Romney now has the support of 29% of Republican registered voters to Gingrich’s 28%, according to Gallup -
USA Today
Mitt Romney paid $3M in taxes in 2010 -
USA Today
The Romneys gave away $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including at least $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -
Washington Post
They say Romney is the establishment candidate but the establishment is slow to endorse him…
http://conhomeusa.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f4f7f710970b01630008e614970d-500wi
Romney remains a tremendously weak frontrunner, whose strengths don’t compensate for a style that leaves conservatives cold and a background that will leave him open to attacks across a variety of Democratic-friendly fronts in the general election." -
Ross Douthat
“Mitt Romney was born and raised in Michigan and has ties to Utah. Yet he chose to make his career, both in business and politics, in Massachusetts. Nearly every political problem Romney has today, at least those involving his policy positions, stems from that one decision.” -
Byron York
Meanwhile, Gingrich’s former firm releases Freddie Mac contract -
Washington Post
Romney levelled a searing attack against Newt Gingrich’s character and raised pointed questions about his ability to lead -
New York Times
“Romney wasted little time before laying into Gingrich on an array of potential vulnerabilities in advance of the Jan. 31 Florida primary, including a challenge to Gingrich’s conservative bona fides on the environment, his condemnation for which he later apologized of Paul Ryan’s entitlement reform plan as “right-wing social engineering,” and his consulting work on behalf of failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac.” -
RCP
“unlike Gingrich’s memorable moments from the two South Carolina debates, nothing in Monday’s debate seems likely to alter the race in Florida in any serious way, either by boosting Romney or slowing Gingrich’s momentum.” -
Weekly Standard
Romney advocates ‘self-deportation’ for illegal immigrants -
LA Times
Defeat in SC will be good for Romney if he now discovers passion - George Will in the
Washington Post
Ten suggestions for Romney to get back on track, beginning with DON’T PANIC -
The Hill
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a quick end to the presidential primary battle would be best so the GOP can unify around the nominee -
Roll Call
Stephens and Gerson see support for Gingrich as a desire for excitement
Voters instinctively prefer the idea of an entertaining Newt-Obama contest—the aspiring Caesar versus the failed Redeemer—over a dreary Mitt-Obama one - Bret Stephens in the
Wall Street Journal
“Currently many conservatives are exercising not just their franchise but their imaginations. They picture a debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, and they yawn. They envision Gingrich going after the president, the media and the fundamental failures of liberalism — and their pulses race. But Republicans need to imagine just a little further — electing a president with no history of prudence.” - Mike Gerson in the
Washington Post
Jonah Goldberg at the
LA Times reaches similar conclusions: “For whatever reason, Romney seems like a creature put on Earth to blend in with the humans and report back what he finds. He clearly likes earthlings, and they in turn find him pleasant enough, and surprisingly lifelike. Occasionally he finds the right words, but he rarely connects them to the right tone. This dearth of convincing passion in the front-runner makes the passionate base of the party want to look elsewhere — even to Newtzilla.”
“Mr Romney’s challenge is to talk conservatives down from the ledge without worsening his position by insulting them for climbing up there with Newt in the first place” -
Economist
) and I know conservatives on the Forum who feel the same about me (being friendly towards me but considering me wrong, of course. 