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Barbour Won't Rule Out 2012 Run By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: February 19, 2010 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, two possible 2012 presidential candidates, called for a return to conservative principles before a critical constituency Friday, while Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour wouldn't rule out a White House bid of his own. ''If you see me losing 40 pounds that means I'm either running or have cancer,'' quipped Barbour, a former lobbyist and GOP chairman who Republican insiders say could be a formidable candidate. The head of the Republican Governors' Association, Barbour made the...

When Mitt Romney, candidate for president, came to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2007, he was a fresh-faced over-eager student of Republican politics: He won cheers for a newfound social conservatism, and won a straw poll amid charges he’d packed the hall. Romney ended his candidacy in an emotional speech to CPAC the next year, and in 2009 he used the forum to open a critique of President Barack Obama that he spent the next year refining. The new Romney, received Thursday as the favorite son at the gathering of conservative activists, is a more constant, seasoned, and comfortable...

WASHINGTON — Republican Mitt Romney is blistering President Barack Obama for a squandered inaugural year filled with policy failures and broken promises. He blames Obama for failing the American people, and said that's why Democrats will lose their majority come this fall. Romney spoke to a Washington gathering of conservatives, a critical constituency in the Republican primary fight in two years. The former Massachusetts governor hasn't decided whether to run for president again.

Described as ‘Mardi Gras for the Right’, CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) opened this morning at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C. Excited GOP power players, power player makers, and everyday citizens concerned about the abuse of political power are streaming through the doors. The three-day conference will be filled with speeches, exhibits, forums, panel discussions, book signings, networking, hospitality suites, banquets, and entertainment. Among official bloggers attending is our own Nate Gunderson. He will be posting blog updates and sending live tweets. We’ve already received several tweets today from Nate, including one received this morning: “Governor Romney...