Free Republic

Democratic campaign officials on Wednesday happily tried to pour sand into the GOP’s nomination machinery by deriding Gov. Mitt Romney’s electability and his commitment to conservative policies, by commiserating with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and with former Sen. Rick Santorum, and by complimenting Gov. Rick Perry. “People don’t know where Gov. Romney stands today and where he will stand tomorrow, and that’s troubling people in the Republican Party,” said David Axelrod, who has worked as chief political strategist for President Barack Obama since 2008. Romney is heading into the New Hampshire primary without solidifying his lead, so “he’s...

Mitt Romney is blanketing Florida with ads and mailers. Newt Gingrich is planning a Miami-Orlando trip next week. Ron Paul is sending out fliers. The Republican presidential race for Florida is kicking into high gear. As the nation's biggest and most-diverse swing state, Florida has more Electoral College votes than Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina combined. Without it, Republicans probably can't win the White House. Romney's win Tuesday night in Iowa made the Florida stakes even higher. It all but ensures that most of his rivals would not survive a Jan. 31 victory in Florida by Romney, if he...

... Mitt Romney set a new all-time record for the lowest winning share of the vote (for either party) in the Iowa caucuses - 25 percent [24.6%] - one point lower than Bob Dole's 26 percent level of support in 1996. That's well below the 31 percent tally that every previous Republican winner except for Dole had achieved... Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich both matched or surpassed the 13 percent level of support that John McCain on his way to winning the Republican nomination received in Iowa... Lastly, Romney failed to equal the 25.2 percent share of the vote that...

On Wednesday morning, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told radio talk show host Laura Ingraham he could "absolutely" see himself teaming up with former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum to beat Mitt Romney. "Of course," Gingrich said. "Rick and I have a 20-year friendship. We were both rebels, we both came into this business as reformers, we both dislike deeply the degree to which the establishment sells out the American people. We both think Washington has to be changed in very fundamental ways, and we have lots of things that fit together. And the thing that’s interesting is if you take...

Laura Ingraham: "Can you see a scenario under which the two of you [Santorum and Gingrich] would align together to try to defeat the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney?" Newt Gingrich: "Absolutely. Of course. I mean Rick and I have a 20-year friendship, we are both rebels, we both came into this business as reformers, we both dislike deeply the degree to which the establishment sells out the American people. We both think Washington has to be changed in very fundamental ways, and we have lots of things that fit together. And the thing that's interesting is if you take the...

Hours after Mitt Romney eked out a win in the Iowa caucuses over former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Gov. Deval Patrick called the victory for the former Bay State governor a win for the Tea Party. Appearing on the CBS Early Show on Wednesday, Patrick defended President Barack Obama and called the Republican cast of challengers “interchangeable.” “It’s a win last night for the Tea Party agenda. That was really the big winner. I mean the candidates in many respects are interchangeable because they’re all offering exactly the same plan, and that’s a plan that says that everybody in America...

Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Fox and Friends