Free Republic

Mitt Romney is on the hunt for a vice presidential candidate, and if his years running Bain Capital are any indication, he might be looking for a version of himself. In his roughly 25 years at Bain, Romney tended to hire mini-Mitts — smart, ambitious, clean-cut and a little awkward, according to those who dealt closely with the men. Romney built the private equity firm, a spinoff of the consulting firm Bain & Co., from the ground up in the mid-1980s, bringing on several people who would help him turn it into an investment giant. “First-rate brain power, first-rate analytical...

Marion, Iowa -- Laura Ross walked out of a roaring, 500-person Mitt Romney rally at an asphalt plant Monday evening and into the 26-degree chill with an idea of whom she will support in today's Iowa caucuses. "I really love Rick Perry," said Ross, who lives just outside nearby Cedar Falls. "But I will probably go with Romney. I think. He's got the best chance of beating Obama." Even on the final day of campaigning before the caucuses, Iowa Republicans still have a conflicted relationship with Romney, the Republican they've known longer in an up-close-and-personal way than any candidate other...

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is backing off a push to change his state's election rules before the March 6 presidential primary, after only two Republican candidates qualified for the ballot. The attorney general on Saturday had said he wanted to overhaul the process before the primary, calling the state's system "deficient." Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry were locked out of the Virginia ballot after failing to meet the state's signature requirement, while three other candidates did not even try to meet the requirement. But by late Sunday, Cuccinelli had abandoned plans to file emergency legislation to address the matter,...

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