Free Republic

It's no secret that the Obama campaign and its surrogates will continue to portray Mitt Romney at too detached from the lives of ordinary Americans to be elected president. "Governor Romney's a little out of touch," Vice President Joe Biden told Face the Nation's Bob Schieffer in early April. Or as actress and Obama supporter Jane Lynch put it recently about the nominee-to-be, "the guy does not know how to relate to people." But it's a theme the Obama campaign ought to think twice about before advancing. That's because President Obama himself exhibits a striking inability to connect with an...

Remember that NYT piece last week wondering about friction between Romney and the House GOP as as he tacks towards the center for the general election while they try to hold the line on the right?Here's the first wisp of smoke. "I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans,” Romney said at a joint news conference with Florida Senator Marco Rubio. “There was some concern that that would expire halfway through the year, and I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students as a result of student loans, obviously, in part...

Mitt Romney to roll up delegates in 5 GOP primaries [Milt predicts total win] David Lightman and Erika Bolstad ASTON, Pa. — "Mitt Romney is expected to win all five Republican presidential primaries Tuesday, but Pennsylvania and Connecticut will be watched closely for signs that he could headed for trouble in those states in November. A weaker-than-expected showing in Pennsylvania against Rick Santorum, who represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007, would raise fresh questions about Romney’s appeal in a general-election swing state. ... Connecticut also will offer some clues about Romney’s November prospects there. The...

It was inevitable. Mitt Romney is going to sell-out conservatives in his party in order to win the general. And if he wins, he'll sell them out again in order to be re-elected.* Zeke Miller and McKay Coppins reporting for Buzzfeed have found the first issue on which Romney is trying to put some distance between himself and the conservative wing of his party. Allahpundit, one of the most perceptive conservative bloggers, also detects the hint of conflict between the GOP candidate and the GOP Congress. Mitt Romney told reporters today that he supports efforts to extend low interest rates...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19. In a hypothetical Election 2012 matchup, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney earns 47% of the vote, while President Obama attracts support from 44%. Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

Even though Romney's chief rival, Rick Santorum, has suspended his campaign, states continue to hold primaries. There are five contests on April 24th with 219 delegates at stake; but even if Romney won every single delegate that day he would be far short of 1,144. Wyoming and Missouri are holding conventions before April 24th where Romney may pick up some delegates but even winning all of them wouldn't bring him much closer to the magic number. Looking ahead, Romney would need to win about 80 percent of the delegates available in the April and May events to possibly clinch on...

Early on in the 2012 campaign Mitt Romney expressed support for global warming in various ways, the typical comment being this: “I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that.” He holds this belief despite the growing body of evidence that global warming theory is based upon false assumptions and despite the last two winters being among the coldest in recent history. Romney has also called for the Federal government to “reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases,” which is code, of course, for creating massive new government programs despite America’s air...

Has Andrew Breitbart won? The failure to properly vet the president was a rallying cry of Breitbart shortly before his death. On Saturday the über liberal New York Times promised to vet President Obama this election cycle. The Grey Lady, who in prior award winning journalistic fashion reported glowingly on 1930s progressive icon Joseph Stalin, admitted to not doing it’s job during the last election. From the Times Publi...

Mitt Romney was a moderate governor in Massachusetts with an unimpressive record of governance. He left office with an approval rating in the thirties and his signature achievement, Romneycare, was a Hurricane Katrina style disaster for the state. Since that’s the case, it’s fair to ask what a Republican who’s not conservative and can’t even carry his own state brings to the table for GOP primary voters. The answer is always the same: Mitt Romney is supposed to be “the most electable” candidate. This is a baffling argument because many people just seem to assume it’s true, despite the plethora...

How depressing. Conservatives remain divided this election cycle while the most liberal candidate for the GOP nomination in decades continues to pile up delegates. Meanwhile, the evidence continues to mount that Romney will govern to the left of George Bush – either one. Romney’s effort to portray himself as a conservative has had great success, primarily due to a black out on Romney’s record not only by the mainstream press but also by much of the conservative media. Moreover, much of America’s conservative “leadership” has decided to give Romney a pass. I posted a piece here a few weeks ago...

February 9, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In 1967, the veteran CBS journalist Mike Wallace did what today would seem revolutionary: he hosted a 43-minute documentary that exposed the stark truth about homosexuality, speaking openly of well-established facts that have since been consigned to the memory hole of political correctness. CBS Documentary - The Homosexuals (1967) Wallace’s documentary, The Homosexuals, is a frank examination of the self-destructive behavior of sexually-active homosexuals, the underlying psychological causes of their impulses, and their troubling influence on American culture. It also discusses curative therapy for homosexual orientation, which had a success rate in the 1960s of...

Here’s the latest press release from Rick Santorum. Previously today: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Santorum to Unveil First 100 Days Economic Freedom Agenda in Michigan MITT ROMNEY’S “TAXACHUSETTS” ECONOMIC POLICIES What We Hear Today From Mitt Romney, Is Not What We’ll Get Tomorrow “[T]he Tax Burden Is Heavier For Many Across The Commonwealth. This Is How The Massachusetts That Mitt Romney Left Behind Yesterday Compares With The Massachusetts That He Inherited Four Years Ago.”(Scott Helman, “Romney Exits With Pomp, Ambition,” The Boston Globe, 1/4/07) During Romney’s Governorship, He Raised Fees By Over $400 Million And Closed”So-Called Corporate Loopholes” By Over $300 Million....

I can't keep up with what Romney is supposedly going to go with concerning illegals. First it was the ridiculous idea from Romney that illegals will self-deport. Remember Daniel D. Portado? Then there was the buzz that some kind of Kobach plan would emerge. Now there is supposedly going to be some type of Rubio Quasi-Dream Act. Who knows what Romney is going to go with. I guess more poll testing, and/or focus group work from the Romney campaign is needed before a plan emerges.

Romney is running neck-and-neck with Obama in national opinion polls but needs to make up ground in several battleground states where the election is likely to be decided. The former Massachusetts governor appeared side-by-side with Rubio at a news conference where Romney did most of the talking. They then held a town hall event and took turns answering questions from supporters. Romney brushed off two questions from reporters whether Rubio was on his list for potential vice presidential picks, a process that will play out over the next four months ahead of the Republicans' August convention in Florida to nominate...

ust a few years ago, House Republicans were trying to etch their opposition of gay marriage into the Constitution. Now? They’re almost silent. It’s been one of the swiftest shifts in ideology and strategy for Republicans, as they’ve come nearly full circle on same-sex politics. What was once a front-and-center issue for rank-and-file Republicans — the subject of many hotly worded House and Senate floor speeches — is virtually a dead issue, as Republicans in Congress don’t care to have gay marriage litigated in the Capitol.

A couple more posters got zotted today. Guess we need another reminder: If you support the homosexual agenda you are anti-constitution and you'll get the zot from FR. Homosexuals already have the same "rights" as everyone else. God did not grant and the constitution does not guarantee homosexuals any special rights. In fact, the homosexual agenda is a full frontal attack on OUR God-given, constitutionally protected rights to free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, Life, Family, Marriage, Pursuit of Happiness, etc. I don't want it on FR and won't have it on FR. Like abortion, if you support...

Massachusetts has picked up another dubious distinction: It has imposed more fee hikes than any other state this year. More than $500 million in fees, hitting every possible target in sight, ranging from marriage licenses to real estate transactions, were upped in budgets OK'd by the Legislature and Gov. Mitt Romney. To be sure, this is preferable to a tax hike, especially only one year after lawmakers enacted the largest tax increase in state history. But the nickels, dimes and dollars are coming out of the same pockets--ours. In the last two years, members of the House and Senate have...

Romney on DADT (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) Question: How do you feel about gays serving openly in the military. Romney: That’s already occurred and I’m not planning on reversing that at this stage. < Question: But you’re comfortable with it? Romney: I was not comfortable making the change during a period of conflict, by virtue of the complicating the features of a new program in the middle of two wars going on, but those wars are winding down and moving to that direction at this stage no longer presents that problem. November 9, 2011: Romney meeting with the editorial board...

I have to work today and tomorrow so I can't man any of Newt's phone banks, but if anybody can use this letter to forward in e-mails to your lists before tomorrow's primaries, please do so: Mitt Romney supports government-coerced abortion. He personally has made the decision to force people to provide abortions even though they believe it to be murder. Yes, he vetoed Romneycare because it mandated abortion insurance coverage, but in Dec 2005 after his veto was overridden and the Boston Globe printed an article noting that Catholic hospitals would be exempt from providing abortions to rape victims,...

With young adults not nearly as enthusiastic about pulling the lever for President Obama as they were in 2008 (as my colleague Nat noted recently), President Obama has seized on the impending hike of interest rates for subsidized Stafford student loans (they are slated to go from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in July, if Congress does not intervene). ......................................................... But Mitt Romney announced his support for an extension today, taking the air out of Obama’s argument. “Given the bleak job prospects that young Americans coming out of college face today, I encourage Congress to temporarily extend the current low...