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A pickup-driving image helped put Scott Brown in the U.S. Senate, so is Mitt Romney hoping it will drive him him to the White House? The 2008 Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor drove a beat-up pickup to a New Hampshire fundraiser last night. He's also driven it to other political events as he weighs another run in 2012. Spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom says Romney has owned the Chevy since 2002 and uses it for errands around his New Hampshire lakeside vacation home.

Mitt Romney continues to look like an overwhelming early favorite for the 2012 New Hampshire primary but the most surprising thing about our newest set of numbers there may be that Ron Paul's in third place, outpolling Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin (albeit by small margins.) Romney leads the way with 31% to 14% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Paul, 12% for Huckabee, 9% for Palin, 3% for Tim Pawlenty, and 1% for Mitch Daniels. Observations from the numbers: -Among voters who are more likely to support a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin...Romney leads...with 29% to Palin's 21%. We've written...

Huckabee’s taken potshots at her from time to time, but between this fusillade from unnamed Mitt advisors and the furious counterattack on Romney at Conservatives 4 Palin, I’d say that the 2012 primary is now, at long last, officially on. In the immortal words of Greg Stillson, “The missiles are flying. Hallelujah.” Still, few express much regard for Palin’s ultimate chances. One adviser to Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and, by traditional standards, the putative 2012 frontrunner, says of Palin, “She’s not a serious human being.” Another Romney intimate warns, “If she’s standing up there in a debate and...

DETROIT—The childhood home of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in northwestern Detroit was torn down Tuesday as part of an effort to level thousands of vacant properties in the city. Wrecking crews leveled 1860 Balmoral Drive, the boyhood home of Mr. Romney, following the removal of several large trees that had delayed the home's demolition for weeks.......following years of complaints from neighbors, Wayne County declared it "a public nuisance and blight"...

Sometime around the time Barack Obama won the White House, I started wondering who would inherit the Republican Party. I have to admit I felt a little schadenfreude when George and Dick drove the GOP off a cliff, but I also named this space “Common Ground” for a reason. We need to focus on what unites us more than the things that divide us. Here’s some common ground: We need two functioning political parties to continue to meet the challenges of our times. Unlike Karl Rove, I don’t want one party to run the country. Hammering out public policy through...

Today I endorsed Susana Martinez for governor of New Mexico - Mitt Romney Better late than never I guess...Welcome Mitt http://www.freestrongamerica.com/press/item/release_mitt_romney_announces_new_mexico_endorsements

Mitt Romney is wading into the GOP governor's primary in Michigan, and he's backing Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.). Hoekstra faces state Attorney General Mike Cox and businessman Rick Snyder in a pitched primary battle. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) is term-limited, and Democrats are waging their own primary battle.

<p>In response, Mr. Romney is reminding audiences that Mr. Obama has cast the Republicans as the “party of no,” devoid of ideas. “And yet,” Mr. Romney said in Bedford, “he’s saying that I was the guy that came up with the idea for what he did. He can’t have it both ways.”</p>

Mitt Romney: 439 votes Ron Paul: 438 votes Sarah Palin: 330 votes Newt Gingrich: 321

Mitt Romney may end up being the biggest GOP casualty of ObamaCare -- his 2012 presidential hopes dashed before he's even announced a bid. Mr. Romney has continued vociferously campaigning against ObamaCare even while defending a very similar universal health-care plan he signed into law as Massachusetts's governor in 2006. Last week, he inveighed on the National Review blog that "President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation . . . . he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends." Critically, Republicans need to win the presidency in order to...

A new nonpartisan [see post 1 below for how nonpartisan this poll really is] nationwide poll shows that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is currently the strongest GOP presidential candidate for the 2012 election. The poll also shows President Obama leading all potential Republican candidates, but by narrower margins than he did last August. The poll was conducted March 17-20, 2010 by Clarus Research Group, a Washington, D.C.-based polling firm, using live telephone interviewers. It was based on a representative nationwide sample of 1,050 U.S. registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3 percent. The survey was not...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans were girding for battle yesterday as they plotted new strategies to try to take down President Obama's health plan, repeal it, or tie it up in legal knots. Just hours after the House passed a landmark overhaul, Republican strategies to fight back were emerging, even as Obama and the Democrats savored their biggest victory yet. "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year," fumed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on an Arizona radio station. "They have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it." "Outside the Beltway, the American people...

America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better. He calls his accomplishment “historic” — in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process — he unleashed the nuclear option, enlisted not a single Republican vote in...

Our first national look at who Republicans would prefer as their 2012 Presidential nominee confirms the wide open nature of the field. The leading candidates are all within the margin of error of each other, with Mitt Romney leading at 28% followed by Mike Huckabee at 24% and Sarah Palin at 23%. Ron Paul pulls 11%, 9% say they're undecided, and 6% say their preference would be someone else. Romney's lead speaks to the fact that moderates could actually pick the GOP nominee in 2012. That's because there's gridlock among conservatives about who their preferred candidate is. Huckabee leads with...

Mitt Romney's new book has topped the New York Times bestseller list, but with an interesting caveat. The Times has two "dagger" symbols next to "No Apologies," Romney's tome, indicating that "some bookstores report receiving bulk orders." One would assume that the multiple daggers indicate a higher quantity of bulk orders. Such orders could come from conservative book clubs or organizations looking to boost Romney's profile. As Taeggan Goddard notes, Sarah Palin's book topped the bestseller list without ever being accompanied by the "dagger."

SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney brought his book tour Saturday back to the city where he led the 2002 Winter Olympics, telling an enthusiastic audience he could decide by Christmas whether to run again for president. "That's not a decision we've made at this point," Romney told a 12-year-old boy from Bluffdale who said he was "asking a question that a lot of people are wondering and that's, 'Are you going to run for president?' " The cheers the question received were among the loudest during Romney's hour-long appearance at the Salt Palace as part of his national tour for...

t’s page 258 – and suddenly we are back in Campaign Mode. The transition is very abrupt. On pages 256, Romney is describing an interesting program he advocated in Massachusetts: “a Parental Preparation Program for every underperforming school district. In order for parents in these districts to enroll their children in public school, the parents would have been required to attend classes themselves, where they would learn about the value of education as well as ways in which they could support their children’s educational experience.” On p. 257, a funny story about Romney’s business career, about his unsuccessful attempt to...

The RINO McCain is in New Hampshire now campaigning for Kelly Ayotte, who is running for Senator from that state. According to the Nashua Telegraph, he's also co-hosting a town hall with Ms. Ayotte. The Boston Globe notes that the town hall meeting was "reminiscent of those he held during his two presidential campaigns." Fox News also reports that McCain did over 100 townhall meetings leading up to the crucial "First in the Nation" New Hampshire Presidential Primary and won, once again becoming the GOP frontrunner. So, my question for my fellow FReepers is, McCain's 2010 re-election race with J.D....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Mitt Romney is likely one of several Republican candidates who will vie for the GOP nomination and the right to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama. For his 2008 attempt at representing Republicans, Romney caused consternation by talking about his position change on abortion and he is doing it again. Appearing on the "Imus in the Morning" radio program with Don Imus this morning, Imus asked Romney to revisit his position change. "Well, you know, I never really called myself pro-choice, but I did say when I was running for governor that I would keep the...

Yesterday we made note of potential 2012 hopeful Mitt Romney's appearance on "Fox News Sunday" and the criticism he faced over his Massachusetts health-care proposal. March 8: Chris Wallace put Romney on the defensive on this issue. WALLACE: “But, Governor, let's look at the plan that you signed into law in Massachusetts in 2006. You have an individual mandate. You have an employer mandate. You have subsidiaries for some of the uninsured. You set minimum insurance coverage standards.” ROMNEY: A big difference -- a state plan versus a federal plan. No new taxes, unlike his plan. No cut in Medicare,...