Standard-Examiner

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at the Price Hill Chili Restaurant up to 112, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Gingrich hits Romney, Obama, on Catholic rights

Charles Babington, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 1:16pm

CINCINNATI -- Newt Gingrich thrust the reproductive rights issue into the GOP campaign spotlight on Tuesday, criticizing both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama's records on requiring Catholic organizations to provide contraceptive aids in some circumstances. Rick Santorum vowed to make the issue a central part of his struggling campaign.

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Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and his wife Mary Kaye tour the Goss International plant in Durham, N.H., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Romney trains fire at Obama, Huntsman at Romney in NH

Beth Fouhy, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 5, 2012 - 11:06am

SALEM, N.H. -- Shooting past each other, Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum took aim at President Barack Obama's economic policies on Thursday as they jockeyed for support in New Hampshire and courted voters in conservative bellwether South Carolina.

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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, accompanied by his wife Ann, speaks during a caucus day rally at the Temple for Performing Arts, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

GOP candidates vie for voters' trust in fluid Iowa

Kasie Hunt, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 10:22am

DES MOINES, Iowa -- In the kickoff contest of the 2012 presidential race, Republican candidates argued up to Tuesday's finish line in Iowa over which candidate is a conservative that voters can trust and who they can count on to defeat President Barack Obama.

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Romney says Paul doesn't represent mainstream

Kasie Hunt, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 30, 2011 - 9:52am

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- An Iowa victory within reach, an increasingly confident Mitt Romney on Friday cast chief GOP presidential rival Ron Paul as a fringe candidate and said: "I'm working harder than anyone to make sure he's not the nominee."

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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop at Rastrelli's restaurant in Clinton, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Romney, Perry slap at Paul on Iran

Kasie Hunt, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - 2:56pm

MUSCATINE, Iowa -- Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Rick Perry on Wednesday assailed Ron Paul for saying the U.S. has no business bombing Iran to keep it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, drawing a sharp contrast with their rising rival as he returned to Iowa days before the lead-off caucuses.

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(CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/The Associated Press) Republican presidential candidate, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich takes part in the Republican debate, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. Attacked as a lifelong Washington insider, newly minted Republican front-runner Newt Gingrich parried criticism from Mitt Romney in campaign debate Saturday night, telling the former Massachusetts governor, “The only reason you didn’t become a career politician is because you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994.”

Gingrich says rivals’ criticism taking a toll

Kasie Hunt, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, December 17, 2011 - 4:27pm

DES MOINES, Iowa — Newt Gingrich tried to quiet unrelenting campaign criticism that he acknowledged had taken a toll as Mitt Romney stepped up insider attacks Saturday in hopes of regaining front-runner status with the first presidential vote little more than two weeks away.

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(STEPHEN MORTON/The Associated Press) Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a town hall rally in Bluffton, S.C. Gingrich was in town to open the Newt 2012 Beaufort County field office in downtown Bluffton. South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary mirrors the national contest, with Newt Gingrich enjoying something of a boom as the GOP continues its potentially fruitless search for an alternative to perceived front-runner Mitt Romney.

SC primary up for grabs, Gingrich making big play

Jim Davenport, Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, December 5, 2011 - 8:42am

NEWBERRY, S.C. — For three decades, the Republican who won South Carolina’s presidential primary has also won the GOP nomination.

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(EVAN VUCCI/The Associated Press) Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during the Republican presidential debate in Washington. Newt Gingrich landed editorial endorsement of NH Union Leader Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, 45 days before GOP primary.

Gingrich coup: Endorsement from NH’s largest paper

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 4:35pm

WASHINGTON — New Hampshire’s largest newspaper on Sunday endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the 2012 GOP presidential race, signaling that rival Mitt Romney isn’t the universal favorite and potentially resetting the contest before the state’s lead-off primary Jan. 10.

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Romney on cruise control while rivals flounder

Philip Elliott, Steve Peoples The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 1:02pm

EXETER, N.H. -- Mitt Romney is on cruise control -- with his eyes focused intently on the White House and President Barack Obama -- as the political landscape in the Republican presidential race shifts all around him.

With his GOP rivals struggling, the former Massachusetts governor has been quietly positioning his campaign for a general election clash against Obama. He's visiting places like the perennial swing state of Pennsylvania and raising piles of cash in New York. He has yet to run his first television ad of the Republican nomination fight. He skipped a series of multicandidate forums in Iowa last week. And, until Monday, it had been 10 days since he took questions from voters in a public setting.

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FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Redmond, Wash. The flat tax is making a comeback among Republican presidential candidates. Most of the contenders _Mitt Romney's an exception _ offer a variation of the tax plan under which everyone pays the same rate. But a flat tax faces tough opposition in Congress because it tends to favor the rich at the expense of others. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Mitt Romney's gaffes give rivals ammunition

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, October 28, 2011 - 1:16pm

A selection of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's gaffes:

-- "I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." June 16, Tampa, Fla.

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Romney waffles on anti-union law in Ohio

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 12:36pm

FAIRFAX, Va. -- A day after he refused to endorse an Ohio ballot measure that limits public employee union rights, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he is "110 percent" behind the effort.

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Republicans starting to pile on Romney

Philip Elliott, Steve Peoples The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 12:29pm

HANOVER, N.H. -- With eyes on Mitt Romney, his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination prepared for what could be one of their last chances to level a devastating blow to the former Massachusetts governor on his home turf.

Health care, the environment and immigration all were ripe targets for Romney's rivals and they hinted they were primed to contrast their records with his ahead of Tuesday evening's debate. With time ticking down for them to derail Romney's presidential campaign, the criticism was expected to take on a stronger tone.

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Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman talks to the media after holding a town hall meeting at the Tilton Merrimack Valley Railroad Company in Tilton, N.H., Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Huntsman: Limit US involvement in Afghanistan

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, October 10, 2011 - 12:18pm

HOOKSETT, N.H. -- Republican presidential contender Jon Huntsman on Monday called for scaling back U.S. involvement in international conflicts -- including Afghanistan -- so America can focus on rebuilding the economy.

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Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, with his wife Mary Kaye, addresses the media during a fundraising lunch Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn. At right is the host of the lunch, former Knoxville Mayor and Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe. (AP Photo/Paul Efird, Knoxville News Sentinel)

Huntsman set to outline foreign policy views

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, October 10, 2011 - 9:13am

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Looking to set himself apart from his better-known rivals, Republican presidential contender Jon Huntsman is dismissing their approaches to foreign policy as ill-defined and overly ambitious.

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Finance reports offer insight into GOP field

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, July 15, 2011 - 9:50am

WASHINGTON — The financial picture for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination race began coming into clearer focus with Friday’s deadline for candidates to report how much cash they have in the bank and how many bills they have to pay.

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