Republican, 2012 Presidential Election | featured news

Torn between reality and their political dreams, leading conservatives are defending Mitt Romney against attacks on his work in the private sector even as they search for a more palatable candidate amid a growing sense that his nomination may be certain.

Laura Bush told a Florida audience that she and former president George W. Bush wanted his brother Jeb to run for president this year.

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney defended his leadership on Thursday of a private equity firm at the center of a raging campaign battle in South Carolina over whether while its chief executive he was a job killer.

Presidential candidate Rick Perry's criticism of Mitt Romney's business past had a boomerang effect Thursday, costing him the support of a prominent Republican in South Carolina. Investment fund executive and top GOP donor Barry Wynn told The Associated Press he was leaving the Perry fold to endorse Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Wynn said Perry's attacks on Romney's time at the helm of the private equity firm Bain Capital had crossed the line in a political party that values free-market capitalism.

Mitt Romney rolled to an easy victory Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary, taking a broad stride toward capturing the GOP presidential nomination as the contest heads south for a pair of potentially make-or-break contests.

Mitt Romney is poised to clock an easy victory here Tuesday, accomplishing a historic feat by winning back-to-back contests here and in Iowa and putting himself on a glide path to his party’s nomination. The trouble for Romney is, his rivals don’t quite see things that way.

No matter what happens in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, Mitt Romney should be grateful that his opponents didn’t force him to play the expectations game. All available evidence suggests that Romney, with twice the support of his nearest rival in the latest polls, will roll to a solid victory.

The trailing Republican presidential candidates intensified their attacks on Mitt Romney’s role at a corporate buyout firm in the final day of campaigning before New Hampshire voters go to the polls.

Mitt Romney is holding on to what seems like an insurmountable lead in New Hampshire a new poll finds, meaning any drama surrounding Tuesday's voting in the first presidential primary is likely to be about who claims runner-up status.

In the past twelve hours the six men running for the Republican presidential nomination have debated not once but twice. We live-blogged both debates — the Saturday night set-to sponsored by ABC/WMUR and the “Meet the Press” debate this morning. Below is our combined winners and losers from the two debates. Agree or disagree? That is your right; this country is all about liberty. (Ron Paul homage!) The comments section is open for business.