Free Republic

5 PM ET: NETWORK EXITS SHOW ALABAMA TIGHT; ROMNEY TAKES MISSISSIPPI... DEVELOPING DRUDGE POLLS HAVE CORRECTLY PREDICTED EVERY RACE

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican presidential nomination, he'll have many options for a running mate. His current rival, Rick Santorum, probably won't be one of them. Romney said as much Monday when Neil Cavuto asked him on Fox Business if he would choose a candidate to his right in order to win the election. "Well that would preclude, of course, Rick Santorum," Romney said. "Because, I mean, look at his record. I find it interesting that he continues to describe himself as the real conservative. This is the guy who voted against the right to work, this is the...

Birmingham, AL - Monday, March 12, 2012 The Alabama Republican Party hosts a presidential candidate forum with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham. AL Candidates Forum: Live at 6:30pm (ET) on C-SPAN. The Alabama Republican Primary is Tuesday, March 13. Fifty Republican delegates are at stake.

Thankfully, former Speaker Newt Gingrich is every bit a social conservative as the former senator from Pennsylvania, and so would have that historical advantage that, along with the “It’s the economy, stupid” rule, regularly results in the election of Republican presidents and congressional majorities. So how did the young whippersnapper who previously won our Super Tuesday endorsement by avoiding anti-Bain venture capitalism-pile-ons while also contrasting his unblemished record against individual health care mandates as opposed to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts RomneyCare and 2009 advocacy for the individual mandates in ObamaCare? Unprompted, he essentially took the economy off the table for the...

Gingrich Takes His Stand in Dixieland "Both boys said a lot of things I agree with, but it's the way Newt said it that I think has me going with him…" -- Previously undecided Jefferson County, Ala. voter Obie Evans talking to the Birmingham News after hearing speeches by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a GOP forum. The current Republican nominating process has done serious damage to the old notions about “must-win” races and momentum. Fourth-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire? No problem. You can still win South Carolina by 12 points....