Free Republic

Mark Halperin called it the “most important debate moment” of Wednesday night’s CNBC debate. No — it wasn’t Rick Perry’s brain lapse — but instead, Mitt Romney’s attempt to re-frame the debate over ideological consistency.Read this excerpt of the transcript below, and then let’s discuss… HARWOOD: … as you know. Your opponents have said you switched positions on many issues. It is an issue of character, not personal, but political, you seemed to encapsulate it in the last debate when you said, “I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake.”What can you say to Republicans to persuade them that the things...

In the past few weeks we’ve seen the media scrambling to promote a cat fight between Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. As the UK’s Telegraph recently wrote: The first shots have been fired in what could become an ugly battle between Sarah Palin and her potential rival Michele Bachmann for the Republican presidential nomination. [...] A Republican consultant who declined to be named because he is aligned with a rival camp, said: “The claws are out. It’s the cat fight everyone has been waiting for – Queen Sarah being taken on by the Palin mini-me.” This is all obviously designed...

Mitt Romney may be leading in the polls, but his status as the GOP “frontrunner” is fragile at best. For all the talk of Romney’s “did-what-he-had-to-do” performance in the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, it’s widely accepted that the former Massachusetts governor is an uninspired choice for the GOP nomination. ... Historically, Republicans have nominated the runner-up from the previous election cycle, and Romney was the runner-up in 2008. But his second-place finish was exceedingly narrow — and in the end, closely contested. Once John McCain beat him in New Hampshire and South Carolina — after Mike Huckabee had...

In case you missed the lead story yesterday, likely because you were following the Weiner Saga, Mitt Romney is running for President. Though he had a hard time defeating Huckabee last timeand whom he seems to have an ongoing feud with, Romney seems to be thinking that all the major issues that plauged his last candidacy have evaporated and the only real issue the Conservative Republican base has with him is RomneyCare. This could not be further from the truth. The list of Romney's problems is a long one, so buckle up. **YOUTUBE VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP**

"Men like you make me SICK! Go home, Willard!"

CNN’s Peter Hamby presents what could be an interesting problem for the media — or maybe it’ll be a no-brainer. Mitt Romney will officially announce his White House intention Thursday in New Hampshire. At the same time, Sarah Palin’s bus tour will make a stop in the state: Peter Hamby CNN Reporters will have a harrowing choice to make when it comes to which one of these to cover. They can decide to follow Palin, don their Kevlar “press” hats, and risk the dangerous situation Sarah’s forcing them to endure on a daily basis. Or, the press can choose to...

The Mama Grizzly is coming out of hibernation. This weekend, Sarah Palin is launching her "One Nation" bus tour, visiting historical sites across the country. Palin will start on Memorial Day at the Rolling Thunder weekend motorcycle rally that starts at the Pentagon. Where it will end has yet to be announced. But given Palin's other recent move—the announcement of a feature-length film on her tenure as governor—it looks as if her ultimate destination may be the White House. Whatever Mitt Romney had on his plate for Memorial Day, he'd better make room. If we assume—for the purposes of page...

Mitt Romney still has a major lead over his GOP rivals among Republican voters in New Hampshire. But a new CNN-WMUR poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Republicans in the key primary state still have "no idea" who they will support in 2012. According to the poll, 32 percent of GOP voters in the state back Romney for the Republican nomination--a 23 point lead over his closest competitor, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who received 9 percent support.

With Mike Huckabee out of the race for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, three known politicians, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich emerge as leaders in Republicans' preferences... Palin's support is more intense. A higher percentage of Republicans have strongly favorable opinions than is the case for the other two, giving her a slightly higher overall Positive Intensity Score despite her higher strongly unfavorable percentage. Gingrich and Romney have similar Positive Intensity Scores. ...There is no clear front-runner in the race for the 2012 Republican nomination. Palin, who has given no indication of whether she will run for the...

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee front-runner, Willard Mitt Romney kicked off his campaign today with a day-long fundraiser in Las Vegas. The day-long event features a large phone bank staffed by around 700 Romney supporters. Via a conference call, Romney informed supporters, "We're activating our campaign today." He will announce how much money was raised later today. With former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee declaring his intention not to pursue the Republican nomination, and Donald Trump bowing out today, Romney is the clear-cut front-runner for the 2012 Republican nomination. The former Massachusetts governor is joined by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty,...

I was not surprised to read yet another editorial in the Journal yesterday criticizing the health-care reforms we enacted in Massachusetts ("Obama's Running Mate," May 12). I was, however, not expecting the distortions of what we accomplished. Let me deal with some of them. One, the editorial asserts that people in Massachusetts who wouldn't buy coverage, even though they could afford it, was not a major fiscal problem. But as a state we were spending almost $1 billion on free care for the uninsured. What we did was convert that money into premium support for those who needed help buying...

Mitt Romney wants to become America's next president. He's been very successful, according to a number of reports, at raising millions on Wall Street. But the paper named after it, the Wall Street Journal, isn't satisfied with Romney. In a lengthy and extraordinary editorial, it calls him the worst epithet a conservative could probably think of—"Obama's Running Mate." When a political party is out of power, or at least doesn't hold the presidency, numerous dissenting voices are usually heard. It can be a fructifying time. But it can also be a time when ideological agendas are ruthlessly enforced. The Journal...

Republican Mitt Romney faces a deeply unpleasant choice in his all-but-announced bid for the White House. He signaled Thursday that he'd rather be charged with inspiring President Barack Obama's health care overhaul than with switching positions on a fourth big issue that's vital to conservative voters. Either accusation, if it sticks, might deny him the GOP nomination. Conservatives despise Obama's 2010 health care law, especially the requirement that everyone obtain medical insurance. That same requirement is a cornerstone of the 2006 Massachusetts law that Romney championed as governor. Many advisers have urged Romney to apologize, say he made a big...

I'm just curious what the official Free Republic stance is on Obama's birth certificate with respect to the 2012 election. Is demanding Obama produce his long form birth certificate a requirement of every prospective candidate? Is it the litmus test for supporting a candidate? So where Mitt Romney is rightly persona non grata around here it is OK to push Donald Trump and defend his positions because he is pushing the birth certificate issue? And write off true conservatives like Mark Levin and Michele Bachmann?

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney surprised donors this morning at the Harvard Club in New York with an ambivalent answer to the question of whether America is ready to seriously alter its large entitlement programs. Romney, speaking to more than 100 donors and supporters at the private breakfast, responded to a question from his supporters on the issue. "I don't know," he replied, according to a source in the room, before going on to warn that Social Security and Medicare are -- in the source's paraphrase -- "basically the third rails in politics and he doesn’t know if we’re going...

His convenient and implausibly explained reversals on issues say all we need to know about his character. He will do or say anything to become president. We're all for transparency these days, and if anything is transparently clear about American politics, it is that Mitt Romney will do or say anything to become president. The best guess is that at heart he is an old-fashioned moderate, business-oriented Republican (just about the last one standing). But there's no knowing for sure. He may have no sincere beliefs at all. There was a piece about Romney on the front page of the...

In August 2002, Dade filed for bankruptcy. This was not an isolated case. * Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-'90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000. * Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000. * Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001. * Bain in 1997 invested $46 million...

Mitt Romney, the AP reports, has stepped down from the board of the Marriott hotel chain, another methodical step toward his 2012 run. His aides have told other Republicans that he expects to launch his campaign in April.

Republican politicians rushed to defend Massachusetts GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour yesterday, after she told the Herald she deserves another chance as she prepares to fight off a challenger in the new year. State Rep. Jeff Perry (R-Sandwich), who failed in his bid to win an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said Nassour has done the best she could for the party. “I think the party in Massachusetts is heading in a new direction, and I think it’s going to get better as we head into the next election,” Perry said. He said he doesn’t blame Nassour for...

Rove is right. He predicted how O'Donnell would flop and hinted that it could cost the GPO additional senate seats.... In my personal opinion, he was thinking about Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, etc. All of these should have been captured by the tea party. Personally, I think O'Donnell cost real conservatives senate seats. Say what you will... but Rove was right. Don't hate the messenger.