Free Republic

When Sen. Rand Paul makes his first visit to Iowa as an official presidential candidate next month, he will head to the campus of the University of Iowa. The location—one of the state's biggest liberal strongholds—seems unusual for a Republican, but Paul is headed there in the hopes of appealing to a different constituency. As Paul prepares to formally enter the 2016 arena, younger conservatives are emerging as a backbone of his campaign strategy: a source not only of volunteers and energy but votes. A youth-fueled campaign, his team hopes, will also help brand him as a fresh face for...

And unless there are any changes, this is the order. Iowa, New Hampshire,Colorado,Minnesota,New York,Utah.Then from Feb.6 thru Feb.23,we have Nevada,South Carolina,North Carolina and Michigan on the 23rd. Obviously the odds of Bush even winding up in the top three are about the same as the odds of Joe Biden taking the Democrat Nomination in 2016. The far left media will probably keep Bush in the top three with their "Left Leaning Polls". Should be interesting to watch their reactions when Jeb wont even make the top four in Iowa.

Link only: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/jeb-bush-ted-cruz-poll/2015/03/29/id/635137/#ixzz3VncIuLew

The Texas Republican's devotion to principle – or an unyielding insistence on getting his way – could propel him to the front ranks of Republican contenders for president or render him unelectable.Ted Cruz looked out over a sprawling audience of Iowa farmers and agri-business leaders, people who rely on federal subsidies of ethanol, and the man who would be president stuck it to them. “I know you’d like me to say I’m for the renewable fuel standard” – that’s the subsidy of their product – “that’d be the easy thing to do,” he said. “But I’m going to tell you...

It might be fun to poke fun at Texas Senator and GOP Presidential candidate Ted Cruz for signing up for Obamacare but he is far from alone. As a matter of fact some other top GOP candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination are right there with Cruz. In fact almost every member of the House and the Senate who have voted over 50 times to repeal Obamacare are enrolled in the plan. It is important to be clear there is no such thing as being “on Obamacare.” It’s not an insurance plan, or a single program like Medicare or Social...

John Zogby, founder of the Zogby Poll and the Zogby companies, is an internationally renowned pollster, author and political pundit. He spoke to the Trib regarding U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas becoming the first Republican candidate to officially announce a 2016 presidential bid. Q: Does Cruz benefit at all by being the first GOP candidate to be formally out of the gate? A: I don't think so, but it doesn't hurt him, either. He got the news cycle on a slow news day, so he took advantage of that and he got the announcement in his hometown newspaper first,...

CEDAR FALLS - Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz will hold a town hall in Cedar Falls next week sponsored by the Cedar Valley Patriots for Christ. Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, will speak at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the PIPAC Centre, 1521 Technology Parkway in Cedar Falls. The event is free, but those who wish to attend should RSVP at www.tedcruz.org/rsvp/ia-cedar-falls-town-hall/. U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-1st District, also will attend the town hall. The Black Hawk County Republicans will host the event, but its policy is not to endorse any candidate ahead of the primary election. Instead, it supports...

Senate Republicans are renewing efforts to learn why Huma Abedin, a top assistant to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was allowed to keep working at the agency under a special, part-time status while also being employed at a politically-connected consulting firm. The new requests are being made by Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, following revelations that both women used a private Internet server and email accounts for State Department correspondence. Grassley says the earlier requests to the department have been largely ignored, ~snip~ Grassley’s probe started in 2013, when he requested all communications between...

On a sunny Saturday morning in early March, Bob Vander Plaats walked into the West Des Moines Marriott with a chip on his shoulder. Iowa's evangelical shot-caller had come to meet with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was in town for the Iowa Ag Summit, a cattle call that drew the majority of Republican presidential hopefuls. Over the course of the weekend, Vander Plaats had sit-downs scheduled with just about all of them. But not Jeb Bush. A twice-failed gubernatorial candidate who helped boost Mike Huckabee to victory in the 2008 caucuses, Vander Plaats has grown accustomed to presidential aspirants...

<>Politico writes that Rand Paul is losing support among key followers. One of the most prominent defectors is Drew Ivers, chairman of Ron Paul’s 2012 Iowa campaign, who says he will not endorse Rand Paul for president. On Tuesday, three members of Iowa’s Ron Paul-aligned Liberty movement — state Sen. Jason Shultz and former Iowa Republican Party central committee members Chad Steenhoek and Joel Kurtinitis — announced the same, adding that they will support Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Ivers, who had dinner with Rand Paul in August, said the Kentucky senator has abandoned many of the stances that made Ivers...

In a speech on Senate floor last week, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King was controlling the party’s position on immigration and derailing immigration reform. (SNIP) Thursday, King responded to Schumer’s comment on the House floor saying it was Schumer not him who represented the fringe. Specifically King said Schumer represented “socialists, marxists, progressives, liberal Democrats.”

State subsidized (via government subscriptions) Politico needs to use some of those funds to purchase a more highly caffeinated brand of office coffee. If writer James Hohman had been more alert he might not have missed the truly significant information buried in his story which completely undermines the headline: Insiders pump the brakes on Cruz. The buried blockbuster can be found deep into the story after many paragraphs of unrelenting Cruz bashing by a "bipartisan" group: "Nearly two-thirds of Iowa Republican insiders believe Cruz can win the caucuses."So when that "bipartisan" group is narrowed down to just Republicans (why consult Democrats on Republican...

Until Republicans can stop “pleasin’” crony capitalists with subsidies at the expense of the public, taxpayers will continue to be subject to regular “squeezin.” The really big difference between Republican and Democrat handout recipients is their ability to be sympathetically photogenic. When pressed, the average Democrat welfare recipient can hide the flat–screen TV, stash the cellphone in a drawer and refrain from cigarette smoking. And it’s not too much trouble to pretend to fill out the job application or limp convincingly to prove the bad back disability claim as long as photographers and media are around. The Republican dependency class...

The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation has released a 12 second video captured from Burlington Police Officer Jesse Hill’s body mounted camera on January 6th–the day that Hill shot Autumn Steele when responding to a domestic dispute. In it, it shows the moment of the shooting. While Autumn Steele is grabbing and pulling at her husband Gabriel, Hill orders the couple to stop. “He’s got my kid!” Steele responds. Immediately afterwards, a dog can be heard. Hill orders the couple to “get their dog”. A shot is fired. The camera falls backwards as Hill slips on the snow. Another shot...

DES MOINES — Authorities made a second arrest in the Hot Lotto ticket investigation Thursday night. The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office have charged Robert Clark Rhodes II, 46, of Sugarland, Texas, with two counts of fraud, according to a release from DPS. Both counts of fraud are Class D felonies. Iowa authorities arrested Rhodes in Texas March 20 with the help of Texas Lottery Enforcement officials, according to the release. He is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond in the Fort Bend County Jail where he will await...

An online communications strategist working for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) campaign-in-waiting resigned late Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, after controversy erupted over disparaging comments she had made disparaging comments about Iowa?

Sometimes the most inside-baseball political stories tell you something essential about a presidential candidate. That's what happened this week to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who apparently wants to win the Iowa caucuses so badly that he's willing to torch his staff and his reputation to do it. The Walker campaign recently announced that it had hired Liz Mair, a highly regarded Republican consultant. Mair has also played pundit at times, and is generally more pro-gay rights and pro-immigration than the average Republican. But that's typical of Republican consultants in general. It is assumed that policy is set by the candidates...

Senator Chuck Grassley has sent two letters to the State Department to ask about Huma Abedin's special government status when she was a government employee--and for information on Abedin's email use while working for the government. Abedin is a close aide to Hillary Clinton, and worked for the consulting firm Teneo (under a special government employee status) while working for Clinton. "I am writing to follow up on inquiries I have been making since June 13, 2013 and August 15, 2013 regarding the State Department’s use of Special Government Employee (SGE) designations, and in particular, what steps the Department took...

It has become perfectly clear that coastal Republicans and the GOP’s Beltway-based class of political professionals – the people who are in the business of running campaigns – are suspicious of Iowa’s caucuses and the Hawkeye State’s heelers who determine their results. The feeling is mutual. Since the Iowa GOP has compelled Scott Walker’s campaign to jettison his digital strategist simply because she said some disparaging things about Iowa’s political culture, it’s clear that this state still commands an unparalleled level of influence over both party’s presidential nominating processes. This fit of pique from Iowa-based Republicans was understandable, but it...

I am no fan of the Iowa caucuses. I like Iowa. I’ve been there many times. But the caucuses have turned into something like a permanent subsidy for the political class of Iowa. What is supposed to be a democratic test of candidates in “real America” often morphs into a playground for savvy political consultants who’ve mastered a single skill: helping out-of-state politicians navigate their way around Iowa’s political landscape. As a result, the vast and bipartisan network of politicians, consultants, and activists unite to guard their food bowl. And that’s fine, or at least understandable. But they act as...