Free Republic

Like so many memorable moments in American life, it all began with a cryptic tweet. .@GovernorPerry & I have been discussing the future of this great country and how our family can play a role. https://t.co/S2EOc5sliC— Anita Perry (@AnitaPerryTX) May 15, 2015 The link in Anita Perry’s message directed the user to an invitation to an event hosted by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s political action committee, RickPAC, in Dallas on June 4. All it foreshadowed was that there would be a “special announcement” made on that date. “America is facing a time of testing, and it’s clear that...

The former governor of Florida, John (or as he prefers to be called, Juan) Ellis Bush, doesn't appear to have a lot of support among Republicans, as opposed to Republicans in Name Only (RINOs), who absolutely adore him. But Juan isn't sweating it. He's rolling in dough, and more importantly, he's rolling in opponents. Have you ever heard of a "straw" candidate? When you have a weak front-runner that can't reach 50 percent, often a third, or a fourth, or even a fifth candidate suddenly jumps into the race. If he has a name similar to that of the strongest...

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are tied atop a crowded 2016 GOP primary field in the early state of New Hampshire, with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush slipping into a tie for third with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who picked up some support since a separate poll was released in February. Mr. Paul and Mr. Walker were the first choice of 12 percent of GOP primary voters, followed by Mr. Bush and Mr. Rubio at 11 percent apiece and businessman Donald Trump at 8 percent, according to the Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm poll. Next were...

Keep in mind that polls this early in a presidential cycle measure mostly name recognition rather than solid voter choice. Even with that caveat in mind — or perhaps because of it — the Bloomberg/St. Anselm poll released last night delivers bad news to Hillary Clinton and Democrats for 2016. Instead of a commanding lead over a field of emerging names, Hillary barely edges out most of the GOP field: There’s no clear Republican front-runner in the New Hampshire presidential nominating contest, while Hillary Clinton retains an overwhelming advantage among Democrats in the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary.Clinton’s advantage over...

Obama Potential Supreme Court Nominee Let Off Cartoon Gunman Because She Wasn’t Sure What “Jihad” Meant The Mohammed cartoon shootings did not turn into a massacre because of the quick actions of police officers on the scene. But if a massacre had occurred, much of the responsibility would rest with Judge Mary H. Murguia. Judge Murguia is a Clinton appointee and has been mentioned as a potential Obama Supreme Court nominee. Her sister, Janet Murguia, heads the racist hate group known as La Raza or The Race, which is closely tied to the Obama White House’s amnesty effort. Her brother,...

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz will attend events in South Carolina Friday and Saturday along with state GOP leaders and former presidential candidates Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.All three men are expected to speak at the SC Republican Party's 48th Annual Silver Elephant Dinner in Columbia Friday night,Governor Nikki Haley and U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott are also expected to speak at the event.The dinner, which is advertised as the largest and most prestigious Republican gathering in South Carolina will be held in honor of the late Gov. Jim Edwards, who served as the 110th governor of South...

This past week, we witnessed the unseemly pandering of several Republicans to the radical homosexual lobby. Each stumbled over the other to present his credentials. Florida Senator Marco Rubio—in a display of complete incoherence—stated on Face the Nation: “I don’t believe that your sexual preferences are a choice for a vast and enormous majority of the people… the bottom line is I believe that sexual preference is something people are born with.” Which one is it, are all people born that way, or just the ones who want to make that claim? Rubio’s incoherent view seems to boil down to...

For the two Texans eyeing the presidency, Iowa is king. Following this weekend's trip to the Faith & Freedom Coalition forum, Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Rick Perry have logged 13 trips a piece to the state since 2013, outpacing every other Republican White House aspirant, according to the U.S. News Presidential Tracker. The repeated trips demonstrate the importance of the state to both Cruz and Perry, who are both vying for the evangelical voters who dominate caucuses. It shouldn't be a surprise that the two past caucus winners – former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick...

In a Gravis Marketing poll released today Jeb Bush leads fellow GOP rivals among Republican Party Iowa voters while Senator Marco Rubio and former brain surgeon Ben Carson have increased their popularity while Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has taken the largest fall. In a telephone survey conducted April 13, former Governor Bush (R-FL) led with 16 percent of voters surveyed with Walker coming in at 13 percent, followed closely by fellow Floridian Rubio at 12 percent. The poll was conducted the same day as Rubio's announcement of his 2016 Presidential bid. The biggest gainers were Marco Rubio, who improved five points from his...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry may have forgotten a thing or two about the Al Gore presidential campaign he helped lead in 1988. In an interview with an Iowa radio station on Monday, the Republican presidential contender explained his role as the Gore campaign’s Texas chairman by saying that “this was Al Gore before he invented the Internet and got to be Mr. Global Warming.”

<p>Rick Perry says he won't make the same mistakes he made in New Hampshire four years ago if he chooses to make another run for the Republican presidential nomination.</p> <p>"Coming here and spending the time in New Hampshire is invaluable, and I didn't realize that in '11," the former Texas governor told a handful of voters Friday at the Waterhouse Country Store in Windham.</p>

In every election we get the “Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?” question. It’s a shorthand for testing how genuine, fun and likable a candidate may be. With the exception of Richard Nixon in 1968, the nicer guy actually does finish first in most elections. Politics after all is the marriage of personality and policy, so it’s worth looking at candidates from a non-ideological point of view, which by the way is how a lot of casual voters who turn out only in presidential races make up their minds. We will start with an easy one. David...

AUSTIN ...Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Saturday dismissed as a "joke" the demand by U.S. senators of his party that they must approve a potential agreement over the Middle East country's nuclear capabilities. "I strongly disagree with the motivation of that statement made by so many members of Congress, especially in the Senate," Paul said at a conference on liberty at the University of Texas at Austin, presumably referring to an open letter senators sent to Iranian officials describing any deal not approved by them as informal..... "They're out to stop peace," he said. "They're terrified that peace...

Oh, Look Who’s Suddenly Tied With Hillary… Just About Everybody! D.C. Conventional Wisdom: “Hillary’s unstoppable, Republicans begin with giant disadvantages, Rand Paul is this wacko Libertarian fruitcake, and he could never wiiiii -WHA?”>>>>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s lead is wilting against leading Republican presidential candidates in three critical swing states, Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, and she finds herself in a close race with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in each state, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today. In head-to-head matchups, every Republican candidate effectively ties her in Colorado and almost all Republicans effectively tie...

Hillary launches her campaign on Sunday – and, some Dems say, it’s about damn time.At long last, the campaign has a candidate. After playing one of the more tedious games of cat and mouse in recent American political history, Hillary Clinton stands now ready to admit that she is what she has been for the last two years: an actual contender for the Democratic nomination for president. The announcement comes as Democrats in DC have fretted that without an organized infrastructure Clinton has been a glutton for Republican attacks, and ill-equipped to respond to the news of the moment, whether...

Walker 15 Bush 12 Carson 11 Cruz 10 Huckabee 10 Paul 9 Rubio 8 Christie 4 Perry 3 Santorum 2 Jindal 2 Kasich 1

The latest North Carolina survey from Public Policy Polling suggests that conservative U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz entering the race is stunting Scott Walker's momentum in North Carolina. The PPP poll released on April 10 shows Jeb Bush now leads the GOP field in North Carolina with 19 percent to 16 percent for Walker, with Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Marco Rubio each at 11 percent, Ben Carson at 9 percent, Chris Christie at 7 percent, Rand Paul at 6 percent and Rick Perry at 2 percent. Cruz is up 8 points from his 3 percent standing a month ago, while Walker...

Ted Cruz has hit pay dirt — and he might have Jeb Bush to thank. In his first week as a presidential candidate, the Texas senator raked in more than $4 million for his campaign account, including $1.5 million from major donors, and he has already brought in hundreds of thousands more dollars since. A herd of super PACs supporting Cruz brought in another $31 million, Bloomberg reported Wednesday — an eye-popping sum that has stunned more than a few competing Republicans. Bush, a former Florida governor whose powerful family has deep roots in Texas, has factored prominently into Cruz's...

According to a Wednesday story in Bloomberg, the Ted Cruz for President Campaign has let it be known that a group of super PACs associated with the campaign expects to have $31 million in the bank by Friday. This feat is impressive considering that the Cruz campaign is not even two weeks old, and the super PACs in question were formed just this week. In the political fundraising game, this is what is called shock and awe. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is likely to be the champion fund raiser on the Republican side. But the news of Cruz’s feat,...

Nearly a week since Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), igniting a nationwide debate about whether the controversial law invites discrimination based on sexual orientation, most potential Republican presidential candidates have taken the opportunity to bolster their conservative credentials. "Governor Pence has done the right thing," said former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Monday. “I want to commend Governor Mike Pence for his support of religious freedom, especially in the face of fierce opposition,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz said in a written statement. “Governor Pence is holding the line to protect religious liberty in the...