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Articles by Seth McLaughlin

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks April 1, 2012, to a crowd at a town-hall style campaign event in Madison, Wis. (Associated Press)

As Romney nears nod, GOP base nods off

Pledges of support from powerful Republicans last week may have edged Mitt Romney closer to the GOP presidential nomination, but the former Massachusetts governor still struggles to fire the imaginations of most in his party — even the coveted endorsements from former President George H.W. Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida seemed underwhelming in tone.

April 1, 2012
House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, speaks March 29, 2012, during a news conference on Capitol Hill after Republicans pushed an election-year, $3.5 trillion budget through the House. (Associated Press)

Ryan endorses Romney for GOP nomination

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday, landing the former Massachusetts governor another high-profile supporter as the party starts to rally behind him in hopes of ending the bloody nomination race.

March 30, 2012
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate, meets with former President George H.W. Bush in Houston on Thursday to receive his endorsement. Mr. Bush, who talked with the hopeful in his office, called Mr. Romney a "good man" who would "make a great president." (Associated Press)

George H.W. Bush, Marco Rubio endorse Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney collected endorsements from an ex-president and one of the GOP's biggest up-and-coming stars this week as powerhouse Republicans said the race for the party's nomination is essentially over and urged voters to get behind the former Massachusetts governor.

March 29, 2012
Rubio

Rubio backs Romney’s presidential bid

Sen. Marco Rubio threw his support behind Mitt Romney's presidential campaign on Wednesday and pushed back against the other candidates' plans to fight until the national convention this summer - handing the former Massachusetts governor a major endorsement from one of the stars of the conservative movement.

March 28, 2012
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (right), front-runner for the GOP presidential nod, seen here Dec. 1 with former President George H.W. Bush in Houston, will get Mr. Bush's formal endorsement Thursday. (Associated Press)

Romney rivals seen ‘tilting at windmills’ in convention ploy

A sneak attack at the convention, the plan that Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are counting on to win the Republican presidential nomination, is far-fetched in the eyes of state party officials who say that Mitt Romney will be nominated even if he goes into the convention with only a plurality of delegates.

March 28, 2012
Mitt Romney has said he won't abandon the conservative positions he took in the Republican primaries, including those on illegal immigration. (Associated Press)

Romney faces hurdle gaining Hispanic votes

GOP front-runner Mitt Romney's pledge to stick to the positions he has taken on the primary trail could hurt him in a general election matchup with President Obama, particularly with Hispanic voters over the question of immigration.

March 27, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum leaves after speaking to reporters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington on Monday, March 26, 2012, as the court hears oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Louisiana win steels resolve of Santorum to stay in race

Fresh off a big win in Saturday's Louisiana primary, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Sunday hammered front-runner Mitt Romney by painting him as "the worst candidate" the party could put up against President Obama.

March 25, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum speaks at the AFP Defending the Dream Conference in Milwaukee on Saturday, March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Santorum wins Republican presidential primary in Louisiana

Rick Santorum won the Republican primary in Louisiana on Saturday, giving the former Pennsylvania senator additional crowing rights going forward in the GOP presidential fight and further cementing him as the biggest rival to front-runner Mitt Romney.

March 24, 2012
Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum greets supporters March 21, 2012, after a rally in Mandeville, La. (Associated Press)

Poll: Santorum poised for big win in Louisiana

A new Rasmussen Reports polls gives GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum a double-digit lead going into the Louisiana primary on Saturday, putting the former Pennsylvania senator on solid footing to carry some additional bragging rights out of another Deep South nominating contest.

March 22, 2012
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a GOP presidential hopeful, addresses an audience during a campaign stop at an American Legion post in Arbutus, Md., on Wednesday. (Associated Press)

Evangelical states sketchy for Romney

Mitt Romney's lopsided victory in Illinois this week showed again that he's hard to beat in states with more moderate, less evangelical-minded voters — a good sign for the former Massachusetts governor when that describes most of the big prizes left on the Republican primary schedule.

March 21, 2012

Hyde Park embraces old neighbor, shuns GOP

President Obama still has boatloads of fans — and seemingly no political enemies — in his old backyard of Hyde Park, the neighborhood from where he launched the political career that eventually landed him in the White House.

March 20, 2012
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reacts while greeting supporters at a rally in Schaumburg, Ill., after the winning the Illinois Republican presidential primary, Tuesday, March 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Illinois win moves Romney closer to inevitability

Mitt Romney notched another victory in the Republican primaries on Tuesday, defeating Rick Santorum in Illinois and adding to the growing sense of inevitability that he will be the nominee to face President Obama in the fall.

March 20, 2012
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, speaking at the University of Chicago, said some of the nation's foremost inventors of an earlier era would have suffocated under the weight of the regulatory burden of today's federal government. (Associated Press)

Romney rallies for ‘economic freedom’

Mitt Romney focused his attacks Monday on President Obama as he campaigned ahead of the Illinois primary, while his chief rival for the GOP nomination — Rick Santorum — blasted the former Massachusetts governor's health care record and predicted that delegates will reject him if the race lasts until this summer's convention.

March 19, 2012
Mitt Romney tells Fox News' Megyn Kelly on "America Live" Wednesday that very conservative voters who don't support him now will favor him against Barack Obama. (Associated Press)

Romney’s delegate gain is still loss of ‘cushion’

Mitt Romney extended his lead in delegates in the Republican presidential nomination fight this week, but his hopes of avoiding a contested convention dimmed slightly after third-place finishes in Tuesday night's two biggest contests.

March 14, 2012
In this Monday, March 12, 2012, photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum campaign in Montgomery, Ala. Santorum won the Republican presidential primary Tuesday, March 13, in Alabama (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Santorum wins; Romney pads delegate lead

Bolstering his claim that he's the strongest conservative in the Republican presidential field, Rick Santorum swept the Alabama and Mississippi primaries on Tuesday, sending a strong signal to Mitt Romney that the GOP front-runner still isn't connecting with a big chunk of the party's deeply conservative base.

March 13, 2012
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum failed to qualify for the ballot in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, allowing front-runner Mitt Romney to pad his delegate lead ahead of August's Republican National Convention. Such mishaps prove "he is incapable of taking on President Obama's formidable political machine," said Andrea Saul, a Romney spokeswoman. (Associated Press)

Santorum is a ‘David’ of his own making

Rick Santorum is casting his fight with Mitt Romney as a "David-versus-Goliath" battle — but from failing to get his name on ballots to coming up short on raising cash, the Republican presidential contender deserves at least part of the blame, political observers say.

March 13, 2012
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy introduces Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at a campaign stop at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Monday, March 12, 2012, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/ John David Mercer)

Who says Romney can’t win in the South?

The showdown between Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich was supposed to be the big story in Tuesday's GOP contests in Alabama and Mississippi — but polls show Mitt Romney is poised to rewrite the narrative that he can't win in the Deep South.

March 12, 2012
Rick Santorum, campaigning with his daughter Elizabeth in Lenexa, Kan., wasted no time using the issue of health care mandates against Mitt Romney, his toughest rival in the Republican presidential nominating contests. (Associated Press)

Santorum assails Romney’s health care stances

While Mitt Romney squeaked out a narrow victory in Ohio's Republican primary, chief opponent Rick Santorum peeled away the scab and drew new blood over the former Massachusetts governor's history on health care, resurrecting the chief obstacle between Mr. Romney and the nomination.

March 7, 2012