Free Republic

By a more than two to one margin, Americans say that the more they learn about Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, the more they dislike him, per a new Washington Post / ABC poll: Overall, 55 percent of those who are closely following the campaign say they disapprove of what the GOP candidates have been saying. By better than 2 to 1, Americans say the more they learn about Romney, the less they like him. Even among Republicans, as many offer negative as positive assessments of him on this question. Judgments about former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who denounced Romney...

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...

No one touched Romney. He was unflappable and knowledgeable. He again showed the right political instinct to want to address the struggles of the middle class, although his tax plan doesn’t do it. His China-bashing will probably play well in the Midwest, although it’s foolhardy on the merits. He consistently got applause. I remember one of the early debates when Romney was flying above the other candidates and Pawlenty–I think–attacked him and he declined to reply, saying “that’s fine.” He said the same thing tonight when Santorum went after him. After all the churning in the race, Romney is in...

If Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn’t the un-Romney that the Republican base craves, who, oh who, will it be? If Perry cedes the un-Romney label – and the nomination – you can carbon-date the moment when his campaign’s decomposition began: Sept. 22, 2011, between 9-11 p.m. EDT. That’s when the Texas governor stumbled through one of the worst debate performances in memory. Weekly Standard editor William Kristol called Perry’s flubs close to “disqualifying.” Red State blogger Erick Erickson said he was a “train wreck.” The New York Post’s John Podhoretz deemed Perry’s performance: “Awful. Just awful.” Brit Hume of Fox...

One of the vast improvements of Mitt Romney’s current presidential campaign over his previous one has been its relative freedom from obvious, cringe-inducing pandering. Until now. This new campaign video attacking Rick Perry on education benefits for undocumented immigrants represents the return of the bad old Romney. Thank You Governor Perry No one imagines Romney to be an authentic, Tom Tancredo-like, anti-immigration politician. But Romney has consistently used immigration as a wedge issue in Republican primaries. In August 2007, he went after Rudy Giuliani in a New Hampshire radio ad for tolerating “sanctuary policies.” In December 2007 he attacked Mike...

As a presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney says he opposes revenue-boosting tax increases. But back when he was Massachusetts' governor, he bragged about them. The Romney administration in 2004 and 2005 quietly highlighted the state's recent tax and fee hikes as part of an effort to persuade the financial rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings to improve the state's bond ratings.The administration's bullet-point presentations to the agencies, made public through freedom of information requests, sought to make the case that Massachusetts had "acted decisively" to address the state's fiscal problems with a combination of streamlining, belt-tightening budget cuts,...

Jay Leno made news when he announced that Sarah Palin will be among his high-profile guests when he returns to The Tonight Show next week (aka "The Jaysurrection"). Now David Letterman's lineup for next week pits Mitt Romney against Sarah Palin on Tuesday night -- and the ratings may well provide clues on which probable GOP presidential contender may be most popular. The week's lineup for Letterman's Late Show are: MONDAY, Bill Murray; TUESDAY, Mitt Romney; WEDNESDAY, Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Brokaw; THURSDAY, Tom Hanks; and FRIDAY, Matt Damon. Leno's first week of guests are: MONDAY, Jamie Foxx, Olympic Gold...

Here is video of former Gov. Mitt Romney going "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren...(Videos)Romney said Obama should keep his promise to show the health care debate on C-SPAN, but he also pointed out that Obama has made"a lot bigger promises that he's not kept." Romney said Obama has been "very unsuccessful in his first year, has not been able to accomplish virtually anything" and said that he is "pinning all of his hopes on seeing something happen on health care." In part two Greta asked Romney if he is planning on running in 2012, Romney answered "haven't made...

Over past 7 months, Mitt Romney’s favor among Republicans has fallen off a cliff. Monthly surveys by Public Policy Polling shows that Romney’s level of support has fallen to just 48% among Republican voters from a high of 67% in May of this year. Romney polled in the 60s on the first three polls but has not reached that threshold since and now for the first time he's below 50% with the party base. I don't have any theories to explain Romney's popularity slide with Republican voters but it certainly bodes ominous for his 2012 nomination prospects if he can't...