Free Republic

In several threads recently at FR I have focused on the proposition that only the future candidacy of Sarah Palin has the potential to possibly derail Mitt Romney as he mounts a relentless campaign to win the GOP nomination next year and that indeed a Romney-Palin showdown is really inevitable. Now I would like to address why I believe it is in the best interest of Sarah Palin, Palinistas, conservatives, evangelicals, and Tea Party supporters to make that argument much sooner in the GOP primary process than it would be later in the process or not at all. Here are...

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has refused to sign a pledge being circulated by a pro-life group, citing concerns with the language used in the pact. Romney, a spokeswoman said, is concerned that the pact could block some federal funding from going to hospitals and would restrict his ability to appoint Cabinet members in his administration. "Governor Romney pledged in the last campaign that he would be a pro-life president and of course he pledges it today. However, this well-intentioned effort has some potentially unforeseen consequences and he does not feel he could in good conscience sign it,"...

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...

Washington (CNN) - Mitt Romney has a message to Tea Party candidates nationwide: If you lose your Republican primary bids, stay on the sidelines. The former Massachusetts governor on Monday warned the grassroots movement not to mount third party efforts in general elections, which he said would siphon votes from Republican nominees. "If there is a conservative candidate that runs in the general election, then obviously, divide and fail is the result," Romney said in an interview with the conservative Web site Newsmax. "Hopefully Tea Party candidates will run in respective primaries and they will either win or lose. And...

A series of messages forwarded to The Daily Caller show a top aide to former Alaska Gov. and possible presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocking top political figures and even her boss’s own daughter, Bristol Palin. RedState.com founder and CNN contributor Erick Erickson is “a total douchebag,” wrote Palin speechwriter and domestic policy adviser Rebecca Mansour in a May 22, 2010, message. “Greasy dumb ass with a talent for self-promotion. He threw himself in at the Gov’s SC rally. Self-promotion.” (Erickson said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley invited him to the rally). Mitt Romney supporters are “wacky as hell,” Mansour wrote,...

Herman Cain leads presumed frontrunner Mitt Romney as the top choice of Republican primary voters in the race for the 2012 Presidential nomination. Among all voters, no one in a list of 13 possible GOP candidates leads President Barack Obama.