Free Republic

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who campaigned for Sarah Palin (oh, and John McCain) in 2008 is now complaining that the former governor is distracting media attention from Mitt Romney. On a recent episode of "The View," Hasselbeck used an interesting analogy to argue that the hockey mom's "One Nation" tour was stealing the thunder from Romney's plan to improve the economy. "If I had termites in my house I'd get someone in there who could deal with it," the former winner of "Survivor" explained. "Mitt Romney, right now, his specialty is the economy. I'd have him in there. Here's why we're not...

Andrea Michell is discussing Sarah Palin (what a surprise) with Democrat David Bonier and Republican strategist Vin Weber, here's the video of Weber. ------- MITCHELL: "She had the choice of when to speak and the tone. and one has to wonder why doesn't she have a wider circling of advisers. i don't know any political strategist of a national campaign, republican or democrat who thinks that was a smart thing to do. VIN WEBER: "Well, we really don't know who advises her. She's quite isolated from what you might think of as the Republican establishment. No one is quite sure...

In a vacuum there’s nothing newsy about this, but 2012 isn’t a vacuum. We’ve talked before about the developing narrative: Palin vs. anti-Palin, “true conservatives” vs. centrists, blue-collar vs. white-collar, and … populists vs. “elitists.” With Beck having brought down the house at CPAC and the GOP in the grip of tea party fee-vah, why oh why would a potential nominee spritz cold water on populism? Branding, dear boy, branding: As Mitt Romney sets out this week to promote his new book, “No Apology,’’ he is also auditioning for a rapidly disappearing role in American politics: a politician who is...

In his new book, Mitt makes himself over as a muscular defender of America. Few things are more predictable than a GOP presidential candidate posturing as a he-man protector of America, and depicting his Democratic counterpart as an effete, appeasing girlie-man on the dangerous world stage. Mitt Romney — who himself has no personal military or foreign-policy experience of any kind — may not seem well-suited to the Republican role, but hey, if draft-dodgers like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney could use the formula against a genuine war hero, anything is possible. Romney, presumably warming up for 2012, flexes...