Free Republic

Though the tea party wasn’t particularly enthused about Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy during the primary, one tea party leader who was present at the inception of the movement says the tea party will get behind the former Massachusetts governor going into the general election. “Absolutely, the tea party can and will support Mitt Romney in the general election, and with great energy in the door-to-door ground game,” said Michael Patrick Leahy, co-founder of The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition and author of the recently released book, “Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of the Tea Party Movement.” “It’s important also to...

When it comes to gun rights, Mitt Romney is anything but a straight shooter. And when the presumptive Republican nominee speaks to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention on Friday, he’s going to have a tough time explaining a Second Amendment record that’s more scattered than buckshot pellets. I know a real sportsman when I see one. My eight siblings and I grew up in rural Scioto County, Ohio, where hunting and fishing were our heritage, passed from generation to generation. Throughout my service as a congressman and governor, I supported sportsmen, in both my lifestyle and legislation. I’ve been...

Here's the problem with Romney's repeated assertion that he never suggested applying Romneycare nationwide: It just isn't true. At a GOP debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 5, 2007, here's what Mitt Romney had to say about his preferred federal approach to health care policy: Look, it's critical to insure more people in this country. It doesn't make sense to have 45 million people without insurance. It's not good for them because they don't get good preventative care and disease management, just as these folks have spoken about. But it's not good for the rest of the citizens either,...

Funny 17 second humor bit on the back and forth between Romney and Perry. :)

Mike Huckabee had a fairly serious interview with Mitt Romney on Fox News tonight (no "Cat Scratch Fever" this time?) in which the current candidate shrugged off the Chris Christie wooing that is in part born of a rejection of Romney by donors and some establishment figures. Per POLITICO's Emily Schultheis, who helpfully tuned in, Huckabee asked a question about how Romney contends with the repeated new candidates whose names get mentioned. Romney was all praise for Huckabee and his strengths: Romney: "I think we want to win. I think the people in our party want to make sure we...

"Despite my affiliation with the Republican Party, I don't think of myself as highly partisan." -- Mitt Romney in his book No Apology And there it was again. Front and center in last night's CNN New Hampshire debate with Republican presidential candidates, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney twice -- not once but twice -- illustrated his problem as a presidential candidate and potential Republican president in the post-Reagan era. Midway into the debate Romney answered a question on how to deal with the issue of raising the debt limit by saying that as president he would concentrate on "reining in...

The good old boys just don’t get it. Jason Mattera of Human Events, captured Georgia Congressman John Kingston this morning giving a sexist and blatantly stupid tirade against Sarah Palin for her endorsement of Karen Handel who lost a very close primary in Georgia last night. Appearing on “America’s Morning News” with John McCaslin and Amy Holmes, Georgia Republican Rep. Jack Kingston urged Sarah Palin to stay clear of endorsing candidates in the primaries. “What she’s doing is dividing the Republican Party at a time when we don’t need to be divided… He continued: “Karen Handel is a very decent...

NEW ORLEANS -- I just wrote about "Evangelicals for Mitt," a group of evangelical supporters of Mitt Romney who are pressing people to support Romney at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll. Afterward, I spoke to a young female delegate who said she planned to vote for Romney in the poll. I asked her how she had ended up at the conference. She said "Evangelicals for Mitt" had contacted her and offered to pay for her to have a limited-access ticket -- so long as she agreed to vote for Romney in the straw poll. Asked how "Evangelicals for...

In his new book, Mitt makes himself over as a muscular defender of America. Few things are more predictable than a GOP presidential candidate posturing as a he-man protector of America, and depicting his Democratic counterpart as an effete, appeasing girlie-man on the dangerous world stage. Mitt Romney — who himself has no personal military or foreign-policy experience of any kind — may not seem well-suited to the Republican role, but hey, if draft-dodgers like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney could use the formula against a genuine war hero, anything is possible. Romney, presumably warming up for 2012, flexes...

He's more fiscal, less social. And he's got millions. But will GOP voters give a Mitt? Scott Brown's unexpected victory in last month's special US Senate election captured the attention of the country — and particularly of core Republican voters, who huddled eagerly before their TV screens to watch their hero du jour give his acceptance speech. But even in the midst of his moment in the sun, Brown made sure to thank the other handsome, well-coifed man on the stage, Mitt Romney — who, as it happens, would very much like the votes of that national Republican audience in...

(snip) Unlike McKeon and Shuster, Cantor endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential primary. Cantor's PAC transferred $5,000 to Romney's PAC in January -- about five months before the two Republicans participated in a forum for the National Council for New America in May. The report also indicated that Cantor's campaign committee also received $5,000 from Romney's PAC in May -- a donation that Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom chalked up to mutual admiration between the two.(snip)

While he remains publicly coy about the possibility of another White House bid, Mitt Romney has a calendar that tells a very different story. From returning to a key early primary state to delivering an address before a social conservative conference and reuniting with members of his campaign-in-waiting, Romney is scheduled to spend a good deal of his September in a fashion befitting a man very much interested in running for president. snip............................ On Saturday, Sept. 19, Romney will speak at the Values Voters Summit, an annual conference in the capital, put on by the Family Research Council, that frequently...