The great debate about whether Mitt Romney was a vulture capitalist or venture capitalist at Bain Capital is useful and interesting, but not for the reasons many people pretend it is. The country benefits from a frank discussion about the wages of capitalism and what limits, if any, we should place on free markets. But the specifics of …
Elections
What Ad Spending Says About Each GOP Candidate–and Their Success
Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing Mitt Romney, has spent $8.9 million on the 2012 Republican presidential primary, more money than any other group. Throughout the fall it held its fire, even as Ron Paul pumped money into …
Romney’s Killer Instinct: How Mitt Is Winning and Why Obama Should Take Note
Mitt Romney has been running his presidential campaign based on a primal instinct: kill or be killed. And so after Rick Santorum fought Romney to a virtual tie in Iowa and arrived in New Hampshire trailed by media hordes, …
Evangelicals’ Last-Ditch Effort to Unite in the GOP Race
Some 125 evangelical leaders and their spouses will gather this weekend at a Texas ranch to discuss the latest iteration of Operation What To Do About Mitt Romney. While organizers say it is not a meeting to stop the GOP front …
The Not-Romney Candidates Look Ahead to South Carolina
In the days before the Iowa caucus, Rick Santorum had a decision to make. Spiking in the polls and positioned for a top-three result, Santorum could try to ride the wave into New Hampshire, where legions of free media awaited, …
As Romney Claims New Hampshire, the GOP Comes to Grips with His Inevitability
New Hampshire voters are famously fickle. They venture out on cold January mornings to shake a candidate’s hand, look him in the eye and judge the mettle of the man, polls and pundits be damned. Four years ago, they shrugged off …
Former South Carolina Governor Jim Edwards Dumps Romney
In 2008, former South Carolina governor Jim Edwards devoted four months of his life to be the de facto co-chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign in the state, raising money and organizing supporters statewide. This time around not only is he not helping the Romney campaign, he’s not even endorsing Romney. Instead, he tells TIME, he is …
New Hampshire Creates Big Expectations, if Little Drama, as GOP Race Wears On
Somersworth, New Hampshire
In a final, frantic day of campaigning before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, the six Republican presidential hopefuls sought to calibrate expectations for a race from which Mitt Romney’s healthy …
Campaign Circus Reaches Fever Pitch in New Hampshire
Bedford, New Hampshire
The Granite State had been worked to a fever pitch by Monday, as candidates made their final appeals before the long-anticipated primary. In the sleepy New Hampshire hills, the buildings overflowed. Crowds of reporters swallowed candidates and innocent bystanders alike. And the kooks and activists came out to …
Mitt’s Having a Tough Day
Manchester, New Hampshire
Lots of people are already having fun with this Mitt Romney quote:
“I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy,” Romney said. “It also means that if you don’t like what they do, you could fire them. I like being able to
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What You Missed While Not Watching the New Hampshire Republican Debates
–6 minutes. At St. Anselm College, ABC News asks former Utah governor Jon Huntsman to take the stage first. Texas Governor Rick Perry peeks from behind the curtain instead, followed by the others. Huntsman is last out. Typical. …
In Final New Hampshire Push, Huntsman Embraces Underdog Role
Concord, New Hampshire
In the final days of his long New Hampshire barnstorm, Jon Huntsman has grown comfortable in a role he never expected to play. “I’m the underdog in this race,” Huntsman told a crowd of college kids and …
Behold: What One of Those Caucus Thingies Actually Looks Like
TIME’s photoblog was on the scene Tuesday in Iowa and has the stop-motion footage and jaunty jazz track to prove it: