By David Freedlander 7/11/12 5:57am

Money Money

Final_DaleStephanos_Romney Tebow

Meet Mitt’s Money-Man: Low Key Woody Johnson Key To Gang (Green) Busters GOP Fundraising

Last February, back when Rick Santorum shocked Republicans with a string of primary victories and the once-inevitable campaign of Mitt Romney was teetering on collapse, Woody Johnson held a private meeting in his office in Rockefeller Center.

Mr. Johnson is the heir to the Johnson & Johnson family fortune, the owner of the New York Jets and, over the past year or so, the head of Mr. Romney’s fundraising efforts in the political goldmine that is New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The meeting was one of several he had held over the course of the campaign with those whose names had shown up on campaign finance filings for some of the other GOP hopefuls, donors who had cast their lot early on with Tim Pawlenty, or Herman Cain, or Rick Perry.

The message was always the same: Mitt Romney will be the nominee. He is only one who can keep Barack Obama from sinking the economy further. There was no political deal-making, no hard sell that said, “Come on, board now, before it is too late.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/27/12 12:07pm

what a mensch

(Photo: Getty)

‘Jews Pick Rick’: New York Orthodox Jews Rally for Santorum

A group of New York Orthodox Jews have formed a group, “Jews Pick Rick,” supporting presidential candidate Rick Santorum in his quest for the White House, they announced in a statement this morning.

“What started as three men in a small room has grown into a larger operation as many Jews have emailed or communicated to us their interest in helping Santorum,” David Shor, the spokesman for the organization, said in the release.

“The sole goal of Jews Pick Rick is to turn the Orthodox community into Santorum territory, spreading Rick’s conservative message to Boro Park, Flatbush, Monsey, Lakewood and Five Towns,” he continued, touting Mr. Santorum’s foreign policy views.

The group also took the bat to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, “whose Jewish advisers are primarily secular Jews,” according to the release. Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/30/12 10:47am

Can't Handle The Kashruth

Newt Gingrich wearing a yarmulke (Photo: Getty)

Mitt Romney’s Kosher Record Under Scrutiny

Florida’s diverse demographics have brought new elements to the Republican primary, from bringing the focus to Latino issues, to the state’s elderly population. Now, Florida’s Jewish bloc is impacting the dialogue as Newt Gingrich and his surrogates raise questions about Mitt Romney’s cuts to kosher food programs during his tenure as Governor of Massachusetts.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a power broker in New York’s Orthodox Jewish community, blasted Mr. Romney’s decision to eliminate the $5-a-day funding for kosher meals in Jewish nursing homes.

“Well, `let them eat pork or let them eat something else’ — if you’re kosher, you’re not eating anything else,” he told the Post. “It’s just that simple. Why Romney didn’t get it at that particular time is disappointing and quite shocking to me.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/21/12 7:01pm

triumph of newt

Newt Gingrich (Photo: Getty)

Newt Gingrich Wins South Carolina

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich surged to the front of the pack and pulled out a victory in South Carolina’s Republican primary tonight. Mr. Gingrich, whose performance in the polls over the last year has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, was immediately declared the winner by Fox News, ABC News and MSNBC when polls closed at 7pm.

The defeat is the second set back for Mr. Romney in two days. In addition to losing the Palmetto State, his win in Iowa was reversed yesterday to former Senator Rick Santorum, who finished tonight towards the bottom of the four candidates still competing for the Republican presidential nomination, along with Congressman Ron Paul. Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/11/12 8:28am

exit poll

A map of the election results: Romney is yellow, Paul is green. (Photo: Google)

Romney Performed Strongest With the Rich and 'Somewhat Conservative'

Mitt Romney’s strong win last night, scoring 39% overall and 16% more than the second place finisher, Ron Paul, naturally involved winning many different groups. According to CBS News’ exit poll, Mr. Romney either won outright or placed a very close second to Mr. Paul across most demographic and ideological categories. The data also reveals that he performed strongest among those describing their views as “somewhat conservative” and the very rich.

Indeed, Mr. Romney, who’s very wealthy himself, won more than half of those with families making more than $200,000 a year, one of his highest percentages in the entire exit poll. Among those making $50,000 or less, Mr. Romney only tied Mr. Paul, each earning less than a third of that financially modest vote. Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/10/12 9:46pm

You've Got Mail

Rick Perry (Photo: Wikimedia)

Rick Perry's Concession Speech Comes Via Email

Texas Governor Rick Perry finished in sixth place in New Hampshire tonight, scoring last among the main candidates for the GOP nomination. As the rest of the field is making their concession speeches on television, the Perry campaign phoned it in, so to speak, by conceding electronically.

“Tonight’s results in New Hampshire show the race for ‘conservative alternative’ to Mitt Romney remains wide open,” the statement read. “I skipped New Hampshire and aimed my campaign right at conservative South Carolina, where we’ve been campaigning hard and receiving an enthusiastic welcome.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/10/12 8:00pm

meeting expectations

Mitt Romney (Photo: Wikimedia)

Mitt Romney Wins New Hampshire

Mitt Romney has scored another win tonight, defeating his rivals in New Hampshire. The networks declared the results at the earliest possible opportunity, as soon as the polls closed at 8 p.m.  Mr. Romney’s New Hampshire victory comes as  no surprise, as his dominance in Granite State polling had never been shaken.

Mr. Romney had previously eked out a win in Iowa last week by a mere 8 votes.  The win provides a nice boost as his more ideologically rigid rivals compete with one another to coalesce enough voters to provide a substantive challenge to the Romney campaign. Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/04/12 11:38am

GOP2012

Michele Bachmann (Photo: Facebook)

Michele Bachmann Drops Presidential Bid

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann dropped her presidential campaign today after a disappointing sixth-place finish in last night’s Iowa caucuses.

Her per performance last night, scoring a mere 5% of the Iowa caucus vote, is quite a different result than the Ames Straw Poll she won earlier last year. Although Ames had previously been seen as a tangible test of a candidate’s strength and organization in the Hawkeye State, the final results differed substantially from the straw poll’s findings. Governor Mitt Romney, who won Iowa’s caucus vote last night, did not even actively participate in the straw poll. Read More