Free Republic

TROY, Mich. — Employing a trick they used during the hotly contested Florida primary, the Romney campaign is deploying surrogates to Sen. Rick Santorum’s campaign events. At least two surrogates — former Michigan State Rep. Rocky Raczkowski and current State Rep. Aric Nesbitt from Kalamazoo — will be attending Santorum events throughout the state in the days leading up to the Michigan primary on Tuesday, a campaign official told ABC News. Other surrogates attended Santorum events held earlier in the week. Nesbitt was spotted at Santorum’s event this morning in St. Clair Shores. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., and Rep. Jason...

...a pair of polls...ought to be scaring the pants off of Romney’s camp. A PPP Michigan poll shows Santorum leading...by a 39-24 percent margin. The ARG poll also has him ahead, though by a smaller 33-27 percent differential. ...if any in his campaign were inclined to dismiss Santorum’s surge...this poll is proof they are dead wrong...a loss in Michigan would be fatal to [Romney's] presidential hopes...the air would go out of his inevitability balloon and Santorum would, despite his threadbare national campaign, assume the unlikely role of frontrunner. ...a defeat [in Michigan] would be considered a personal repudiation of [Romney's]...

Mitt Romney has risen to the top of the Republican heap, and now leads by four points in the RCP Average. As little as a year ago, most observers considered this an impossible feat. Romney's poor showing in 2008, combined with the increased salience of his decision to sign a universal health care bill in Massachusetts that included an individual mandate, seemingly made him radioactive to the Republican Party. Yet here we are today, with Romney potentially poised to wrap up the GOP nomination by the end of February. What made this possible? Commentators such as Ed Kilgore on the...

This little snippet from last night's Iowa caucus coverage is just a taste of what Fox News served last night. Ed Rollins summed up their praise for SuperPACs quite well here. I only have one remaining question: Why is Karl Rove still employed by Fox? Key point by Rollins: BAIER: We were talking tonight about SuperPACS and how much they're going to play. If there is a lot of support that coalesces around Santorum as the conservative alternative, SuperPACs could play in places like New Hampshire or South Carolina. ROLLINS: SuperPACs can play anywhere at this point in time and...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has never really stopped running for president since that February day in 2008 when he ended his challenge to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). While Romney took an extended hiatus to write his book -- "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness" -- he never really left the political game, staying in close touch with a small group of political advisers who have kept the presidential flame lit over the past two plus years. That loyal group has helped Romney emerge as the frontrunner in the Invisible Primary -- the behind-the-scenes battle before the battle for...

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday encouraged her supporters to read an article comparing the BP escrow fund to Nazism. “This is about the rule of law vs. an unconstitutional power grab,” Palin tweeted, urging her followers to “Read Thomas Sowell’s article.” The article Palin points to was published on Monday and was widely criticized for writing that, like Adolph Hitler, President Barack Obama is stripping away the freedom of his citizen without mass protest. “When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately...