Free Republic

Rep. Kevin McCarthy explains why the country is changing. Republican candidates are running for office because of the love of their country.

House Republicans have been relatively successful this week at presenting a united front around their “Pledge to America,” but only through a strategic outreach campaign to lawmakers, media and outside groups, that has managed to keep deep dissatisfaction over several key issues largely under wraps. Still, interviews with Republican aides reveal that many in the GOP caucus are unhappy that there was no earmark ban and no promise to pass a balanced budget amendment in the proposal, which was unveiled Thursday by House Minority Leader John Boehner. The inclusion of a health insurance provision considered to be mandate angered many...

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced today that Randy Demmer (MN-01) has reached 'Young Gun' status, the premiere level of its three-tiered Young Guns program. Founded in the 2007-2008 election cycle by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Young Guns program is a member-driven organization dedicated to electing open-seat and challenger candidates nationwide. “I am honored to receive this recognition as an acknowledgement of the support that we have received from voters across Southern Minnesota,” Demmer said. “Throughout my campaign I have heard nothing but frustration with Tim Walz. His active support for...

Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy, dropped by NR’s offices yesterday for a spirited, very enjoyable discussion. They were here to promote their new book, Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders. We’ll have more from the conversation in a while, but wanted to highlight what McCarthy said about the “America Speaking Out” effort, which he leads and is creating the Contract-like document Republicans will unveil in a couple of weeks. It’s clearly going to be an incrementalist document focusing on opposition to basic Obama administration initiatives, on measures aimed at small business, on rolling back discretionary spending,...

'US actor Kevin McCarthy, best-known for his role in the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died aged 96. The veteran character actor died of pneumonia at Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts, the Washington Post reported. McCarthy appeared in more than 50 films and received an Oscar nomination for his role in 1951's Death of a Salesman. But he is best remembered as the doctor trying to save his friends from alien "pod people" in the sci-fi classic.'

Golden Globe-winning actor Kevin McCarthy, who played the doctor trying to save his neighbors in the sci-fi film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died. He was 96. McCarthy died Saturday, a Cape Cod Hospital spokesman told The Associated Press. The cause of death or any other details were not released. McCarthy's career began on the stage. His 1938 Broadway debut in Abe Lincoln in Illinois earned him membership in the Actors Studio. McCarthy was chosen to play Willy Loman's son, Biff, in the London production of Death of a Salesman, a role which McCarthy also played in the 1951...

Kevin McCarthy, the veteran stage and screen actor best known for his starring role as the panicked doctor who tried to warn the world about the alien "pod people" who were taking over in the 1956 science-fiction suspense classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," died Saturday. He was 96. McCarthy died of natural causes at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Mass., said his daughter Lillah. During a career that spanned more than 70 years, beginning on stage in New York in the late 1930s, McCarthy played Biff Loman opposite Paul Muni's Willy in the 1949 London production of "Death of...

CANTOR WON'T Public Policy Polling might be a Democratic-centric firm, but that doesn't mean that Republicans can't use the data for their own interests. That's why staffers and outside supporters for Reps. Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, who have a new book coming out shortly that criticizes past and current GOP leadership, were over the Labor Day holiday weekend sharing PPP's Ohio poll, which showed that only 28% of John Boehner's home-state voters supported a promotion for him to Speaker of the House should the GOP win a majority later this year. "Change doesn't have to be limited to tossing...

Calling themselves the Young Guns, three members of America's House of Representatives are about to publish a template for new era of Republican domination in Congress. With the economy failing to live up to President Barack Obama's hopes for a strong recovery - unemployment remains just below ten percent - Republicans are poised for major gains on Nov 2, when all of the House and a third of Senate seats is contested in midterm elections.

WASHINGTON — With visions of a Republican majority dancing in his head, California U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy is driving the back roads of America these days, looking for fresh faces to represent his party in 2010. "I believe this will be a wave election," McCarthy said. "This will be a national election." To regain control of the House of Representatives, Republicans must pick up 41 seats. If they win big in the House next year, it will be at least partly because the party put McCarthy in charge of its recruiting efforts. It's the latest high-profile assignment for McCarthy, who...

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held a town hall meeting in Bakersfield. He was asked why the Congress was allowing President Obama to create all the “Czars”. Just before he answered, there were shouts from the audience of “He’s a communist!” McCarthy smiled. He answered the question by saying he did not believe Obama had the right to appoint these “Czars” and give them powers that encroach on the “Checks and Balances” the Constitution requires. Video: Kevin McCarthy Comments on Obama’s Czars

A group thought by many to be devoid of tech-savvy compared to their Democratic counterparts is attempting to break that stereotype by using technology that a lot of people have incorporated in their daily lives. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told a group assembled at the Heritage Foundation’s Blogger’s Briefing on March 17 that he and House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., are developing an application for the iPod Touch, a product of Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), that would be used to keep the entire House GOP on a unified message. “The one thing Cantor and I have done, we’re buying,...

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, has tapped California Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy as his top deputy, cementing an already fruitful partnership between two rising stars in the party. The selection gives Cantor a politically astute ally at the leadership table as he seeks to translate six years of potential into a real power base within the House GOP. The move, which will be announced Monday, also solidifies McCarthy as the next Eric Cantor. Many view this pair as the next face of the GOP in the House. They combined last year to help raise...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, 43, a prolife freshman Republican from California, will chair the platform committee for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., The Washington Times has learned today. Steven J. Duffield, former aide to conservative Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, will be the committee's executive director. In his first year in Congress, Mr. McCarthy had a 100 percent prolife voting record, according to the National Right to Life committee. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has let it been known through associates that he will not work to "soften" — even behind the scenes — the...

Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy is building party clout and recruiting GOP candidates. WASHINGTON -- When House Republicans launched an early advertising blitz last month targeting 18 House Democratic freshmen elected from Republican-leaning districts in November, behind the scenes was Rep. Kevin McCarthy.Not only was the campaign McCarthy's idea, the Bakersfield Republican freshman helped finance it, writing a $10,000 check out of his ample campaign surpluses from his easy 2006 race to succeed former Rep. Bill Thomas.Democrats blasted the attack ads as "desperate and misleading." But according to Republican leaders, the ad campaign was a huge success and has added immensely...

Kern County and the 32nd Assembly District will lose a lot of political clout with Kevin McCarthy's departure from the state Legislature. McCarthy is a seasoned political hand and a public policy expert who rose to be the Assembly's Republican leader. He gave Kern County a significant voice on regional and statewide issues. McCarthy is giving up his Assembly seat to run for the 22nd Congressional District, hoping to replace his former boss and longtime mentor, Bill Thomas, who is retiring. With Thomas' retirement, Kern County will lose political clout at the national level. As chairman of the House Ways...

Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, was set to announce Monday whether he would retire from Congress or seek a 15th term. Thomas, 64, scheduled a morning news conference in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., amid speculation that he would leave the House of Representatives. Because of House Republicans' self-imposed term limits for committee chairmen, the mercurial but brainy former college professor is serving his last year as head of the powerful committee that writes tax laws. GOP officials are working under the assumption that Thomas will retire, according to a Republican election...

A fight to replace Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is raging full force, with six candidates jockeying for position, burning up the phone lines and twisting arms. The dominoes are lined up: If Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, retires from Congress this year, McCarthy will announce that he's running for the seat held by his mentor. McCarthy will then launch his campaign and, in coming weeks, step aside as GOP Assembly chief. McCarthy would be replaced by Sacramento Assemblyman Roger Niello, a fast-rising neophyte, or by George Plescia of La Jolla, Rick Keene of Chico, Sharon Runner of Lancaster, Mimi Walters...

Conservative Republicans who are upset with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are heading to Bakersfield this weekend and are certain to vent their feelings. However, most experts say a full-blown conservative revolt against the GOP's only major candidate for the state's highest office is unlikely. The California Republican Assembly, which represents the conservative wing of the Republican Party, will gather at the DoubleTree Hotel starting Friday for its election-year nominating convention. CRA president Mike Spence was among conservatives who until recently were threatening to lead a movement to withdraw the Republican Party's endorsement of Schwarzenegger. However, that threat appears to have been...

SACRAMENTO -- When it comes to building new roads, schools, sewers and dams, Republicans in the state Assembly are marching to a different drummer than Democratic lawmakers and even GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Led by Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, Assembly Republicans have called for setting aside a small percentage of the state budget each year for a pay-as-you-go construction program. By contrast, Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders are proposing a series of bond issues to borrow the billions needed for a massive public works program. The highlight of Schwarzenegger's state of the state speech last month was a call for...