Free Republic

His staff and supporters will be quick to remind you that he’s always said he prefers the “security first” option. Okay, but his preference didn’t stop him from co-sponsoring a mammoth comprehensive bill championed by Democrats like Chuck Schumer. In fact, let’s compare Rubio’s rhetoric now versus then. Here he is in June 2013 describing the Gang of Eight bill: Rubio, responding to the concern that legalization might be delayed and therefore be subjected to the policies of future administrations: Let’s be clear. Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following...

The United States Chamber of Commerce has been traditionally viewed as the lobbyists in Washington for Big Business. Now they are increasing getting involved in politics, taking sides on behalf of establishment-supported Republican candidates, and using their extensive financial resources to win most of their battles. In the battle between Senator Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel for the Republican nomination for senate in Mississippi, after Cochran has failed to get 50 percent to avoid a runoff, and the Karl Rove-backed American Crossroads had announced it was pulling out of the race after supporting Cochran, the Chambers of Commerce maintained it's...

Advisors to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-S.C.) are fiercely divided over how to handle the entrance of Lowcountry businessman and reality television star Thomas Ravenel into the 2014 U.S. Senate race. One faction – led by Graham campaign manager Scott Farmer – believes Ravenel’s candidacy is all about attracting viewers to his reality television show, Southern Charm . “Ignore him,” Farmer reportedly counseled Graham during a recent strategy meeting. According to Farmer, a “ratings-driven” candidacy from Ravenel is not a threat to the two-term incumbent, because it means the former State Treasurer is unlikely to pump significant amounts of his...

Joe Carr remembers exactly where he was when he found out that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his race to the largely unknown political upstart David Brat. As he finished up a meeting with a group of about 75 Tea Party supporters in Obion County, someone waved a smartphone and announced the startling news. “The place went nuts… it exploded,” Carr said, pointing out that the event went long past 10:00 as supporters began discussing what was possible in his Republican primary challenge to Sen. Lamar Alexander. “All of a sudden now the attention the attention turns to us;...

Edisto, S.C. – In light of this week’s U.S. Court of Appeals ruling on Obamacare, Lowcountry businessman and independent U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel issued the following statement regarding incumbent “Republican” Lindsey Graham’s tortured stance regarding this legislation: “The U.S. Court of Appeals has correctly ruled that Obamacare cannot impose taxes or disburse subsidies in two-thirds of the states,” Ravenel said. “This frees more than eight million Americans from the law’s oppressive individual mandate – and blocks for the moment what would have been a $700 billion tax hike.” Ravenel said the only reason the court has to take up...

Maine’s Republican governor wants all able-bodied recipients of the federal food stamp benefit to complete work or volunteer activities. Gov. Paul LePage announced Wednesday that Maine will no longer seek a federal waiver that allows some able-bodied adults to receive food stamps without working or volunteering. “We must continue to do all that we can to eliminate generational poverty and get people back to work,” LePage said in a statement announcing the change. “We must protect our limited resources for those who are truly in need and who are doing all they can to be self-sufficient.” According to the Maine...

Updated 1:23 p.m. | Sen. Ted Cruz once again met with a group of the House’s most conservative lawmakers Wednesday morning to discuss potential legislative responses to the flood of children crossing the border. Cruz met with “more than 20″ House Republicans Wednesday morning, according to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to discuss a supplemental package meant to address the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border. “I didn’t have a hard count, but I know that it was more than 20,” King said. According to the Iowa Republican, lawmakers had breakfast and listened to Cruz’s take on the crisis. “The...

We have great news to report. Last night, Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) won the Republican primary runoff election for the 11th Congressional District in Georgia. Barry Loudermilk is a principled conservative leader who will fight to cut spending, balance the budget, and repeal Obamacare. We were proud to endorse Barry in the primary and we're thankful to all of you who helped SCF support his campaign. KANSAS SENATE UPDATE Now we need to continue this momentum into Kansas and help Dr. Milton Wolf defeat Senator Pat Roberts who has been in Washington for 47 years. Dr. Milton Wolf (R-KS)The polling in...

On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Congress’ few and most vocal Republican advocates of comprehensive immigration reform, shared the line that he’s apparently decided to lean on through the rest of the 2014 election cycle: “There’ll be no immigration reform because of the crisis on the border. I blame Obama for this moment.” Graham has a long history of seizing on an issue of possible bipartisan compromise, watching hard-liners in his party kill that possibility, and then abandoning hope of the compromise because Obama didn’t manage the “optics” or the schedule or something insignificant. He knows...

EDISTO, SC – Lowcountry businessman and independent U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel responded today to incumbent “Republican” Lindsey Graham’s assertion that running for the U.S. Senate was “not a reality television show.” Ravenel, star of the Bravo TV show ‘Southern Charm, said Graham was part of a much costlier “reality TV” show. “The difference between my reality TV show and Lindsey Graham’s reality TV show is simple: his is costing taxpayers trillions of dollars – and thousands of American lives,” Ravenel said. “And unlike my show, you can’t change the channel when his show comes on – and you can’t...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - More than 700 constituents packed the Millennium Maxwell House Tuesday night in support of State Representative Joe Carr, as he hopes to pull off an upset in the Republican Primary. A rally, called Restore America, was held and featured radio host and political commentator Laura Ingraham campaigning for the Lascassas Republican. Carr hopes to defeat incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander in the Republican primary on August 7. The Tea Party challenger said he's happy about the early voting turnout and is ready to hit the road to talk to more Tennesseans. “The voters want to hear what we...

Although the stunning upset win by political newcomer David Perdue in the Republican runoff for the Senate was the big news from Georgia on Tuesday night, the tea party also had a night to remember in the Peach State. In two of three runoffs for the Republican nomination for Congress in open U.S. House districts, tea party-backed candidates emerged triumphant and are now considered certain to win in November. The biggest win was scored by former state senator and swashbuckling conservative Barry Loudermilk in the 11th District in suburban Atlanta that Rep. Phil Gingrey relinquished to run for the Senate....

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rarely makes time to travel back to Nevada and listen to the voters who sent him to Washington, according to a Washington Examiner review of Senate disbursement records. Reid's office budget showed only 11 trips in three years, far fewer than any other senator. snip Other high-profile senior lawmakers have records that aren't much better. Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein averaged only nine trips to California annually, according to Senate office travel logs. That's one-third as many as most lawmakers. As legislators prepare to adjourn to their home states for the August “district work period,” the...

When writing about politics, it's all too frequent to use terminology that often obscures more than elucidates. That's especially true when it comes to the word "wave"—shorthand for a landslide victory for the winning party. I've argued before that the likelihood of 2014 being a wave election has been rising, given the president's consistently low approval ratings and the fact that Republicans are running evenly on the generic ballot (which usually translates into a clear GOP edge) and that the right-track/wrong-track numbers are near historic lows. All these big-picture signs are ominous for the party in power. But this week,...

It’s a taboo subject among Senate Republicans but one that’s on many senators’ minds: What if Mitch McConnell loses his reelection bid? There appears to be no clear answer to that question, at least not right now. In interviews and private conversations with more than half of the 45-member Senate Republican Conference, there is a split over a potential McConnell successor. His top deputy, John Cornyn of Texas, is favored to succeed him, several GOP senators said. But others ranging from John Thune of South Dakota to Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander — or a dark horse — are among those who...

The Minnesota Tea Party Alliance is warming to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden. Or at the very least, its leaders are no longer actively opposing him, as they did during the GOP endorsement process. Some history: After McFadden appeared at a Tea Party event in May, Jake Dusenberg, executive director of the Tea Party Alliance, took to Facebook to warn his followers: “Folks, Mike McFadden is bad news. He has dodged the tea party and conservative base. He's flip-flopped on multiple issues. And he is the establishment's choice for the Senate.” But in a recent email fundraising message, Tea...

Former state Sen. Barry Loudermilk convincingly defeated former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr Tuesday in their bruising Republican primary runoff for the Atlanta area’s 11th Congressional District seat. Loudermilk, who campaigned with strong support from tea party groups, will head to Washington as no Democrats have gotten on the ballot for the 11th District, which covers all of Bartow and Cherokee counties and parts of Cobb and Fulton counties. Also Tuesday evening, Jody Hice, a former Baptist minister who ran with substantial tea party backing, bested Jackson trucking company executive Mike Collins in the GOP primary runoff for Georgia’s 10th Congressional...

With the decision of United States Senator Pat Roberts to skip debates with his opponents, Kansans are deprived of a useful part of the political process. Election campaigns are an essential element of representative democracy. Campaigns are simultaneously a means for those who seek elective office to connect with voters and a way for citizens to learn about the candidates who are seeking their votes. Political campaign debates are an integral component of the modern political campaign. … Voters have come to expect election debates, particularly in the race for the president of the United States but increasingly for other...

While Republicans are reluctant to speculate about the possibility of a Mitch McConnell loss to Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky this November, when asked if his number two, Texas Republican John Cornyn, was a lock for Leader if he does lose, it appears Cornyn may have good reason to look over his shoulder in the event that scenario plays out. Given that a McConnell loss would likely mean the GOP would have failed in winning a Senate Majority, it would seem a change in leadership might be in order. Some Senators also seemed to express concern that Cornyn would be...

Former Dollar General CEO David Perdue narrowly beat Rep. Jack Kingston in the Georgia GOP primary runoff tonight, and in the days leading up to election day, he made a big push to tie the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's support for amnesty to Kingston, who had benefited from over $3 million in campaign spending from the lobby group. "Kingston's largest backer...is 100 percent pro-amnesty. Kingston now owes them big," a brutal television ad from Perdue said. After Eric Cantor's stunning primary loss, the Georgia race turned into a brawl over immigration, with both candidates trying to out-flank each other on...