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(VIDEO-AT-LINK)With all due respect, the Republican Party could probably do with a lot less of what was heard at the Iowa Freedom Summit Saturday. On one hand, that might seem strange, considering that the Iowa Freedom Summit was all about getting America back to its "core principles of pro-growth economics, social conservatism, and a strong national defense," according to the event website. What could be more Republican than that? Combine that with the fact that a number of potential Republican presidential candidates appeared to see the event as the unofficial kickoff for the 2016 campaign, and it seemed a snapshot...

With Republicans in Congress split over the best approach to Obama's executive amnesty - and with many establishment Republicans splitting form grassroots Republicans on the issue of illegal immigration more generally - it's clear that immigration will be a hot-button primary issue in 2016. ... So where do the potential candidates stand? Here's a rundown: ...

There are enough potential candidates for president (on the GOP side at least) that you need an Excel spreadsheet just to keep them all straight. Instead of a complicated algorithm, I've boiled each candidate down to his/her most basic elements. At the end of the day, these are the things more likely to define a presidential wannabe. It's also important to distinguish between durable traits and those that are more ephemeral. For example, low name ID is something easily overcome. But, being on the "wrong side" of the base on key issues can be a campaign killer. This is by...

It is time for liberals to cheer Mitt Romney. Not because his possible entry into the 2016 Republican presidential contest could cause chaos for the GOP. But because Romney, apparently seeing the error of his "severely conservative" ways, has become a progressive crusader. Initial news reports noted that Romney was telling Republicans privately that should he mount a third presidential bid he would run to the right of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, an all-but-announced contender. Yet in public remarks, Romney has been sounding like a born-again lefty. At an investment management conference in Utah this week, Romney told the...

Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney did not reach an agreement during a Salt Lake City lunch meeting on Thursday on how to reconcile their competing plans to run for the White House next year, advisers to both men indicated after the talk. “Governor Bush enjoyed visiting with Governor Romney today in Salt Lake,” Kristy Campbell, Mr. Bush’s spokeswoman, said, declining to elaborate. Republicans close to both Mr. Romney and Mr. Bush were notably tight-lipped about the long-planned meeting, which the two would-be candidates and their advisers were unhappy had been revealed publicly.

Mitt Romney: Climate Change Is Real, Human-Induced, And We Must Tackle It

One thing you can say about Sen. Rand Paul’s burgeoning presidential campaign – he’s not scaring anybody out of the race. The Republican National Committee reports that the 2016 primary field has mushroomed to about 25 legitimate contenders — the size of a major league baseball roster — and growing, which certainly could make for an interesting party debate where you quite literally won’t be able to tell the players without a scorecard. Despite the RNC’s claims of legitimacy there are a few apples in the barrel who have about as much chance of moving into the Oval Office two...

Just read that Romney and Jeb are meeting in Utah to discuss how best to ram one of them down our throats so their campaigns don't compete against one another. NO MORE BUSHES!! NO MORE ROMNEYS!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!

As he considers a third presidential campaign, Mitt Romney said Wednesday night that one of the country's biggest challenges is climate change and that global solutions are needed to combat it. "I'm one of those Republicans who thinks we are getting warmer and that we contribute to that," he said. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee spoke to a sold-out crowd of about 3,000 at an investment management conference. It was his second public address since privately telling potential donors two weeks ago that he's considering seeking the presidency in 2016. Romney didn't address a possible campaign at the event, but...

… Using This One Weird Trick! It seems as if everybody’s down on the idea of Mitt Romney running for president again. Even establishment Republicans who aren’t part of the vast Bush claque seem to be hostile. President Obama’s aides mocked Romney’s interest in income inequality, per Politico: (SNIP) “It’s simply never going to be believable to go from car elevators, off-shore accounts and his famous 47 percent comment to the populist income equality warrior.”… (SNIP) After all, there’s one obvious, simple move Romney could make to turn the mockery around, jujutsu style, in a way that would give him...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.— A crowd of tea party activists huddled outside a closed conference door here on Sunday. Many hadn’t caught a glimpse of the man they were waiting for, but they knew he was in there. “Here he comes!” someone suddenly shouted, as Ted Cruz emerged. All day long, the Republican senator from Texas was mobbed by people who thanked him for taking on Washington, jostled for pictures and sought out hugs. Even after Cruz had departed the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention, his booth was consistently crowded. Ben Carson and Rick Santorum made their pitches and both...

Much of the 2016 political oxygen on the Republican side of the aisle has been sucked up by establishment-leaning figures so far -- Jeb Bush forming his exploratory committee, Mitt Romney heavily weighing launching version 3.0, Chris Christie making telltale moves, etc. On the more conservative end of the spectrum, we have Bobby Jindal almost assuredly running (do read his hard-hitting speech on radical Islamism delivered in London yesterday), Scott Walker staffing up and sounding like a presidential candidate, and Marco Rubio reportedly inching closer to taking the plunge. And then there's Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson,...

Hot Air readers won’t be surprised by the lack-of-dynamic dynamic from the first big names testing the GOP’s 2016 waters, of course, but supporters of Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush might be — if they can be found. According to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, approval ratings for both men dropped after making clear they plan to run for the party’s presidential nomination. And that retreat comes from within the big tent of the Republican Party: Just 27 percent of Americans now offer a positive rating for Romney, the Republican party’s nominee in 2012, compared to 40 percent who...

Poential 2016 candidates Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney have earned plenty of headlines after publicly acknowledging that they're revving up likely presidential campaigns, but, so far, they haven't gained positive marks from the public, according to the newest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. In fact, both candidates have lost ground since pollsters last measured Americans' feelings towards them - including a dip in approval from members of their own party. Just 27 percent of Americans now offer a positive rating for Romney, the Republican party's nominee in 2012, compared to 40 percent who give him negative marks. And just over...

Those so inclined can think of advantages accruing to Mitt Romney should he attempt another go at the presidency. For example: Unlike his potential opponents, he has been through this before, and his political and personal history, from his Massachusetts governorship to his leadership at Bain Capital, have already been picked through, exposed, and exploited — so surprises are improbable. Unlike his potential opponents, he knows exactly what a long, grinding national campaign is like — so he can prepare accordingly. And unlike his potential opponents, he has the fruits of his 2012 vice-presidential vetting process at his disposal —...

Talk radio host and author of “The Liberty Amendments,” Mark Levin, said that while he agrees with Mitt Romney that the GOP needs a “clear vision,” Romney is “not the guy” on Monday.

South Carolina has been where underdog Republican presidential candidacies die and front-runners begin to look toward November. The only asterisk to its 32-year streak of picking the eventual GOP nominee came in the whack-a-mole 2012 contest that placed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich over eventual nominee Mitt Romney. “Romney never closed the deal with the voters,” said legendary South Carolina Republican strategist Chip Felkel about Romney's inability to win the first-in-the-South primary. “Voters cast with their hearts, not their heads, in that cycle.” Everyone understandably focuses on who is coming and going in Iowa, the first contest of 2016's presidential...

GOP ESTABLISHMENT FORGETS POWER OF PARTY’S RIGHT The 2012 election has had a searing effect on the Republican Party. The 126-electoral-vote defeat of its nominee by an incumbent thought to be highly vulnerable may have altered the trajectory of the GOP even more than the similar, though narrower, defeat Democrats suffered in 2004. The question is: To what end? The 35-vote loss John Kerry suffered in 2004 left many Democrats, as James Taylor might say, “down and troubled,” and looking for the way forward (or back) to success. The party eventually decided to sprint farther leftward and reject triangulation, with...

A leading Republican presidential contender has warned against electing another Bush or Clinton to the White House, saying that installing an aristocratic “ruling class” in the United States could all but destroy the country. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and quick-witted populist Republican who has powerful appeal among religious conservative activists, suggested that those who “live within the enclaves of the educational and cultural establishment and elites” could not understand the lives of ordinary Americans. While not referring directly to his potential presidential election competitors, his words resonate because Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former Republican presidents, and...

As Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney battle behind the scenes for big money donors, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is working to portray himself as the presidential candidate of the conservative base. Speaking to tea partiers in South Carolina over the weekend, Cruz cautioned that Republicans will lose the White House in 2016 if the nominee is insufficiently conservative. “If we nominate a candidate in that mold, the same people who stayed home in 2008 and 2012 will stay home in 2016 and the Democrats will win again,” Cruz told the crowd. His comments come as the Texas senator —...