Free Republic

LAS VEGAS—It’s Donald Trump’s world. Mitt Romney just diminished himself in it. That’s the lasting impression left by Thursday’s media frenzy in Las Vegas, where Romney steered his increasingly momentous drive for the Republican presidential nomination into the cartoon arms of a clearly delighted Donald. Endorsements come, endorsements go — and in most elections, they don’t mean all that much. Especially coming from self-aggrandizing hype factories on the sidelines. But in making the pilgrimage for what was essentially a ring-kissing ceremony inside Trump’s gilded hotel on the Vegas strip, Romney appears to have gone carnival barking up the wrong tree....

Poll: Romney holds big lead over Gingrich in Florida By Marc Caputo The Miami Herald In Florida’s Republican primary, Mitt Romney’s lead looks insurmountable — and he beats President Barack Obama in a head-to-head race, poll shows.

Via POLITICO's Reid Epstein, NBC News and Tom Brokaw are loudly objecting to the Mitt Romney campaign's use of footage from the 1990s in an ad blasting Newt Gingrich over his House ethics charges. Brokaw, whose statement noted he was speaking on his behalf, said, "I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad. I do no want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign." "The NBC Legal Department has written a letter to the campaign asking for the removal of all NBC News material from their campaign...

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...

Election year has finally arrived, well after the beginning of a turbulent and unpredictable elections season, and voting begins on Tuesday in the Iowa Republicans caucuses. The few days of post-Christmas polling have shown the numbers oscillating and opinion changing in ways it hadn't been earlier in the campaign. Pre-Christmas, Barack Obama's job rating was on a bit of an uptick, nudging up toward but not quite reaching 50 percent approval in several polls. But two polls taken in the three days after Christmas by Gallup and Rasmussen show him with solidly negative job ratings, and Rasmussen shows him trailing...

A movement is bubbling in DC among conservative operatives and talking heads who don’t think Mitt Romney has what it takes to beat President Obama.

Do note, while HuffPo refers to “common” swipes at Palin in the halls of CPAC this year, their evidence consists of quotes from … two people. And one guy isn’t even guilty of a “swipe.” He says he likes her but simply fears she can’t win. Even so, as I’ve argued many times before, this dynamic in the primaries is inevitable — even if she doesn’t run. Half the field will compete for the principled “true conservative” nomination (Palin, Huck, Santorum), the other half will compete for the moderate/managerial nomination (Mitt, Daniels, Huntsman), and then there’ll be a showdown. (Pawlenty...

BEDFORD, N.H. - When it comes to health care, Mitt Romney is hoping to have it both ways, even as he accuses the White House of doing the same. In the weeks since President Obama and the Democratic Congress enacted their health care overhaul, Mr. Romney, the once and presumably future candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has confronted an issue that is alternately viewed as a strength and a vulnerability. As he promotes himself as a problem-solving pragmatist, Mr. Romney can justifiably point to the landmark universal coverage law in Massachusetts that he, as governor, proposed in 2006. But...

... The so-called purity test is a 10-point checklist -- a suicide pact, really -- of alleged Republican positions... James Bopp Jr., chief sponsor of the resolution and a committee member from Indiana, has said that "the problem is that many conservatives have lost trust in the conservative credentials of the Republican Party." Actually, no, the problem is that many conservatives have lost faith in the ability of Republican leaders to think. The resolutions aren't so much statements of principle as dogmatic responses to complex issues that may, occasionally, require more than a Sharpie check in a little square. It's...

According to Bill O’Reilly’s week long poll it is Governor Sarah Palin: Sarah Palin: 30% Huckabee: 29% Romney: 25% Gingrich:16% I find it odd that the numbers were only announced by Mr O’Reilly and not released. I would say the results are actually much better for Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin typically has a much larger margin of victory against the three respectable but boring Huckabee, Romney & Gingrich. But a win is still a win. I thought it was interesting what Huckabee had to say about Sarah Palin...

A day after former Baptist minister and likely presidential rival Mike Huckabee offered a withering critique of Mitt Romney's record, the former Massachusetts governor made his pitch to the same group of religious conservatives. Romney appealed to attendees at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Saturday, using a speech that drew heavily from his address to social conservatives at the same hotel earlier this year. "Putting such a spirit-crushing, back-breaking debt burden on our children is unworthy of our national character," he said. "That is why I believe that this spending and borrowing is not just economically irresponsible, it...

As the state’s shortage of primary care doctors grows, people are waiting longer for medical care, according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Medical Society. “The shortage is getting more severe,” said Dr. Mario Motta, the medical society’s president. The state’s health care dilemma can serve as a valuable lesson for a nation whose residents are locked in a frenzied debate about health care reform, he added.

Early poll release this morning from Gallup on who is leading, but it's early...