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Republican Sen. Mitt Romney confirmed he has a secret Twitter account, which was opened in 2011, shortly after he announced he was running for president. The senator discussed the account in an interview with The Atlantic but did not reveal what his name was at the time. After the interview, however, Slate was able to determine it was the locked account of Pierre Delecto, with the handle @qaws9876.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Republican National Committeeman from Oregon warned reporters Tuesday that 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney is attempting to foil Donald Trump’s nomination at the GOP convention next week. Solomon Yue, a member of the RNC’s Standing Rules Committee, made these remarks after the committee adjourned Tuesday afternoon. Different from the Convention Rules Committee, which holds jurisdiction over the 2016 convention rules, the standing committee found itself responding to inquiries relating to whether or not certain delegates can vote in opposition to the results of their state primary on the first ballot of the nomination process. The Convention...

This week, the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) established a joint-fundraising account, "Romney Victory Inc." The idea is that donors can write one big check to the joint account, which can then be divvied up between Romney's campaign committee and the RNC. According to Romney Victory fundraising documents, the first $5000 in an individual's contributions to Romney Victory will go to the Romney campaign (the $2500 maximum for use in the primary campaign, which technically runs through the convention, and the $2500 maximum for the general election). The next $30,800 goes to the RNC, again the maximum...

In Arizona v. United States, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the federal government has no basis to nullify the "show me your papers" provision of Arizona's immigration law. Conservatives Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, moderate Anthony Kennedy, liberals Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- even Obama appointee Sonia Sotomayor -- all shot down the administration's effort to stop that part of the law. (Obama appointee Elena Kagan stayed out of it because she had taken part in the action as a member of the administration.) Yet even with that unanimity -- a position supported, if the polls are...

Mitt Romney will not take part in March 1 debate in Georgia, the final debate before Super Tuesday on March 6, his campaign said Thursday. And Rick Santorum looks like he will sit it out as well. [snip] By not attending the debate, Romney’s campaign appears to be trying to de-emphasize its importance and instead relying on his overwhelming financial advantage on the airwaves. Romney’s campaign and a super PAC supporting him have all but drowned out their opponents with ads. The debate is in the state Gingrich represented in the U.S. House, but both Romney and Santorum have signaled...

Mitt Romney, asked if there were any lessons learned in the wake of losing all three Republican voting contests Tuesday night, said that he simply “wasn’t there to respond” to former Sen. Rick Santorum’s attacks in the days leading up to voting. But today, speaking to reporters on a tarmac in Atlanta, where he flew from Colorado after losses in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado Tuesday night, he did not hesitate to go on offense, accusing two chief GOP rivals of behaving “like Democrats.”

After a debate in which Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney faced attacks from all sides, the Romney campaign says it has not yet accepted invitations to participate in two high-profile debates leading up to the January 31 Florida primary, and a key Romney adviser is expressing fatigue and frustration over what he sees as a never-ending series of GOP debates. "There are too many of these," Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said after Monday night's Fox News debate at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. "We have to bring some order to it. We haven't accepted Florida…It's kind of like a cruise that's...

So the first third of the Republican presidential race is ending. The first third is the introduction: "This is who I am, this is what I want to do, this is why you want to choose me." The campaign is announced, organized, and goes forward in key early states. The second phase is the long slog through the primary states to the convention next August in Tampa, Fla. The third and final is the election proper, in the autumn of 2012. *** The first phase was clouded by an overlay of frustration and dissatisfaction: The best weren't in the game....

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is skipping next week's presidential primary debate in Iowa. ABC is to televise the event nationally. Huntsman on Friday says he'll instead have a town hall-style meeting on Dec. 10 in New Hampshire, a state that is central to his political strategy. Huntsman has written-off Iowa and has spent neither time nor money there. Huntsman also has accepted an invitation to do a one-on-one debate with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire. The two will meet in Windham for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate with tea party activists on Dec. 12. Gingrich has invited each...

Mr. Romney's campaign said he would still compete in Iowa's caucuses, now slated February, 2012. But the former Massachusetts governor's absence from the Aug. 13 straw poll will likely diminish his chances, some Iowa officials say, while raising the odds that whoever wins the poll will be best positioned to claim the status as Mr. Romney's top rival for the nomination. According to 2008 election-day surveys, 60% of Iowa caucus-goers called themsevles evangelical or born-again Christians. In the New Hampshire primary, the figure was 23%. In the general election that year, about a quarter of voters in both parties were...

Romney to Skip Key Poll in Iowa By PATRICK O'CONNOR Mitt Romney will skip a key early test for Republican presidential candidates by forgoing the Iowa straw poll in mid-August, a decision that could recast the contest in the nation's first presidential nominating state. The Iowa straw poll, held in Ames, is one of the landmark events of the nominating contest. Mr. Romney's decision sends the clearest signal yet that he doesn't want to wade deeply into the social issues that carry particular weight with Iowa Republicans and instead intends to present himself to voters nationally as a successful businessman...