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Mitt Romney still can’t see himself voting for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. However, he can’t bring himself to vote for the Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton, either. But the 2012 GOP nominee has a solution: putting his own wife’s name on the ballot. “It’s a matter of personal conscience,” Romney told CBS News’ John Dickerson Wednesday at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “I can’t vote for either of those two people.” Romney explained that he simply cannot get behind Trump’s divisive character. “Our nominee is saying, ‘Hey look it’s these people here. It’s these Mexicans coming across the border... it’s...

Donald Trump can be an effective president, and he's going to win with you or without you, Republican Chairman Reince Priebus told several hundred of the party's top donors and strategists Saturday. Trump is setting a dangerous example for Americans by promoting "trickle-down racism," and the party must look beyond this presidential election to find its future, the 2012 nominee Mitt Romney told the same group later that morning. Delivered within moments of each other at Romney's annual business and politics summit at a five-star ski resort, those opposite messages were enough to cause whiplash. That's a hazard of being...

Mitt Romney said Friday he does not expect his Mormon faith to become a challenge in this election, and added that he thinks most voters prioritize other issues over religion. “I addressed this last time around, had a speech on religion in America. … That’s sort of been put to bed for me,” Romney said on the Kilmeade & Friends show on Fox News Radio. “I know there are some for whom religion is the most important issue, and I may lose some of those folks, but for the great majority of Americans, they want to see this country going...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) campaign honeymoon appears to have ended, as other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination begin voicing open criticism of Romney. Romney, by virtue of his status as the putative frontrunner in the race, is now facing increasingly vocal criticism from his competitors, criticism that had otherwise been muted or nonexistent so far in the campaign. The attacks suggest that the campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination hasn't just begun, but has advanced to the point where candidates have started to throw elbows in order to jockey for position with primary voters. There was no...

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's stock is rising. Trump was tied for first place with Mike Huckabee in his debut yesterday in the Gallup poll of Republicans' choices for the 2012 presidential nomination. Both garnered 16 percent from registered Republicans. Trump's popularity was buoyed by strong support among liberal and moderate Republicans, who, unfortunately for Trump, are typically outnumbered by conservatives 2 to 1 among GOP primary voters. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who now hosts his own show on Fox News Channel, had a commanding lead among conservative Republicans, 18 percent to Trump's 13. Trump carried moderate/liberal Republicans 21-13 percent...

America DOES Need A New President. Only … Its NOT ROMNEY! A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet Mitt Romney was in New Hampshire over the weekend shining his image as he endeavors to capture the republican nomination as the candidate for President of the United States. Problem is – conservatives, whose numbers basically control the nominating process; don’t want any part of Romney. (Count “yours truly among them!) For at least two years prior to the 2008 presidential election we told anyone and everyone, who would listen, that John McCain would never be President of the United States. But, the...

Sh'yeah....riiiight....

WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Tea Party movement activist Andrew Hemingway is not lacking in contact with likely presidential candidates. He’s talked hockey with Tim Pawlenty. He sat down with former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum at the Concord Country Club. And plans are in the works for Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to appear before a group of Hemingway’s fellow conservatives. the notable exception among the field of would-be GOP presidential contenders? Mitt Romney. “Romney for the most part is inaccessible,’’ said Hemingway, a Bristol resident who is chairman of the state’s Republican Liberty Caucus. “Pawlenty, I could call him right now...

As some like to say, the 2012 presidential campaign began the day after the 2010 midterm elections. And with the bulk of the action on the Republican side as contenders start lining up to challenger President Obama, it's not too soon to start speculating about who's most likely going to be at the top of the GOP ticket. Republican strategist Mike Murphy has worked on the campaigns of Sen. John McCain, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and others. He tells Morning Edition guest host Linda Wertheimer that Romney and current Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels now...

Missing: Republicans. Must be willing to declare candidacy for president of the United States. Missed terribly. Last seen dancing with the Tea Party movement. What's going on? Usually, by now in the "campaign cycle" (shortly after the midterm elections), at least a handful of candidates have declared their intention to run for president to much fanfare. But for the Republicans this time around, nobody is ready to announce. They're not even close. Yes, of course, there are names being floated around: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour and – needless to say – Sarah "the Barracuda" Palin. But nobody seems...

Viewed in isolation, Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential candidacy is doomed. In 2008, Romney earned himself a reputation as a flip-flopper as he dramatically attempted to reshape himself as a stanch conservative despite having previously staked out liberal positions on abortion, guns, immigration and a litany of other issues. This time around, Romney faces the additional burden of trying to explain away his most significant legislative accomplishment as governor of Massachusetts -- a big government health care plan that was a model for ObamaCare. In his last presidential bid he was largely able to get a pass, because health care wasn't...

(Graph at link) Conservatives4Palin(C4P) today reported that Gov. Palin’s internet search traffic is six times greater than the traffic for Romney, Gingrich, Huckabee, and Pawlenty. C4P’s story is based on Nate Silver’s “The 800-Pound Mama Grizzly Problem” published last night in the New York Times. The numbers are even more staggering when each candidate’s search traffic is analyzed. Silver wrote: Ms. Palin’s search traffic, since the start of 2010, is roughly 16 times that of Mitt Romney, 14 times that of Newt Gingrich, 38 times that of Mike Huckabee, and 87 times that of Mr. Pawlenty. (It is about six...

An interesting piece by Nate Silver at the New York Times. Silver compares Governor Palin's web traffic to other potential 2012 candidates and finds that there is no comparison:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is letting donors know it’ll be a while before he looks to 2012 — and that any presidential campaign he builds will have a much smaller staff than in 2008. “People are exhausted from the 2010 election, and they’re not anxious to begin right away with the next campaign,” Romney told 245 of his top financial supporters on a conference call Thursday, a Romney aide told POLITICO. His team organized the call to connect with top supporters following a busy 2010 season and discuss Romney’s political future. Romney also told supporters that his organization will...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Monday it would be "great" for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to run for president in 2012. "She would be a great thing for the Republican primary process," said Romney, a 2008 presidential candidate and a potential candidate again in 2012. "It'd be a good thing for her to get in." Romney, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) have all rallied around Palin, who on Sunday night condemned suggestions that GOP operatives in Washington were looking to stall any potential presidential aspirations...

Via GOP12, I’m surprised that this modest statement of painfully obvious fact is making waves today. Click the image below and skip ahead to 8:00 for the money part, although the whole thing’s worth watching. He starts with a cute bit about phoning the families of National Guardsmen to say hi, proceeds to talk about Campaign ’08, and then after the part about Obama praises Palin for her “energy and spunk and passion.” (“Code words,” says Ben Smith, trying to stir up trouble.) What makes this newsworthy, I guess, is that it’s a rare caution about hubris at a moment...

WASHINGTON -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the early frontrunner among potential Republican candidates for president in 2012, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. While former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin commands the national spotlight, turning out "tea party" activists and headlining rallies, for now it's Romney who claims the lead at 25 percent, months before an official field takes shape. Palin, GOP nominee John McCain's 2008 running mate, took second with 18 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied for third place with 16 percent. Finishing out the pack were Minnesota Gov. Tim...

Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) held a fundraiser in Manhattan last week and outperformed Pres. Obama's own cash grab a day later on behalf of the DCCC, another sign of trouble brewing for Dems this cycle in all corners of the country. Romney headlined an event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on May 12 that raised $1.5M for his Free and Strong America PAC. By contrast, Obama's appearance at the St. Regis Hotel on May 13 raked in a lesser $1.3 million for the DCCC.

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...

A Request of Personal Privilege: We Are In A Huge Constitutional Crisis. Could We Layoff The Romney-Bashing For A While? We are in a huge Constitutional and practical crisis in our country. Obama and the DC Dems are trying to ram Government Socialized medicine through by any way they can, legal or otherwise. They are doing so for one reason. If they make 51% of the voters dependent on the government, they will be in power forever. This is what they want. I know Mitt Romney’s positions anger many here, but he will not run for any office foe the...