Free Republic

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...

On Wednesday, former Florida Governor and Republican Party heavyweight Jeb Bush endorsed Mitt Romney for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. But some believe the Bush endorsement may actually have more to do with Sarah Palin (and her tacit endorsements of Newt Gingrich) than Mitt Romney. "I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our Party¹s nomination," Bush announced Wednesday. "We face huge challenges, and we need a leader who understands the economy, recognizes more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed." To state categorically that some in...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: There was a column by Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal (it's some months ago now) and I'll never forget this piece. Henninger writes really brilliant stuff pretty consistently. And in that column some months ago, he made the observation that Mitt Romney, a good guy, was always going to have to be nudged to conservatism; was always gonna have to be nudged to the right as he navigates his way through the Republican primaries. I think Henninger has been borne out; his piece is accurate. Romney has become a better debater. But the real evidence...

The Michigan Republican Party voted to break a delegate tie Wednesday night, awarding 16 delegates to Mitt Romney and 14 to Rick Santorum. The decision, which broke a 15-15 tie that would have resulted under the pre-primary interpretation of the rules, caused disbelief at Rick Santorum’s campaign. A spokesman rejected the decision. Even Romney supporters in the Michigan GOP said the decision was unfair to Santorum. “I have this crazy idea that you follow the rules,” said former Attorney General Mike Cox said after a 4-2 vote by a Michigan GOP credentialing committee, according to the AP. “I’d love to...

Sarah Palin’s not running for president, but up until this month she has been beating GOP front-runner Mitt Romney in a different kind of race. For the past few months, the ex-Republican vice presidential candidate has been whooping the former Massachusetts governor in one website’s merchandise sales. CafePress.com, which lets customers design and sell their own clothing items and other merchandise, finds that in December, Palin-inspired gear far outsold items featuring Romney, 80 percent to 20 percent. An average of 137,000 designs are uploaded to the website each week. Even last month, people were still picking Palin over the White...

Mitt Romney isn't singing anymore. A little more than two weeks after his off-key but enthusiastic renditions of "America the Beautiful" captured the spirit of a candidate who had won the Florida primary and seemed on the verge of locking down the Republican nomination for president, Romney is back in lackluster mode. It's not just that Romney is facing a surprising challenge in his native state of Michigan from Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who vaulted into contention in the state-by-state nomination battle with wins in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado. What alarms many Republican Party leaders and strategists are...

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's struggles in Michigan are fueling speculation that Republicans might have to resort to a doomsday scenario and launch a frantic search for a 2012 savior at their nominating convention in late August. Rare in the modern age of U.S. politics, a "brokered convention" could result in Republicans ditching their current crop of candidates and turning to someone else who they feel would have a better chance of defeating Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. How did Republicans get to this point? Romney's failure to get conservatives fully behind him and put down yet...

Republican Mitt Romney is faltering with white working-class voters crucial to his party's drive to capture the White House, even as he tries to fend off a rising GOP challenger, Rick Santorum, who wields strong blue-collar appeal. The wealthy former Bain Capital chief has led his rivals by comfortable margins among white college graduates, according to combined polls of voters in the first five states that held presidential nominating contests. But the exit and entry surveys showed only a modest Romney advantage among whites who lack college degrees, the yardstick analysts typically use to define the working class.

Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his conservative bona fides following doubts expressed by Sarah Palin. The former Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate told Fox News Sunday that she is "not convinced" by Romney's conservative instincts, indicating he may not be conservative "enough" for her. "And I don't think that the majority of GOP and Independent voters are convinced, and that is why you don't see Romney get over that hump," she said. (VIDEO AT LINK) "I'm not quite sure what she'd be referring to," Romney responded Wednesday, also on Fox News. "I'm pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, I believe in the...

Mitt Romney's overall favorable ratings have dropped, while Rick Santorum's standing has jumped among Republicans, according to a new national survey. A CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday indicates Romney's popularity has especially taken a tumble among Republicans, with a 13-point decline in positive reviews from his own party.

By a more than two to one margin, Americans say that the more they learn about Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, the more they dislike him, per a new Washington Post / ABC poll: Overall, 55 percent of those who are closely following the campaign say they disapprove of what the GOP candidates have been saying. By better than 2 to 1, Americans say the more they learn about Romney, the less they like him. Even among Republicans, as many offer negative as positive assessments of him on this question. Judgments about former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who denounced Romney...

A New Hampshire surrogate for Mitt Romney said at a local political event that it's evident he will be the Republican presidential nominee and suggested that "beliefs and principles" should not be the deciding factor for voters. State Sen. Gary Lambert said the most important thing is to nominate somebody who can defeat President Obama. "I don't get it. This is not about picking a favorite, it's not about picking someone you like," Lambert said. "It's not about picking someone even with your own beliefs and principles. This is about picking a person who can beat Barack Obama, period."

MIAMI — Mitt Romney aggressively criticized rival Newt Gingrich on Tuesday, calling the former House speaker a “lifelong politician” and questioning Gingrich’s ability to fix the country’s struggling economy. Romney, speaking a day after Gingrich criticized him during a campaign stop in South Carolina, told Fox News that Gingrich wasn’t as likely to beat President Barack Obama in a general election.

With all the chaos surrounding the Republican nomination race, one thing is very clear: somewhere along the way, Mitt Romney made a Damn Yankees-like pact with Satan to score this group of individuals to run against. It is certain that a vast majority of Republican primary voters do not like Mitt Romney. In fact, we can go further – they can’t stand him. That’s why he’s never broken 30 percent in any national poll of Republican primary voters. That’s why Tea Party support has shuffled from Michele Bachmann to Rick Perry to Herman Cain. Sadly, though, none of those candidates...

Are you sick and tired yet of hearing about Mitt Romney being the "most electable" candidate? I am. Lately, via the media and our own RNC elites, we have been fed this constant drivel about the electability of Mitt Romney. The same tired story goes that, because Romney was the centrist Republican governor of a blue state, he has the widest voter appeal, and thus the best chance to win in a general election. This is a bad joke. Now, I'm no beltway "expert." However, I've had the opportunity to work on campaigns ranging from U.S. Senate down to City...

One of the vast improvements of Mitt Romney’s current presidential campaign over his previous one has been its relative freedom from obvious, cringe-inducing pandering. Until now. This new campaign video attacking Rick Perry on education benefits for undocumented immigrants represents the return of the bad old Romney. Thank You Governor Perry No one imagines Romney to be an authentic, Tom Tancredo-like, anti-immigration politician. But Romney has consistently used immigration as a wedge issue in Republican primaries. In August 2007, he went after Rudy Giuliani in a New Hampshire radio ad for tolerating “sanctuary policies.” In December 2007 he attacked Mike...

The Republican primaries have been taking a weird, wrenching turn. The pattern could be described as chaotic, except that it has one consistent theme. That theme is that Republican voters are searching for someone, anyone, other than Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney ran a large national campaign for the nomination four years ago, so he is well-known to Republican primary voters. Too well known. They know all about his infamous flip-flops on abortion. They know all about RomneyCare, the government-directed health care plan he created as governor of Massachusetts, which he touted as a model for the rest of the nation...

The Republican presidential primary contest is over. Yes, you heard us right. Despite the months of campaigning ahead; the speeches, fundraising, media proxy wars, endorsements, gaffes and dark horse speculation, there is increasingly little doubt about the Republican presidential nominee for 2012. His name is Mitt Romney. From the beginning the contest has been Romney’s to lose, and not merely because of a party predilection toward nominating the last runner up. It’s been Romney’s to lose because of a combination of his own qualities, and those of his competition. Were he in a position to be truly candid, like any...

Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain ripped former one-term Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney after finding out Romney’s recently-released schedule didn’t have The Daily Caller/Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)/YouTube debate on it. Cain says he wants the American people to hear from all the Republican presidential candidates, not just some. “Governor Romney, saying you’re a businessman simply isn’t enough,” Cain said in a statement. “I hope you will participate in this debate to showcase what experiences and vision we each have, and which of us would be able to best help stabilize and grow our economy.” Cain also said he thinks...

Over past 7 months, Mitt Romney’s favor among Republicans has fallen off a cliff. Monthly surveys by Public Policy Polling shows that Romney’s level of support has fallen to just 48% among Republican voters from a high of 67% in May of this year. Romney polled in the 60s on the first three polls but has not reached that threshold since and now for the first time he's below 50% with the party base. I don't have any theories to explain Romney's popularity slide with Republican voters but it certainly bodes ominous for his 2012 nomination prospects if he can't...