Romney shows trouble keeping supporters from 2008 - The Washington Times

		Monday, February 20, 2012 Today's Top Stories
Romney shows trouble keeping supporters from 2008 Mitt Romney's second go-round at a presidential run is not going so well. Nine states have voted so far, and in six of them the former Massachusetts governor has received fewer votes than he did four years ago. Obama stays on 'message,' gets boost in ratings amid GOP strife President Obama's rising job-approval ratings are the result of a go-it-alone strategy against Congress and a bitter Republican presidential primary, political analysts say. Questions surface on Gingrich campaign travel payments When Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign disclosed in October that it planned to pay the candidate $70,000, the transfer was unusual for a campaign committee. Violent crime in D.C. surges in 2012 Violent crime so far this year in the District of Columbia has spiked sharply — a 40 percent increase that includes twice as many robberies committed at gunpoint than at this time last year. Millennials forced to put lives on hold Nicholas Rastenis has been through the wringer. Gingrich: Michigan is do-or-die for Romney Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hinted Sunday that if rival Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney loses the primary election in his home state of Michigan, he should drop out of the race. 3 skiers killed in Wash. avalanche; 4th survived Three skiers were killed Sunday when an avalanche swept them about a quarter-mile down an out-of-bounds canyon at a popular resort in Stevens Pass, Wash., but a fourth skier caught up in the slide was saved by a safety device, authorities said. CURL: GOP field not exactly the Fab Four Mitt, Rick, Ron and Newt. Seriously? Paul plans to continue presidential bid Rep. Ron Paul, in an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," said he has no plans to drop out of the Republican presidential field despite being the only remaining candidate who has not won a contest. Gay marriage bill heads to Maryland Senate Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's same-sex marriage bill now moves to the state Senate, where floor debate could begin this week, after its narrow passage in the House. Inside the Beltway High noon, Presidents Day, the Washington Monument: a highly charged venue for Veterans for Ron Paul, who will march in military formation from monument to White House on Monday to show their devotion to the Republican presidential hopeful. Santorum hits Obama worldview Republican front-runner Rick Santorum on Sunday said he doesn't question President Obama's Christianity, but continued his religion-based attacks on the White House, saying the president's worldview "elevates the earth above man." Virginia budget likely to stall in Senate A leading Democrat said Sunday the Senate's budget probably would not pass the full chamber at this point, potentially throwing the process of approving Virginia's two-year, $85 billion spending proposal into a protracted partisan standoff. Oscar a perpetual work in progress Every year, cinephiles of all stripes gather in person and online to partake in a sacred movie lover's tradition: complaining about the Oscars, as the ceremony plods toward its inevitably tardy conclusion with an anticlimactic best picture award conferred on a gaggle of anonymous and untelegenic producers. Between 2 shootings, ICE agents struggled over gun A federal agent accused of shooting a supervisor engaged in a serious struggle for his gun with another colleague who subsequently shot and killed him, an official said. Whitney Houston laid to rest in private N.J. burial Whitney Houston was laid to rest Sunday at a brief private ceremony in New Jersey, the end of a weekend that saw the pop star's family and friends gather at a star-studded funeral to mourn her loss while celebrating her career. Commentary EDITORIAL: A fatal tweet In America, sending the wrong tweet can mean embarrassment, ostracism or losing your seat in Congress. In Saudi Arabia, it can cost you your head. STEWARD: Voodoo environomics President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline wasn't, as he claimed, based on science or the environment. It certainly wasn't based on sound economic policy, either. The decision was, in fact, the product of voodoo environomics: a destructive blend of bad science based on fear-mongering and manipulated research, the bad economics of green-job fantasies and "starve the beast" energy politics. DECKER: The agony of Pat Buchanan Conservative commentator and columnist Patrick Buchanan has been fired by MSNBC for being too controversial. "I don't think the ideas that [Mr. Buchanan] put forth [in his bestselling book "Suicide of a Superpower"] are appropriate for the national dialogue, much less on MSNBC," said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. This weak explanation does nothing to counter the reality that the liberal network has decided to censor its most prominent nonliberal voice. STANLEY: MSNBC blacklists Buchanan It's official: Pat Buchanan has been fired from MSNBC. Mr. Buchanan broke the news with a blistering column that charged liberals with "blacklisting" him from the network. He wrote, "The modus operandi of these thought police ... is to brand as racists and anti-Semites any writer who dares to venture outside the narrow corral in which they seek to confine debate. All the while prattling about their love of dissent and devotion to the First Amendment, they seek systematically to silence and censor dissent." GREEN: No Master Lock on job creation President Obama traveled to Milwaukee Wednesday to praise security company Master Lock for setting an example of "insourcing" and promising business leaders who re-create jobs in America that "your country will do everything we can to help you succeed." He was jazzed about the roughly 100 union positions the Wisconsin lock-maker created in its flagship factory after shutting down some manufacturing in China. 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