Free Republic

Folks, please welcome back former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter to Free Republic tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec 22) at 9:30 am PDT. It has been three long years since he last joined us for an interview. Back then, he was in the midst of vying for the GOP nomination for the presidency. Though he was and remains a rock-ribbed conservative, the GOP money and the voters chose the path of moderation, as personified in John McCain. And we know how that turned out. This time, Hunter will not be in the running, but at just 62 years of age, and being of...

On a midweek afternoon in February 2009, a month into the Obama presidency, Republican Rep. Mike Pence arrived at Columbus in his east-central Indiana district for a town hall meeting, the sort of event that usually attracted a few dozen constituents. Surprised to see the hallway outside the room crowded with people, "their arms folded and brows furrowed," Pence shouted down the hall to an aide, asking him to get a janitor to open the room. The aide shouted back that the room was open - and overflowing. Congress had just passed the stimulus bill (Pence voted no), and Hoosiers...

Sarah Palin may be edging closer to a 2012 presidential run, telling Fox News "I would give it a shot" if the American people think she's "the one." The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee was in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday for the Reagan Dinner, a big GOP fundraiser in the heart of water-testing country for presidential candidates. Palin has remained coy about her ambitions, but she elaborated a bit in an interview with Fox News, attaching several conditions to the possibility of a 2012 presidential run. "If the American people were to be ready for someone...

<p>1. If you were a state governor who was eight months pregnant--and remember, Sarah Palin already knew hers was a high-risk pregnancy because of her age (44) and, according to her book, her baby having been diagnosed via amniocentesis as having Down syndrome--and you were scheduled to fly some 4,000 miles from home to give a speech at a conference, would you (a) give your speech from home via teleconferencing, using modern real-time technology, and explain to your hosts that the high-risk nature and advanced stage of your pregnancy made you reluctant to fly; or, alternatively, send the deputy governor to give your speech or (b) dismiss any staff or security slated to fly with you and insist on flying 4,000 miles to the conference yourself?</p>

Levi Johnston may be getting married to Bristol Palin sometime soon, but he is still finding a way to potentially tick off Sarah. In a new music video, Levi (according to the Associated Press) will star as a man who faces scorn from his girlfriend's mother. The song for the video in question is Brittani Senser's "After Love". So is Levi worried at all about what Sarah Palin would think about this gig? According to Us Magazine, Levi's attorney Rex Butler says that it's not really something that is on their radar: "I don't think we're going to be concerned...

Though the post-election infighting between Sarah Palin and the McCain team has largely died down, the former Alaska governor took one more shot at her former running mate’s campaign on Thursday. In an interview with the Daily Caller, Palin said Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) camp didn’t do enough to defend her record when it came under attack. “To not have had the McCain campaign staff defend my record was an insurmountable challenge, because once a bell is rung, it’s impossible to un-ring,” Palin told the website.

Thompson might still be hanging in there in national polls , but those trading money on the probability of Thompson becoming the nominee are increasingly bearish on his chances. At one point, the probability of Thompson winning the GOP nomination was trading at 35% at Intrade . Over the last month his position has deteriorated, and in the last several days crumbled. At Intrade Thompson is trading at 8.4%. At Iowa Electronic Markets 7.1%, The validity of future’s markets is sometimes questioned. No one was questioning them, however, when Fred was trading at 35% .

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson yesterday staked out one of the toughest plans on the campaign trail to curb illegal immigration, trying to reignite the issue among the GOP faithful who rose up in revolt against a more moderate approach in Congress earlier this year. Highlighting what he believes are key vulnerabilities for his main rivals, Thompson called for stripping federal funds from cities and states that do not report illegal immigrants and criticized Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney for allowing so-called sanctuary cities in New York and Massachusetts. The first principle of Thompson's plan is "No Amnesty," a clear...

blog article posting where the powerful voice of FRC president mentions possible support for Duncan Hunter.

The Politico has one of the most interesting articles up about Fred Thompson published in quite a while. Most political observers focus on the polls, who raises what (plead guilty); in short, the details, but the Politico’s Roger Simon takes a closer look at how Fred Thompson handles himself and what kind of person he is and what kind of campaign he has. When Roger asked Thompson whether the considers himself to be an “11th Commandment man” (never speak ill of a fellow Republican), the former senator answered that he’s more of a “12 Commandment man.” The 12th Commandment, according...

Something to think about here... seriously... If Fred Thompson would do the RIGHT THING, and withdraw from this race, I believe ALL of his supporters will get behind Duncan Hunter, and with 75% of FReepers united for for Duncan Hunter the Dems would be shaking in their boots.. If Fred really was "Drafted" by conservatives as so many folks claim he was needed because there was no real conservative in the race.. but we have Duncan Hunter, and Fred is just "splitting the vote" IMHO. As folks get to know Duncan Hunter most come to the conslusion that he is...

All the candidates from both political parties have emphasized the need for better education. It is plainly obvious that many, if not most, public schools across America are sub-par. Sub-par not only relative to schools abroad, but when judged against the rigors of American schools of yesteryear. The Democrats and Republicans, in theory, differ greatly when it comes to federal funding of education. Ronald Reagan, as well as the conservative wing of the party, wanted to get rid of the Department of Education altogether, while the donkeys have long howled about the supposed lack of spending on schools. The so-called...

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - California congressman Duncan Hunter has won Texas' first Republican Party Straw Poll. Hunter got 534 votes. Former Tennessee senator and actor Fred Thompson came in second with 266 votes, and Texas congressman Ron Paul came in third with 217 votes. The low-turnout event in Fort Wroth lacked the top-tier presidential candidates. Other candidates attending were Chicago businessman John Cox, counterterrorism expert Hugh Cort of Birmingham, Ala., and tool & die maker Ray McKinney of Savannah, Ga. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Senator John McCain, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Governor...

IN JUST two weeks, Fred Thompson will finally announce his formal entry into the 2008 presidential race and instantly become the biggest Republican threat to Rudy Giuliani. The long-anticipated move by the former "Law and Order" star begins today with his arrival at the Iowa State Fair, where he will face his first real test before actual voters. Giuliani still holds a 10-point advantage over him in national polls, according to RealClearPolitics, but Thompson has seen his own support steadily grow while Giuliani's slowly erodes, from a high of nearly 40 percent earlier this year to below 30 percent now....

Will the leading non-candidate for the Republican presidential nomination get into the race in time for a debate next month in New Hampshire? Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is expected to get into the race in early September, about the time of the Sept. 5 debate at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. But Thompson’s unofficial White House campaign says no date has been set for any announcement. Asked today by a Nashville radio commentator whether Sept. 5 is likely to be the day, Thompson said: “I can’t give you a particular date, but sounds like you’re in the...

(Ames, Iowa)... The National Federation of Republican Assemblies, who calls themselves the "Republican Wing of the Republican Party," held a straw poll at its convention in St. Louis last weekend and California Congressman Duncan Hunter exceeded all expectations. Hunter missed receiving the official endorsement of the Assemblies by a couple of percentage points. After seven rounds of voting by the endorsement committee of the organization, Hunter received 64.8 percent of the balloting, less than two percent of the two thirds vote needed. After seven ballots Fred Thompson was the only other candidate considered. Hundreds of conservatives attended the event that...

2008 Republican Presidential Primary Why Each Leading GOP Candidate Will Not Win the Party Nomination Entering the month of August, it is quite easy to come up with an explanation for why each of the leading Republican Presidential candidates will not win their Party’s nomination. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is personally popular and has a solid core of support. But, it is easy to argue that America’s Mayor can’t win the nomination because his views on social and cultural issues step with a more conservative political party (just 27% of Republican voters see Giuliani as politically conservative...

For immediate release: (Iowa)...........It was California Congressman Duncan Hunter who scored the highest grade from a unique Iowa political panel. WHO-TV.com asked six undecided voters all from different cities in the state to "grade" the presidential candidates. The registered voters, two Democrats, two Republicans, and two Independents, were given the answer of one question asked to eleven Presidential candidates. WHO-TV said they were giving the panel the "power of the pen" by letting them grade the respondents. In all, eleven Presidential candidates sent their response to the television station. The candidates were asked one question, the question that the TV...

Many Republican faithful, from the grass roots to the Capitol, have concluded that Fred Thompson, the preternaturally avuncular actor and former Senator from Tennessee, is the cure-all for their party's ills. Thompson has yet to enter the presidential race, and yet Thompson already shares front-runner status with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in some national polls of gop voters. Thompson will spend the rest of the summer raising money, which he was scheduled to do conspicuously at a donor event in Washington on July 28. Another advantage to waiting: the longer he remains an unofficial candidate, the longer...

After John East, a stalwart conservative from North Carolina, entered the U.S. Senate in 1981, wags began referring to Jesse Helms as "the liberal senator from the Tar Heel state." We are reminded of this tale as Republican activists rush to encourage, if not yet fully embrace, the presidential candidacy of Fred Thompson, the former senator from Tennessee. The Republican base is evidently unimpressed or uninspired (or both) by the conservative credentials of the top three Republicans (John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani) seeking the 2008 presidential nomination. Mr. Thompson's most-oft-cited conservative credential is his 86.1 percent lifetime (1995-2002)...