Free Republic

-snip- Although Fehrnstrom is one of Romney’s longest-serving aides, he, like his boss, has no roots in the conservative movement. Fehrnstrom started out as a reporter covering alderman meetings in Boston and lives in liberal Brookline, Mass. His work as a GOP operative has been confined to New England — a region, as he often notes, that’s “pretty rocky terrain for Republicans.” To some influential conservatives, Fehrnstrom is an enigma. It’s not that conservatives don’t trust him. It’s that some don’t even know him. “I’ve never heard of him. I’ve been going to conservative meetings since I was knee-high to...

Shake Shake Shake! Shake Your Romney! Shake Your Romney! Thank you Mr. Fehrnstrom for saying out loud and confirming exactly what many conservative new long ago; Mitt Romney is promising to conservatives whatever it is that he thinks they want to hear without any intention of keeping it. The only thing shocking about this revelation is that Eric Fehrnstromn said it out loud, not in a conversation he believed was off the record or private, cut being broadcast by CNN live. In case you haven’t heard what the kerfuffle is all about , here’s the interview of Mr. Fehrnstrom...

Scott Brown, with some justification, makes frequent claims to bipartisanship. But as the Republican senator from Massachusetts prepared to cast another vote next week against an extension of benefits for jobless Americans, he expressed frustration. Democrats, he said, never gave his alternative plan to extend benefits a serious look. “Why is it that I’m always the one that has to vote with the Democrats?’’ Brown lamented. “Bipartisanship is a two-way street, you know? Why can’t they also work together to pay for these things within the budget, within the monies that we already have? Why is it that we always...

The political team that helped Scott Brown stage his improbable victory in the Massachusetts Senate race wants to apply its winning strategy elsewhere this election year. First stop: Rhode Island. The Shawmut Group, led by aides to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is helping GOP congressional candidate John Loughlin, who's campaigning to replace retiring Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. The Shawmut Group also is working with New York gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, Long Island congressional candidate George Demos and Massachusetts state auditor candidate Mary Connaughton.

Kerry, bipartisan bloc discuss compromise. BY MICHAEL KRANISH WASHINGTON — Seeking to resuscitate stalled global warming legislation in Washington’s suddenly changed political climate, a bipartisan group of senators including John Kerry of Massachusetts has been conducting private talks this week with the White House and a key business group over an array of concessions sought by Republicans. The election of Scott Brown as Kerry’s colleague has added urgency to the negotiations for a compromise, which would include the Democrats’ goal of limiting carbon emissions while encouraging development of nuclear power, subsidizing coal mining, and drilling for off-shore oil. Trying to...