Free Republic

Jeb Bush’s name keeps floating up in discussions about candidates to run on the ticket with Mitt Romney, despite Bush’s efforts to douse the talk. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says Bush would most help Romney. “He’d be an outstanding pick. It’s up to Gov. Romney but if I had to recommend a single person it would be Jeb,” Graham told The Hill.

For those out there loving the current Republican race but worrying that it has become somewhat orthodox in appearance and stable in candidates and support numbers, fear not: ABC News’ Jonathan Karl has the blind item for you. In the most mysterious and, for the GOP, worrisome dispatch on the Republican field in a while, Karl reports that a “prominent Republican senator” told him that the Party will not stand for a Mitt Romney loss in Michigan, and that he expects a result like that to lead the Senator to “publicly call for the party to find a new candidate,”...

Santorum’s contraception boom — “We’re all Catholics now,” said Mike Huckabee — won’t hold up. Because we’re not. This race could well go to a brokered convention. If Jeb Bush is proposed, so Sarah Palin should be minutes later. She is now and always has been the singular Jacksonian voice in the original Tea Party phenomenon; the only one who can bring it to the mainstream. Her absence from the primary race has left a vacuum and no substitute has been found. Every other possible or potential leadership hopeful has risen and receded in this long Republican primary season. [....]...

We caught up with South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a hero to many conservative purists and Marco Rubio's earliest big endorsement, while he was in Tampa Bay for the Hillsborough Lincoln Day dinner. He's a fascinating, very down to earth guy giving some leaders in his party fits. But he has also proven himself well ahead of the political curve this year. On Marco Rubio and the reaction he heard to his support from Senate leaders: "They told me he wouldn't stay in the race, he didn't have a chance, Gov. Crist difference between just going for numbers and going...

INDIANAPOLIS | Did Hoosiers get a first look last week at The Ticket? Mitch Daniels. Jeb Bush. 2012? Both Republicans frequently deny seeking higher office, but each man also told The Times the other would be a strong candidate for a presidential run. "If he wants it, sure," Bush said of Daniels' national prospects. "I honestly believe he is the best governor in the country in terms of the courage of his convictions, intelligence, strategic thinking," Bush said. At the same time, Daniels said he's disappointed Bush says he's ruled out a future in government. "I understand his answer, but...