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Mitt Romney recorded robocalls for Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign that are going out in all four states voting on Tuesday, CNN has confirmed. It's part of an escalating effort by Romney to block Donald Trump from securing the Republican presidential nomination. First reported by The New York Times, the robocalls do not represent an outright endorsement of Rubio, and a spokesperson for Romney indicated the 2008 GOP nominee would be willing to help Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich as well. "Gov. Romney has offered and is glad to help Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Gov....

New information is surfacing about Mitt Romney and his 2016 plans following the 2012 presidential candidate's nationally-covered speech on Thursday morning. The former Mass. Governor and Republican nominee for President spoke out against Donald Trump, calling the Republican front-runner a "phony" and "fraud." He urged Republicans to unite behind another candidate, yet declined to indicate which candidate he would be supporting. An in-depth look at Romney's campaign finance activity, however, shows that the former candidate may be gearing up to take another shot at the White House. In late January and early February of 2016, Romney's campaign finance entities, which...

Republican strategists should generally be wary of campaign advice from liberals -- and when it's from the media, generally becomes definitely. Washington Post political writer Chris Cillizza recently suggested Mitt Romney's general-election strategy should start with getting a "positive first introduction" to voters through the liberal media because "only the national media can provide that megaphone and serve as a sort of validator for him." How hard did he laugh after he wrote that? No Republican should think he could end-run the liberal media establishment entirely and not suffer damage. Ask Dick Cheney. On the other hand, no Republican can...

In 2008, Barack Obama utilized demographic shifts, his campaign's unprecedented financial resources, and his unique political profile to expand dramatically the electoral map for a Democratic presidential nominee, carrying formerly deep-red states like North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia. Four years later, Mitt Romney may have reason to believe that he can make competitive a state or two thought to be safely in the Democratic column. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ While Romney strategists declined to comment on their electoral tactics, advisers close to the campaign are privately skeptical that they can afford to mount anything more than a token effort in the Northeast --...

Yesterday, Sarah Palin emphasized in her interview with Matt Lauer that whoever becomes the GOP nominee should not play it safe in his selection of a vice presidential running mate. She declined to answer outright whether she thinks this year’s VP nominee should have more experience on the national stage than she did in 2008, but she did say she thinks the presidential nominee should “go rogue” with his pick. Former GOP presidential nominee John McCain backed up those statements today with this: On CBS’s This Morning, McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee, was asked whether he agreed with his former...

No #s yet, just some tidbits: I'd expect Michigan results between 10 and 11 tonight, and Arizona results between midnight and 1 AM (all eastern) Early observations on today's polls: Michigan still pretty close, but Romney headed for a huge win in Arizona. It looks like Romney has banked about a 30 point lead among early voters in Arizona and they're more than half the electorate. From the findings I didn't expect file: Babeu still seen more favorably than not by Arizona Republicans. Santorum's favorability numbers not what they were a week ago- the shine is finally wearing off with...

Although there is much talk among political observers about the possibility of a brokered GOP convention in Tampa, Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer is not buying it. "The last time we had a brokered convention was in the 1940’s, and we’re four contests in that have awarded delegates," Mr. Spicer told me on Wednesday. "We are four weeks and four states into a process. I get that it’s the buzz, but I literally spend as much time worrying if some space alien attack happens."

If you are a Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum supporter, be concerned, be very concerned about the prospects of a brokered convention. While it’s still too early to see where the delegate math will fall once all the voting concludes in June, some things are beginning to take form. For one, the Gingrich team has finally come to the realization that they need Rick Santorum to stay in the race after all. This is because they are NOT confident that were Santorum to drop out, that Gingrich would receive an absolute majority of Santorum’s earned soft delegates. Hence, you see...

The real story of the three results from Tuesday night is not that Rick Santorum picked up some wins -- though that is big. No, the real story is that three states held votes and nobody came. Almost nobody, that is. Consider that the total turnout for Missouri, Colorado, and Minnesota combined was barely over half of the turnout of South Carolina alone and -- worse yet -- barely over half the turnout for the same three states in 2008.

What is Mitt Romney doing in the Republican Party? (Although a better question might by why has the Republican Party strayed so far to the left that a guy like Mitt Romney could be its standard bearer…) Everyone knows the story of Mitt Romney. He ran Bain Capital and financed a number of new businesses and helped rescue others. True, he and Bain failed a few times, but Bain Capital did what it was supposed to do, which is make money for its shareholders. At the end of the day Bain Capital was a net plus in that it actually...

FEBRUARY 5, 2012 Conservatives Cautious in Embracing Romney By Eric Morath Evangelical Christians and tea-party supporters, key members of the Republican base, will continue take their time in warming up to GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, a key conservative leader said on Sunday. “There is not going to be that enthusiasm among the base” for Mr. Romney, said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization. “The focus now is on the House and the Senate and expanding conservative majorities” in Congress, he said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” suggesting some conservatives are growing weary...

Mitt Romney, whose liberal past and questionable conservative credentials are at the heart of his problems securing the Republican presidential nomination, is being supported by three prior Republican nominees--all of whom lost their bids for the presidency while running as moderates.Sen. John McCain, the 2008 nominee who lost to Barack Obama, endorsed Romney on January 4 heading into the New Hampshire primary.Former Sen. Bob Dole, the 1996 nomineee who lost to Bill Clinton, endorsed Romney in December before the Iowa caucus.Former President George H.W. Bush, who lost to Bill Clinton in 1992, 'unofficially' endorsed Romney in December in remarks to...

Newt Gingrich is outpacing Mitt Romney by a comfortable margin among Republican voters nationwide, but also is showing evidence of the vulnerabilities that could hurt the former House speaker in a general election, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. With the two rivals fighting it out in Florida after Mr. Gingrich's big South Carolina victory last week, the poll found Republicans nationwide favoring Mr. Gingrich 37% to 28% over Mr. Romney. GOP voters gave the former House speaker high marks for knowledge and experience, while they continued to harbor doubts about Mr. Romney's positions on the issues...

After months of uncertainty, Mitt Romney has decided to roll the dice and go for a win in the Iowa caucus. But the former governor is betting that he can triumph in the state without any significant support from social conservatives — normally a vital voting bloc — and is making no real effort to win them over.

From the W moment he launched his presidential campaign on a windy New Hampshire morning in June, Willard Mitt Romney has been the acknowledged front-runner in the Republican race. He has raised more money, earned more support from his party's establishment, hired more paid staff and secured more endorsements than any of the seven other "major" GOP candidates. There is but one nagging thing keeping Romney from being dubbed the "inevitable" GOP nominee in 2012 - a solid 75 per cent of the voters in his party simply cannot stand the guy. "He is cold gravy," said Stephen Schneck, a...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans are most likely to name Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as their first choice for their party's 2012 presidential nomination, with Herman Cain close behind. Among all Republicans nationwide, Romney is the choice of 20% and Gingrich 19%. Among Republican registered voters, Gingrich is at 22% and Romney at 21%. [snip] ....Implications With the first official nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses, now just six weeks away, there is no clear national front-runner for the Republican nomination....

DAYTONA BEACH -- At the Florida Tea Party Convention Saturday, you could find buttons calling for Marco Rubio to be on the presidential ticket, t-shirts declaring that Barack Obama has made communism cool again, and freeze-dried foods to last up to 25 years in case society collapses. Scarce among the hundreds of conservative activists gathered in Daytona Beach? Any enthusiasm for Mitt Romney, the man widely expected to win the Republican presidential nomination. “The party establishment has wanted Romney all along, and they’ve been pushing him on us,” lamented James Koll of Fort Dodge, Iowa, who said he would support...

Mitt Romney, under fire from all sides on the strength of his political convictions, said Thursday he has been as consistent as a person can be during his political career. "I've been as consistent as human beings can be," the presidential candidate said in a meeting with the editorial board of New Hampshire's Seacoast Media Group. "I cannot state every single issue in exactly the same words every single time, and so there are some folks who, obviously, for various political and campaign purposes will try and find some change and try to draw great attention to something which looks...

Mitt Romney can't catch a break. First George Will dumps on him, and now it looks like Google's search engine isn't a big fan. The folks at Slate's Browbeat blog have noticed that when users type the phrase "Romney can win" into the search bar, they get this suggestion: "Did you mean: Romney can't win" Romney is the only candidate who gets the treatment, though this appears to be an innocent quirk of the algorithms and not some sinister Google bomb. Of course, it's nothing compared to Rick Santorum's Google troubles.

A new statewide poll by the Behavior Research Center shows businessman Herman Cain tied with Mitt Romney in a potential Arizona Republican presidential primary. The BRC Rocky Mountain Poll gives both Cain and Romney 20 percent of the vote. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is next with 9 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry grabs 7 percent in the GOP field.