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For Republicans fearful of Donald Trump becoming their party’s presidential nominee, a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters offers a three-word solution: Willard Mitt Romney. If the former Massachusetts governor were added to the mix of the 14 other Republican candidates running in the Feb. 9 first-in-the-nation presidential primary, New Hampshire voters would, if the election were held now, give him a 2-to-1 win over Trump, the leader of the field. Romney, who said as recently as last week that he is not interested in running, did not file for the New Hampshire primary...

The Paris attacks and several recent foreign-policy fumbles are leading conservatives in Iowa to abandon Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson for rival Ted Cruz. "He’s a great guy, he’s fun to listen to, but I didn’t hear anything substantive," Alan Hilgerson, a physician in Des Moines, told Politico. He said that national security was an "extremely high" priority for him as he pores over the candidates. "I don’t know that I’d want him as my president," Hilgerson said. Marilu Erdahl said that she was leaning more toward Cruz because of his strong positions on national security. "He has experience, he’s...

#TeamJeb won't let The Donald walk this one back Jeb Bush is not joining his fellow Republican, Donald Trump, in arms in the age-old tradition of conservative combat against biased media reporting, and instead, Jeb and his campaign team are piling on The Donald’s latest absurd suggestion that there should be a database to track and monitor Muslims in the U.S. A bit of a mini-media controversy erupted Thursday afternoon when headlines blasted news of Trump suggesting the mandatory registration of Muslim Americans: “Trump won’t rule out database, special ID for Muslims in US.” But, Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum quickly...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday called for Republicans to abandon the corrupting influence of the Koch brothers and other wealthy energy magnates...

His felony conviction barred him from the Ohio House but not the U.S. House, so Steve Kraus has announced he will seek the Republican nod to challenge U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur next year. The 9th District stretches along Lake Erie shoreline from Toledo to East Cleveland. Miss Kaptur, who has been in Congress since 1983, was re-elected in 2014 with 68 percent of the vote. Kraus said his campaign will focus on the same things he did during his short tenure in the House, energy independence, job creation, and clean water. But given his recent experience with the justice system,...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — As Republican presidential candidates continued to sound the alarm Friday about Syrian immigrants, Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders took a step in the opposite direction, launching a petition drive to preserve the program that facilities their arrival in the United States. “In this moment, it is particularly important that we not allow ourselves to be divided by the anti-immigrant hysteria that Republican presidential candidates are ginning up,” Sanders, who was arriving here for a three-day campaign swing, said in an e-mail to supporters. “When hundreds of thousands of people have lost everything and have nothing left but the...

Cruz for President today announced that longtime Iowa political activist, and well-respected Republican leader, Loras Schulte, has formally resigned from the Iowa GOP State Central Committee to publicly endorse and support Ted Cruz for President. “I’ve been actively involved in Republican politics for more than thirty years, serving in nearly every capacity one can be involved in; from local committee-man to County Chairman, to serving on the State Central Committee,” Schulte said. He also served as the State Director for Pat Buchanan’s Presidential Campaign in 1996 and for Gary Bauer in 2000. Leading up to this current election cycle, each...

BEDFORD, N.H. — "When you get to the serious part of this," Jeb Bush says, standing in the home of a supporter, surrounded by Republican voters, "I think you're looking at the guy who's gonna be the nominee." It's understated, but that's Bush's proposed path to victory in a nutshell. Jeb's line Wednesday night echoed the argument his supporters made to me around the state: Republican voters tend to nominate the establishment guy — the boring, staid, responsible grown-up. This explains George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Jeb Bush seems to fit...

It has become damn close to religion in Washington to assume that Donald Trump will, at some point not too far from now, flame out of the presidential race -- that he will start losing altitude in polls, get sick of the whole thing and return to the safe sinecure of Trump Inc. The problem with that conceit is this: It's wrong. Matt Dowd, a top adviser to the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004, nailed that fact in a tweet this morning...

Faye Stewart, a county commissioner in Oregon, announced Thursday that he will seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. The Lane County commissioner will try to win the May primary and oust Democratic incumbent Ron Wyden, who is heavily favored to win the general election. Republicans have not won a statewide race in Oregon since 2002. Stewart said he is running because "our citizens are broken, and they need help." He said the federal government has neglected the needs of Oregon counties while running up debt and mishandling natural resources. "We need all of Oregon strong and prosperous, not just...

In her memoir published this summer, Claire McCaskill recounts for readers how she confounded political observers who assumed she would lose reelection to the U.S. Senate in right-of-center-leaning Missouri. In order to do that, she poured nearly $2 million of her campaign war chest into an ad blitz designed to elevate the most extreme, right wing candidate among the Republicans seeking to challenge her in the general election. "I helped Todd Akin win -- so I could beat him later," she recalled. He had little money to compete with his better-financed opponents in the Republican primary so McCaskill's effort would...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-11-19/carson-wins-on-personality-trump-on-action-in-bloomberg-poll-ih645axj

ABC News(NEW YORK) — A Donald Trump rally was interrupted several times by protesters Wednesday night and the outspoken presidential candidate suggested that one of them, whom he described as “seriously overweight,” was upset because he was talking about food stamps. “You know it’s amazing, I mentioned food stamps at that guy who’s seriously overweight went crazy — Amazing. Amazing,” Trump told the audience in Worcester, Mass. “That’s an amazing sight.” The protester was escorted out of the rally. Just before the protester interrupted Trump, the candidate was talking about the need to roll back the number of people on...

IDAHO FALLS — Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot announced Wednesday, Nov. 18 he will support Marco Rubio’s campaign for president. “Marco Rubio is the brightest and most capable candidate,” VanderSloot said in a letter explaining his endorsement. “He has the uncanny ability to state his positions clearly in a way that resonates with the average voter.” VanderSloot said he plans to raise money for Rubio, but has not decided how much he will personally give. The Melaleuca CEO said he believes this presidential election may be the most important election in American history. “Because of that, I have paid a great...

If you are still confused about how Donald Trump is walking away with the Republican nomination for president, look no further than his swift, reflexive, fearless and unvarnished response to the terrorist attack in Paris...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - “It’s time,” Shery Smith declared. “We are getting serious.” As Midlands field director for presidential candidate Ted Cruz, Smith was among several staffers at the Texas senator’s Columbia headquarters who see Cruz’s campaign as poised for a takeoff: a breakthrough which could make him stand out as a powerful choice in the still-crowded 2016 Republican field, particularly in South Carolina. “We've had a big grass roots presence, volunteers,” continued Smith, who had been a volunteer for months but is now a campaign staffer. “Now we’re opening up and mobilizing the volunteers.” While Cruz still remains far...

CEDAR RAPIDS | Conservative U.S. Rep. Steve King’s endorsement of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP presidential sweepstakes was no bombshell, but that didn’t stop it from reverberating around the Iowa political echo chamber Monday, a day on which no Republican candidates were campaigning in the state. Not only had King and Cruz recently shot pheasants at the western Iowa congressman’s fundraiser, but his son, Jeff King, has been working for a Cruz super PAC. Still, King’s endorsement is seen as a conservative seal of approval. “It certainly helps Cruz, given King’s solid conservative credentials,” said Steffen Schmidt, Iowa...

Washington (CNN)—Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has courted another notable conservative. The Cruz campaign announced Tuesday the endorsement of Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, a high-profile conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. "He's distinguishing himself as somebody who can make things happen and excite the country to bring us back on course," Thomas said in a video announcing her endorsement. Thomas praised Cruz's often confrontational relationship with establishment political figures, saying, "Ted Cruz has got the scars to show he has tangled with the top Republican leaders and Democrat leaders in town."(continued)

Hillary Clinton is back in Texas with a fundraiser in Dallas. But she’s not just here for the money. Brandon Rottinghaus at the University of Houston says Hillary really wants to nail down the Democratic nomination as soon as possible. He says Bernie Sanders doesn’t pose a threat to her at all but she wants to turn her attention to the Republican challengers. By the way attending Clinton’s event isn’t cheap. The requested donation is nearly 3,000 dollars. Meanwhile, how will the terrorist attacks in Paris impact the race for President here in the U.S.? Rottinghaus says you can expect...

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Monday night that GOP front-runner Donald Trump "will be in decline" the next time they meet for a debate in mid-December. Speaking at a closed-door fundraiser in Dallas, Bush also accused some Republican presidential contenders of being "in the witness protection program" when it comes to immigration reform, because they have backed off their previous positions on the issue. He suggested that revamping American immigration laws might help avoid the kind of terrorist attacks that struck Paris last week. Bush spoke at the Dallas home of Amy and Malone Mitchell, who are members of...