Today’s Washington Post notes the fixation of hard-core Republican activists with illegal immigration, a phenomenon that became clear to me this spring when I saw a Republican voter suggest to Tim Pawlenty that the government threaten to shoot immigrants crossing the southern border. That sort of anger could cause headaches for Rick …
mitt romney
For GOP Hopefuls, Labor Day Weekend Marks Start of 2012 Sprint
After a spring of embarrassing ephemera (remember Donald Trump’s painful presidential flirtation/publicity tour?) and a summer of high-octane campaign kickoffs (Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman) that haven’t sustained much …
Romney’s Best Hope for Wounding Perry
The punditocracy has achieved consensus: given the latest crop of national horse-race polls, Mitt Romney can no longer hope to claim the Republican presidential nomination by default; he has no choice but to knock off Rick Perry. There’s just no real consensus on how exactly he should do it.
A few of the current ideas and their …
The Rich History of Mitt Romney
The former Massachusetts governor and runner-up for the 2008 Republican presidential ticket is poised to seize his party’s 2012 nomination for the White House. TIME looks at his vibrant family life, business career and political trials.
Romney at the Center of a Tea Party Spat
FreedomWorks, the big-time Tea Party booster run by seasoned Washington insiders, has been a co-sponsor of the latest cross-country bus tour organized by the Sacramento-based Tea Party Express, a sign of the uneasy peace that has mostly prevailed between the myriad Tea Party factions. But Mitt Romney’s planned appearance on the tour has …
All The Candidates’ Federal Spending
Presidential campaigns are all about the future, yet they take place in the present and rest upon the past. A candidate’s record, and performance in debates and on the trail, are what a voter has to go on. So the records of the Republican candidates when it comes to fiscal responsibility matter, especially in a nomination campaign that …
Amid Straw Poll Nonsense, the GOP Presidential Race Roars to Life
Say what you will about the Iowa straw poll. (“Good-natured fraud,” says Walter Shapiro. “Not very predictive,” says Jon Stewart. “Overhyped, underwhelming,” says Michael Crowley.) But no one can deny that the event …
Not Killing Romney: The Difference Between Negativity and Incivility
[youtube=http://youtu.be/IyXgykhsCqk]
The Romney campaign, once again, proves Wednesday morning that it is the most effective and disciplined of the GOP operations this year with a rapid-response web spot, and fundraising appeal, attacking President Obama for being a civility hypocrite. Take a look at the spot.
Note the, um, …
How Michele Bachmann’s Surge Reshuffles the GOP Presidential Race
Last week’s Des Moines Register poll tells us — assuming nothing actually happens in Iowa over the next six months — that about 22% of the 125,000 or so Hawkeyes most likely to show up for next year’s Republican caucus will …
Nine Epically Wrong Politician History Flubs
These White House contenders give historical fiction a whole new meaning. TIME breaks down nine egregious examples of the type of revisionist flub you can expect in 2012
In Utah, a Lukewarm Homecoming for Huntsman
After a whirlwind kickoff week for his presidential campaign, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman returns to his home state Tuesday, where he will tour a medical-device facility, speak to a conference and hold a posh fund-raiser. It could have been a triumphant homecoming. Huntsman was a wildly popular governor. He won re-election in 2008 …
Could the 2012 Election Be 2004 All Over Again?
There’s been a lot of buzz inside the Beltway about how this year’s crop of GOP wannabes is strikingly similar to the Democratic cast of George W. Bush challengers in 2004.
You have a frontrunner who is playing it safe and …
Trying to Reinvent Itself Again, the Tea Party Gears Up for 2012
Like any group in its infancy, the Tea Party goes through phases. Gone, or at least temporarily shelved, are the noisy rallies, the tricorn hats, the abundant signage that marked its birth in 2009. “We are not a protest …