As health care remains a top issue in the contest to win the 2012 GOP nomination for President, candidates are working hard to build their own narratives around the issue. Mitt Romney has decided not to back away from the universal health care reforms he championed in Massachusetts, but to emphasize the difference between a state-based …
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Romney’s Courageous Convictions?
In 2008 Mitt Romney ran a Gumby campaign, turning himself inside out trying to be everything to everybody. He bought in to every straw poll, competed in Iowa, signed most pledges–and lost. This time around, Romney seems intent …
Understanding Romney Humor: “I’m Also Unemployed”
A few days before the 2010 midterm elections, Mitt Romney opened with this joke at a GOP event in New Hampshire: “It’s nice to be so warmly recognized. I’m not always recognized where I go by the way. The other day I made a phone call. I was trying to dial for dollars, trying to help some of our friends around the country. I called a big …
Huntsman Goes from ‘Wobbly’ to Anti-War
Massimo suggests Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman inadvertently stepped into dovish foreign policy territory and that they’ll soon correct — or overcorrect — the mistake. That’s a credible explanation for the former, whose aides spent the day making hawkish reassurances to The Weekly Standard, among others. I don’t buy it for Huntsman.
Are Republicans Going Wobbly on Afghanistan?
One of the few truly reliable campaign strategies for Republican presidential candidates over the last 40 years has been to run to the right of Democrats on foreign and national security policy no matter what the issue, no matter …
What You Missed While Not Watching the New Hampshire GOP Debate
–2 minutes. The debate hasn’t started yet, but the crowd is already restless. A mutiny is afoot. CNN may host this thing, but can CNN’s John King control it? “Let’s do the pledge,” shouts out someone in the audience, …
Monday Night’s Missing Man*
Seven Republican presidential hopefuls will take the stage Monday night at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. With the possible exception of Mitt Romney, none of them have as much riding on the Granite State as Jon Huntsman. And yet the former Utah governor will be watching the debate on television, capping a day spent in …
The New Hampshire Debate: Mitt Romney’s First Big Test
If Mitt Romney has his way, Monday night’s Republican primary debate in New Hampshire will be all about Barack Obama. If Mitt Romney’s Republican rivals have their way, Monday night’s debate will be all about Mitt Romney. Herein …
When GOP Presidential Candidates Skip, They Quickly Stumble
Republicans are always standing with things. They “stand with Israel.” The “stand with” each other. They “stand with” themselves. Sarah Palin even once said America should “stand with our North Korean allies.” Suffice it to say, …
Romney for President: “He’s Not Going to Change His Mind” (At Least This One Time)
I hate to keep picking on Mitt Romney, but…oh, who am I kidding. I love to pick on Mitt Romney! He’s an Onion headline in a suit! He’s John Kerry with an R after his name! Today’s new hilarity comes from an unnamed adviser in …
Mitt Romney: Obama’s Next Energy Czar?
I suspect that Mitt Romney’s record of sane centrist achievement, along with his hilarious flip-floppery and unconvincing pose as a red-meat right-winger, will doom him in the Republican primary. But it would be a shame to waste his talents, so I’m going to start proposing possible jobs for him in the sane centrist Obama …
The Front Runner Makes It Official: Romney Targets Obama, Acts like Himself
When Newt Gingrich announced his presidential campaign, he presented himself on YouTube as the optimistic care bear of conservatism, bathed in soft focus and speaking with a forced smile over synthesized strings. The effect was …
Palin’s Set of Improbable Coincidences
Sarah Palin says she’s not (yet) running for President. But her week long “learning” bus tour of historical sites just happens to end in the politically important first primary state of New Hampshire where she just happens …