Free Republic

Conservative Congressman Tim Huelskamp, one of three freshmen representatives ousted from top committee posts this week, slammed the House Republican leadership Thursday, and said that the purge was "a warning" to other members not to go against the party leaders on a fiscal cliff deal. "I think that was clearly a warning from leadership that 'We're watching your votes, and if you don't vote the way we like it, you might be punished like these three people,'" Huelskamp told Business Insider.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Some of Sarah Palin's former campaign aides are frustrated with the Alaska governor for remarking in a lengthy, freewheeling speech that she had refused to pray with them before last October's vice presidential debate. Palin told the story in a speech to a GOP dinner in Alaska last Friday. "So I'm looking around for somebody to pray with, I just need maybe a little help, maybe a little extra," she said of the moments before the debate. "And the McCain campaign, love 'em, you know, they're a lot of people around me, but nobody I could find...

The GOP's identity crisis just got more interesting with the recent media splash of Meghan McCain. Young McCain, who began blogging during her father's presidential campaign, recently made waves at The Daily Beast when she picked a fight with conservative media mavens Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. McCain, just 24, is one smart cookie. In a matter of weeks, she has created a brand, presenting herself as a fresh face of her daddy's party and a voice for young conservatives. Strategically speaking, what better way to launch herself than to challenge the reigning diva herself, Miz Coulter? McCain jammed traffic...