Free Republic

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has now secured at least 88 of the 155 delegates at stake in the Texas Primary, bringing his secured delegate total to 1174, 30 more than necessary to win the majority of the delegated needed for the GOP nomination. With 4% of Texas precincts now reporting, Romney has consistently maintained or increased a 60 point lead over his nearest competitor, Congressman Ron Paul. In the contested race for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, David Dewhurst is holding a 48% to 31% lead over his nearest rival Ted Cruz in a nine person contest.

Bruce Willis calls Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney an "embarrassment" in a new interview with Esquire magazine and says he doesn't care which side wins in November. "Yeah, Romney. He's just such a disappointment, an embarrassment," Willis told the magazine. "Chin up, hair up. He's just one of those guys, one of those guys who says he's going to change everything and he'll get in there, and they'll smile at him and introduce themselves: 'We're Congress, we make sure nothing changes,'" Willis went on. "He won't do it. He can't. Everybody wants to be Barack Obama. And what did he...

Yesterday it was reported by Guy Benson at Townhall.com that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, did something he was reluctant to do during his primary fight: He “repudiated” the efforts of a political action committee to attack one of his opponents. On his Thursday radio show, Levin suggested highlighting Rev. Wright was being “repudiated” because it would be interpreted as racist. “In the next six months, this campaign, or however long it goes — listen to me, but don’t listen to me,” Levin said. “Don’t bring up Rev. Wright, because the Obama campaign says if...

According to the Times, the Romney team has decided not to assail Obama's "likability," for fear personal attacks will backfire with independents. Message to the Republican establishment:  do not muzzle those of us who want to focus on Obama's troubling history with angry Marxists, black and white, including Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers.   This is not about race.  It is about knowing who Obama is, understanding what he has already done to our country, and what he is capable of doing.  The issue of Rev erend Wright is not peripheral, it is central.  It gets to the heart of the...

This week the Club for Growth released a study of votes cast in 2011 by the 87 Republicans elected to the House in November 2010. The Club found that “In many cases, the rhetoric of the so-called “Tea Party” freshmen simply didn’t match their records.” Particularly disconcerting is the fact that so many GOP newcomers cast votes against spending cuts. The study comes on the heels of three telling votes taken last week in the House that should have been slam-dunks for members who possess the slightest regard for limited government and free markets. Alas, only 26 of the 87...

Mitt Romney’s campaign manager rejected efforts to use President Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in ads attacking the president, as reportedly planned by a “super PAC” working toward electing Mr. Romney in November. “Unlike the Obama campaign, Gov. Romney is running a campaign based on jobs and the economy, and we encourage everyone else to do the same,” the campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, said in a statement on Thursday morning. “President Obama’s team said they would ‘kill Romney,’ and, just last week, David Axelrod referred to individuals opposing the president as ‘contract killers.’ It’s clear President Obama’s team...

Levin is livid over the fact that Romney repudiated anything to do with bringing up Rev. Wright in this campaign even though in the primaries he went full throttle against Newt Gingrich, even with false attack ads:

Mitt Romney says he rejects efforts to use President Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in ads attacking the president, insisting the campaign should remain focused on the economy. "I repudiate the effort by that PAC to promote an ad strategy of the nature they've described," Romney said in an interview with Townhall.com. "I would like to see this campaign focus on the economy, on getting people back to work, on seeing rising incomes and growing prosperity—particularly for those in the middle class of America."

Some of Mitt Romney's best moments on the 2012 campaign trail have come during town hall meetings when the candidate, long criticized as too uptight on the stump, strays off script to take questions from voters. But the freewheeling nature of voter forums can have its drawbacks. Romney has faced hostile questions on everything from his wealth to his religion. And on Monday, he experienced another awkward moment, when a supporter stood and declared that President Barack Obama should be "tried for treason." The comment came during a town hall meeting in Cleveland. Taking the microphone, a woman told Romney...

Romney Backs Student Loan Proposal Obama Supports By KASIE HUNT ASTON, Pa. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday embraced a student loan proposal that President Barack Obama is selling on the campaign trail and refused to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio's conservative immigration plan aimed at helping young illegal immigrants. The two policy positions signaled an effort by Romney to move to the political center as he works to court critical general election swing voters — including young voters and Hispanic voters — after a brutal primary fight. "I think young voters in this country have to vote...

The Newt Gingrich campaign found itself in a state of confusion Friday night when reports surfaced that Gingrich would cancel all of his stops in North Carolina next week, fueling suggestions that Gingrich would be suspending his campaign. But the campaign says nothing is happening. Two people close to the Gingrich campaign told ABC News they were contacted and told all of Gingrich’s North Carolina stops had been canceled, although R.C. Hammond, communications director for the campaign, said there was a “communication glitch.” “There was confusion, but we will maintain our North Carolina schedule next week,” Hammond said. One person...

As I mentioned yesterday, back in 2009 Mitt Romney took to the pages of USA Today to tell President Obama that as he came up with a healthcare plan he should consider using “tax penalties” as Massachusetts did or “tax credits, as others have proposed” to help cover the costs of health care. The “tax penalties” is Mitt Romney’s individual mandate, a key portion the Obama Administration has credited all along as having been embraced in Obamacare. Since pointing out yesterday that, in his own words, Mitt Romney supported a national individual mandate, his supporters have gone totally insane on...

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 --...

PHILADELPHIA -- Mitt Romney's aides soft-pedaled his latest tax pronouncements on Monday, insisting he wasn't tipping his hand when he told donors privately that he might seek to end the tax break for mortgages on second homes and curb other deductions for the wealthy as part of tax reform. "He was just discussing ideas that came up on the campaign trail," said former Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri, a frequent campaign surrogate. The remarks, made at a closed-door fundraiser in Florida and overheard by reporters, did not mark any "change in policy," Talent said on a conference call with reporters....

. . . . . What sort of justice to the Supreme Court will Mitt Romney nominate - a Souter or a Thomas? A Miers or an Alito? A Kennedy or a Scalia? His record as governor of Massachusetts gives no cause for optimism. Mr. Romney nominated 36 judges while governor, just nine of whom were Republicans. What he says of this record today is that the Massachusetts Governor's Council had to confirm the nominees, and the members of the council were all Democrats. So his answer was to nominate persons palatable to Democrats. But this all-Democratic Governor's Council is...

Now we will put to the test what was always an odd claim, namely that Mitt Romney is well positioned and well equipped to defeat Barack Obama this fall. This is a man who lost by 17 points to an incredibly weakened Ted Kennedy (people forget how vulnerable Kennedy was that year) in one of the most pro-Republican years in history, 1994 (the same year in which Rick Santorum won yet another upset victory); a man who would have been handily defeated if he had run for re-election as governor of Massachusetts in 2006; and a man who could barely...

2012 should prove to be an ideological election about the economy. Not all campaigns are so clear cut. Sometimes moderate Republicans raise taxes (like George H.W. Bush did); at other times, pragmatic Democrats cut spending (like Bill Clinton did). But this year, Mitt Romney, the likely Republican nominee, will run an ideological campaign calling for smaller government and fewer taxes against an equally ideological President Obama, who wants more government and higher taxes. In this divided red state/blue state era, the supporters of each candidate demand no less and will have a clear choice. This year's campaign sloganeering will remind...

The Big story this weekend is that “a congressional committee is investigating how $1.6 billion in customer funds went missing from bankrupt brokerage MF Global said Friday that it’s found evidence that then-CEO Jon Corzine directed a senior executive to use $200 million of clients’ money.” It’s such a shame to see the former Governor getting probed like this. I thought Dems were not subject to financial and accounting laws because they created the laws for us. All Corzine needs to do is go before the judge and jury, then tell them they are stupid and he knows better. He...

Governor Romney’s campaign is catching some flak because a top aide implied that many of the candidate’s positions have been insincere and that Romney will erase those views (like an Etch-a-Sketch) and return to his statist roots as the general election begins. I’m surprised that anyone’s surprised. Hasn’t anybody been paying attention to his comments and track record on issues such as the value-added tax, healthcare, Social Security reform, budget savings, ethanol subsidies, Keynesian economics, and the minimum wage? In any event, people should be more agitated by his recent defense of the corrupt TARP bailouts. [...] This is going...

A thousand injuries I suffered Fortunato. But when he turned to insult, I vowed revenge." Those are the opening words to Edgar Allen Poe's short story – “The Cask of Amontillado” – ... For a case of real-life of revenge in real-life American history, think of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Burr and Hamilton held a duel that led to the death of Hamilton, (who) had said something to someone about Burr being "despicable." Newt Gingrich has a deep and abiding case against Mitt Romney. Romney has spent millions with the single purpose of destroying Gingrich as a candidate. Oh,...