Free Republic

If I told you at the start of the 2016 race that Mitt Romney would vote for Ted Cruz in the Utah caucuses and that Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham would endorse the Texas senator's presidential campaign, you would have laughed. Probably loudly. Cruz was -- and is -- hated by the Republican Party establishment, who view him as a grandstander with little interest in any of the niceties of politics. Cruz is the guy who doesn't play well with others, and whom others dislike -- a lot -- for that unwillingness to go along to get along. And yet,...

Meet Curly Haugland, former chairman of the North Dakota Republican party and current Republican national committeeman. Haugland is one of just 112 delegates who will arrive unbound to this summer’s Republican convention in Cleveland, free to cast a vote for any candidate he chooses on a first ballot because North Dakota does not hold a primary or caucus. That makes him a particularly valuable asset to the still-dueling presidential campaigns...

<p>Clinton won in Arizona, maintaining a lopsided advantage over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race despite his convincing wins in Utah and Idaho on Tuesday night. Trump and Cruz split the previous night's two GOP contests, the billionaire taking Arizona and the Texas senator winning Utah.</p>

Jeb Bush's endorsement of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Wednesday morning signaled a growing inclination in the oft-touted Republican establishment: that even Cruz would be better for the party than Donald Trump. Leaders in the GOP have long and openly mused that neither of the primary frontrunners fits the bill of an ideal Republican presidential candidate, but the race has failed to yield any alternatives. "It's a signal that there's only a plan A and a plan B," said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University's Baker Institute. "There is no plan C."

Honored to earn the support of Governor @JebBush: https://t.co/hRZR4yy13y Join him in supporting our campaign: https://t.co/XKeU2HUmCY— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016

Jeb Bush early Wednesday endorsed Ted Cruz’s Republican presidential bid, calling the Texas senator a “consistent, principled conservative.” Bush, who ended his own campaign last month, said Cruz has “has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests.” “Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential," the former Florida governor said. Bush called on Republicans to “overcome the divisiveness and...

Jeb Bush who began his 2016 presidential race with record-setting fundraising, had to loan $250,000 to his flailing presidential campaign before it all ended. The once cash-flush former Florida governor lent his operation money before dropping out Feb. 20

The nation's Republicans are working against the clock to answer two key questions: Can conservative Ronald Reagan possibly attract enough independent and Democratic votes to win in November? "Reagan is the opponent of choice for Carter," says I. A. Lewis, director of the Los Angeles Times Poll, a point on which most analysts agree. "But Reagan can reach across and cause mischief in the Democratic constituency," Mr. Lewis says. "Reagan appeals to blue collar, working-class voters. He can win Democratic votes..."

Former First Lady Laura Bush won't say whether she would vote for Donald Trump if he's the Republican nominee. "I'm not going to answer," Bush said in an interview with USA Today. "Don't ask that." Bush campaigned alongside her husband George W. Bush on behalf of her brother-in-law, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush earlier this year. The Bush couple reportedly is not planning to endorse again in the Republican primary this year. "We don't have any religious test in the United States. And that's what we need to remember. We need to remember what our own values are," she said.

John Kasich of Ohio abandoned his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 Wednesday.. Kasich said he was endorsing Bush because the governor's views are very close to his. "George Bush's term of 'compassionate conservative' really kind of defines what John Kasich is all about," he said, adding that "I feel as though I have a soul brother." "This business of compassionate conservatism, I wish I'd thought it up," he said...

House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) suggested Tuesday night that he could reach for the Republican presidential nomination during a contested convention in Cleveland.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday speculated that a Floridian will emerge as the Republican nominee at a contested convention in July.

A man has been found guilty of sexual assaulting a 14-year-old girl whose family he was staying with in McHenry County. Miguel Gomez, 37, was convicted Monday and now faces nine to 33 years in prison as well as deportation to Mexico. Authorities said Gomez was undocumented and was living with the family in southwestern McHenry County when he assaulted the girl last April.

Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s name was left off Florida primary ballots according to reports relayed by Fox News’ Jennifer Eckhart on Twitter who said the local Fox affiliate has received “dozens of complaints.” Eckhart wrote the irregularities are in “Jupiter County” which does not exist. She probably meant the town of Jupiter or Palm Beach County where Jupiter is located. Palm Beach County is where Trump’s Florida base Mar-a-Lago is located.

A photo has been posted on Twitter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President George W. Bush embracing at Nancy Reagan's funeral. The candid shot was tweeted out by CNN's political director, who wrote "This may be the best photo from Mrs. Reagan's funeral."

Bush expressed disappointment that Jeb Bush failed to do better among this year's presidential primaries and caucuses. "I think he would have been a great president," she told Guthrie.

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz Split Anti-Donald Trump Vote In Florida A Florida Atlantic University public opinion poll released Saturday showed Donald Trump with 44 percent of the vote and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz with 21 percent each. With the primary just days away, 5 percent of Florida Republicans still hadn't made up their minds. If the numbers hold through Tuesday's primary, the billionaire businessman and part-time Palm Beach resident would win all of Florida's 99 nominating delegates in the winner-take-all primary. If Rubio, Florida's junior U.S. senator, fares as poorly in actual votes in his home state as the...

Weird. Rescind pledge because organized leftists protest him. What a convenient situation. Got it. https://t.co/2ZceaUGG8R— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) March 12, 2016 As a former leftist community organizer, I can tell you right now Chicago wasn't 'organic,' it was more Romney/Bush/Soros than anything else— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) March 12, 2016 Weird how after months of Trump rhetoric only before Super Tues, when Rubio & Kasich losing home states, there are race riots against Trump.— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) March 12, 2016 Tweeps, I'm not on the Trump Train but think about it: Whose goals more served right now by Chicago anti-Trump...

A leading Muslim civil rights group is calling on GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to apologize for his claim that "Islam hates us." In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper that aired Wednesday night, Trump was asked whether he thinks Islam is at war with the West. "I think Islam hates us," Trump responded. "There's a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There is an unbelievable hatred of us." The statement drew swift condemnation from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which called on Trump to apologize for the comment, as it has in response to...

Cruz picked up essentially the entire Bush clan into his campaign recently.Including, I remind you, one Bush (Neil) that managed to rip off the taxpayer for a billion and a half dollars during the S&L crash, and who did it by giving "loans" to his friends that were uncollectable.  Look up Silverado Savings and Loan out of Denver.  It was one of the big scandals of the time, and that a director, Neil Bush, is now on the Cruz campaign's finance team ought to tell you everything you need to know.Oh, it didn't stop there either.  You might want to look into his connections to...