Free Republic

A push by the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson to outlaw online gambling has ignited a bitter civil war in the gambling industry, dividing one of Washington’s most powerful interest groups and posing a major test of the Republican megadonor’s political clout. Mr. Adelson’s effort officially kicked off on Wednesday, when lawmakers, including a senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the businessman and his family, introduced legislation originally drafted with Mr. Adelson’s lobbyist. The bill would close a three-year-old loophole in federal law, banning online gambling — a growing industry that Mr....

It’s really very, very simple for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. New Jersey’s absurd citizen control fetish doesn’t play well in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona, or Michigan. These state comprise the first two months of the 2016 Presidential primary season, and the majority of Republican voters in these states are either very pro-gun to begin with, or are trending towards passing much more Second Amendment-friendly laws. Any candidate that doesn’t do well in these early primaries can kiss their Presidential aspirations goodbye, and one of the fastest ways to sink...

The Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University — whose polls on the 2013 race for governor and special election for U.S. Senate were far off the mark — today released a study it commissioned to find out why its surveys were so wrong. ...According to the report, written by Langer Research Associates of New York, Rutgers-Eagleton flubbed by asking respondents a series of questions about the candidates before finally asking who they would vote for. In effect, that “primed” respondents to think more positively about candidates, and made them more likely to choose them when they finally...

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife plowed more than $92 million into efforts to help mostly losing candidates in the 2012 elections, is undertaking a new strategy for 2016 — to tap his fortune on behalf of a more mainstream Republican with a clear shot to win the White House, according to people familiar with his thinking. In 2012, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson spent so much of their money on long-shot candidate Newt Gingrich that they helped extend an ugly intraparty fight that left the eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, severely bruised by the time he faced President...

Does anyone seriously believe an investigation commissioned by Governor Chris Christie into Bridgegate will satisfy his critics? The New York Times waits until only the third paragraph of its report into the exonerating conclusion of the probe to mention the connections between the law firm and the Christie administration, but it still remains the first comprehensive look into the scandal — and finds no connection to Christie himself: With his office suddenly engulfed in scandal over lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey two months ago summoned a pair of top defense lawyers from...

Trenton, New Jersey (My9NJ) - Lately, Governor Christie has been looking slimmer during his town hall meetings and some reports say he lost about 100-pounds from the lap band surgery he underwent a year ago. Dr. Charles Simone formerly worked with President Reagan and he took the time to discuss Christie’s weight loss and health. “It’s very gratifying to see that he lost so much weight and given all the priorities he’s gone through recently and emotionally,” he said.

Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and "Governing America." (CNN) -- ...The weaknesses of both men—Cruz in terms of his style and Paul in terms of his rhetoric—point out how desperate the GOP is to find someone who can build a broad coalition, something that is essential for a presidential victory, particularly when Republicans will likely be facing a formidable candidate. The problems of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have been a huge blow to the party, and there are not many alternatives at...

TRENTON — Despite the protests of dozens of New Jersey gun-rights supporters — including a 9-year-old girl — a state Assembly panel today approved a bill that would reduce the number of bullets an ammunition magazine could hold from 15 to 10.

You have probably seen all of the ridiculous speculating about the GOP nomination in 2016. This is still speculating, but my sincere hope is you don’t think it’s ridiculous too. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is laying the foundation for his presidential bid in concrete and steel. First, forget about Jeb Bush unless you want to hand Hillary eight years in the White House. The latest Rasmussen poll shows her leading Jeb in a general election 47 percent to 33. His name is Bush and to the general public the specifics of how smart he is doesn’t matter one iota. Then...

Rachel Canning, the 18 year-old teenager from New Jersey who sued her parents for financial support, won a partial victory in court this week, courtesy of Obamacare. Morris County Court Judge Peter Bogaard, according to the story, ruled that Rachel's parents must keep her on their health insurance policy. To me, this sets a dangerous precedent when it comes to the long legal road of Obamacare enforcement. Now, kids living away from their parents can stay on their parents' health plans, whether their parents like it or not. It's one thing for parents to choose to keep their college student...

The once-budding friendship between President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reached its zenith in May on a storm-ravaged boardwalk in Point Pleasant, N.J. After Obama missed four throws at a carnival game, Christie stepped in, picked up a football and tossed it through a hoop, winning the president a stuffed bear. “One and done,” the governor said as a crowd cheered and the two men exchanged a high-five. On Thursday, however, Christie used an appearance before the Conservative Political Action Conference to blast Obama in personal terms, as a weak leader. Accusing Obama of sitting on the sidelines...

Actually, although I have video of his speech, I don’t have video of the reception he got. You’ll have to trust David Freddoso and Eliana Johnson on that: The crowd gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference rose to its feet as Chris Christie exited stage left…Christie’s remarks were highly anticipated, not only because of the lingering scandal but also because CPAC brass dinged him last year by leaving him off of the guest list. Today, the governor was greeted with murmurs and some quiet cheers; he drew more excitement from the audience as he proceeded…Christie returned to a familiar...

News organizations often disagree about what Americans need to know. MSNBC, for example, apparently believes that traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., is the crisis of our time. Fox News, on the other hand, chooses to cover the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi more heavily than other networks. The American people, for their part, disagree about what they want to watch. But everyone should agree on this: The government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission, where I am a commissioner, does not agree. Last May the FCC...

Who’s likely to do well in New Hampshire’s 2016 first-in-the-nation presidential primary? It’s a preposterous question, here in 2014, but what the heck? We asked six experts to weigh in on some of the biggest political players. Our analysts are Wayne Lesperance, political science professor at New England College; Phil Boynton, president of the University of New Hampshire College Republicans; Peter Burling, Democratic national committeeman; Dante Scala, professor of political science at UNH; Jess Steever, vice president of the Plymouth State University Democrats; and Brandon Lemay, public relations officer for the PSU Democrats. Today, our panelists consider the Republicans. Tomorrow,...

WASHINGTON, February 21, 2014 – Hang around Republican circles long enough and you will hear, “We have got to stop these circular firing squads.” The logic is simple; Republicans are killing themselves with internecine wars instead of going out and defeating liberals. It is a great theory. Perhaps the best word for it is theory. As conservatives are discovering, though, what Republicans who complain about the circular firing squad really want is a semi-circular firing squad. These voices in the Republican Party want conservatives to stop shooting at them, while they try to take out insurgent conservatives. Texas Senator...

Imagine watching the man marching in front of you taken out by snipers. Scott Walker must know the feeling, having seen what the media did to Chris Christie.Bridgegate did its work. Last December we read this:"Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are in a dead heat in a hypothetical 2016 presidential matchup with the recently reelected governor leading by 1 point in a new poll.""Christie leads Clinton 42 percent to 41 percent in a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday. Christie’s 1-point lead is the same as Quinnipiac’s poll in November, but a far cry from...

Moving cautiously to repair his image, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is maintaining a low profile this weekend as the nation’s governors gather in Washington. Republican officials have been eager to change the subject as Democrats link Christie’s troubles to vulnerable GOP governors in a challenging election season. The usually outspoken Christie is scheduled to attend just one public event over the three-day annual meeting. He avoided a media-sponsored forum on Friday, wasn’t granting interviews, won’t attend a White House dinner and was skipping a news conference hosted by the Republican Governors Association, an organization he heads. …

Chris Christie won’t dine at the White House on his swing through Washington this weekend. The New Jersey governor is set to leave town Sunday morning, his office confirmed, before a Sunday night White House dinner traditionally attended by governors of both parties during the annual National Governors Association meeting. Christie sat next to first lady Michelle Obama at last year’s dinner, and drew heat from some Republicans for famously embracing President Barack Obama just days before the presidential election in 2012 as the men surveyed Superstorm Sandy damage in New Jersey. The Republican’s schedule is under particular scrutiny this...

Having successfully demonized Chris Christie over the closure of traffic lanes on a bridge, the leftist mainstream media are now targeting Scott Walker, another very promising potential GOP candidate for president. All of this in the context media downplaying and outright ignoring revelations of lies under oath in a scandal that cost four American lives including an ambassador that reflects badly on Hillary Clinton. The Washington Post offered a front page story intimating Scott Walker faces a scandal in an ongoing investigation launched by his political enemies in Wisconsin (who are legion because he successfully took on the public employee...

It’s a rare and joyous thing to find a presidential poll this far out from election day that qualifies as newsworthy, but I think this one does for two reasons. One: It’s proof of how far the Bridgegate scandal has penetrated the national consciousness. It’s one thing to find Jersey voters souring on Christie, it’s another thing to find it happening in a state that every president has won for more than 50 years.Two: There’s no obvious reason to think Christie’s numbers will rebound dramatically before the 2016 campaign begins. He broke from the rest of the Republican pack because...