come under heavy scrutiny following the completion of their caucus or primary. The Iowa Caucuses became the butt of too many jokes when Iowa GOP Chairman refused to declare Rick Santorum the winner of the caucuses following the state GOP’s certification process, which clearly showed Santorum...

What ever happened to the Republican genius we used to hear so much about for doing voter ID and micro-targeting their potential base? It seems like everybody I know — all faithful Democrats — has been bombarded with robocalls from Mitt Romney — and everyone who has mentioned this swears they have never voted in a Republican primary. One said she “might have” voted Reagan back in the ’80s “in another life,” but has never voted in a GOP primary. (She also said she hung up immediately because “I didn’t want that voice in my kitchen!”) Another said she’s been...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I'm minding my own business yesterday -- (interruption) put a stop to what? What do you mean am I gonna put a stop to the primary? I really don't understand. What do you mean? Oh, no, no, no. It's not time to put a stop to it, anoint anybody and say that we're done. Newt's not getting out. He's gonna stay in through Super Tuesday. That's where he's got all of his money banked. This thing could go on as far as May. Santorum's not going anywhere. Santorum doesn't have a lot of money even now. Romney...

TROY, Mich. — Employing a trick they used during the hotly contested Florida primary, the Romney campaign is deploying surrogates to Sen. Rick Santorum’s campaign events. At least two surrogates — former Michigan State Rep. Rocky Raczkowski and current State Rep. Aric Nesbitt from Kalamazoo — will be attending Santorum events throughout the state in the days leading up to the Michigan primary on Tuesday, a campaign official told ABC News. Other surrogates attended Santorum events held earlier in the week. Nesbitt was spotted at Santorum’s event this morning in St. Clair Shores. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., and Rep. Jason...

A thousand injuries I suffered Fortunato. But when he turned to insult, I vowed revenge." Those are the opening words to Edgar Allen Poe's short story – “The Cask of Amontillado” – ... For a case of real-life of revenge in real-life American history, think of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Burr and Hamilton held a duel that led to the death of Hamilton, (who) had said something to someone about Burr being "despicable." Newt Gingrich has a deep and abiding case against Mitt Romney. Romney has spent millions with the single purpose of destroying Gingrich as a candidate. Oh,...

John Hinderaker encapsulates an assumption which has started to take hold among many of Mitt Romney’s backers: that the fault for what appears to be an increasingly likely 2012 election loss lies with conservatives for making this a real primary. Speaking of the see-saw of not-Romney candidates, he writes: The same pattern has been repeated more than once during the current, discouraging presidential nominating process. If the GOP loses this year’s presidential contest, the party will have no one to blame but its own activists. I'm hearing this meme repeated by many increasingly dejected Romney supporters around Washington, D.C. See,...

Back in the thick of the 2008 Republican presidential race, I asked a captain of American finance what he had made of Mitt Romney when they were young colleagues at Bain & Company. “Mitt was a nice guy, a smart businessman, and an excellent team player,” he ­responded without missing a beat. Then came the CEO’s one footnote, delivered with bemusement, not pique: “Still, whenever the rest of us would go out at the end of the day, we’d always find ourselves having the same conversation: None of us had any idea who this guy was.” Here we are in...

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's struggles in Michigan are fueling speculation that Republicans might have to resort to a doomsday scenario and launch a frantic search for a 2012 savior at their nominating convention in late August. Rare in the modern age of U.S. politics, a "brokered convention" could result in Republicans ditching their current crop of candidates and turning to someone else who they feel would have a better chance of defeating Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. How did Republicans get to this point? Romney's failure to get conservatives fully behind him and put down yet...

FEBRUARY 15, 2012 Romney Races to Defend Michigan State Up for Grabs as Santorum Surges BY JOSEPH B. WHITE AND NEIL KING JR. [Subscriber Content Preview] DETROIT—Amid signs Rick Santorum could win an upset victory in Michigan, Mitt Romney escalated his campaign to win the state's Republican primary by taking on the powerful auto union and reigniting the debate over the federal bailouts of two Detroit auto makers. Mr. Romney, writing in a Detroit News editorial-page column Tuesday, attacked as "crony capitalism on a grand scale" the Obama administration's $81 billion auto-industry bailout nearly three years ago. The salvo comes...

Monday, a writer for Glenn Beck’s website The Blaze, took upon himself to trash Governor Palin for writing that beautiful article that was published over the weekend on the Daily Beast. Quite frankly, Beck’s writer shocked me with his tone and lack of reason for posting the piece. So why did The Blaze host this nauseating garbage? Why did Beck’s editors permit someone (a small man who writes just like a “progressive™” btw) to attack Governor Palin in this fashion, on this website?

In some of his harshest words yet, Newt Gingrich explained Friday why he didn't call rival Mitt Romney after the former Massachusetts pulled a decisive Florida primary victory earlier in the week. Pointing to Romney's post-South Carolina campaign strategy, which turned noticeably negative against the former House speaker, Gingrich said Romney didn't earn any kudos. "They outspent me five to one to quote destroy Newt Gingrich?" Gingrich said in an interview on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." "You know, I think that doesn't deserve congratulations. I think that's reprehensible, I think it's dishonest, and I think it's shameful."...

Even if Mitt Romney wins in Florida on Tuesday, he still may lose the presidency come November. The old adage of “divide and conquer” may work well in war, but in politics it’s not always a smart strategy, especially in Republican primaries. Ronald Reagan’s name has been evoked quite often in this race. The Gipper must be turning over in his grave that Mitt Romney has so badly violated his 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Reagan’s law not only sounds great, it’s smart politics. Reagan understood that the very same Republicans a candidate attacks...

While Newt Gingrich has come out on top (24%) in a new CNN Poll released late Monday afternoon, Herman Cain has begun to show signs of a comeback after allegations of improper behavior set back his campaign earlier in the month. Mr. Cain has gained 3 points since a November 11-13 CNN poll and now stands at 17%. Mitt Romney, who has not been facing any accusations of scandal or major gaffes, has accelerated his fall in the polls from 26% in late October, to 24% in the November 11-13 poll, to 20% in the current CNN poll. This puts...

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...

Mitt Romney has maintained his one-quarter vote share in the Republican contest against all comers … and against those who stayed home. Whether confronting hypothetical threats from Donald Trump, Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin or Chris Christie — or real ones from Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry or Herman Cain — the former Massachusetts governor, with maddening consistency, has gotten a quarter of the primary vote. But the key question for Mitt is whether his glass is one-quarter full or three-quarters empty. No matter what the matchups, he never drops below one-quarter of the vote or rises above it. It...

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...

Okay, the creepiness is overwhelming. Mitt Romney strikes me as the guy who wants to be president so bad that his ambition overrides his intellect. During last night's debate it was the cheap shot fired at Perry "well you've had a couple of bad debates" and Romney's hand resting atop Perry's shoulder. But if you've followed all the debates as I have you will notice a repeat offender. There is simply no graciousness to the man. And I'm an avowed Palinista.

After watching the GOP presidential debate the other night, it was hard to avoid this conclusion: Mitt Romney looks more and more like the GOP presidential nominee. He's the best debater. He's got his issues and his rejoinders down pat. He brushes away his opponents like lint on his lapel. And all with such ease. That said, there's a teensy problem he just can't seem to beat: Conservatives don't like him. Or trust him. Or really want him to be the GOP nominee. Sure, you say, Republicans never like their nominees, and they still manage to vote for them. There...