
A year after Mitt Romney won the straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, attendees this weekend had no consensus theory for how their candidate lost in November.
Republican soul-searching has been a major theme at CPAC, the right-wing's blockbuster conference, being held this year outside of Washington in suburban Maryland. But after two days, there is no dominant narrative or talking point to explain their bruising defeat or how to right the Republican ship in 2016.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (0) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Mitt Romney received an enthusiastic welcome at CPAC on Friday, where he graciously thanked conservatives for supporting his 2012 campaign, but offered little reflection as to why it ultimately failed.
"I'm sorry I won't be your president," Romney said. "I will be your coworker and I'll work shoulder by shoulder beside you."
How far has the conversation shifted on immigration since the election? Let's consider two videos, just over a year apart.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (0) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)After a self-imposed exile in La Jolla, Mitt Romney re-emerged last week to find the political landscape unrecognizable from the one he left in November -- and nowhere more than on immigration.
Jeb Bush's new tome, "Immigration Wars: Forging An American Solution," hit bookstores on Tuesday and is already making waves in the immigration debate and 2016 sweepstakes alike.
Bush's book, co-authored by Goldwater Institute director Clint Bolick, shares a lot in tone and style with other works by plausible presidential candidates. A lot of feel-good American rhetoric, inspiring anecdotes about average citizens, hat tips to popular causes in the party, and reminders of the author's accomplishments in unrelated areas (in this case, education.) Its core parts are a framework for immigration reform and a political manifesto about GOP outreach to Latinos, both of which are hotly debated within the party and could be directly affected by Bush's book. Here are some of the highlights:
Update: February 22, 2013, 8:43 AM
Democratic opposition researcher James Carter on Thursday said the individual who recorded Mitt Romney making his infamous "47 percent" remarks at a Florida fundraiser was not a high-dollar donor.
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