Mitt Romney

The Republican Party has been doing a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing since the presidential election. Half the conservative columnists and bloggers say the GOP lost because it overemphasized social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. The other half says the party didn't emphasize them enough. And everyone denounces Project ORCA, the campaign's attempt to turn out voters via technology. But I've got a suggestion for cutting short the GOP angst: Sarah Palin for president in 2016.

With his nomination as the Republican candidate for president all but wrapped up, Mitt Romney now faces the challenging task of selecting a running mate. What was once a fairly ho-hum matter (the running gag in the 1931 Gershwin musical lampooning Washington politics, "Of Thee I Sing," is that nobody pays attention to the vice president anyway) is now regarded as a defining moment of a presidential campaign. Beth Myers, the longtime aide Mr. Romney has assigned to head his vice presidential search, is likely receiving a lot of free advice from a variety of sources.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker was wrong and President Barack Obama is right: Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital deserves closer scrutiny by voters. Whether a brief television ad accomplishes this is another matter. Presidential campaigns are seldom pretty. And this year's race is certain to be worse than most. The rise of super PAC spending and the prospect of tens of millions of dollars spent pounding on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's more inflammatory sermons or the creation of more websites devoted to the plight of the Romney family dog are especially depressing thoughts.

It would be tempting to call the 2012 election the year of the woman - if only for the record number headed for the U.S. Senate and their instrumental role in re-electing President Barack Obama - but it was also the year of the Latino, the African-American and the young. That's the coalition that helped Mr. Obama, and that's the election result that ought to worry Republicans most. Once the GOP gets past some respectable period of mourning that comes from losing a national election to an incumbent president at a time of persistently high unemployment, they are going to have to do some serious soul-searching.

Here's another $10,000 wager for which Mitt Romney won't find many takers: We bet the public is disappointed with the choices for president of the United States in 2012. That's a pretty remarkable circumstance given that the general election is still nearly a year away. For those who missed Saturday's Republican debate, the moment observers were left talking about was the size of Mr. Romney's proposed bet to Rick Perry if the Texas governor could prove that he rewrote his book to reflect a changed position on Massachusetts health care reform.

SALT LAKE CITY - When the Olympic torch is lighted here in less than five months, marking the start of the 2002 Winter Games, someone will assume a role defined by a legend. Only one man knows who that is, and Olympic chief Mitt Romney says he won't tell anyone - not even the designee - until the last moment, so as not to spoil the surprise. "I can't top [Muhammad] Ali," Romney says of the ailing heavyweight champion who touched the world when he touched the flaming torch to the caldron in Atlanta in 1996.

Recently, President Barack Obama and his surrogates have been attacking Mitt Romney for investing in overseas accounts. This is Mitt Romney's personal money. Investing overseas is legal. Mitt Romey has children. He has stated he wants to pass something down to his children. He will likely pass far more to his children than President Obama. I really don't think the president should be lecturing Mitt Romney on how he should be investing his personal money. Fred Pasek, Frederick

The question of the day is: What do Donald Trump and Mitt Romney have in common besides being rich ("Trumped: It's Romney, not Gingrich, who's endorsed," Feb. 3)? The answer is they both like to fire people. Frank F. Braunstein, Pikesville

I guess I'm not a part of the diverse voter bloc that delivered for President Barack Obama ("Diverse voter bloc delivers for Obama," Nov. 8). I am a woman but I'm past middle age, Jewish and not swayed by negative campaigning. I voted for Mitt Romney. Mignon Rosenthal, Pikesville

Perennial Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his campaign exploratory committee on Monday and the comedians reacted Tuesday night. On TBS, Conan O'Brien joked that Romney was running solely on "good looks" and edited his announcement video to make it, um, sexy and creepy?  As for Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, he dubbed Romney "Captain Buzzkill" and said, "Not the guy who looks like anyone who's ever fired your dad!" Thus far, the jokes about Romney are 1)