The Unorthodox Frontrunner

Mitt Romney: Viewed in isolation, Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential candidacy is doomed.

In 2008, Romney earned himself a reputation as a flip-flopper as he dramatically attempted to reshape himself as a stanch Conservative despite having previously staked out liberal positions on Abortion, guns, Immigration and a litany of other Issues.

VIDEOS: Mitt Romney in videos

This time around, Romney faces the additional burden of trying to explain away his most significant legislative accomplishment as Governor of Massachusetts -- a Big Government....

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Romney: 2012 Candidate to Beat
Romney is the 2012 Candidate to beat; incidentally he is the Candidate with all the targets on his back. In 2008 Romney was the “conservative” endorsed by a majority of pundits and the antithesis of Obama’s executive inexperience. McCain, Huckabee, and Giuliani all targeted Romney in the Debates. It was obvious that the other Candidates viewed Romney as the favorite and they teamed up to destabilize him; i.e. “sanctuary mansion.” Romney and the 2008 Republican bunch...

Conservatives to Republican Leadership Lay Off Jim DeMint
How can I sign on to this Conservative declaration in support of Senator Jim DeMint? Senator Jim DeMint has been blamed directly or indirectly for the failure to capture a majority in the Senate by named and/or unnamed Republican senators, Staffers and consultants. Such false and unfair attacks aid and abet President Obama, the Democratic Party and the liberal Media. We consider such attacks on Senator Jim DeMint an attack on us and all Conservatives, and especially the Conservative Movement...

Twelve in 2012 Scorecard Mike Huckabee
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Virginia Republicans want Allen
Virginia Republicans overwhelmingly want George Allen to be their Candidate for the Senate in 2012. 46% say he'd be their pick with the second (and unlikely) choice of Eric Cantor falling all the way back at 18%. 16% would like Ken Cuccinelli and then there's very little support for the remaining options given- 4% for Bill Bolling and Tom Davis and only 2% for Bob Marshall. The desire for Allen to be the nominee spans the ideological divisions of Virginia Republicans. Conservatives want him by ...

Playing the Republican field
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight provides his usual excellent analysis of the Republican field for the 2012 Presidential primaries. His finds there are four front-runners who appeal strongly to large and distinct segments of the Republican coalition: Romney to the establishment and Fiscal Conservatives; Palin to the Tea Party movement; Huckabee to religious Conservatives. Gingrich is an exception who probably overlaps with Palin’s support somewhat. Is Palin's Alaska political theatre? Mr. S...

No Early Front-Runner for 2012 GOP Presidential Nomination
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Poll: Palin Could Win GOP Nomination If Primaries Held Today (ContributorNetwork)
Sarah Palin, the as yet undeclared Republican Candidate for president, received a bit of good news the third week of November, continuing her roll of things going Palin's way of late. Not only did her Reality show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," turn out to be TLC network's highest rated show ever and daughter Bristol reached the finale of "Dancing with the Stars," a new Poll indicates that, if the Republican primaries were held today, Palin could win the Republican nomination to run as their chose c...

Obama slips in Montana
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Conservative coalition promises primary opponents, funding cut-off for DeMint critics in GOP
A coalition of Conservative organizations and leaders pledged today to field primary opponents for Republican senators who "unfairly" criticize Sen. Jim DeMint, the South Carolina Republican who led an insurgent funding effort that helped elect several of the six GOP freshmen senators in the 112th Congress DeMint has been criticized by anonymous unnamed senior Republican sources who claim his Senate Conservative Fund supported insurgent Candidates who lost races to Democrats that allegedly would...

A 2012 field without a frontrunner
1. A new Gallup Poll shows no 2012 Republican Candidate winning more than 20 percent of the vote, a muddle from top to bottom that virtually ensures a large field and a wide-open race for the right to take on President Obama. The survey showed four Candidates taking double digit support: former Gov. Mitt Romney (19 percent), former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (16 percent), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (16 percent) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (13 percent). No other Candidate took m...

Name Recognition Won't Help Mitt Romney
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Romney's Race to Lose?
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Name Recognition Won't Help Romney
Name recognition is not an asset in presidential campaign. I mentioned this last week, but I stuck it at the end of a longer post, so I'll repeat it here. Name recognition is, in fact, important in American politics. But its importance is limited to contexts in which there are significant gaps between how well candidates are known. That happens all the time in House contests, and even in elections for Senate or governor, and it certainly happens in downballot races. But not in presidential el...

Mike Huckabee: Money Not Determining Factor for 2012 Presidential Hopeful
Below is a summary of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s 15-minute interview with Steve Deace on WHO-Radio Des Moines, Iowa, earlier this week, along with a few of my own thoughts. In an early exchange, Deace asked Huckabee the six million dollar question, “Are you going to run for president?” “I’m not ruling it out. And that’s not a yes, but it’s definitely not a no.” Some pundits had been foolishly suggest that Mike Huckabee is ...

Romney goes smaller in 2012
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Romney Still 2012 Republican Frontrunner
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Romney tells donors: No presidential announcement anytime soon
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REPORT: Fox donates at least $40 million in airtime to potential GOP presidential candidates
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Huckabee Wins GOP Popularity Contest
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New Poll Shows Mitt Romney Leading Pack of Possible GOP 2012 Candidates Gallup
Gallup has released a new Poll showing Gov. Mitt Romney leading the pack of potential Candidates for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination. Romney has a slight lead over Gov. Mike Huckabee and Gov. Sarah Palin, who are three-points behind: 19% Mitt Romney 16% Mike Huckabee 16% Sarah Palin 13% Newt Gingrich 6% Ron Paul 4% Haley Barbour 4% Tim Pawlenty 2% John Thune 1% Mike Pence 1% Rick Santorum 1% Mitch Daniels 1% Gary Johnson You can always check all the national polls for the 2012 GOP ...