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...

Mitt Romney’s transformation into a cheesy grits- and catfish-loving, ya’ll-uttering good ol’ boy in the face of tight contests in Mississippi and Alabama today is being panned by critics — skeptical Southern party officials and pundits. “If you’re going to pander, at least pander well, and this isn’t pandering well,” said Stephen Gordon, a Republican consultant based in Birmingham, Ala. The former Bay State governor is a Yankee, Gordon said, and will always face skepticism no matter how many catfish filets he raves about. “People in the Deep South have a bit of a natural distrust for Northerners, especially folks...

I'm not trying to inflame. I am not trying to troll. I just bring reality. You probably know it's true yourself. Romney will be the guy. At this time in 2007, the dreadful McCain was polling in single digits, and fundless. Yet he won the nomination pretty easily. Romney is MUCH stronger right now. Who will beat him? I tend to doubt Palin will even run. Bachmann will never get establishment support, and the MSM's efforts to trash her are already underway. Cain just doesn't have the impetus. Ron Paul? Well, he's just Ron Paul. The rest are asterisks. Back...

PPP has polled Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul for the first time in the potential 2012 Republican presidential race nationally, and their presence reduces support for the other candidates, particularly Mitt Romney. What was a decent advantage for Romney in a three-way race with Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee is now a four-way draw, with Paul in a distant fifth and Romney slipping to a close second. Huckabee has 25 to Romney’s 23, Gingrich’s 21, Palin’s 20, and Paul’s 8, with only 3% undecided versus last month’s 17% with more limited options. Gingrich’s entry into the field erodes Romney’s support...