Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's lower economic growth estimates for this year and next diminish President Obama's already weakened prospects for a second term. Bernanke said Wednesday that the anemic recovery would be a lot slower than he had expected for the remainder of this year and in 2012, when Obama will be up for re-election. The Fed's two-year projections were the political equivalent of a cold shower for Obama, whose mishandling of a persistently weak economy has earned him failing grades from a large majority of the electorate. Bernanke's report that the economy is facing "head winds...

The line being pushed by the Mainstream Media, who seem all to giddy to point out the closeness of Romney in the polls to Obama, and establishment Republicans alike is that Mitt Romney is moderate enough to win. Just look at the poll numbers! In May, Romney was +10 in favorable ratings in AP/GFK (45-35), and in other polls +4 Reuters (36-32), +8 in NBC (28-20). Nothing mindboggling, but decent nonetheless, and, therefor, he has a shot! And he always is close to Obama in the polls. But the reality with Romney is this: He has not been in the...

Barack Obama would easily take Nevada if he had to stand for reelection today...unless the Republicans nominated Mitt Romney. Obama has early double digit advantages against Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin in the state but has just a single point edge over Romney. Nevada is one of the few swing states we've polled in the last couple months where more voters approve (50%) than disapprove (46%) of Obama. Like everywhere else in the country Democrats are largely happy with him and Republicans are most unhappy- what sets apart his numbers in Nevada is his popularity with independents, 55%...

No, this is not coming from Rasmussen or an internal GOP poll, but from the normally Democrat-sympathetic Public Policy Polling... With his approval numbers hitting new lows it’s no surprise that Barack Obama’s numbers in our monthly look ahead to the 2012 Presidential race are their worst ever this month. He trails Mitt Romney 46-43, Mike Huckabee 47-45, Newt Gingrich 46-45, and is even tied with Sarah Palin at 46. The only person tested he leads is Jan Brewer, who doesn’t have particularly high name recognition on the national level at this point. It’s not that any of the Republican...

1. Haley Barbour: Barbour's Republican Governors Association has become the story of the 2010 midterms. The RGA's second quarter fundraising numbers -- $19 million raised, $40 million on hand -- is an eye-popping total that should remind those who have forgotten about Barbour's reach in the GOP donor community. With Republicans poised to make significant gains at the gubernatorial level this fall, Barbour will almost certainly emerge with momentum after the November elections -- momentum that he may seek to channel into a presidential exploratory bid. 2. Mitt Romney: The former Massachusetts governor is slowly and methodically rolling out endorsements...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee continued to insist on Sunday that he won’t make a decision on another presidential run until after this fall's midterm elections. “I haven’t closed the door. I think that would be foolish on my part, especially when poll after poll shows that there is strong sentiment out there. I end up leading a lot of the polls. I’m the Republican that clearly, at this point, does better against Obama than any other Republican,” said Huckabee, a Fox News contributor, on "Fox News Sunday.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Political careers are hanging in the balance the morning before the Utah state party conventions. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, may not be getting as big of a boost as expected from Mitt Romney, who is scheduled to introduce him at Saturday's GOP convention at the Salt Palace. Sen. Bob Bennett Bennett hopes Romney will be the wild card that draws more delegates to his side. But a Dan Jones & Associates poll for KSL TV and the Deseret News shows Romney isn't as popular with delegates as he is with the general population. Seventy-six percent of...

I asked Gov. Romney if I could ask him a question. After he told me that this was OK, I posed the following question to him: “You have stated your intention to spearhead the effort to repeal the ‘worst aspects’ of Obamacare, does this include the repeal of the individual mandate and pre-existing exclusion?” The Governor’s answer: “No.” Gov. Romney went on to explain that he does not wish to repeal these aspects because of the deleterious effect it would have on those with pre-existing conditions in obtaining health insurance.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) have both now confirmed that they will not attend the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC), which is taking place April 8-11 in New Orleans. Their absence is notable in the sense that they are the two who have been most noticeably planning for a run in 2012 and this is a chance to speak to a major group of conservative activists. Pawlenty had been scheduled to attend and was even advertised on the website as a featured speaker. The Minnesota Governor has pulled out however to attend the...

He was on the "Today" show yesterday and sat with the ladies on "The View" this morning. Over the course of the next two months he'll be pretty much everywhere. Mitt Romney's new book "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness" was released yesterday and you might as well get used to seeing him in the headlines again. His 19-state book tour guarantees a certain amount of media coverage. But early readers of Romney's book suggest that there's no chance that "No Apology" will generate the hot-cake-like sales of Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue." The Boston Herald points out that "No...

When Mitt Romney, candidate for president, came to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2007, he was a fresh-faced over-eager student of Republican politics: He won cheers for a newfound social conservatism, and won a straw poll amid charges he’d packed the hall. Romney ended his candidacy in an emotional speech to CPAC the next year, and in 2009 he used the forum to open a critique of President Barack Obama that he spent the next year refining. The new Romney, received Thursday as the favorite son at the gathering of conservative activists, is a more constant, seasoned, and comfortable...