Why is Mitt Romney having trouble winning over the conservative Republican base? One reason is his lack of political finesse, an air of dorky rich-guy aloofness that reminds some people of John Kerry. More important, however, is his ideological profile. In almost every important way, Romney’s policy platform is more moderate than those of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Gingrich offers a much more conservative tax plan, along with crowd-pleasing ideas like his plan to sic federal marshals on “radical” liberal judges. Santorum carries a blazing social-conservative torch, championing ideas like a constitutional ban on abortion. Both Gingrich and Santorum talk quite openly about the virtues of bombing Iran. Romney’s temperature runs cooler in all these areas. Not to mention his past record of pro-choice, pro-gay rights positions. As Jon Chait notes today, the GOP establishment is defending Romney but also working hard to push him to the right.
It’s been a long slog, but government officials and representatives from major U.S. banks have reportedly come to terms on a settlement that would put an end to federal and state investigations into alleged foreclosure abuses by financial institutions.
The White House will announce the official details early this afternoon, but several reports paint a picture of what the final deal will look like.
The Administration’s decision to require Catholic charities and universities to provide free birth control through employee health coverage is several weeks old, but the maelstrom of dissent it’s created is widening. Republicans, who charge that the measure violates such organizations’ religious freedoms, have allied with Catholic groups in opposition, and in recent days a handful of high-profile Democrats have joined their ranks in calling on the Administration to broaden exemptions from the rule.
–Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who clearly doesn’t read The Onion.
- $26 billion mortgage fraud deal nears finalization with New York and California reportedly on board.
- Obama looks to the states for ways to salve contraception controversy.
- Top Hill Republicans impugn Romney’s performance–on the record.
Most political analysts in Washington believe that war with Iran is unlikely, especially before the November U.S. elections. Politically it would be hard for President Obama to engage in another Middle Eastern war given the war weariness of the U.S. electorate, let alone the question of being able to afford it at a time when Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from the Pentagon budget.
Receiving a shower of sparkles from gay rights activists has become something of a rite of passage for Republican candidates this year. But now that the Secret Service is protecting Mitt Romney, glitter-bombing’s days could be numbered. TIME’s photo editors look back at American politics’ glitziest form of protest.
The morning after his three-state sweep of Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, Rick Santorum is finally getting a bit of credit. But for a guy who’s now won more nominating contests than any other Republican presidential candidate (if you charitably count Missouri’s meaningless pageant), Santorum stands to reap few rewards for his efforts. Botched counts, party rules and bad timing threaten to neuter all four victories.
–The percentage of likely voters who believe a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress.
For a guy with a grim worldview, Ron Paul is great at spotting the green shoots when it comes to his own political fortunes. When he fell to third in Iowa, he told the crowd that “we are going to keep scoring.” In New Hampshire, he told supporters that their “irate minority” was “going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds.” After finishing fourth of four in Florida, he declared, “We have only gotten started.”
