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What I witnessed today while I was in line at the Chick-Fil-A located in the Magnolia Mall in Florence, SC is why I love this place. I had placed my order and was waiting for my drinks when an older gentleman walked up to the server next to mine. When the young man behind the counter asked for his order, the gentleman stuttered, then got a look of fear in his eyes. "I've forgotten why I'm here and what I was going to get." The young server reached past the register, patted this man on his arm and said, "That's...

If vindication means anything its name is spelled George Bush. As former U.S. president George W. Bush spoke to a Saskatoon audience, I stood in the wings, sneaking a peek through the curtains at the spectators beyond the footlights. The crowd was friendly to be sure. But more than that, the relationship was like a musical virtuoso carrying the audience through every nuance, crescendo and dynamic of a composition. With every pause, smile, laugh and down stroke of seriousness, Bush had the crowd in his hand. Before the show, a friend who recently dined with the former Texas governor and...

(snip) Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, told Reuters that it was vital for Republican candidates in 2010 to "not just talk about our principles but hold true to them.""We're a party that doesn't believe in spending money we don't have. And Republicans that can show that they have been fiscally conservative will stand in stark contrast to the extraordinary deficits and forecasts of even greater deficits that are coming from the Democrats," said Romney, who ran for president last year and lost the party's nomination to John McCain. (snip)

HEALTH CARE’S silly season is upon us. If we can be sure of anything, it is that President Barack Obama and his congressional allies will do whatever they can to hide the cost of their health plan. Lucky for them, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, has shown the way. In 2006, Romney enacted a health-reform package strikingly similar to what Democrats are pushing through Congress, including individual and employer mandates, private health-insurance subsidies, broader Medicaid eligibility and a new health-insurance “exchange.” Lately, Massachusetts officials have been forced to raise taxes and cancel some residents’ coverage to pay for...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama is struggling to get a health care bill because he has been too deferential to the liberal wing of his party.

A growing sense in the Republican Party that health care reform of any kind is the enemy, and attacks on the Massachusetts plan from Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, appear to have prompted Mitt Romney to launch a defense of his legacy in that state, which now insures far more of its residents than any other. Romney defended his plan on the Early Show this morning...

Ex-presidential candidate is siding more closely with GOP these days. BY GREG GIROUX WASHINGTON - He ran for president last year as a “maverick” Republican and had a high-profile meeting with Barack Obama after the election, but Arizona Sen. John McCain has been a staunch Republican vote since failing to win the White House. In fact, McCain is siding with his party this year on closely divided votes with greater frequency than at any other period in his 23-year Senate career, according to a CQ analysis of Senate votes. On votes that pitted most Democrats against most Republicans, McCain has...

Wes Hickman, a spokesman for Mr. Graham, said in a statement that "Senator Graham is ready and willing to play a key role in immigration reform. He intends to work with many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle."

Karl Rove is passing the torch and his weather machine onto Steve Schmidt. McCain's campaign is now running like a well oiled machine. Thanks to Steve Schmidt.. also known as the Bullet. McCain ad stirs tensions among Hillary/Obama supporters. McCain responds rapidly to Obama's economic claims. McCain uses Dem Delegate to hit Obama. New McCain Ad: Why was Hillary passed over? McCain takes on Obama's "Above my pay grade" remark. McCain takes advantage of Obama slip up. McCain attacks Obama on pro-abortion stance. McCain rolls out new ads with Biden's words. McCain's 'housing' ad strikes back at Obama. New McCain...

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a pretty philosophical keynote at the GOP fundraiser tonight. At times the 30-minute address sounded like a history lesson or a college lecture. As the crowd welcomed him with a standing ovation, Romney warned that he'd be speaking seriously. This would be no pep rally full of political zingers. "These are critical times," Romney said. "Defining times for the world and the nation." Romney talked about what he saw as competing world philosophies, including that of jihadists, and critical times in history, like the Civil War and the American Revolution. "Republicans are the revolutionaries...

For decades the Dutch people, like other Westerners, shut their eyes to the mounting challenge posed by the unassimilated Muslim immigrants in their country. Reality has now painfully intruded, and the Dutch find themselves in the midst of a national trauma brought on by the jihadist slaughter of filmmaker Theo van Gogh and the subsequent jihadist beheading threats against two Dutch politicians. An e-mail I received recently offers a cogent description of the Dutch people's troubled mood, as well as of the larger Western suicide attempt that the Dutch situation exemplifies: A friend is in Amsterdam now for a 16...