Free Republic

Donald Trump may have eased some Republican fears Tuesday night when he declared his intention to stay inside the party. But if their angst has been temporarily eased at the prospect of what he would do if he loses, they still face a far more troubling, and increasingly plausible, question. What happens to the party if he wins? Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/12/donald-trump-2016-third-party-bid-213449#ixzz3uunF2pRX

Not since I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 have I been so excited about the prospect of a true conservative as I was for 2016. With the likes of Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100% and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 94% there was plenty to be excited about. What I didn’t realize was the depth of disgust and anger that the base had for the establishment republicans. It wasn’t so apparent to me given that I have been living with RINO’s and turncoats up here in Massachusetts for decades. Then enter Trump. I could never have...

Sen. Ted Cruz is proving to be a "disciplined" campaigner and "a leader with a real plan," but Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio lack "consistency" on the big issues including guns and immigration, GOP presidential primary dropout Rick Perry says. In a radio interview with conservative radio host Simon Conway in Iowa, the former Texas governor — who dropped his own White House bid in September — heaped praise on Cruz for his "wily" and "wise" performance in the fifth GOP presidential candidates' debate in Las Vegas. Audio of the interview was posted by Buzz Feed News. "I think...

A surge in support for Republican White House hopeful Newt Gingrich has made him the new front-runner in Iowa, which holds the first of next year's U.S. presidential nominating contests, according to a closely watched opinion poll published Saturday. Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has support from 25 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers, up from just 7 percent in late October, the poll conducted for The Des Moines Register newspaper found. --- Texas Representative Ron Paul and Romney finished second and third, with support at 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Support for Minnesota Representative...

Cruz: If the GOP embraces amnesty, Hillary Clinton will win (video) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is making light of his struggle during the latest GOP debate to list all of the federal agencies he would eliminate as president. "Look, I just think the Department of Commerce is such a base of cronyism, we need to eliminate it twice," Cruz joked during a post-debate appearance on Fox News's "The Kelly File." Cruz struggled to list the five agencies he would eliminate as president during the Republican debate Tuesday night, listing the Department of Commerce twice. "Five major agencies that I would...

Marco Rubio, looking to capitalize on a wave of momentum, is pushing to win the support of a former rival: Scott Walker. After last weeks debate in Boulder, Colorado, Rubio tried to initiate a phone call with the Wisconsin governor, who dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination in September. A source close to Walker, who requested anonymity to discuss the outreach, said the two connected by phone late last week. That conversation, which lasted 15 to 20 minutes, began with friendly banter. The Florida senator asked Walker what hed been up to since he departed the primary....

State District Judge Julie Kocurek, the presiding felony judge for Travis County, was shot in the driveway of her West Austin home late Friday, authorities said. Police said the injury is not considered life threatening. Kocurek was taken to University Medical Center-Brackenridge, where she was joined by several other Travis County judges and her court staff. Her condition initially was considered critical. but shortly after midnight officials said her condition had been upgraded to stable. Police say the shooting was reported at 10:16 p.m. Kocurek had just returned home and was accompanied by others, police Cmdr. Mark Spangler said. No...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) now has the backing of a billionaire who once supported former Gov. Rick Perry's (R-Texas) presidential campaign.Cruz’s campaign announced Monday that Darwin Deason; Deason's son, Doug Deason; and four other major Texas businessmen have endorsed Cruz for the White House next year.“We as a group wanted to stay together to support a true conservative candidate for president — one who will stand up for and defend the Constitution,” Darwin Deason said in a statement. “We did our research and concluded unanimously Ted Cruz, who went to D.C. and did what he promised Texans he would...

Cruz Adds Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton, Six Former Perry Supporters and Texas Business Leaders to Texas Leadership TeamHOUSTON, Texas – Today at his national campaign headquarters in Houston, presidential candidate Ted Cruz named Lt. Governor Dan Patrick his Texas Chairman for the Cruz for President campaign. Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton, a statewide elected official, will join Railroad Commissioner David Porter as Texas Co-Chair of the Cruz for President campaign. In addition, six major financial supporters of former Gov. Rick Perry’s joined Cruz’s National Finance Team.With today’s announcement, the Cruz for President campaign has secured a significant number of...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick In a move that further consolidates his home-state support, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has won the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as well as a raft of major financial boosters of former Gov. Rick Perry.Cruz plans to announce Monday that he has secured the endorsement of Patrick, arguably the most powerful elected official in Texas and the third statewide official to back Cruz. Patrick will serve as the Texas chairman of Cruz's campaign.The endorsement marks a reconciliation of sorts between Cruz and Patrick, both darlings of the Tea...

Rick Perry may be out of the race for president, but the Republican field is still brimming with Texans. One of them is Carly Fiorina, who has surged into the top tier of candidates, behind only Donald Trump and Ben Carson in recent polls. Born Cara Carleton Sneed in Austin in September 1954 to Joseph Tyree Sneed III, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and his wife, Madelon, her Texas residency was fleeting. She departed at age 2

Many have predicted that the 2016 race for president would be the year of the super-PAC. The thinking goes: Candidates don't need money — they need a sugar daddy to fund a super-PAC. Not so fast, my friend. Already two formidable and impressive Republican candidates, former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, have bowed out of the presidential race due to slow campaign fundraising. Perry raised under $300,000 in the third quarter and Walker has $1 million in debt. Both possessed super-PACs that were flush with millions in cash. Why does hard money fundraising matter?...

THE SUPREME COURT may soon take up a challenge to a Texas abortion law mandating safety standards so strict that abortion providers claim it will force all but a handful of the state's remaining clinics to close. The case, Whole Woman's Health v. Cole, could lead to the court's first significant abortion ruling since 2007. Under the controversial law, signed by Governor Rick Perry two years ago, abortion practitioners must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and abortion clinics must meet the same building and equipment specifications as outpatient surgical centers. Advocates challenging the law argue that such restrictions...

Rand Paul’s on the departure list too, insiders predict. Bobby Jindal and George Pataki are the next two quitters in the Republican field. That’s the assessment of Republicans in the POLITICO Caucus, our weekly bipartisan survey of the top activists, operatives and strategists in Iowa and New Hampshire. . A quarter of Iowa Republicans say it’s Jindal, a frequent visitor to their state, who is on his way out. "He's become desperate," an Iowa Republican said. "He's taken to attacking Trump (we know how that worked out for Perry and Walker) and has nothing going on here in Iowa." Added...

Jack Riley, the No. 2 at the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), signaled support for Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the Southern border in a recent interview centered on hunting down Mexican drug cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. In an exclusive interview with Yahoo News, the acting deputy administrator at the Obama administration’s DEA agency, discussed why the U.S. government is invested in hunting escaped convict El Chapo, the leader of Mexico’s brutal Sinaloa cartel. Riley explained why El Chapo and his murderous criminal empire are a threat to the United States. The Sinaloa cartel has been...

Last week, National Review’s Jim Geraghty published what may be the most insightful essay yet [1] on the difference between the conservative movement and Donald Trump and his followers. Geraghty has noticed a telling reticence on Trump’s part to utter such words as “freedom” or “liberty.” By contrast, Geraghty notes that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker used the word “freedom” six times in the 179-word announcement of his plan to replace ObamaCare, and Ted Cruz used “freedom” twice and “liberty” eleven times in his announcement speech at Liberty University, not counting references to the university itself.The reason for this lack of...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/texas-news/2015/09/11/perry-supporters-fmr-governor-saw-writing-on-the-wall/72115838/

Fivethirtyeight.com founder Nate Silver said that GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson have a “maybe about 5%” chance of winning the nomination on Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360.” Silver put Trump’s and Carson’s chances of winning the nomination at “maybe about 5% each, somewhere around there.” Silver explained, “there are a of couple things to think about. One is that if you look back at history, you’ve never seen candidates like Donald Trump certainly, or Ben Carson win a party nomination, and secondly, if you look at the polling a lot of times, a candidate leading the...

Like someone looking for the first robin of Spring, this NewsBuster has been on the prowl for the first media person to suggest that Hillary Clinton is going to have to quit the race. Joe Scarborough didn't go quite that far, but let's just say his shirtfront was taking on a distinctly robin-red hue on today's Morning Joe. After lambasting her "dismal" performance on the stump, Scarborough--quoting an unidentified panel member--said that Hillary is "getting into Rick Perry 2012 territory right now." View the video here.

Former Texas governor Rick Perry exited the presidential race on Friday in the same manner in which he conducted his second presidential race, with maturity, largeness of spirit and devotion to conservative policies that improve the lives of all Americans.