Rush Officially Endorses Romney

It was only a matter of time--and hopefully not too much time. Rush has come out and officially thrown his support behind Mitt Romney. I suppose he regrets his earlier commitment to refrain from endorsing anyone, but I suppose the stakes now are too high.

Hopefully Rush can help push Mitt over the top in enough states. Crossing fingers...

Rick Santorum Gets Behind Romney

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum joined Laura Ingraham on her radio show to voice his support of Mitt Romney. From the interview:

If you're a conservative, there really is only one place to go right now. I would even argue farther than that. If you're a Republican, if you're a Republican in the broadest sense, there is only one place to go right now and that's Mitt Romney.

Listen to the interview.

Another for Mitt: Mark Levin

It's no secret I'm probably in the top 5% most conservative of conservatives. That doesn't stop me from an extreme dislike of the Mark Levin Show on the radio. Basically, you take Sean Hannity, crank up the nasality, add a bunch of hyperbole and hyperventilation, and pile on a heaping helping of poorly crafted metaphors and juvenile puns. That's Mark Levin.

But Levin does, as other media conservatives appear to, have a good head on his shoulders, and is endorsing Mitt Romney. Are all these endorsements too little, too late? It's too bad they couldn't have come to the same conclusion a week earlier. Even so, it's another good development in the week leading up to Super Tuesday.

From Levin's statement:

Let’s face it, none of the candidates are perfect. They never are. But McCain is the least perfect of the viable candidates. The only one left standing who can honestly be said to share most of our conservative principles is Mitt Romney. I say this as someone who has not been an active Romney supporter. If conservatives don’t unite behind Romney at this stage, and become vocal in their support for him, then they will get McCain as their Republican nominee and probably a Democrat president. And in either case, we will have a deeply flawed president. [Emphasis added.]

Another One Bites the Dust. Tancredo Cedes Race to Romney

There's one fewer Republican candidate to remember. Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo dropped out of the race, recognizing that he has no chance of winning, and that Romney has the best chance to push Tancredo's signature platform - illegal immigration reform.

As the article states, the endorsement comes at a time when Romney (considered the odds-on favorite to win by Pat Buchanan) is pushing to retain an edge in Iowa - and it's a welcome endorsement indeed.

Tancredo and Romney met for about an hour today prior to the announcements, Tancredo said. He opted to support Romney after he was reassured that he had clarified his position on immigration.

Bowing out was the only way to ensure the momentum behind the anti-illegal immigration movement wouldn't flame out, he said.

Seems that Romney has enjoyed slow but steady growth over the course of his marathon campaign, compared to his opponents, whose standings have been either anemic (John McCain, Fred Thompson), in decline (Giuliani), or wildly unpredictable (Huckabee). If recent history is any measure, Mitt is right on track to be the one who beats Hillary in the general election.

Romney's Been Borked!

No, he wasn't denied an up-or-down vote on a Supreme Court appointment. Rather, Judge Robert Bork has endorsed Romney in his presidential bid:

Our next President may be called upon to make more than one Supreme Court nomination, and Governor Romney is committed to nominating judges who take their oath of office seriously and respect the rule of law in our nation. I also support Governor Romney because of his character, his integrity and his stands on the major issues facing the United States.

Mona Charen for Mitt Romney

Here's a snippet from an excellent piece Mona Charen writes about Mitt. Looks like she's one of those who was definitively swayed by his "Faith in America" speech.

"It is difficult to find any significant weakness in Romney. He is refreshingly articulate, exceedingly well prepared and self-disciplined, clearly an excellent manager with both private and government experience, happily married with a large, supportive family, and well within the mainstream of conservatism on every major issue. His nomination would not divide the base.

"He is just the sort of candidate people complain that they never get."

Michael Novak - Another Powerful Romney Endorsement

Wow, there's nothing like heating up the political horse race to bring out the big, ringing endorsements. First the National Review, and now the widely respected philosopher and diplomat Michael Novak. Read the endorsement.

An excerpt:

"One of my favorite texts from the New Testament is "By their fruits you shall know them." That verse has taught me to look for persons who actually love God, not so much by the churches they attend or what they say they believe, but by how they and their families live their lives. Over two public generations now, the Romney family has given us examples of upright, decent, warm lives, given to public commitment even though they did not have to be.

"These days, though, it has become imperative for some Christians to come out publicly for Mitt, now that his religion has come under unfair attack. I am no expert on Mormon theology, but I do profoundly admire the good family life and good individuals it keeps sending forth into the world. Those are signs I read clearly."

National Review Endorses Romney

The bastion of conservative news, thought and commentary, the National Review, has endorsed my pick for president, Mitt Romney. Read the excellent endorsement. Here are some excerpts:

Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate. In our judgment, that candidate is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest.

Romney is an intelligent, articulate, and accomplished former businessman and governor. At a time when voters yearn for competence and have soured on Washington because too often the Bush administration has not demonstrated it, Romney offers proven executive skill. He has demonstrated it in everything he has done in his professional life, and his tightly organized, disciplined campaign is no exception. He himself has shown impressive focus and energy.

We believe that Romney is a natural ally of social conservatives. He speaks often about the toll of fatherlessness in this country. He may not have thought deeply about the political dimensions of social issues until, as governor, he was confronted with the cutting edge of social liberalism. No other Republican governor had to deal with both human cloning and court-imposed same-sex marriage. He was on the right side of both issues, and those battles seem to have made him see the stakes of a broad range of public-policy issues more clearly. He will work to put abortion on a path to extinction. Whatever the process by which he got to where he is on marriage, judges, and life, we’re glad he is now on our side — and we trust him to stay there.

For some people, Romney’s Mormonism is still a barrier. But we are not electing a pastor...He deserves to be judged on his considerable merits as a potential president...Romney is an exemplary family man and a patriot whose character matches the high office to which he aspires.

In this most fluid and unpredictable Republican field, we vote for Mitt Romney.

National Review and NRO are America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for Republican/conservative news, commentary, and opinion. Both magazine and web site are the benchmark vehicles for reaching those Republicans/conservatives who shape opinion on the important issues, and both reach an affluent, educated, and highly responsive audience of corporate and government leaders, the financial elite, educators, journalists, community and association leaders, as well as engaged activists all across America.