Free Republic

David Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College, is hoping to play the role of David to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's Goliath in this June's Republican primary in Virginia's 7th Congressional District. But he's got his work cut out for him. Although when he jumped in the race he said was hoping for financial backing from top players in the conservative world, that hasn't panned out yet. Brat has just $50,000 cash on hand, he said in an interview, a pittance compared to the $1.9 million Cantor had in the bank at the end of 2013. Still, Brat allies...

House Speaker John Boehner’s tea party primary opponent J.D. Winteregg is releasing a new parody ad Monday accusing Boehner of “Electile Dysfunction.” WATCH THE NEW AD HERE “If you have a Boehner lasting more than 23 years, seek immediate medical attention,” according to the online ad, which seeks to nationalize Winteregg’s fundraising ahead of the May 6 Ohio eighth district Republican primary. (RELATED: TheDC Interview with J.D. Winteregg) “The intent [with the ad] is to nationalize this thing. He’s everyone’s speaker. He’s my representative, yeah, but he’s America’s speaker. We want to get my name out there and tell people...

A short, gotta-see Ad. http://launch.newsinc.com/embed.html?type=VideoPlayer/16x9&videoId=25802236&trackingGroup=12672&widgetId=17779&playlistId=993&siteSection=realclear_nws_non_fro&embedOriginUrl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%252Fndn_widget.html

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin blasted President Barack Obama on Saturday for either not understanding or deliberately disrespecting the Constitution. "We have a president who doesn't understand or just chooses to disrespect our Constitution," Palin said on Fox News' Cashin In with host Eric Bolling. Obama has unilaterally changed immigration, health care, and welfare laws, among others, according to Palin, and she said that he has sent a message with his actions that an elite crew will run the government as they see fit instead of "We the People." She also said there needs to be "new energy" in government...

I appreciate the Koch Brothers financing political ads against the Dems who voted for ObamaCare. However, I'm taking an informal poll here. Tell me FReepers; if you think ads that end like this are effective: "Call her today, and tell her to stop spending taxpayers' money on ObamaCare." Is this effective or should the ad encourage voters to just get rid of her? They are running similar ads against Braley in Iowa and Udall in Colorado that say e.g. : "Tell Bruce Braley to stand with Iowa and stop supporting ObamaCare." Is that cool, or should it say: "Iowans, don't...

It’s an article of the faith of the Democrats that voter fraud is nothing to worry about because it never happens. Kim Strach, the North Carolina director of elections, has living proof — and some dead proof — otherwise. She has identified 35,750 persons who voted in North Carolina sharing a name, birth date and Social Security number with someone who voted in another state in 2012. Another 81 North Carolinians voted after they died. Ghosts have no constitutional rights, not yet, but Barack Obama and the Democrats think rigor mortis need not keep voters from practicing good citizenship. President...

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has had a good run lately. He signed a major tax relief package into law, his controversial budget reforms have put the state back in the black, and his opponent has been torched for telling some high-profile fibs. A new poll from Wisconsin Public Radio suggests that voters are appreciative of the governor’s accomplishments. Walker leads Democrat Mary Burke by 16 points in the survey (56/40), with Walker’s approval rating soaring to just shy of 60 percent — an all-time high in the series. (President Obama’s job approval is underwater at 48/50 in the poll). Walker’s...

The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out an email this morning, as it usually does. One link attacked Matt Bevin in Kentucky. Several attacked Democrats around the country. Thirteen links in the email attacked Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel. McDaniel is challenging the incumbent Republican Thad Cochran in Mississippi. The email, following other tweets and hits from the NRSC, accuse McDaniel of being racist, a bigot, gaffe prone, etc. McDaniel is neck and neck in the polling with Cochran. His candidacy has sent Haley Barbour & Company in to outright panic mode. Barbour has stopped letting murderers out of jail...

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - Longtime Republican congressman Thomas Petri of Wisconsin will not seek re-election in November, announcing his decision just a week after a conservative state legislator revealed plans to mount a primary challenge for his seat.Petri, 73, viewed as a moderate member of the party, will formally announce his retirement plans at a town hall meeting on Monday in Neenah, Wisconsin, his office said in a statement on Friday. It gave no details about the reason for the decision.Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin state senator who is considered one of the state's most conservative Republicans, said last week...

Nevada’s Democrat secretary of state says he’ll do all in his power to crush a conservative organization that ran ads against him in his campaign to become the state’s attorney general. Sound familiar? It’s part of a “disturbing trend,” said Matthew Walter, executive director of the State Government Leadership Foundation, the conservative nonprofit behind the ads that earned the ire of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller. “This is all about freedom of speech,” Walter said. “Whether it’s President Obama’s Internal Revenue Service and their unbalanced scrutiny into conservative organizations, or whether it’s Ross Miller with his threats and blustering...

The son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Rory Reid, is the primary representative for ENN Energy Group, a Chinese energy company seeking to build a $5 billion solar panel plant on a 9,000-acre Clark County desert plot in Laughlin, Nevada. ENN scored big when Clark County commissioners unanimously voted to sell the Chinese company the public land for just $4.5 million, despite the fact that it was appraised at $38.6 million. Sen. Reid has been one of ENN’s biggest supporters, having recruited the company during a 2011 trip to China. According to Reuters, last month Sen. Reid tried...

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A natural resource manager who grew up in Elko has been named director of the Bureau of Land Management. The U.S. Senate voted 71-28 on Tuesday to confirm the appointment of Neil Kornze to the post. Kornze was raised in Elko and is a former senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He joined the BLM in 2011 and has been leading the agency as principal deputy director for the past year.

RENO, Nev. — A Nevada powerbroker who headed a billion-dollar real estate company and pulled the strings of state politics as a prominent lobbyist for more than a decade was convicted Wednesday of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. Harvey Whittemore, 59, could face up to 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts tied to nearly $150,000 illegally funneled to Reid's re-election campaign in 2007. Later in the day, U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks declared a mistrial on a count of lying...

The beleaguered California Republican Party received a rare piece of good news on Friday when the California Poll announced that a Republican leads in the election for secretary of state. Pete Peterson, a Pepperdine University instructor, is in the lead for chief elections officer with 30 percent support, followed by Democratic State Sen. Alex Padilla with 17 percent. The election was upended recently when Democratic hopeful Leland Yee was indicted on federal gun trafficking charges. Another prominent candidate, Dan Schnur, has failed to gain transaction so far, receiving only four percent of voter support. Schnur is a well-connected former Republican...

Former Navy pilot Shane Osborn is getting help from two of the most prominent moderates in the Senate in his campaign for the GOP nomination for an open senate seat in Nebraska. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he had donated to Osborn and that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is planning to travel to Nebraska to help Osborn raise campaign funds. “I've given him money,” Graham told Breitbart News, adding, “I think John McCain's going out to help him, he's a great candidate.” The endorsements could help Osborn on the money trail, but they are unlikely to motivate Nebraska voters the...

Eight days after we told you about businessman David Perdue’s remarks on the credentials of “the high school graduate in this race” he called former Secretary of State Karen Handel to apologize. But Handel is in no mood to let it go. Earlier today she released a radio ad using the Perdue audio to make the case that Perdue has “lost touch with our values.” Shortly after the call was over, Handel sent out a press release saying she accepted the apology. And then: “But the apology is not owed to me—it is owed to the many other Georgians he...

Conservative lawmakers are plotting to dump House Speaker John Boehner as soon as November, the National Journal reported Thursday. The National Journal said 40 to 50 House conservatives are behind a scheme to infiltrate the GOP leadership in 2015, and pushing the Ohio Republican aside would be the first step. The conservative disapproval with Boehner has been widely reported. The rebels' strategies include backing a single conservative leadership candidate, cutting a deal with Majority Leader Eric Cantor that would swap support him for speaker in return for his bringing aboard "a conservative lieutenant," or showing Boehner at the post-November elections'...

Not that these are new complaints, but the rumblings against Eric Cantor from within the GOP caucus — or at least from Dana Rohrabacher — are getting some notice: Mr. Cantor, who just a few years ago was seen as a champion for conservatives in the House and a possible candidate to replace House Speaker John A. Boehner, now is viewed with suspicion, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican. “I think that Boehner can survive the discontent that the tea party and the more conservative element of the Republican Party has, but I don’t think that is true of Cantor,”...

PPP released their monthly look at the North Carolina Senate race two days ago. The poll isn’t so good for Speaker Thom Tillis. Not only does Tillis lead Brannon by a narrower margin than in other polls, he also performs the worst against Senator Hagan, quashing his “electability” argument. We must reiterate that this is PPP’s interpretation of the race, and at the end of this post we’ll average all of the polls we have to get a better indicator as to where the “real” numbers are. For now, though, let’s take a look at how PPP sees things: General...

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour joined Democratic Party rising star San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro in Texas, this week to call for amnesty. "It’s not dead,” Barbour said of amnesty efforts in the U.S. Congress, according to the Texas Tribune. "Work is being done on this. I can’t look you in the eye and say I know it’s going to succeed, but there is clearly a path to success.” Barbour argued that amnesty would be good for the country and the only reason why Republicans are not supporting it is because it is politically dangerous for them to do so....