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RNC Chairman reince Priebus on MSNBC (May 7, 2012) [1:57-2:32] Andrea Mitchell: "Let me ask you about this whole issue of gay marriage and give you a chance to respond... what is the latest position of Mitt Romney and Republicans on this issue [same-sex marriage]?" Reince Priebus: "Governor Romney and the Republican Party have been pretty clear, marriage is between one man and one woman. We believe ultimately that you can't federalize that kind of mandate, which is why we believe that individual states can make that decision on their own..."

Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney's senior aide, is probably regretting his now infamous "Etch A Sketch" remark, but the folks that make the toy, Ohio Art sure aren't. AP | Getty Images | Photo composite Mitt Romney drawn on an Etch A Sketch -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ohio Art's [OART 0.00 5.65 (+141.25%) ] shares, which trade over the counter in thin volume, soared well over 100 percent on Thursday and at one point reached a 52-week high. "It kind of caught us by surprise," said Larry Killgallon, president of Ohio Art, the manufacturer of the Etch A Sketch, in an interview with CNBC.com....

The Michigan Republican Party voted to break a delegate tie Wednesday night, awarding 16 delegates to Mitt Romney and 14 to Rick Santorum. The decision, which broke a 15-15 tie that would have resulted under the pre-primary interpretation of the rules, caused disbelief at Rick Santorum’s campaign. A spokesman rejected the decision. Even Romney supporters in the Michigan GOP said the decision was unfair to Santorum. “I have this crazy idea that you follow the rules,” said former Attorney General Mike Cox said after a 4-2 vote by a Michigan GOP credentialing committee, according to the AP. “I’d love to...

“We have to look at the root cause of why the economy is struggling as much as it is,” Santorum said. “Government intervention. Government regulation. Government taxation. Government is crushing and destroying the American spirit and the American free enterprise system.” Santorum said that government spending was impinging on personal freedoms and ultimately chipping away at what made the country great. “When the government gets as big as it’s gotten and starts to take over more of your life, then you get smaller as the individual, you get weaker, you lose control over your lives. You lose the rights that...

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich criticized gay marriage during Saturday night's Republican debate in New Hampshire.The issue came up when a Yahoo! News reader asked, “Given that you oppose gay marriage, what do you want gay people to do who want to form loving, committed, long-term relationships? What is your solution?” Romney and Gingrich answered that while they support limited protections for gay and lesbian couples, both believe marriage should remain a heterosexual union.Gingrich offered a two-part answer, which included the suggestion that gay couples are merely friends and that the media was biased on the issue.“I think what...

SNIP In the past you’ve said he’s changed positions only once, on abortion. Was that your doing? No, no, I never talked to Mitt about that. Our personal opinions have never changed; we’ve always been pro-life...

New Romney Iowa ad: Smaller government, end of 'Obamacare'By Daniel Strauss - 12/26/11 11:20 AM ET Mitt Romney is airing a new 30-second ad in Iowa in which he promises to shrink government and get rid of the Obama administration's healthcare reform law. The ad, "Conservative Agenda", features Romney promising to streamline the federal government and highlighting the former Massachusetts governor's background as a businessman. Spliced together with clips of him talking, Romney is seen walking through factories and talking with voters in a diner setting. "I'm going to do something to government," Romney says in the ad. "I'm going...

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...

Romney has the least-impressive electoral history of any Republican frontrunner in a very long time. Most of the politicians who chase the White House are proven vote-getters with very few electoral blemishes on their record. John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, George W. Bush, Bob Dole, Michael Dukakis—what unites all of these men is that before getting to the presidential level, they had demonstrated a talent for getting people to vote for them. (Barack Obama is the exception who proves the rule.) Over the years, Mitt Romney has faced voters in 22 contests. He won 5 of those...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday clarified that he supports extending the payroll tax cut, opening him up to charges of flip-flopping from Democrats. "I would like to see the payroll tax cut extended just because I know that working families are really feeling the pinch right now -- middle-class Americans are having a hard time," Romney told conservative talk radio host Michael Medved

Back On Top: Mitt Surges Ahead In New Poll As Half Of GOP Think He Will Be The Nominee By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 13th November 2011 Mitt Romney has a growing lead in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination with almost half of the party's voters expect him to be the nominee. Twenty-eight per cent of Republicans backed the former Massachusetts governor, giving him a lead of eight percentage points over his nearest challenger Herman Cain in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, taken November 10-11. Romney was five percentage points ahead in a survey November 7-8. 'Most presidential': Almost half...

Anyway, all that is by way of introducing a couple of comments Romney made in an interview with the editorial board the Seacoast Media Group, a Fox subsidiaries that owns small newspapers on the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Romney was asked about the inconsistencies in his positions on certain issues over the years and the poor guy just tried too hard to make the problem go away without explaining it: “I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be,” he said. And then, maybe even worse, "I cannot state every single issue in exactly the same words every...

For those who believe the current commentariat consensus that Mitt Romney should be coronated as the inevitable Republican nominee, consider the excellent story by Alicia Cohn in The Hill about conservatives uniting to defeat Romney, and remember the GOP primaries in 1976 when Ronald Reagan was almost nominated after a late surge. Cohn's included one bit of news that has not been adequately covered by most media, the creation of a group of conservatives to be found at the notmittromney.com, and one subject that has also not been adequately covered: the importance of the Florida primary in late January and...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney discussed his reputation as a flip-flopper at Wednesday night’s CNBC Republican presidential debate, disputing the characterization and calling himself “a man of steadiness and constancy.” Romney was asked to address the “issue of character” after he mentioned the auto bailout, which he has been accused of switching positions on. The Democratic National Committee has been bracketing Romney in Michigan with ads attacking him for flip-flopping on the issue.

Was it wise for Mitt Romney to offer any opinion on Herman Cain’s campaign crisis? Romney tells George Stephanopoulos in an interview today that he finds the allegations “serious” and particularly disturbing,” although Romney declines to answer whether they are disqualifying if true. All he says in that regard is that Cain has to address the allegations directly: Mitt Romney today for the first time characterized sexual harassment allegations facing fellow GOP candidate Herman Cain as “particularly disturbing.”“These are serious allegations, George,” said Romney in an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos that aired on ABC News and Yahoo. ”And they’re...

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney says allegations that rival Herman Cain groped a former employee are "particularly disturbing" and must be addressed. Romney told ABC News/ Yahoo! on Tuesday that he will not judge whether Sharon Bialek's claims against Cain are true. He declined to say whether they are disqualifying. ... Romney .. "These are serious allegations and they're going to have to be addressed."

Mitt Romney has put a lot of work into reversing the perception, prevalent during his 2008 campaign, that his ideological compass only follows the magnetic field of whichever electorate he happens to be trying to win over. The title of his campaign book, No Apology, was as much a statement of principle as it was a potshot at the (entirely fictional) bowing and scraping Obama has done overseas. He’s refused to cede an inch on the merits of his Massachusetts health reform program, despite the incredibly inconvenient fact that Democrats cribbed from it when they wrote their national overhaul. And...

A ghost from 1968 haunts the campaign of Mitt Romney—and no, it’s not the memory of his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, who stumbled as a leading GOP contender 43 years ago. For the younger Romney, the more worrisome blast from the past involves the campaign of Richard Nixon, who ultimately won the nomination by default but never managed to inspire real enthusiasm from the party faithful. As with Mitt, nearly all Republicans considered Nixon acceptable as a standard bearer as the former vice president positioned himself in the safe center of the party.But grassroots activists felt far...

<p>Our purpose and goal on FR is to restore, defend, preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity!!</p> <p>The goal of the domestic enemy (the left), i.e., the statist liberals, Marxists and progressives is just the opposite.</p>

Our political Quote of the Day is from The Politico’s John Martin, Maggie Haberman and Ben Smith who say this is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s moment and if he doesn’t seize it it will be gone: [quote] If Mitt Romney can’t start locking up the GOP nomination now, he may never be able to. The former Massachusetts governor’s charmed path toward the presidential nomination was made even smoother Tuesday when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie opted out of a campaign and recommended that voters choose the candidate with the “best chance” of beating President Barack Obama. No white knight...