Free Republic

14-TERM CONGRESSMAN ENDS SPECULATION OVER RETIREMENT Congressman John Spratt has ended months of speculation over whether he will resign or run to retain his seat next year. On Monday, the 14-term Democrat officially filed for re-election with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The FEC filing showed Spratt, 67, with nearly $600,000 cash-on-hand. He is currently South Carolina’s longest-serving Congressman. A number of media outlets had been probing Spratt’s intentions of late, which likely pressured him into making a decisive move before he lost the support of his 5th district base. “Washington is sort of like an echo chamber,” Spratt told...

How To Lose A House Seat Winning Back The House Means Finding The Right Candidates To Run. Not Living In A State Is Bad, Being Tied To George Soros Is Worse Weekend Special-December 18, 2009 Main Article Follows Below The Blog Of Michael P. Borgia One of the most important lessons Republicans should have learned from the disaster of the New York 23 special election in November is that in order to win, you have to have the right candidate. A man or woman who is in tune with the district or state he represents. Someone who shares its values...

Senior White House adviser David Axelrod on Sunday brushed aside expert predictions that Democrats will suffer steep losses in next year’s midterm congressional elections. “I think we're gonna have a good result next – next November,” Axelrod told David Gregory, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Though Axelrod quickly added “I'm not gonna predict where we are,” he roundly dismissed suggestions that Democrats will pay the price at the ballot box for their efforts to push through health care reform legislation, and suggested that President Obama’s sub-50-percent approval rating in most polls is unrelated to his heavy investment in the...

The latest running debate between Al Gore and Sarah Palin reveals once more the absurdity behind today's Republican Party, which looms increasingly as a far right pressure group rather than a viable political entity. The Republicans indicated the direction where they were heading when Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele dared to speak of right wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh as an "entertainer," which was construed to mean that he was undermining his stature as a serious political analyst. A furious Limbaugh demanded an apology. The blustery talk show host had declared himself to be the titular head of...

South Florida attorney Scott Rothstein may have ran a $1.2 billion ponzi scheme and is, in general terms, a giant @$$hat with the gaudiest taste known to man, but if he had it his way no one in the lower 48 would have ever heard of a certain pitbull in lipstick. Bob Norman up at New Times Broward-Palm Beach is reporting that Rothstein funded the fledgling efforts to put Gov. Charlie Crist in the McCain campaign's VP slot. The Ponzi schemer was the fourth ranked fundraiser for the GOP candidate in the entire nation, and used that influence (he apparently...

U.S. President Barack Obama has scaled back the scope of the Afghan war, now about to enter its ninth year, to a limited military objective: deny al-Qaida a safe haven. And since we are now told there are fewer than 100 al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan — the rest are in Pakistan's tribal areas — a three-way deal between the Karzai government, powerful warlords and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar would seem to be the better part of valor. After Iraq, we cannot afford another trillion-dollar war. It took the United States 233 years (1776-2009) to amass a national debt of...

It is certainly not breaking news that Sarah Palin is the darling of the most extreme fringe of the Republican Party, but here's yet another data point on it: she's by far the most popular potential 2012 candidate with voters who disapprove of Barack Obama and already want to impeach him. 86% of voters who fit that description have a favorable opinion of Palin to 62% for Mike Huckabee and 49% for Mitt Romney. That's a much wider popularity gap than exists among all Republicans, 73% of whom view Palin favorably to 57% for Huckabee and 51% for Romney. By...

Dear Chairman Steele, I am curious as to how you intend to protect the primary process in 2012. We are faced with a situation where Obama will likely face no opposition thus freeing Democrats and independents with Democratic leanings to bring planned chaos to our primaries in states that fail to close them to registered voters of the appropriate party. Have you considered a caucus option? Or perhaps putting pressure on open primary states by virtue of giving their primaries less weight? These are just ideas. But clearly we have to do something. These people are well schooled in Alinsky...

The Hill reports on the $787 billion stimulus stimulus package passed by Barry and Congress was most effective in ensuring job security. Unfortunately for the rest of America, the stimulus bill served none other than Clinton and Obama's campaign pollsters and fellow campaign staffers. "Federal records show that $5.97 million from the $787 billion stimulus helped preserve three jobs at Burson-Marsteller, the global public-relations and communications firm headed by Penn." "Burson-Marsteller won the contract to work on a public-relations campaign to advertise the national switch from analog to digital television. Nearly $2.8 million of the contract was issued to Penn’s...

Are Americans who want to throw rotten tomatoes at Sarah Palin slowly becoming the minority, while the number of people who want to throw them at President Obama is noticeably increasing? A Top of the Ticket blog post today notes two recent surveys that show the former Alaska governor creeping up behind Obama in the polls. The president’s new Gallup Poll shows a new low for his job approval ratings -- 47% (down from 53% last month). The new CNN/Opinion Research Poll, on the other hand, says Palin is now at 46% favorable. She is so close she could reach...

Governor Rick Perry is turning up the heat on Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's record as one of Washington's biggest spending Republicans. Fiscal and economic issues is, after all, Rick Perry's strong suit heading into this primary election, which should prove to be a tough and bloody one. I'm supporting Rick Perry, but will obviously vote for Kay Baby in the general election should she win the primary. The following ads sure do hurt, though. Don't they, Kay? *-*Video @ site*-* Frankly, Kay Bailey Hutchison has really picked a bad time to challenge Rick Perry for governor. While she isn't getting...

In a hypothetical three-way contest, the latest Rasmussen national telephone survey found Democrats would attract 36 percent of the vote. A Tea Party candidate, if there were one, would attract 23 percent of the voters, while just 18 percent would be inclined to vote for a Republican candidate. However, 22 percent of the voters are undecided. In the survey of 1,000 likely voters, respondents were asked to assume that the Tea Party movement organized as a new political party. The survey was conducted Dec. 4-5. However, in a standard two-way race, Republicans hold a modest lead over Democrats. “It appears...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's choice of Sen. Abel Maldonado for lieutenant governor was essentially a political challenge to his fellow Republicans: Expand the party, or continue to wither on the vine of ideological purity. Maldonado's confirmation is largely in the hands of legislative Democrats, who must decide by mid-February if they will accept his nomination. The Santa Maria Republican's long-term prospects, however, could be decided by GOP activists who have held him in disdain since he voted earlier this year for a tax hike — but may need him if they are to win in a statewide race. "He...

Sarah Palin may have some ‘splainin’ to do with the conservative fans on her book tour as word spreads of her partying Saturday night with the elites of the dread Mainstream Media. In her featured “roast,” the media types even got off easier than her former associates on the McCain campaign. Sometimes you’ve got “to trust your instincts,” she told the group. “And when you don’t, you end up in a place like this.” The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate stopped in Washington to be the Republican speaker at the annual black-tie winter dinner of the Gridiron Club,...

Many people lament the fact that Sarah Palin is beautiful. People believe that because she is beautiful she is not intelligent. Sarah Palin is intelligent, and she has the intelligence to know that appearance is important. Why should Sarah wear pimples, why zits. Sarah is beauty because she knows that a woman can fulfill her female duties and also fulfill her duties to society.

Obama's long awaited speech from West Point was nothing short of disappointing. After prioritizing a litany of important matters (i.e. family vacations or lobbying to have the Olympics held in Chicago), President Obama has decided that it is time to send our boys overseas some reinforcements and get them home by 2011. The Commander in Chief, against the advice of General Stanley McChrystal, decided to send in 30,000 troops, hoping that the rest of Americas allies will pick up the slack and make his 18 month time table work. Work---just in time for his re-election campaign. Writer Gabor Steingart put...

Supporters collecting signatures in an effort to recall Republican Sen. Bob Huff fell short today... by about 65,535 names. Recall proponents had until Nov. 16 to turn in the 65,535 valid voter signatures from the 29th Senate District needed to spark a recall election. But, according to counts confirmed today by election officials in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, they turned in zero signatures

There are allegations from many conservatives that Sarah Palin is not being treated fairly by the media. No matter who you are or your political affiliation, you cannot deny the fact that Sarah Palin is electrifying. However, in her short time in the limelight, this up-and-coming Republican star has had more drama than the "Desperate Housewives" season finale (my wife makes me watch it). The people of Alaska elected Sarah Palin as their governor after her humble beginnings. There is a lot to be said about being born in Idaho to a school secretary and science teacher. It can't get...

While 170 or more voters might have been fooled in the 2009 Values Voter Summit straw poll, it wasn’t Mike Huckabee who came out on top in a recent Washington Post poll of the leader who best reflects GOP values. From CNN: According to the poll, 18 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say the former Alaska governor best reflects core GOP values. In second place, 5 points back, is Sen. John McCain of Arizona, last year’s Republican presidential nominee, followed by former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee at 7 percent, former Massachusetts...

Sarah Palin 2012 Presidential Betting Odds: Former Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin is making headlines once again this week with the release of her already best-selling memoir “Going Rogue”, as well as much speculation that she might be the next G.O.P entrant in the upcoming 2012 Presidential Betting Odds elections. With the current state the country finds itself in and with so many Americans in disapproval of the job current President Barack H. Obama is doing, the Sarah Palin camp might be gearing up to give the leftist a run for their money in the 2012 Presidential Betting Odds. But...

Why do so many people love Sarah Palin? Why do so many hate her? I cannot recall a politician in recent memory that has been both so loved and so reviled for no discernible reason. When Palin was announced as John McCain’s running mate on the 2008 Republican presidential ticket many conservatives were intrigued, including me. It was reported that the Alaskan governor had been a member of Pat Buchanan’s “Buchanan Brigades” during the commentator’s presidential bids in 1996 and 2000 and that Palin had ties to the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party. An “America First” states rights’ radical on a...

The Placer County Republican Central Committee is making waves with accusations that some GOP officeholders in the party stronghold are not a deep enough shade of red. Committee members have indicated they will target fellow Republicans they view as not conservative enough and in some cases will back rival candidates in primaries and even in nonpartisan races. "You get a Republican candidate and if they are not Republican enough, they go after them," said Placer County Supervisor Jim Holmes. The latest flap has been roiling since August when five registered Republicans on Rocklin's City Council supported an extension of a...

Is the "Media Honeymoon" over for Barack Obama's presidency? The media is covering both his successes and his problems equally and fairly. Coverage by the media of President Obama has always been fair and balanced. President Obama receives favorable coverage by a majority of the media. President Obama is unfairly targeted by certain media outliets. I gave up on the mainstream media years ago. Media coverage of the president is biased and tainted. The media focusess too much attention on President Obama. No Opinion

Why do Palin fans feel so passionately about her? Because she reminds them of former President Reagan: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6996-Louisville-Economic-Policy-Examiner~y2009m11d25-Palinism-is-Reaganism

Rob mItchell is running for Congress in the 8th District of Pennsylvania. See, www.Rob4Congress.com "It's a Matter of Trust!"

As I have written time and again, I think Republicans should be concerned that Michael Steele is working to transform the Republican National Committee from a behind-the-scenes fundraising/campaigning powerhouse into a platform for his own political career. I have written about this at length, and now Politico adds a new wrinkle:

Trevor Francis, communications director of the Republican National Committee, abruptly resigned Monday, and two Republican strategists familiar with the situation said he was pushed out because Chairman Michael Steele didn’t feel he was getting enough credit for the GOP’s electoral success earlier this month. Francis had only been in the job since March, and neither he nor the RNC veered from the sort of vague explanations that typically suggest a less-than-amicable political breakup. RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho would only say that Francis was “pursuing other opportunities,” and Francis allowed just that he was “returning to my career in the private...

One should be given combat pay for defending Sarah Palin in Manhattan. The other evening at a lecture, a so-called distinguished author of political tomes reflected on the declining state of conservatism and cited Sarah Palin as the reincarnation of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who stirred the ire of the country by accusing a huge swath of the State Department as being card carrying communists. Hearings were held and eventually the Senator, an authentic alcoholic, was exposed as a liar and a fraud, chastised by the Senate and tossed into the rubbish bin of history where he belonged. The ugly comparison...

An anti-tax recall movement against Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, has failed to gather enough valid signatures to go to the ballot, the California secretary of state's office announced Friday. "I'm elated. I'm euphoric," Adams said Friday. "People generally don't like recalls," he said. "I'm up for re-election in June, in the primary. Voters will have their say then." The recall effort was launched after Adams provided one of three GOP votes needed in the Assembly to pass temporary income tax increases last February. Tim Whitacre, who is active in Orange County GOP circles and managed the recall campaign, could not...

Conservative Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, who is emerging as a top contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, is gaining some attention this week for his comments in defense of President Obama. As first reported on the Huffington Post, Huckabee said some of the recent criticisms of Obama have been unfair and even "shameful." Huckabee made the comments to the Hudson Union Society. "When he [Barack Obama] was at Dover the other day, and went there to pay respect for soldiers, I heard a lot of people on the Right say "Aw, that's just a cheap photo-op."...

Senator Lieberman would be the most liberal member of the Republican caucus, however, he would be a member we could depend on in regards to health care, national defense, and other issues. While Senator Lieberman would 85% of the time vote with Democrats on most domestic issues, he would be a strong opponent of weakening our national defense, and he causes hatred in progressive circles which Republicans can't match. I am proposing that Senator Lieberman caucus with the Republicans, as though he has numerous Democratic leanings, he also has Conservative streaks which fit into his "Independent" label, however, he is...

I bought my copy of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue on the way home from work today. There was a giant stack of the book available at Costco, but I had already called ahead to Barnes and Noble, where I had some other shopping to do. At Barnes and Noble, to my surprise, the book was prominently displayed, but not *too* prominently. That is, it was on the central table as one entered the store, but not *facing* the entrance. You had to look for it. From all appearances, a number of copies had already sold by the time I arrived...

Sarah Palin finally dishes up the goods on the failed Campaign. I tend not to follow political events that have no bearing on me or the future of the country. So I have pretty much ignored the flap between Palin and McCain until now. But I will weigh in on some key issues that I think are relevant and why I believe McCain and his political strategist Steve Schmidt need to shut the hell up. McCain lost and will no longer lead this country in any way shape or form. Palin may still and will be a force in this...

Republican Party chairman Michael Steele told Republican National Committee staff to immediately put an end to providing RNC employees with insurance for elective abortions. After learning of the abortion coverage from a news report, late Thursday evening Steele issued a statement: "Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose. I don't know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled." According to RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho, Steele then instructed staff to let their insurance carrier know that the RNC wished to opt out of the...

Looking for a scapegoat for her poor showing in New York’s 23rd Congressional race, Dede Scozzafava has chosen every liberals favorite, Sarah Palin. Scozzafava in an interview slammed Sarah Palin for “attacking” her, when in reality Palin only endorsed her opponent Doug Hoffman. But then again to liberals if you don’t support them you’re attacking them. I love the way the media is describing Dede Scozzafava even now; they say she’s a “moderate” Republican. CNN describes her as the “face of moderate republicanism”; refusing to call Scozzafava what she is, a liberal. Sarah Palin simply chose principle over party; Dede...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she's back on Twitter. Palin took to the social networking site earlier this year, tweeting about state government, national politics and everything in between. When she quit as Alaska's governor in July, she promised to keep her fans updated through tweets. But that didn't happen, and Palin instead posted regular updates on her Facebook page, which has nearly 1 million followers. In a Facebook posting Monday announcing more dates on her book tour, Palin said she'll provide Twitter updates from the tour. Her Twitter feed is SarahPalinUSA.(continued)

How to proceed in getting Supreme Court to sit? http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/does_the_supreme_court_still_s.html

An excellent, straightforward, and easy to understand explanation of what we can expect our lives to be like under the new Health Care Reform plan H.R.3962.

Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats in the House are about to pass possibly the worst piece of legislation ever to come out of Washington and force it on the general public of America. The 2009 House version of Health Care Reform for the country. Take note of the word reform, because it actually means takeover, as in government takeover of the health care industry. This is the bill from Hell! Almost 2000 pages of legislative language that glosses over, covers up, and side steps every major issue and concern that has been brought out in the debate....

Lessons from Virginia for the GOP By Ed Gillespie Thursday, November 5, 2009 After losing Virginia's governorship for the first time in eight years, some Democrats are trying to console themselves that Virginia is at its core a "red" state. This ignores not only that they won back-to-back governorships but also that Democrats defeated a sitting senator in 2006, took control of the state Senate in 2007 and won an open Republican Senate seat and three House seats in 2008 while carrying Virginia's electoral college votes for the first time since 1964. Some in the White House are trying to...

Harry sure changed his mind... fast! We're not going to be held to any timeline, we are going to take the time to get it right [Healthcare] Harry tonight was dragged kicking and screaming back to the center by the ass kicking Dems got tonight. You can bet the Blue Dog's told Harry if the GOP sweeps tonight, we don't want any part of your mess. Dems in the House and Senate ... get ready for that enema that's been needed for some time. Who do you fear more? The voters of Pelosi/Reid

Today Rush Limbaugh gave out his own list of Top 10 Republican Moderate Moments. You can see a liberal example of the Top 10 at http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/11/top_ten_moments_in_moderate_go.html

Until now, the healthcare debate has included very little in the way of specifics. The President, Speaker Pelosi, and Senator Reid all preferred to speak of healthcare in a broad sense. Even the Senate bill was not a true bill, but rather an outline of what should be in a bill. With the House releasing its 1990 page juggernaut document on health reform, we can finally look at some specifics; and with specifics we can judge the veracity of the preceding debate. Throughout the last three months, Barack Obama has repeatedly shown up on our TV screens and told the...

Dear Mr. Steele, It is with regret that I must decline to offer any financial support to the RNC at this time. Although I still consider myself a Republican I cannot support what I believe to be misguided leadership and a total disconnect with the core constituency. Most “career” Republicans would rather support the monster that is the Republican machine than serve their citizenry with honor, sacrifice and duty. Virtues this great constitutional republic so desperately need. America is truly at a crossroad as you have pointed out however, I believe that my targeted financial support of conservative, servant-minded candidates...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Like the song goes, "something going on over there". What's happening in the New York 23rd Congressional District may have national significance. It's looking like a political earthquake in progress, and it has a San Francisco flavor to it....In San Francisco style, a Republican abandoned her own party's candidate and chose a liberal Democrat, saying it was the best choice for her district. (Recall the hundreds of San Francisco republicans who were strong early financial supporters of Democrat Mayor Gavin Newsom and his defunct run for California governor over the Republican candidate.) Didn't make much difference....

Vice President Joe Biden and the woman who ran against him last year did some long-distance sparing today. Biden, at a rally for New York congressional Democratic contender Bill Owens, took a verbal shot at former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who's a supporter of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in Tuesday's crazy special election for New York's 23rd district (where Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava has dropped out and endorsed the Democrat). Using energy as an issue with which to score some rhetorical points, Biden said that "the fact of the matter is, Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is...

We hear a lot today about our struggling economy, even about the failure of capitalism; we are told that our economic system, not just our economy, is broken. However, the notion that our system, that the American system is broken must be rejected. Our economy and our banking system were mismanaged to the brink of disaster by a special interest beholden congress. But is our free enterprise system broken? No, not until politicians silence Middle America; not until the people return the same bad apples back to the congressional barrel. The economic brinkmanship embodied in massive spending bills threatens to...

Rush Limbaugh appeared on "Fox News Sunday" today, and said Sarah Palin is ready to be president. He also predicted a revolt against Democrats in 2010, and a loss for President Obama in 2012: (VIDEO AT LINK)

Reminiscent of the authoritarian regime in George Orwell’s 1984, the Obama Administration introduced some “newspeak” terms into our political debate earlier this year. The “war on terror” became an “overseas contingency action” and “acts of terrorism” became “man caused disasters.” Seemingly innocuous changes in statements appeared to do no harm at the time. Now, however, when one looks at the execution of “overseas contingency actions,” the change in semantics reflects a change in urgency. We have seen Obama drag his feet in Afghanistan while our casualties mount. Rather than denounce “acts of terrorism,” we are striving to understand “entering a...

At a time when our economy is struggling to produce jobs, the left is still intent upon keeping Americans from earning a livelihood. On Saturday, Democratic Representative Gabriella Giffords held a public hearing on a proposed copper mine in her district in Southern Arizona. But rather than being a public hearing designed to share information on the project, some felt it was more accurately a public hearing designed to present only one point of view. Not surprisingly, Ms. Giffords, all four panel members and all but one speaker were against the project. In a letter to the editor, one attendee,...