Mitt Romney faced a tepid reception when he spoke at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning. Perhaps the crowd was still coming down from Herman Cain’s rousing Friday barnburner. But the central tension whenever Romney, who is Mormon, addresses an evangelical audience was more pronounced than ever: Can …
2012 Election
Perry Supporter Calls Mormonism a “Cult”
Rick Perry just gave a well received speech Here at the annual Values Voters summit in Washington, D.C.–though not flawless, the Texas governor is a lot sharper when he’s in control, not under fire in a debate setting. But the Texas pastor who introduced Perry has unexpectedly opened the door to a sensitive issue barely discussed in …
Why the Washington Establishment is Heeding Occupy Wall Street
The running critique of the Occupy Wall Street protests is that they have too many bongo drums and not enough message coherence. But that hasn’t stopped Washington’s elite–Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and President Barack Obama–from all hearing the same, singular message loud and clear.
The Flipside of Romney’s Technocratic Campaign: Impugning Perry’s Intellect
Mitt Romney is running for President as the candidate best equipped to repair the U.S. economy. Romney’s pitch is that turning around the economy isn’t so different from turning around businesses, as he did at Bain Capital, or turning around the failing 2002 winter Olympics. As the Wall Street Journal noted yesterday, the man is a …
Senator Scott Brown (R-Jerksville)
Let’s stipulate that Elizabeth Warren should not have responded when debate moderators asked her to comment on Scott Brown’s decision to pose in Cosmopolitan magazine years ago to pay for college. In fact, let’s stipulate that no candidate should ever comment on another candidate’s physical appearance, clothed or unclothed, or say …
Where Will the Palin Voters Go?
Now that Sarah Palin has confirmed that she won’t run for President, one interesting question is whether her exit could change the dynamic of the existing field. Even this fall, a non-trivial number of Republican voters have been telling pollsters that Palin is their choice for the GOP nomination. She drew 9% in a late September national …
New Print Column: The Republicans
In my new print column, now available online to subscribers, I lament Chris Christie’s decision not to run for President on the grounds that I was hoping to have a Leader of the Free World fatter than me. Actually, the New Jersey governor is to be congratulated for understanding that he didn’t have nearly enough experience to hold the …
Herman Cain: Flash in the Pan or “Serious Candidate”?
Even by the standards of a strange and unpredictable Republican primary season, it’s amazing to see an African American former pizza mogul vault into the top tier of the 2012 GOP field, at least as measured by several recent …
Palin Will Not Seek the GOP Nomination
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will not seek the Republican nomination to challenge Barack Obama for the White House, she said in a statement sent to TIME.
“After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States,” Palin wrote in a statement …
Digging Into Rick Perry’s $17 Million Haul
Rick Perry reportedly raised $17 million in the nearly two months since he burst into the Republican presidential race. It’s an impressive haul that places the Texas governor squarely in the top-tier of the Republican money race with Mitt Romney, who apparently took in some $14 million in the the same period.
The Federal Elections …
Top 10 People Really, Truly, Honestly Not Running for President
Chris Christie is only the latest in slew of politicians whose supposed 2012 aspirations turned out to be nothing more than D.C.’s collective fever dream.
Who Will Emerge as Romney’s Foil in New Hampshire?
Manchester, N.H.
After months of good fortune, Mitt Romney is having a particularly blessed week. Chris Christie’s announcement Tuesday that he will forgo a presidential bid cleared the field of a hefty obstacle –a moderate …
Is Michele Bachmann Getting Desperate?
She won the Iowa Straw Poll just two months ago, but since then, Michele Bachmann has plummeted in the polls, and it’s beginning to look like Ames was her apex. Now, in a series of low-production-value online videos, the self-styled “comeback kid” is telling voters “Don’t Settle”—in life or on a moderate Republican presidential candidate.