Free Republic

Don't focus on the topline numbers since it's hard to gauge how reliable they are. The Fox poll has O leading 49/40 based on a sample of D+9; last month he led 45/41 with a sample of just D+4. As for CNN, they've got Obama up 52/45 but provide no partisan breakdown with which to judge the sample.What to do, then? Let's focus on the indies. CNN:The margin of error increases for a subsample, as you can see, but that's a lot of cushion for the Unicorn Prince. No mystery where it's coming from, either: According to CNN, 52 percent...

Liberals don't want to jinx it. It terrifies the right. And the press would prefer a nail-biter. But the fact is that finding Romney's path to victory is getting harder every day. There's a secret lurking behind everything you're reading about the upcoming election, a secret that all political insiders know—or should—but few are talking about, most likely because it takes the drama out of the whole business. The secret is the electoral college, and the fact is that the more you look at it, the more you come to conclude that Mitt Romney has to draw an inside straight...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows Mitt Romney attracting 49% of the vote, while President Obama earns support from 44%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. The numbers are similar to the 49% to 43% advantage Romney enjoys on the question of who is trusted more to handle the economy.

“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt thundered out those captivating words at his first inaugural speech in 1933. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney must seriously confront the political ghosts haunting his decision to let Sarah Palin speak at the GOP National Convention in August in Tampa, FL. Allow Palin to speak so that a Romney administration can turn economic retreat by Obama into economic advance. This is the time when Romney has the...

Republicans are kidding themselves if they believe Mitt Romney, at least his current iteration, can win the election merely by attacking Barack Obama. Given Romney’s lack of conservative principles, perhaps that is for the best. Who is Mitt Romney? What does he believe? Where are his core principles? There is no need to seek penitence if you don’t know the answer to the preceding questions. After all, no one could provide a consistent answer. Romney was for gun control before he was the NRA’s proudest supporter, for health care reform before he championed the repeal of Romneycare (excuse me, Obamacare),...

This year, America needs to elect a great president, and that will require voting against the incumbent. Mitt Romney has failed to excite conservatives, by and large, and is suspected of being too centrist, even too liberal, to bring the necessary resolve to the office that might place America back on the right path. However, alternatives seem few and far between as there is almost no chance of anyone else being nominated for the GOP or elected as a third party candidate. So it's basically a choice between Mitt Romney stepping up to the plate, or waiting for that great...

Which candidate do you trust more on issues of national security? Barack Obama - 77% Mitt Romney - 23% Total Votes: 4,127 Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

She is the Tea Party diva who lit up the 2008 Presidential campaign. But four years later Mitt Romney is facing one of the most vexing questions of his campaign: what to do with Sarah Palin? In an increasingly uncomfortable stand-off, he has not invited her to next month’s Republican national convention whilst she has failed to give him her full backing. --snip-- The result is that the Republican presidential candidate is left without the endorsement of a woman who can energise his base in a way he can only dream of. The former Massachusetts governor - who is so...

Rahm Emanuel to Mitt Romney: ‘Stop Whining’Jul 15, 2012 12:41pm Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said this morning on “This Week” that presumptive GOP nominee for president Mitt Romney should “stop whining” about attacks on his Bain record and just defend himself. “What are you going to do when the Chinese leader says something to you or Putin says something to you?” said Emanuel. ”I give him his own advice. ’Stop whining.’ Defend — if you want to claim Bain Capital as your calling card to the White House, then defend what happened to Bain Capital.”

Host Bob Schieffer says he has just found out that Romney is running an ad during the commercial breaks “using me….It is something we didn’t know about when this broadcast started" . Schieffer says, “obviously, I have no connection with the Romney campaign. It was done without our permission. It comes as a total surprise to me”...(2 videos)

Democrats believe they’ve drawn blood with their latest round of distorted and discredited attacks on Bain Capital, the equity firm co-founded by Gov. Mitt Romney. However, the cost of the Bain smears to the Obama brand might actually be the more important storyline emerging from this charade. This blow to the very core of who Obama was supposed to be is highlighted in the Romney campaign’s newest ad:

How does Romney handle dirty campaign attack adds and whispered lies about who he is? (the purpose of which is to cause doubt in the minds of those willing to vote for Romney but not wanting to). I was working with my son-in-law and a few of his friends a few weeks back. I know those guys to be conservative to some degree or another... I wanted to razz them a little so I asked them, "so, are you guys voting for Obama again?" They, all at once, denounced that they had voted for him the first time and would...

VAN SUSTEREN: What do you make of the food fight that's going on as - the recent - today, the deputy campaign manager of President Obama's campaign, Stephanie Cutter, accused Governor Romney of either being a liar or a felon. I don't know - I guess it's better to be a liar than a felon. Nonetheless, both are terrible. He's calling for an apology tonight. PALIN: I'm glad that he is forcefully calling for an apology. But Mitt Romney and his campaign people perhaps don't even know what's coming, what will be hitting him. This is just the tip of...

Jay Severin -- one of Romney's biggest supporters and a professional campaign manager -- spoke about the state of the presidential campaign. After first acknowledging that Independents do not like negative ads, he stated that unless Romney starts fighting as hard against Obama as Obama is against him, Romney loses. It's that clear to so many people on the right. Why Romney is being Mr. Rogers is open to debate. Romney is of the 50s and 60s generation, when the idea of an Obama in public office would have been regarded as either a stupid joke or alternate universe science...

"...the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Mitt Romney, appears incapable of putting or unwilling to put on the mantle of confidence-inspiring leadership. He does not convey a genuine sense of understanding of the people's angst and is unwilling to display an immutable set of core convictions. The campaign, thus far, seems to be relying on the assumption that the election in November will be solely a referendum on Barack Obama, as enough people will be so intent on change of any sort that they will vote for Romney as the only alternative."

President Obama goes after Mitt Romney’s stance on abortion and Planned Parenthood in a TV ad that starts airing Saturday in Virginia and seven other swing states. “Every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health-care should be our own is troubled Mitt Romney supports overturning Roe versus Wade,” the female voiceover begins. “Romney backed a law that outlaws all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.”

WOLFEBORO, N.H. — Mitt Romney is planning to fortify his communications and messaging team by adding seasoned operatives, advisers close to the campaign said Thursday, after withering criticism from prominent conservative voices that his insular team has fumbled recent opportunities. Romney’s advisers insisted that he would keep his inner circle intact amid growing concerns about the Republican presidential candidate and his campaign. The tempest began with a weekend tweet from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and burst Thursday onto the pages of his newspaper the Wall Street Journal, as its conservative editorial board opined that Romney’s advisers were “slowly squandering an...

A chorus of prominent conservative voices is worrying aloud that Republican candidate Mitt Romney's play-it-safe strategy is jeopardizing his chance to win the presidency. As President Barack Obama's campaign intensifies criticism of Romney's background, influential Republicans — right-leaning leaders in business and the media — charge that Romney's message on the economy and other issues is short on detail and muddled at best. In an editorial Thursday, The Wall Street Journal said the Romney campaign is "slowly squandering an historic opportunity." "The Romney campaign thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy...

Remember Michael Dukakis (1988) and John Kerry (2004)? It's possible to lose a winnable presidential election to a vulnerable incumbent in the White House (or in the case of 1988, a sitting vice president). So, speaking of losing candidates from Massachusetts: Is it too much to ask Mitt Romney to get off autopilot and actually think about the race he's running? Adopting a prevent defense when it's only the second quarter and you're not even ahead is dubious enough as a strategy. But his campaign's monomaniacal belief that it's about the economy and only the economy, and that they need to...

Goode said that "amnesty in any form only encourages more illegal entry." Before Mitt Romney's visit to Salem on Tuesday, former congressman and Constitution Party presidential candidate Virgil Goode held a morning news conference in Roanoke calling on Romney to take a stronger position on illegal immigration. Goode said Romney "essentially gave no response" when it comes to the issue. Goode also criticized President Barack Obama's stance on immigration, including a new policy that would allow some younger illegal immigrants to stay in the country. "Unlike Romney, if I was elected president, I would immediately rescind the direction of President...

I don’t see it happening, though, and here’s why: 1. History: Until the trend is broken, Wisconsin is still a blue state when it comes to presidential politics. Our state has not gone to a Republican since 1984, when Ronald Reagan rolled to an easy victory over Walter Mondale, who consistently came off as a slightly less ebullient Droopy Dog. Despite winning the presidency twice, George W. Bush never took Wisconsin, and even Michael Dukakis eked out a win in ’88 while getting thumped nationally by George H.W. Bush. In fact, in the 1988 election, Wisconsin accounted for nearly 10%...

Romney "agrees" with Rubio. Wants "long term" solution. Full statement in Comments.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best metaphor, but he fumbled an important opportunity. The problem with the president’s amnesty decree is not that it “makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution because an executive order is, of course, just a short-term matter — it can be reversed by subsequent presidents.” The problem is that it’s u-n-c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n-a-l. You would expect Allen West and Steve King to be forceful in denouncing this usurpation, but even Amnesty John McCain and Rick “you don’t have a heart” Perry were strong. Heck, Lindsey Graham — Lindsey Graham — denounced the move as “possibly...

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...

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...

Herman Cain is denouncing Democrats for suggesting that attacking President Barack Obama’s connections to Rev. Jeremiah Wright is racist, saying that using the reverend to go after the president is “fair game.” “It is fair if someone wants to highlight the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his relationship with Barack Obama because, quite frankly, it wasn’t highlighted enough in 2008 when he was running for president the first time,” Cain told Greta Van Susteren of Fox News on Thursday. “This administration, which has been shown to go after people who donate to Mitt Romney and try and slander their reputation, then,...

Almost four years ago, I was watching Sarah Palin rile up a Clearwater, Fla., crowd with anti-Obama broadsides when a spectator let loose a bloodcurdling cry of "kill him!" To his credit, John McCain realized the Obama hatred was getting out of hand, and a few days later, when a woman at one of his events called Obama an "Arab," McCain did one of the most honorable things in his political career. "No, ma'am," he said, taking the microphone from the woman and enduring some boos from supporters. "He's a decent, family-man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements...

Friday was supposed to be the moment for Mitt Romney's triumphant return to his birthplace, when he would use the cavernous green of Ford Field to deliver a policy address that established him as the lone Republican capable of both fixing the economy and beating President Barack Obama. But the event served up fresh evidence for Romney critics who say he can't rise to the occasion and rally important elements of the GOP around his candidacy.

Mr. 25% has done it again. Willard Romney has a thing about the number 25. If there are six people in the Republican field his 25% puts him at or near the top. When the field thins out his 25% will have to be increased or he will end up the same way he did in 2008. Rick Santorum is a solid conservative who demonstrated that a candidate’s perceived conservatism will ultimately be the quality that propels one of the Republicans on the stage to the nomination. Whether Rick has the staying power to mount a protracted fight remains to...

7 Reasons Why Mitt Romney's Electability Is A Myth Dec 27, 2011. by John Hawkins Mitt Romney was a moderate governor in Massachusetts with an unimpressive record of governance, who left office with an approval rating in the thirties, and whose signature achievement 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 conservativeand 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...

With the Republican presidential primary appearing to have narrowed into a two-man contest, Human Events and Red State moved quickly to lock down a date for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. The two organizations went so far this past Monday as to firm up the Annenberg Theater at the Newseum in Washington as the venue on Dec. 19 after another debate originally scheduled that day was canceled. For its part, the Newseum was excited to host the pre-primary forum. There was just one problem. While Gingrich was ready to take his place on the stage, the...

The LDS Church is politically neutral, as is MDL. Mormons hold elected office and positions of responsibility in both US political parties and various parties worldwide. When we respond to any issue regarding politics, we do so only to correct misinformation and misperceptions about the Church, not in an effort to promote a particular candidate or party. Recently, Politico reported that part of President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign strategy will be to portray Mitt Romney, a Mormon and possible Republican presidential nominee, as “weird.” The Politico report did not specifically tie the “weird” charge to Romney’s Mormon faith, but many...

Hohmann: Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace publicly called out Mitt Romney this morning for avoiding press scrutiny. At the end of a 26-minute interview with Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Austin, Wallace noted that he has now interviewed all the major candidates as part of his 2012 one-on-one series, except the frontrunner. ---- “He has not appeared on this program or any Sunday talk show since March of 2010,” Wallace said. “We invited Gov. Romney again this week, but his campaign says he’s still not ready to sit down for an interview.” Because of the influence Fox wields among...

Republican candidates for president have been busy for weeks now, laboring strenuously to give the 2012 nomination to Mitt Romney. And he keeps trying to give it back. The former Massachusetts governor could walk to next year's GOP convention without touching the ground, treading exclusively on the bodies of rivals who have fallen on their faces..... ....True, he has been guilty of occasional deviations from orthodox Republican theology,...His heresies on gay rights, abortion and gun control required extensive displays of penance, which he performed the last time out. Besides, the GOP actually tends to nominate candidates closer to the party's...

The Link above says it all. This is the Map that President Obama and his team of political advisors will strive for in 2012. With the economy further deteriorating, his chances of re-election seem bleak. But the Electoral College provides one clear, very plausible path to reelection. In essence, the strategy is the following: (1) Hold the Solid Blue states that have not voted Republican in the last 24 years (2) Maintain the gains made in Hispanic Voters By AND (3) Using the Weakness of Romney/Perry in a particular State to keep it Blue (4) Cede the “Fickle 5” (as...

Mitt Romney must have really been angry after last night's debate, because today his campaign released an attack ad which questioned Governor Rick Perry's intelligence, debate performances, and his ability to lead. According to reports, it portrayed Mr. Perry as a "moron" and an "idiot in general." And just as quick as it was put up, it vanished. And now the only thing you get when you try to watch the video is this: A conservative website that saw the video described it thusly: ...[With] some doofy facial expressions and looooong pauses mid-sentence during answers, it’s clear enough what lesson...

Rick Perry went into Tuesday night’s debate looking to rattle Mitt Romney — and it worked. Perry’s been under fire for his own immigration record, and resurrecting the 2007 report that Romney had hired illegal workers helped him blunt the advantage Romney had been able to get on the issue as Perry looks to recover from his collapse in the polls. Plus, according to a Perry source, there was an added bonus: by going after Romney personally — the accusation has to do with Romney’s own house — they saw the potential to make Romney react the hardest. And despite...

“You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!” – Taylor (Charlton Heston); The Planet of the Apes, (1968) This classic line is all that came to mind when I read this piece in POLITICO—following New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision not to enter the presidential field, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s law firm made a number of calls requesting early state filing deadlines… that’s right. She thinks she can blow it up. She just might. Poll Shows Palin Within 5 Points of Obama She Has A Documentary Out, Doncha Know? Palin’s political action...

Aided by strong tea party support, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has surged in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, pushing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney into second place and significantly diminishing the once-rising star of Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

One Republican presidential candidate who would benefit if Sarah Palin entered the contest is Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has sunk dramatically in the polls since the entry of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and a Palin candidacy probably would skim off some the tea party support boosting Perry, The Washington Post’s political blog The Fix reports. Two national polls now show Perry leading Romney by 12 points, and a substantial part of this strength is with the tea party. Perry runs neck and neck with Romney among GOP members not associated with the tea party but leads all rivals...

...But Republicans in Iowa and South Carolina — which hold contests bookending New Hampshire's primary — question whether Romney is doing enough to stay competitive in those states. "He's obviously has the national appeal, the fundraising apparatus. He certainly would be a formidable candidate if he makes it through the primary. But I'm not sure he thinks he can win South Carolina," said Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is hosting a series of town hall meetings for Republican presidential contenders. Romney hasn't appeared at one of the town halls, but is working toward setting up a date with Scott. "I...

Put up your Mitts! By Hillary Chabot | Thursday, August 18, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | U.S. Politics Texas Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning in the Granite State next door to Mitt Romney’s home state and Barack Obama’s preferred vacation spot, fired broadsides at both of his top rivals yesterday — with a jab at Romneycare and an unrepentant vow to keep speaking his mind no matter what the president thinks about it. “The rhetoric will probably get heated. I’m going to be outspoken, I’m going to be passionate, I’m going to be calling it like I see it,” Perry told the...

Politico notes correctly, that this is a great line directed at Romney, an “eh” line directed at Pawlenty, and a dumb line directed at Perry or Palin. There’s no obvious way out of this box: After four years of blaming the failures of Hopenchange in part on The One having never run so much as a lemonade stand, how do Republicans turn around now and take a chance on Bachmann? Bachmann said executive experience doesn’t matter if it comes with “more of the same big government as usual.” “This election will be about quite simply, who can lead that restructuring...

Mitt Romney may be leading in the polls, but his status as the GOP “frontrunner” is fragile at best. For all the talk of Romney’s “did-what-he-had-to-do” performance in the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, it’s widely accepted that the former Massachusetts governor is an uninspired choice for the GOP nomination. ... Historically, Republicans have nominated the runner-up from the previous election cycle, and Romney was the runner-up in 2008. But his second-place finish was exceedingly narrow — and in the end, closely contested. Once John McCain beat him in New Hampshire and South Carolina — after Mike Huckabee had...

Unless you have been involved in an airplane crash in the mountains and have had no food for days –– and some would argue even then –– cannibalism is a bad option. So why has it become such a popular pastime for the Republican Party? The candidates who are admitting they might run against President Barack Obama in 2012 have almost no chance at competing with him –– much less making him a one-term president. If the Republicans are serious about beating Obama, they need a conservative who can exist closer to the middle of the political spectrum. Ron Paul...

As evidence against my skepticism of Sarah Palin’s supposed front-runner status for 2012, I give you the latest round of Public Policy Center polls: PPP’s newest batch of 2012 Republican primary polls conducted right before last week’s election finds Mitt Romney ahead in the critical early state of Florida, Tim Pawlenty surprisingly weak in his home state of Minnesota, and Sarah Palin posting leads in Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Maine. All of her leads are relatively slim, but the fact that she’s ahead of Huckabee in Texas and West Virginia is notable, and her leads in Maine (by 23...

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tweeted her opinions of President Barack Obama's interview on "The View" this morning. Palin wrote: "President with no time to visit porous US/Mexican border to offer help to those risking life to secure us, but lotso' (lots of) time to chat on 'The View?'" A later tweet read: "I'm headed to border in near future... let's see how quickly his travel schedule will allow that border visit after all." While on "The View," Obama spoke on a variety of topics ranging from the unemployment rate and the war in Afghanistan, to Lindsay Lohan and...

One of the things that’s starting to emerge on the Republican side of the political struggle is a world view that can be called the Palin Doctrine. It’s remarkable that none of the other leading figures in the party has come to be associated with a particular foreign policy trajectory. Can one think, say, of a Pawlenty Doctrine or a Daniels Doctrine or a even a Perry or a Schwartzenegger or a Romney Doctrine? They each have their own bona fides, but developing the outlines of a coherent foreign policy view isn’t one of them. Governor Palin, by contrast, has...

Today I endorsed Susana Martinez for governor of New Mexico - Mitt Romney Better late than never I guess...Welcome Mitt http://www.freestrongamerica.com/press/item/release_mitt_romney_announces_new_mexico_endorsements

If Sarah Palin, with her mega-wattage superstar status sucking up all the available oxygen in the room, is it worth sharing a stage and competing for some attention? Between now and the first GOP nomination season debate a year from now, that will be the question asked over and over again by the smart political operatives plotting Tim Pawlenty's, Mitt Romney's, and other nonreality show starring Republicans' paths to the White House. The cattle call season for the 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls is upon us, but the media obsession with all things Palin and her knack for dominating a news...