Free Republic

Chicago - The Republican race for president looks like a two-man contest in Illinois Thursday night. Mitt Romney is ahead of Rick Santorum among Illinois Republicans, even after Santorum’s big victories in Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday. But Santorum is within striking distance for next Tuesday's primary. An exclusive FOX Chicago News poll found a six point lead for Romney among those likely to vote in the March 20 presidential primary. Romney had the support of 37 percent on Wednesday. Rick Santorum earned 31 percent of the vote.

Gingrich Calls Political System Stupid, Vows To Stay In The Race By NBC's Alex Moe PALATINE, Ill. – Hours after finishing a disappointing second place in both the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, Newt Gingrich marched his campaign onward, vowing he is “staying in the race.” Campaigning in Illinois on Wednesday, Gingrich made little mention of the two contests he had hoped to win in the South. He instead focused his speeches on the big ideas that drive his campaign, explaining that many people just don’t understand what needs to be done to help change the country. “The thing I find...

Rick Santorum is regarded by many of his supporters as the “real” conservative in the GOP presidential race, and most Democrats pay him the unintended compliment of considering him an arch-conservative. Undoubtedly, Santorum is a conservative of a certain type, but how far to the right was his voting record during the three terms he spent in the United States Senate? To answer this question, I went to the American Conservative Union’s ratings archive for 2006, Santorum’s last year as a senator, and looked up the lifetime ratings of those who were in the Senate at that time. One could...

Mitt Romney leads the Mississippi Republican presidential primary with 34%. Romney is followed by Newt Gingrich with 32%, Rick Santorum with 22%, and Ron Paul with 8%. In a similar survey conducted March 7-8, 2012, Gingrich was leading Romney 35% to 31%. Romney leads Gingrich 36% to 33% among self-identified Republicans, followed by Santorum with 23% and Paul with 5%. Among self-identified independents and Democrats, Gingrich and Romney lead with 25% each, followed by Paul with 24% and Santorum with 18%. Gingrich and Romney are tied at 33% each among likely Republican primary voters saying they will definitely vote in...

Gingrich Says He Will Stay in GOP Race Even If He Loses Mississippi, Alabama March 10, 2012 ELLISVILLE, Miss. – Spurning calls for him to get out, Newt Gingrich insisted Friday that he'll stay in the race for the Republican presidential nomination even if he loses two Southern primaries next week. (snip) Gingrich said he intended to campaign all the way to the Republican National Convention in August, regardless of whether he has won the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. His comments contradicted assertions by a key aide that Gingrich must win both states to remain viable. Asked...