Free Republic

As the candidates for the 2016 race announce one by one, it’s clear that those who announced early got more mileage out of the formal openings of their candidacy than those who waited. As the log jam of would-be presidents starts to pile up, our cynicism waxes and our patience wanes whether or not those reactions are entirely justified by the slim chances of the candidates in question. Yet, no candidate’s announcement has generated more cynicism than that of former Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry’s launch of his campaign wasn’t short on glitz or substance, and his subsequent tour of...

In an article out today in the New York Times, as well as the Clarion Ledger, it has been announced that Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, has hired yet another Barbour for his presidential campaign. Austin Barbour, the brother of Henry Barbour, has been tapped by Perry to run his Super PAC. Unfortunately, this is not Perry’s first Barbour hire. As was reported back in September, Perry hired Henry Barbour to advise him on his campaign for the White House. And judging from the Barbour Brothers’ conduct in the Cochran/McDaniel race, specifically the despicable actions they took last...

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry joined the 600 other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination this week. The gravest danger of a Perry presidency would be that Hillary will use some trite quip that Perry will then adopt as a serious policy proposal. In 2006, Perry’s gubernatorial opponent, Chris Bell, explained his opposition to a border fence, saying, “building a 20-foot wall would create a giant market for 21-foot ladders, and that’s about it.” It’s an old joke — but at least Bell is an actual Democrat. Suddenly, that was all Perry could say on the subject of a border...

* Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and co. are taking off from a Harley-Davidson dealership this morning in Des Moines for a 39 mile ride to Boone * Ride honoring the nation's veterans attracted only one candidate for the White House: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker * Perry will also ride with a group of veterans to Ernst's first annual 'Roast and Ride' but he's starting in Perry, Iowa * Will keep the spotlight on Perry, who is making the journey with Taya Kyle, wife of 'American Sniper,' and Marcus Luttrell, the 'Lone Survivor' * A half a dozen current and presumed...

Texas is certainly big enough for both Rick Perry and Ted Cruz. But they can’t both survive the meat grinder of 2016. So how do the Texas rivals stack up? The former governor and the freshman senator occupy similar ideological turf, as does much of the large GOP presidential field. They’re both pro-gun, pro-states’ rights, anti-Iran, anti-Obamacare, anti-Washington, fluent in the language of the tea party, and eager to scrap the IRS. But they’re a generation apart and contrast in style. And those could be key factors if the two both survive to Texas’ primary in March, which could be...

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) is set to announce his presidential candidacy on Thursday afternoon in Addison, Texas.

When Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry talks about immigration on the campaign trail, he hammers President Obama's policies and touts his own experience standing up to the president during last summer's border crisis. But Perry will also need to demonstrate to Republican primary voters that his nuanced approach to immigration can succeed at the federal level. Perry's path to the nomination may feature more roadblocks than there are Border Patrol checkpoints in South Texas. Perry did slow the influx of Central Americans into the Rio Grande Valley during last summer's border crisis, but at great cost to his state. A...

Former Texas governor Rick Perry is gearing up for another presidential run and recently fired a shot across the bow of some of his competitors. In an interview with The Weekly Standard, Perry said that while he had “great respect” for senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul, they were not ready to be president: I’ve had more than one individual say, “You know what, if you want to be the president of the United States, you ought to go back to your home state and be the governor and get that executive experience before you go lead this...

Former Texas governor Rick Perry has a message for three of the current Republican White House hopefuls: Run for governor before you run for president. Speaking about Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul, all three U.S. senators, Perry said in an interview last week with THE WEEKLY STANDARD that he's hearing from GOP voters that they want executive experience. "I’ve had more than one individual say, 'You know what, if you want to be the president of the United States, you ought to go back to your home state and be the governor and get that executive experience before...

Rick Perry’s June event in Addison, Texas, where he is expected to announce his candidacy for president, will feature a number of retired and current Navy SEALs, according to a invite to the event. Retired Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, whose autobiography inspired the 2014 film Lone Survivor, will attend with his wife. The widow of retired Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, whose autobiography inspired the oscar-nominated American Sniper, will also be there. The event will also feature retired U.S. Navy SEAL JJ Jones, retired U.S. Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor Recipient Mike Thornton, retired U.S. Navy SEAL Pete Scobell, and...

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson won the presidential straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City on Saturday, beating out Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Carson won 25.4 percent of the vote, while Walker took 20.5 percent and Cruz received 16.4 percent. Other GOP presidential hopefuls and potential candidates finished far behind the top trio. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie finished a distant fourth with 5.3 percent of the vote, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry took 5 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush won 4.9 percent. Winning the straw poll could provide a...

It has been a fascinating and fast-moving week in presidential politics. The Hillary spiral has continued unabated. While talking heads marvel at her durability in head-to-head polling and within the Democrat field, the underlying erosion on honesty and trustworthiness is a troubling sign for her candidacy. The latest Quinnipiac poll in Iowa has just 43% of voters believing in her veracity. Her strength in top line polling reflects name identification and the perception of inevitability. This is pretty much the same trajectory as her 2008 collapse, if not earlier. I’m reminded of an SNL skit from that race, “It was...

We all know that if the Republican debates include all the declared candidates that it's going to be a circus. Each candidate will only get to speak for a few minutes and we won't learn much. We'd learn more if the debates were limited to the candidates who had the greatest chance of getting the nomination. Here are the most realistic candidates--not the best candidates, but the ones who have at least a chance to win the nomination: Scott Walker: Current governor of Wisconsin, an inspirational speaker, riding high in several polls. Jeb Bush: Former governor of Florida, he's been...

Gov. Greg Abbott, once reluctant to get involved in his party’s 2016 presidential primary, has a new message for White House hopefuls: Get in line. With Texas poised to play a role in determining the GOP nominee for the first time in decades, the first-term governor is increasingly making clear he does not plan to let the newfound clout go to waste. He’s laid out five criteria for the candidates and wants them to come see the border that has been central to his agenda so far. Abbott has not decided whether he’ll endorse before the Texas primary on March...

President Obama famously said to Mitt Romney during a 2012 debate concerning Russia, the “1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back…” Right now, that phrase rings true for many of the current GOP candidates’ messaging and marketing strategies. The 1980s are calling, and they want their campaign marketing plans back. That’s why 2016 is anyone’s race. The Republican nomination will likely draw a dozen or more candidates. Three second-tier candidates got into the race just this week, and no single candidate has consistently broken 20 percent in the polls. With a 21st century marketing strategy, even...

Gather together 1,000 S.C. Republicans in a room these days, and a few 2016 presidential prospects will come calling. The S.C. GOP’s annual Silver Elephant fundraising dinner on Friday attracted three out-of-state White House hopefuls and a fourth homegrown prospect who made their pitches to hardcore party supporters. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz started his speech by bashing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. He said she appointed a director of email security – a joke about her use of a private computer server while she was U.S. Secretary of State. “I’m pretty sure Saudi Arabia is not paying for the speakers tonight,”...

It is now the “gotcha” question being asked to every Republican presidential candidate: Would you attend a same-sex ‘wedding’ ceremony?”Rick Santorum said no, since it would be a violation of his faith.Marco Rubio said yes, even though he disagrees with it as a Catholic, just as he disagrees with divorce and remarriage, but he would attend rather than hurt someone he loves. Scott Walker said he had previously attended a same-sex “wedding” reception but stated that marriage was the union of a man and a woman.Ted Cruz wouldn’t answer, but apparently not because of ambiguity on his position, since he...

Ted Cruz hauled in more than $4 million during his first nine days as a formal presidential candidate—with help from a handful of Rick Perry's top donors. Five members of Perry's leadership PAC advisory board contributed to Cruz's presidential campaign in late March, a National Journal review of Federal Election Commission records found. San Antonio auto dealer Red McCombs, Austin oil executive Ben "Bud" Brigham, Houston chemical company executive Steven P. Mach, retired Houston technology executive Holloway Frost, and Houston Republican Kathaleen Wall each wrote four-figure checks to Cruz's campaign in late March. Those five donors were also among the...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-04-13/the-7-gop-long-shots-who-still-have-a-chance

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) after a Town Hall Panel Discussion hosted by Steve Deace at the NICHE Homeschool Iowa Capitol Day at the Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport/Conference Center in Des Moines on Thursday, Apr. 9, 2015.DES MOINES — The debate over religious liberty in Indiana spilled over into Iowa Thursday as four presidential hopefuls pledged to defend the rights of parents who home-school their children to worship as they choose and educate their children as they wish. Religious liberty is the “civil rights issue of...