Free Republic

Perfectly rational in one sense, deeply surprising in another. And not just for the obvious “RINO versus RINO” reasons. How the heck did Rand Paul lose the “bash Christie” sweepstakes to Lindsey Graham? “It seems to me that this whole bridge thing reinforces a narrative that’s troublesome about the guy, he’s kind of a bully,” Graham told NBC News on Thursday on Capitol Hill, referring to the scandal over land closures on the George Washington Bridge that’s engulfed Christie over the past two days… “If anybody in my office had done such a thing, they knew what their fate would...

Former Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he’s still pondering a run for the White House because he doesn’t want Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) define the GOP. King, who’s made five trips up to early primary state New Hampshire and admitted in July that he’s toying with the idea of a presidential campaign, told MSNBC he hasn’t made up his mind yet and his decision should come “sometime next year, either next year or the beginning of 2015.” “Again, I’ve been up there five times. I am looking at it. People are talking...

The day after Chris Christie, the cuddly moderate conservative, won a landslide reelection as the Republican governor of Democratic New Jersey, I took the Internet Express out to Iowa, surveying its various newspapers, blogs and such to see how he might do in the GOP caucuses, won last time by Rick Santorum, neither cuddly nor moderate. Superstorm Sandy put Christie on the map. The winter snows of Iowa could bury him. From a Web site called the Iowa Republican, I learned that part of the problem with John McCain and Mitt Romney, seriatim losers to Barack Obama, “is they were...

Mike Huckabee sat out the 2012 election, but he may be game in 2016. The former Arkansas governor — who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses and emerged as the strongest challenger to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the race to capture the GOP nomination — ended his daily radio show Thursday and said he was considering another run at the White House. "I'm keeping the door open," he told the New York Times. "I think right now the focus needs to be on 2014, but I'm mindful of the fact that there's a real opportunity for me." Huckabee hasn't been...

One is a trusted friend, with decades of national campaign experience. Another is a media consultant who worked on six of the last seven presidential races. Then there’s a trio of strategy and communications experts who have been together since George W. Bush’s 2004 run for the White House. What they have in common are deep-seated relationships with Governor Christie and connections that reach across the country. They form the nucleus of a political team so tight and loyal to the governor, that it’s difficult to get them to talk about anything – even their success in helping him win...

Former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin took time out from her book tour to offer her thoughts on the 2016 presidential election. Governor Chris Christie is considered the Republican frontrunner in some circles, but Palin isn’t in his corner. She says the Party doesn’t have to “settle” for any particular candidate. Palin said in a Fox News interview, according to Politico, “We certainly don’t have to settle for any candidate that would go along with an agenda that stifles our economy and would strip any of our freedoms that are constitutionally protected.” Also, in an interview with...

Those sophisticates at Time magazine made a funny. They put Chris Christie on their cover with the headline, "The Elephant in the Room." Get it? Elephant. Christie. Time magazine did a junior high fat joke right there on its cover. Time's executive editor Michael Duffy explained the cheap shot this way: "Well, he's obviously a big guy. He's obviously a big Republican. But he's also done a really huge thing here this week." The "huge thing" wasn't only winning re-election as New Jersey's governor, but doing it by appealing to a broad range of voters in a very blue state...

Sarah Palin continues to withhold resounding support for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in 2016, saying Republicans don’t have to “settle” for candidates. “We certainly though don’t have to settle for any candidate, any politician that would go along to get along with an agenda that stifles our economy and would strip any of our freedoms that are constitutionally protected,” Palin said Monday on Fox News’s “Hannity,” when asked about the GOP establishment saying Christie is the only Republican candidate who could win the presidency in 2016. Palin said “those establishment people have been quite wrong, it seems, especially in...

Democrats insist they can thwart Chris Christie (R) if he seeks the White House in 2016, despite the broad appeal he showed in winning reelection last week. Even though the New Jersey governor secured more than 60 percent of the votes against state Sen. Barbara Buono (D), Democratic strategists in the Garden State and beyond believe he has vulnerabilities they could exploit in a national election. Above all, they assert that Christie’s famously combative style could result in a loss of self-control during the heat of a presidential campaign. Steve Elmendorf, who served as deputy campaign manager for then-Sen. John...

Governor Rick Perry was in Iowa this weekend and during an interview on ABC’s This Week, he raised the $64,000 question about a potential Chris Christie presidential candidacy: Gov. Rick Perry of Texas credited Chris Christie for his re-election in New Jersey, but he pointedly questioned whether the 22-point victory by Christie held any greater meaning for the Republican Party. “Is a conservative in New Jersey a conservative in the rest of the country?” Perry said in an interview with “This Week.” “We’ll have that discussion at the appropriate time.” As he made his first visit back to Iowa since...

It is no wonder that with Christie’s 22.5 point reelection victory in the New Jersey governor’s race on Tuesday the national press has christened him a star. Other than Christie, there is not one political adult being mentioned as a serious candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential primaries. Rand Paul values property rights over civil rights, which should be reversed. Ted Cruz wants to close the federal government and seal the boarder from immigrants, which is odd for a Canadian. And Rick Santorum. Enough said. Truth be told, the GOP has not fielded many attractive candidates of late. ---snip--- Here...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)There's a fight brewing and it could get ugly. In one corner is the Republican Party. And in the other ... the Republican Party. The stakes could not be higher. The GOP has failed to get a majority of Americans to vote for its presidential candidates in five of the last six elections. And Tuesday night's gubernatorial races -- a win in New Jersey and loss in Virginia -- sent confusing signals, at best, about where the party is headed. The fight spilled out into the open in a race for Alabama's 1st Congressional District, with two Republicans the face...

A lot of people are pronouncing the tea party movement dead after Tuesday’s election results. Goodbye and good riddance. The tea party movement was fun for a while. But before long it was taken over by know-it-alls and knuckleheads. If you doubt that, consider all of those partiers who like to say that the "tea" in "tea party" stands for "Taxed Enough Already." This is what is known as a "backronym." A backronym is formed when someone takes a perfectly good English word and tries to treat it as if it were an acronym. Every time I mention the slang...

A big win in a big blue state — there are few things that make sweeter music for the fractured Republican Party these days. But many political observers say there is even more to what happened tonight than that. Last year, Chris Christie was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association and he officially takes over that post in Arizona in 15 days. It’s a position with a high national profile, money to spread around and a bully pulpit. So, in way, Christie’s power just doubled. Friends of Christie and people who have watched him in action the past year...

Move to the right or try to pull the GOP away from the tea party and toward the center? That is the question Gov. Chris Christie will face if he trounces his way to victory Tuesday in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race and turns his attention to the prospect of a 2016 presidential bid. Some Republicans watching the final stages of the governor’s race say a decisive Christie win will send a message to the national party that the GOP can triumph without catering to the far right. Polls show Mr. Christie, who opposed the partial federal government shutdown last month,...

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney returned to the Sunday shows almost exactly one year since he lost the election to Barack Obama, only to attack the President and call his second term into question. The former Republican politician wasted no time attacking the President over his rocky Obamacare roll out during his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. "The president failed to learn the lessons that came from the experience in Massachusetts," Romney said, repeating that he thinks a state-by-state healthcare plan would work better. Romney then launched into a greater attack on the President's "you can keep your...

According to excerpts from the book Double Down, Mitt Romney seriously considered choosing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his 2012 running mate. But he didn't, in part because Christie is overweight. Cool leadership, Mitt. The Washington Post got an early copy of the book, and notes several not-very-subtle ways in which the Romney camp made an issue of Christie's weight. For example, according to the Post, Romney's VP vetters engaged in the age-old tradition of blowing their work way out of proportion by pretending it was a high-level intelligence operation. But, man, did they do a lame job of...

If a Democrat wins in Virginia, Chris Christie wins in New Jersey........ The polls indicate so called "moderate democrat" will get redstate Virginia, and so called "moderate republican" will survive in a bluestate.

NEWARK — It was a “kumbaya” moment for Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Gov. Chris Christie, but one that will have a lasting impression in Newark. Despite being on opposing sides during Booker’s victorious U.S. Senate run against Republican Steve Lonegan, the two men once again touted their bipartisan alliance Thursday with the groundbreaking of the Springfield Avenue Marketplace, a $94 million retail and housing complex that includes a 66,000 square-foot ShopRite supermarket along one of Newark’s most troubled corridors. “This is not because of a mayor. It really is because of great leadership on many different fronts,” Booker said,...

1) We can contribute to the Lonegan campaign HERE. ( https://loneganforsenate.com/secure-contribution.php ) 2) Anyone living in or close to New Jersey can GET INVOLVED HERE. ( http://www.loneganforsenate.com/volunteer-sign-up/ ) 3) Anyone with a telephone can volunteer to make calls from home HERE. ( https://www.loneganforsenate.com/phonefromhome/ ) Sarah wrote on Facebook today: The momentum is on Steve Lonegan’s side coming into next Wednesday’s election in New Jersey! Please visit Steve’s website to find ways to help out. It was such an honor to rally for Steve yesterday in NJ. Thank you again to everyone who came to join us – including “The Great...