Free Republic

Had someone like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush entered the 2012 Republican primary, Mitt Romney says he might not have entered the presidential race. In an interview with Dan Balz for the Washington Post reporter’s soon-to-be released “Collision 2012: Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America,” Romney said that he would have seriously considered staying out of the presidential race if someone of Bush’s caliber declared his candidacy. “I knew how grueling the process was, and I felt that there may be others who could be more effective in actually winning and then getting America on course,”...

Mark DeMoss, a well-connected Romney supporter, released a memo recently that touted Romney as the best candidate. More notable, however, were his swipes at other Republicans who are prospective candidates for 2012. DeMoss begins the memo, which he sent out to hundreds of major donors and pastors, outlining what he sees as needed in the upcoming campaign. He then quickly moves into listing people who "share" the same values, including Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Sarah Palin. At the end of the list, DeMoss states that values alone cannot win, and then proceeds to list why he believes...

The "straw poll" was open only to the 426 registered members of the Republican committee, and 65 percent of those commitee members participated. The take away: Romney's still the solid frontrunner here, but there's plenty of room for another Republican to break through here. Pawlenty's showing was also impressive, given how new he is to the scene. He has, however, been working New Hampshire, as have his suporters. The Republican committee members were also asked to pick the issue that was the "most important for the Republican nominee to focus upon": Reducing the size of the federal government: 49 percent...

After basically evading reporters all day, the Massachusetts Republican recently announced that he will support the arms reduction treaty. Brown told reporters following a closed-session intelligence briefing that he had given the issue “due diligence” and hoped see the treaty ratified. “I believe it’s something that’s important for our country, and I believe it’s a good move forward to deal with our national security issues,” he said. A cloture vote is expected on Tuesday.