Free Republic

Washington (CNN) - Mitt Romney has a message to Tea Party candidates nationwide: If you lose your Republican primary bids, stay on the sidelines. The former Massachusetts governor on Monday warned the grassroots movement not to mount third party efforts in general elections, which he said would siphon votes from Republican nominees. "If there is a conservative candidate that runs in the general election, then obviously, divide and fail is the result," Romney said in an interview with the conservative Web site Newsmax. "Hopefully Tea Party candidates will run in respective primaries and they will either win or lose. And...

The idea, according to the invitation, was for Mitt Romney to “discuss his plans for the 2012 elections” at a “regional organizational meeting” of “the Romney Leadership Team” on Wednesday at the home of a major donor in Florida. (snip) Of course not! Why would you think that? (snip) So it goes in the Kabuki theater phase of campaign 2012 in which none of the leading candidates will admit they’re candidates, their donor pitches and stump speeches are couched – sometimes barely – in the conditional, credulity straining denials such as Fehrnstrom’s are part of the press secretary’s vernacular, and...