Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who jumped into the Democratic presidential race Thursday, was immediately fending off questions about his ties to Bain Capital, the same investment firm that was a major liability for Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential bid.

Mr. Patrick has resigned from the firm, but his connections could make liberal activists wary of a candidate with such deep ties to private equity in a race where villainizing capitalism and the wealthy has become mainstream.

In 2012, President Obama and his allies used Mr. Romney’s experience at the firm, which also engaged in corporate takeovers, as fodder to attack Mr. Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat who wouldn’t hesitate to shut down factories or ship jobs overseas if it improved the company’s bottom line.

Mr. Patrick, who counts Mr. Obama as a close ally and who was a key surrogate during his 2012 reelection bid, actually got crosswise with the campaign’s messaging at one point by defending the firm.

Mr. Patrick’s past business ties could end up out of place in a race that features Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernard Sanders of Vermont, who have enthralled far-left activists by running on anti-corporate platforms and calls to impose significant new taxes on the wealthy.

“They’re already going after it anyway, whether or not they use the word ‘Bain,’” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell.

Mr. Patrick, the first black governor of Massachusetts who served as the commonwealth’s chief executive from 2007-2015, announced his presidential bid on Thursday after he had said last December he would not run for president in 2020, citing the “cruelty” of the process that would affect people close to him.

Read more from David Sherfinski at The Washington Times

U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney has revived his feud with President Trump — slamming his calls for Ukraine and China to investigate presidential rival Joe Biden and his family as “wrong and appalling” — in an apparent bid to raise his profile as the leading GOP Never-Trumper in the Senate.

“When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China’s investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated,” Romney tweeted Friday. “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”

Romney is ramping up his criticism of the president as the House of Representatives pursues an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Romney has a tumultuous history with Trump. After criticizing Trump during the 2016 election, Romney buttered up to the president-elect to become one of the finalists for Secretary of State — only to be publicly bypassed by Trump. Winning a Senate seat in Utah last year, he resumed his attacks on Trump.

“It would be one thing if this was the first time he criticized Trump,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. But, he said, “Romney doesn’t achieve anything by doing this but trying to elevate himself … It only gives the Democrats ammo.”

Read more from Lisa Kashinsky at the Boston Herald

Will Joe Biden capture the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination because of the gravitational pull of Barack Obama? Or will it be Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, despite her self-serving and bogus claims to Native American ancestry? Perhaps it will be Sen. Kamala Harris of California who seems to have no idea where she stands on several key 2020 issues or possibly the socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont who supports allowing the convicted Boston Marathon bomber to vote in U.S. elections. If President Donald Trump gets his way, it may not ultimately matter.

Enter the über woke socialist quadruplets who refer to themselves as “The Squad:” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D- N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

What makes "The Squad" such a tantalizing and obvious political target for President Trump is that all four are on the wrong side of every major 2020 issue. From their calls to “abolish ICE” and the Department of Homeland Security, a position that even the ultra-progressive Center for American Progress suggests is bonkers, to their support of the Green New Deal, Medicare-for-all, impeachment for Trump and outright disdain for Israel, they are the 2020 gift that keeps on giving for the Trump White House.

Let’s also not forget the squad’s over-the-top, incendiary rhetoric, which much of the mainstream press chooses to gloss over or outright ignore, coupled with the fact that these four individuals crave attention and media adulation like teenagers on Instagram. In fact, their social media presence is dwarfing the 2020 Democratic presidential field.

All of this is precisely what President Trump desires. He wants to make "The Squad" the 2020 face of the Democratic Party, and for good reason.

As it currently stands, the 2020 presidential race is likely to be an extremely close affair decided by a handful of states highlighted by Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. And allies of both parties are flooding the zone in these four states.

According to internal Democratic polling, "The Squad" is beyond toxic for the Democrats in the 2020 swing states. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be popular among the Democratic base, but her favorability among voters the Democrats need in the states that matter is hovering around 22 percent. Further, only 9 percent of swing voters polled have a favorable view of Rep. Ilhan Omar, while socialism clocked-in at a not-exactly awe-inspiring 18 percent. Public polling from CBS News further confirms that many Americans view the squad unfavorably and that Trump has room to make them even more disliked among the electorate due to their currently limited name ID.

Read more from Ford O'Connell at The Hill

U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who has served more than 40 years, announced he will not seek re-election this year — clearing the way for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to run for the seat.

Romney, who now lives in the Beehive State and is popular there, has been rumored for months to be mulling a Senate run if Hatch, 83, opted out.

In recent weeks, President Trump lobbied Hatch, a key Trump congressional ally, to run for an eighth term — including flying with Hatch on Air Force One to Utah in December for a rally.

Trump’s efforts to keep Hatch in the Senate were seen in part as an effort to thwart a potential bid by Romney, a frequent foe.

“Clearly Romney is eyeing the seat and has been for some time,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. Close Romney allies said his likely campaign for the open seat would be less about fighting Trump and more about public service.

Read more from Kimberly Atkins at the Boston Herald

Mitt Romney remains a top contender for secretary of state after his glowing praise of Donald Trump and offers a potentially drama-free ride to confirmation for a president-elect still looking to fill his most important Cabinet post, political strategists said.

“Here’s what Mitt has over the other candidates — how much political capital does Donald Trump want to spend on a confirmation hearing?” asked GOP operative Ford O’Connell.

“Mitt Romney would be able to sail through a confirmation hearing. ... The rest of the Republicans — even the ones who don’t like Romney — at least see him as a pragmatic statesman.”

A Trump spokesman said yesterday that the position of secretary of state had been narrowed down to four candidates with no timetable for an announcement. The short list includes Romney, former CIA Director David Petraeus, Tennessee U.S. Sen. Bob Corker and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Read more from Chris Cassidy at The Boston Herald

President-elect Donald Trump reportedly is “inclined” to pick former Gov. Mitt Romney for secretary of state — a pick political operatives say could greatly expand the pool of candidates willing to serve in his administration, encouraging some of Romney’s backers even as it rankles others.

Romney skewered Trump during the campaign, calling him a “con man” and other slurs, as one of the leading GOP establishment voices against him.

But Trump met with Romney at his golf club this past weekend, and, according to press accounts of a private meeting he held with media members Monday, said Romney “really wants” the secretary of state job.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the deliberations, reported a group of advisers is pushing Trump to pick the 2012 Republican nominee, and that Trump is “inclined to select” Romney.

GOP consultant Ford O’Connell said a big advantage a seasoned pol like Romney has is that his appointment “would have a stabilizing effect on the perceptions of Trump,” on Wall Street and worldwide.

The real question for Trump, O’Connell said, is whether he can trust Romney to carry out his vision, and if the two can reconcile their differences on Russia as a potential ally.

“If they can do those two things, then Mitt Romney’s got a real shot,” O’Connell said. “Because the big thing for Trump is loyalty, but you can’t know everyone, and sometimes you’ve got to go with who you think can best fill some of these roles.”

Trump also worried some of his base yesterday when he and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway signaled he’s shifting away from directing his future attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton, instead leaving the matter to the FBI’s discretion.

O’Connell called the shift a “smart move” now that Trump needs Senate support for his nominees.

“He wants to be seen as a statesman, and he knows that he is going to have to horse-trade his way to that perception,” O’Connell said. “This is the beginning for him giving a little bit, because he knows he’s also going to have to push some of these folks through the Senate for advice and consent.”

Read more from Jack Encarnacao at The Boston Herald

It's now or never for #NeverTrump. A contested Republican convention where the front-runner could lose the nomination is no longer in the cards. He's now the presumptive nominee, weeks sooner than most expected.

The focus has now shifted to a conservative or independent third-party candidacy. Supporters claim the campaign infrastructure and funding is in place. There's just one problem: As deadlines loom, no candidate has bitten.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Every time a name is floated in the press, the prospective candidate quickly says he is not interested. Mitt Romney, who has at times sounded like a candidate, has so far been willing to only help recruit one. Time is running out.

Every major Republican congressional leader except for House Speaker Paul Ryan has now endorsed Trump for president, and even Ryan has signaled his support is likely to come eventually. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has called the third-party project a "suicide mission."

"It's gotten to the point where it's just get on board or get out of the way," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told the Examiner. "Many of the people who missed the point on stopping Trump have also missed the point on the purpose of political parties. Political parties are not meant to be ideological vessels, but competing enterprises whose job is to win elections."

Their sincerity won't necessarily translate into results. "The biggest part of their problem remains the same," O'Connell said. "It was never the why, it was the who and the how."

Read more form W. James Antle III and Gabby Morongiello at The Washington Examiner

An independent candidate for president — as imagined by William Kristol, who reportedly pitched the idea earlier this week to former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney — would be a long shot that could end disastrously for Republicans, experts told the Herald.

Gene Chandler, a former GOP deputy speaker of the New Hampshire House, said pushing an independent candidate into the race would give the election to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Republican strategist Ford O’Connell agreed, calling a GOP-led independent run “absolute insanity.”

“Who appointed Kristol as the ‘defender of conservative ideology?’ ” O’Connell asked. “There’s no way a third-party candidate can win or have anybody but Hillary Clinton win.”

Read more from Brian Dowling at the Boston Herald

The GOP establishment’s push for a brokered convention — crystallized yesterday in Mitt Romney’s thinly veiled calls for a contested floor vote to stop Donald Trump — could plunge the fractured party into a “civil war,” GOP observers warn, and alienate droves of voters who have flocked to the party under the Trump banner.

Romney, the party’s failed 2012 nominee, didn’t directly call for a brokered convention, but in his impassioned speech in Utah yesterday, he laid out a path for Republicans to deny Trump the minimum delegate count he needs to secure the nomination on the first ballot at the convention in Cleveland.

The spoiler strategy could in essence “take away the vote from the voters,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. “If that’s the GOP’s goal, you’re asking for a civil war to break out.”

He added, “Frankly, if (Trump) winds up winning Florida and Ohio, they need to find a way to rally around him because if they don’t, you’re just going to allow Hillary Clinton to walk in the front door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Read more from Matt Stout and Marie Szaniszlo

Less than 50 days before the New Hampshire primary, several Republican presidential candidates are looking for big endorsements that might make a difference in one of the most exciting presidential races in history.

Big names including 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have yet to endorse in the race.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a favorite in New Hampshire who won the state's primary in 2008, also could be looking to endorse after Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) decision on Monday to leave the race.

Polls show businessman Donald Trump, who has dominated the Republican race, with a commanding lead in New Hampshire.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Trump with more than double the support of Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), his nearest competitors. 

Still, there's time for a challenger to topple Trump, expecially if Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) manages to win the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1.

Neither Cruz nor Trump is a candidate the GOP establishment wants to embrace, leaving several other Republicans to vie for that crown.

Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are all hoping to break out in New Hampshire. 

Here’s a look at the top names who might be able to help them with an endorsement.

John McCain

Graham’s exit from the race on Monday has freed up the GOP’s 2008 nominee to take his support elsewhere and potentially assist in foiling the hopes of Cruz, who he has called a “wacko bird.”

McCain, who has won New Hampshire in two presidential primaries, will make a strong surrogate for someone in the Granite State. He campaigned hard for Graham there, despite the long odds Graham faced.

McCain brings instant credibility among veterans and establishment-minded Republicans alike.

“It’s hard to know if he’s a great endorsement in this era of strong anti-establishment sentiment,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “But he brings an aura of competence and he’s someone that a lot of mainstream Republicans have confidence in.”

Read more from Jonathan Easley at The Hill