Free Republic

Urbandale, Iowa - Scott Walker is running for president, but he can’t say that just quite yet. “I hate the word ‘explore,’ ” he tells a group of activists at a private meeting in the strip mall offices of Our American Revival, the political organization through which Walker is exploring a presidential bid. Walker says that lawyers tell him he has to use that word when discussing his “likely campaign” in order to avoid running afoul of campaign finance rules. In case there’s any doubt about how likely that campaign is, Walker concludes his remarks by saying, “We’re going to beat...

Republicans definitely have distinct good feelings about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as the wrangling continues between the GOP presidential hopefuls. Yes, Mr. Walker is making all the required campaign stops and grassroots visits in New Hampshire, Iowa and other key states - while his reputation and image win over many Republican hearts and minds. “Scott Walker could be a formidable candidate for the Republicans in 2016, combining conservative credentials with a good national profile,” says Kathy Francovic, a YouGov polling analyst. The organization released these numbers on Tuesday. 79 percent of Republicans say Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a “strong”...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from an embarrassing rebuke at the hands of conservatives in his own party, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner played down any risk to his continuing leadership on Sunday, saying disagreements with fellow Republicans were merely over strategy, not goals. Asked if he could lead the fractious House, Boehner said, "I think so. I'm not going to suggest it's easy, because it’s not." The House narrowly averted cutting off funds to the Department of Homeland Security on Friday after Boehner failed to rein in conservative Republicans. They were insisting on tying the issue to blocking...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is doubling down on claims that the strongest foreign policy move in his lifetime was former President Ronald Reagan's decision to fire 11,000 air traffic controllers. In 1981, almost 13,000 air traffic control employees walked off the job when contract negotiations between the federal government and the controllers union stalled. Reagan claimed the strike was illegal and demanded the air traffic controllers return to work; when some 11,000 did not, he fired them. Walker, who has long idolized Reagan and previously lauded the former president's standoff with air traffic control, on Saturday called it "the...

It is almost unbelievable how badly Congressional Republicans have botched their opposition to President Obama’s illegal executive amnesty and the funding of the Department of Homeland Security. The House, under John Boehner’s direction, did the right thing: it passed a bill that fully funded DHS, but barred spending to implement the amnesty that has now been declared illegal by a federal court. The action then moved to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried repeatedly to bring the House measure to the floor for a vote. Four times, the Democrats filibustered the DHS funding bill. As a result of...

In the last two months, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has gone from marginal to mainstream, failed to fascinating in the eyes of prospective voters, and inconsequential to intriguing to the ears and mouths of talking heads looking for another Republican Presidential contender to dissect then disintegrate. Critics are faulting him for his non-answers to dubious questions from reporters. They also quibble about his lack of foreign policy experience and long-term immigration strategy. Liberal and conservative partisans still hanker for some right-wing version of President Obama, full of hope and change, charisma in place of principle. Before judging Walker's skills as...

".......More to the point, I take issue with his suggestion that I think “Republicans had better work with the media.” It is true that I don’t believe the media are inherently evil or “out to get you.” But I also think — and this is important for candidates to know — that the press are not your friends. Ed’s framing, I think, implies I support what might be thought of as collaboration or appeasement. But what Walker did was (inadvertently) work with the media — in the sense that he played right into their hands. He made this an irresistible...

"You fight the good fight against Walker and he beats you," said Seth Markgraf, a 34-year-old construction worker from Arlington, Wisconsin. "They beat us in the recall and they beat us in another general election. It's just apathy. How do we beat Scott Walker?" TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey's Chris Christie and Wisconsin's Scott Walker are getting ready to run for president, but they've still got day jobs as governors — and face another round in the ring with organized labor. For Christie, that means trying to reach a deal to fix New Jersey's underfunded pension system by working with...

First the book, now speech lines? During her speaking event in Silicon Valley, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemingly snagged a campaign line from potential GOP 2016 candidate Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Clinton, the presumptive 2016 candidate for the Democratic Party, called on attendees at the conference to “unlock their full potential,” a line Fiorina uses. Ironically enough, Fiorina’s current Super PAC is entitled the “Unlocking Potential Project.” In fact, the mission statement for the Super PAC says the following: “Today, America suffers from self-inflicted wounds. Our nation has everything we need to lead, grow and...

Matt Walker, son of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker tells Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that he thinks the institutional left is afraid of his father. In addition to attending Marquette University, Matt Walker is also currently the regional vice chairman of the midwest division of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC). [snip] A recent report from The Daily Caller detailed an extraordinary level of hateful rhetoric after University of Wisconsin-Madison College Republicans sent out a campus-wide email supporting Gov. Walker’s recent budget proposal. But liberals on the campus responded with such vitriol and hatred—rather than having a civil discourse...

And when the questions are this far afield, this cartoonish, this ridiculous, Republicans and Democrats alike should commend a politician whose response is, like most of ours would be, “Huh?”As a member of the political press, I have to say, the media’s recent attempts at exposing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as an unsuitable presidential candidate have been nothing short of embarrassing. If you were dropped into America from Mars — nay, Canada! — you’d have the distinct impression that we only elected amateur psychologists, who were required to peer into the soul of some guy named Barack Obama, who is...

"....The shift in emphasis and tone is noticeable not only on abortion, but also on same-sex marriage, another issue of intense interest to social conservatives. A few weeks before the November election, in an interview with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the governor sidestepped questions about his earlier opposition to abortion, and declined four times to answer directly when asked if abortion should be prohibited after 20 weeks — a position he had previously embraced. He also declined to restate his earlier opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest. But in a breakout speech in Iowa on Jan. 24,...

"..........In June,2012, Gallup asked,"Do you happen to know the religious faith of Barack Obama?" Forty-four percent said they did not know,while 36 percent said he is a Christian, 11 percent said he is a Muslim, and eight percent said he has no religion. The "don't know" group included 36 percent of Democrats.(A larger number of Republicans, 47 percent, said they didn't know Obama's religion,as did 46 percent of independents.).............Whenever the issue pops up, Obama's most ardent supporters are quick to blame conservative media for misperceptions about Obama's religion. But it's possible something in Obama's public presentation of himself has also...

Meanwhile, Walker, a leading Republican contender for the White House in 2016, said Saturday that he doesn't know whether Obama loves his country. 'You should ask the president what he thinks about America,' the Wisconsin governor told The Associated Press while in Washington for a weekend meeting of governors. 'I've never asked him so I don't know.' Democrats have assailed Giuliani for questioning the Democratic president's love of country, and they urged the potential field of Republican presidential candidates to rebuke Giuliani for his comments. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, another possible 2016 candidate, said he didn't think 'it helps to...

After reading and listening to all the upset coming from the Left over Rudy's assessment of the President of the United States, it struck me - how different things would be if Barack Hussein Obama had been America's Mayor instead of Rudy. Rudy Giuliani is still on the job, serving as America's Mayor. Below is a quote about Mayor Giuliani and his actions after 9-11 (written in the NYT - in an otherwise typical NYT's hit piece) on September 21, 2007: "Political leadership is an uncertain alchemy, an admixture of the symbolic and substantive and the visceral. In times of...

What’s most amazing is that Lincoln later picked Stanton to become his War Secretary after the resignation of Simon Cameron. At the time of his selection Stanton was still an avowed critic of Lincoln. Lincoln was willing to overlook this because of Stanton’s superb managerial skills. As their relationship matured Stanton became one of Lincoln’s warmest admirers. Standing at the foot of Lincoln’s bed as latter died of a gunshot wound to the head, Stanton proclaimed of Lincoln: “Now he be belongs to the ages.” “I claim not to have controlled event,” Lincoln candidly wrote in 1864, “but confess plainly...

“Even now, I wonder what I might have accomplished if I'd studied harder.”This regretful remark, delivered to Eureka College's graduating class of 1982, inspired uproarious laughter from the audience. Why? Because it came from a sitting president of the United States. Ronald Reagan, despite his admittedly mediocre grades, had already made it just about as far as anyone can.Ideally, college study helps to form the whole person. But to some extent, and for most Americans, it is viewed as a means to an end—a preparation for later accomplishments in life.Today, there still exists a very small, elite world in which...

....Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he travels to Washington in March. Spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says that in keeping with "long-standing practice and principle," the president does not meet with heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections. Israel is scheduled to hold elections in mid-March.

Lee possessed every virtue of other great commanders without their vices. He was a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a victor without oppression, and a victim without murmuring. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that Confederate General Robert E. Lee should be a Role Model for American youth and they should emulate his qualities. Robert Edward Lee was born January 19, 1807 to Revolutionary War hero Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee III and Anne Carter Lee at Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County Virginia. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated 2nd in...