Speaking of Sacrificing One’s Credibility at the Altar of the Romney Campaign (Updated)

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  February 2nd at 01:55 PM  | 

…here are a couple gems from two of the campaign’s most fervent, credibility-contorting cheerleaders, the “detestable harpy“** and Jennifer Rubin. As noted earlier today, the harpy decided to go Full Romney in her column yesterday.  Called “THREE CHEERS FOR ROMNEYCARE!,” the harpy declared Romney’s signature – and most problematic – legislative achievement to have been a victory for the constitution and for conservatism.  As if | Read More »

The Real Problem With Romney’s Comments

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  February 2nd at 07:49 AM  | 

Yesterday, Mitt Romney caused a stir when he made the following remarks about the poor during an interview with CNN: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich…. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are | Read More »

Mitt Romney’s ‘Very Poor’ Choice of Words

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  February 1st at 11:30 AM  | 

Fresh off a dominant win in the Florida presidential primary, Mitt Romney managed to unload a clip of .45 ammunition in both feet on national television this morning. In an interview with Soledad O’Brien, Romney said the following (emphasis added): Mitt Romney: “I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned | Read More »

How Can Mitt Romney Win Over Conservatives to Secure the GOP Nomination?

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  February 1st at 10:00 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Matt Lewis to discuss the Florida primary, what the win means for Romney, and what he’ll have to do to secure the conservative base and the Tea Party contingent if he wants to be the nominee and defeat Obama in the fall. We’re brought to you | Read More »

Sixty-Five to One: It’s Not That Complicated

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  February 1st at 09:59 AM  | 

Political analysts have a need to sound expertly and important when it comes to elections. They have to go in depth and explain artfully and deeply why someone won and someone lost. It was the debates. It was the ground game. It was the strategies. It was the likability versus dislikability of the candidates. On and on they go. What gets danced around is the | Read More »

Mitt Romney Plays to the Liberal Caricature

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  February 1st at 09:29 AM  | 

Not 12 hours after the networks called it for him, Mitt Romney went on CNN’s Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien, spoke from the heart, and played straight into the liberal caricature that Republicans don’t have hearts. As CNN noted in a press release: Romney says, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair , I’ll | Read More »

The Fat Lady Hasn’t Sung, But She’s Warming Up

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 31st at 10:18 PM  | 

If I were a national Republican operative, I’d be very worried about tonight. If I were a Mitt Romney fan, I’d be ecstatic. The Romney win in Florida was huge. He won the hispanic vote. He split tea party activists and evangelicals. He won where people live. Gingrich won the panhandle and largely tied in the few northern Florida population centers, but it was Romney’s | Read More »

The Bad Messaging of the Newt Gingrich Super PAC

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 31st at 07:11 PM  | 

I was surprised to land in Miami today for CNN’s coverage of the Florida Presidential Preference Primary and hear one Newt Super PAC ad over and over. I heard it on rock stations. I heard it on Rush Limbaugh. I heard it on a sports talk station. It attacked Mitt Romney for abortion. Abortion. In a state with a massive housing crisis and a state | Read More »

What I’m looking for in Florida tonight

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 31st at 03:07 PM  | 

Mitt Romney will win Florida tonight. The victory is already locked in. Early voting, etc. have helped. Here’s what I’m looking for in Florida. The margin of victory by Romney. Polling has Romney between 10 and 12 points ahead. So if he is 9 points ahead or less, given that he has one hell of a ground game here, that suggests Gingrich was able to | Read More »

Rethinking Santorum: Conventional Wisdom Finally Catches Up to Where I Was Two Weeks Ago

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 31st at 10:08 AM  | 

This morning I noted that Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich together get more votes than Romney and several polls out in the past few weeks have had Santorum votes going to Gingrich. That has been the convention wisdom. About two weeks ago I decided the conventional wisdom was wrong, but having been told for two weeks I was wrong, I made the mistake of sticking | Read More »

A Further Response To Avik Roy on Establishments

By: Dan McLaughlin (Diary)  |  January 31st at 10:06 AM  | 

My original essay on the current divide between the GOP “Establishment,” on the one hand, and the Tea Party and other anti-Establishment factions, on the other, sought to explain the leading issue (the growth of spending and the size of government relative to the private sector), the proximate cause (the loss of trust that the GOP Establishment would make a serious effort to stem this | Read More »

Moving Past Florida

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 31st at 04:45 AM  | 

“It’s like we’re facing Jimmy Carter and nominating Alf Landon.” More and more polls show two things: (1) tonight Mitt Romney will win Florida and (2) Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum will combined get more votes. In fact, moving forward, the Romney campaign will probably engage in a concerted effort to prop up Rick Santorum because as long as he stays in the race, Gingrich | Read More »

Florida update: Mitt Romney to win by 10

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  January 30th at 01:00 PM  | 

It’s popular to talk down polling, but from where I sit, the polling of the primaries has been pretty good. Yes, Iowa was terrible, but that was a caucus. The primary polling has been solid. Florida’s polling has lined up in a nice, neat band for every candidate, making it easy to say Mitt Romney is going to win tomorrow.

The Jacksonville Brawl

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 27th at 04:47 AM  | 

I’m biased, but I think the real winner last night was CNN and I feel confident I’d say that even if they didn’t send me a paycheck. After that disastrous and embarrassing NBC debate, Wolf Blitzer held his own, did not get devoured by Newt Gingrich, and engaged in a lot of substance without a lot of random questions like . . . oh . | Read More »

Romney’s Big Healthcare Lie

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  January 26th at 10:00 PM  | 

Almost a full year into the presidential campaign, Romney finally received a full-fledged beatdown for his mendacity over healthcare.  He has the nerve to feign outrage over Obamacare, even while he touts Romneycare – a carbon copy of Obamacare – as a virtuous success, supported by 90% of Massachusetts residents.  Santorum did his homework, and called him out on the hypocrisy.  Romney was never able | Read More »