Free Republic

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) is unlikely to run in a GOP primary against Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), let alone win, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Monday. Kyl, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said he expects the former congressman, who's been mulling a primary challenge to McCain's right next year, to carry on his activities as host of a radio show, and not as a candidate.

Reminds me of Jim DeMint notoriously saying that he’d rather have 30 pure conservatives in the Senate than a centrist Republican majority, presumably so that he could lose with honor on every single vote. Remember that old commercial about pollution where Iron Eyes Cody turns to the camera and a single tear rolls down his cheek? That’s Frum when he reads this. The poll indicates that a slight majority, 51 percent, of Republicans would prefer to see the GOP in their area nominate candidates who agree with them on all the major the issues even if they have a poor...

(snip) There’s a list of issues being hammered out, but at the top is finding money for South Florida’s cash-strapped Tri-Rail. Republicans are targeting a $2 fee on rental cars as the source and discussing whether to let county commissions approve the charge or require a referendum.“That’s sort of one of the issues we’re dealing with,” Crist said. Florida’s Republican leaders believe they need to settle funding issues for Tri-Rail and a host of insurance and money issues for a proposed Central Florida line known as SunRail before the state has any chance at securing $2.5 billion in federal stimulus...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted disaster for his party if the conservative wing of the GOP continues to field independent candidates to the right of the party’s nominee. “If we get into a cycle where there are tea parties and there are conservative third-party candidates, we will make [Nancy] Pelosi speaker for life,” Gingrich told POLITICO in an interview Thursday, calling the practice “totally destructive.” But Gingrich, who broke with many fellow conservatives by getting behind the liberal Republican who was nominated but ultimately dropped out and backed the Democrat in a New York special congressional election, admitted that...

"...[I]t’s equally clear that you can’t be a right-wing party and govern the country." --Newt Gingrich quoted by Jonathan Martin, Politico, November 12, 2009 Dr. Newt Gingrich (Ph.D. History) should know better by now not to use “right-wing” as an adjective to describe the GOP. The GOP is not “right-wing,” but rather a conservative political party. Members of that party responded to Newt Gingrich’s “Contract for America” that was not “right-wing,” but an expression of the conservative philosophy of limited government shared by most Republicans and many Independents. Unfortunately, had Newt Gingrich adhered to political principle he might not have...

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...

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker and purveyor of the GOP "Contract With America'' that helped his party win control of the House after President Bill Clinton's election, says GOP chairman Michael Steele has started work on a new framework for 2010 that he is calling "First principles.'' "I've been talking with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, '' Gingrich said today, speaking with students at C-SPAN's Cable Center Class. "He is developing a first principles model that I think is a very exciting , positive step in the right direction,'' said Gingrich, who has said that he will...

FINALLY, the people in South Carolina are awakening to the fact our values are not being represented by Lindsay Graham.

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Eric Cantor, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. House, said his party needs to be inclusive and criticized some comments by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh as inappropriate. “The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard,” Cantor, of Virginia, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today.

WASHINGTON — When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be — ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill. They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests. "Our goal is to create a vision that not only will...

If you want to know what's wrong with Sacramento, you need look no further than Orange County. That's where Republican Party insiders have cast aside one of the GOP's most principled members in its drive to fill the 72nd Assembly District seat vacated by disgraced Assemblyman Mike Duvall, who resigned after being caught on tape bragging in lurid detail to another assemblyman about his sexual exploits with lobbyists. The first major candidate to announce his intention to replace Duvall was Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby. If the local GOP were serious about the limited-government rhetoric it constantly preaches, Norby would...

Now that we sit her in incredulity as Doug Hoffman wanders off into the sunset, maybe it's a good time to take a moment and think about what just happened. Modern politics is not won with torches and pitchforks from half way across the country which is what was attempted here. No, Scozzafava should never have been handed the nomination but it was an isolated, freakish situation brought on by the sudden departure of the incumbent and exasperated by everyday political insider dealing. To claim that it was an example of how GOP politics work everyday is hyperbole by those...

The morning after Republicans lost an upstate New York House seat, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned that conservative activists will bring destruction to the Republican Party if they drive out moderate candidates across the country. “To those people who are pursuing purity, you’ll become a club not a party,” Graham told POLITICO in the Capitol Wednesday. “Those people who are trying to embrace conservatism in a thoughtful way that fits the region and the state and the district are going to do well. Conservativism is an asset. Blind ideology is not.” Graham, who has sparred with his party’s right wing...

(snip) The GOP wins in New Jersey and Virginia are breeding a new competition among Republicans to take part of the credit. Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, potential rivals for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, both tried to bask in glow."We worked extremely hard on behalf of Bob McDonnell and the entire Republican ticket in Virginia, and helped him close strong with a full day of campaigning in the final week; in New Jersey, we endorsed Chris Christie early and made sure he had the resources to be competitive against his better-financed opponent," Romney told supporters of his Free &...

Politics: Move over, John McCain and Olympia Snowe. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is fast becoming the Democrats' favorite Republican as he partners with John Kerry to push cap-and-trade through the Senate. Earlier this year, eight Republican congressmen made it possible for Waxman-Markey, the 1,400-page job- and economy-killing cap-and-trade legislation, to barely pass the House of Representatives. At the time it seemed dead on arrival in the Senate if it was brought up there this year. Once again, as with their medical plan, the Democrats seek to better the odds by putting a GOP hood ornament on a Democratic clunker....

A day after Tim Pawlenty took a few shots at Olympia Snowe, RNC Chairman Michael Steele came to her defense. Asked on Morning Joe whether there was room for the Maine centrist in the GOP, Steele responded "absolutely." Welcome! Welcome! Because--you know why that's important? Because every footprint of this party is different from region to region, from county to county. I can't win in the northeast with someone who'd be a better candidate suited in the south....So the reality of it is I'm looking to find my candidates where they are. And I want to lift them up because...

New York Republican congressional nominee Dede Scozzafava withdrew last weekend from the special election that will take place Tuesday and endorsed the Democrat, Bill Owens, in a race where a third party candidate, Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, has become a major contender. Yes, you read that right. In one of the most Republican districts in New York, one that borders Canada, Scozzafava ran up against a mass revolt by mainstream Republicans who charged that her long list of liberal credentials made her a “RINO” or Republican In Name Only. The 23rd congressional district race is this year's only congressional...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- There is a "political rebellion" going on in America that the Republican Party is hoping to speak for, the U.S. House minority leader says. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, speaking Sunday on CNN's "State of Union," said an incident in which a GOP-endorsed New York congressional candidate withdrew from an election under pressure from Republican conservatives showed that "we're in the middle of a political rebellion going on in America." Boehner said, "This rebellion are by people who really have not been actively involved in the political process. And they don't really care whether you're...

NOVEMBER 2, 2009 GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill By GREG HITT WASHINGTON -- Republicans are preparing an alternative health-care bill to Democratic legislation, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, marking a shift in strategy as the full House is set to begin debate on the issue this week. Mr. Boehner said Sunday the Republican bill would extend health-insurance coverage to "millions" of Americans but wouldn't try to match the scope of the House Democratic bill unveiled last week. The Democratic legislation, if passed, is estimated to expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans now without insurance....

"Republican Dede Scozzafava today endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, her former opponent, in Tuesday's election to fill the North Country congressional seat formerly held by John McHugh. Scozzafava suspended her campaign for the 23rd District seat Saturday, citing weak poll numbers and inadequate campaign funds. In a statement released this afternoon, she called Owens ''an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York.''"

Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, one day after Scozzafava dropped out of the contest. Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Dough Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. But on Sunday, Scozzafava backed Democrat Bill Owens -- the announcement was made in a statement send out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same," she said. "In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He...

Gingrich endorses Hoffman Posted: October 31st, 2009 01:04 PM ET From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston WASHINGTON (CNN)– Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who came under fire from some conservatives for endorsing Dede Scozzafava in next week's special Congressional election in New York, is now backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. Gingrich made the announcement via Twitter shortly after the Republican Party nominee Scozzafava announced she was releasing supporters from their commitment to back her. "Scozzafava dropping out leaves hoffman as only anti-tax anti-pelosi vote in ny 23 Every voter opposed to tax increases support doug hoffman," Gingrich wrote on...

Scozzafava Suspends New York Congressional Campaign Sarah Palin had the guts and the foresight to stand with Hoffman, the clear conservative, before anyone else, when he was a relative unknown. Now, as a result of her backing, he will win and others in the GOP have been scrambling to get on board her train and catch up with her ever since. That's leadership! Hehehe. Hey Barry, Nancy, and Harry...you can expect a lot more of the same to come. You too Newt. MANY MORE STICKER DESIGNS HERE "...like that grizzly guards her cubs, as a mother naturally guards her own....

With Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman running neck and neck with the Democrat in Tuesday’s special election in New York, some other disaffected Republicans are seeing the third-party route as more viable. And it could hurt the Republicans in those races. In Virginia’s 5th district, state Sen. Robert Hurt’s entry into the GOP primary has spurred little-known candidate Bradley Rees to switch to the Virginia Conservative Party. And in Ohio, another GOP primary contender said this week that he’ll run as a Constitution Party candidate. Both will go at the GOP nominees from their right flanks and try to expose...

The events of the last 24 hours have pretty much clinched it: NY-23 is now officially a two-man race between the Democratic nominee Bill Owens and the Conservative Party upstart Doug Hoffman. From NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions to former Gov. George Pataki to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (through his operative, Jake Menges), Republicans are quickly abandoning their nominee, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, and backing Hoffman in a last-ditch effort to keep former Rep. John McHugh's seat in GOP hands and, perhaps more importantly, deny the Obama administration a much-needed political victory. "I think it’s now to a point where we’ve got...

Conservatives are sick and tired of being taken for granted, misrepresented, and talked down to by the same "elite" Republicans in Washington who hopelessly screwed everything up during the Bush years.         Everybody knows exactly whom we're talking about here.  The same snobby, elitist, stuffed shirt, squishy, poll-obsessed Country Club Republicans who went to D.C., forgot who put them there, wasted the incredible opportunity they had to change this country for the better, and are now pointing the finger at everyone except themselves for their mistakes.         Here are five messages for those people:         We're not going back to the Bush years:...

As high-profile Republicans (other than Newt Gingrich) flock to endorse Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd district special election over the Republican in the three-way race, Dede Scozzafava (R) still has one prominent supporter besides the former Speaker: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. "I support the republican nominee as the republican party chairman, and that's the way it should go, right?" Steele told NBC's Chuck Todd this morning during an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe (video here--fast forward to 4:55). Conservatives far and wide have alleged Scozzafava is too liberal, as Hoffman has won endorsements from...

Newt answering questions about NY23. Defending the Scozzafava. Says that Hoffman is outside the district. Claims that Scozzafava is a solid fiscal conservative but social liberal. Claims all of Hoffman's money is coming outside the district. Make a point that it was the local GOP that nominated Scozzafava and that they know more than outsiders what is right for the district.

HOUSE RACE: Maine senator attends rally to support Scozzafava. BY MARTHA ELLEN CANTON — More than 50 supporters of Republican Dierdre K. Scozzafava's campaign for the 23rd Congressional District turned out Saturday at Phoebe's Restaurant to hear U.S. Sen. Susan K. Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., tell them she was the best candidate.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists that their support for a third-party candidate in a key upcoming New York special election is a “mistake.” In a video captured last week and posted on YouTube Friday, Gingrich told tea party organizer Lisa Miller at a book-signing event that conservatives are inadvertently hindering the cause by backing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party’s nominee. “I just think it is a mistake for the conservative movement to think splitting in the special election is a smart idea,” Gingrich said. “If we give that seat to...

The feeble pulse of moderation in the Republican Party is in danger of flat-lining in the Nov. 3 Congressional election in upstate New York. Luminaries like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have taken opposing sides over whether the party dare tolerate the official Republican candidate in the 23rd district — Dede Scozzafava, a six-term assemblywoman whose record includes refreshing tinges of centrism. Ms. Scozzafava was nominated by local party leaders as eminently electable despite — or because of — her defense of women’s abortion rights and her tolerant views on same-sex marriage. She is already shunned by many more ideologically...

The GOP needs to shed its image as the "old white guy party," Jeb Bush said this week. Speaking at George Washington University, Bush said Republicans need to reach out to a more diverse group of voters. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that in order for a political party to be successful it has to reach out to everyone," Bush said, according to the GW Hatchet. "In politics, you never win when you say 'us and them.' We need a more welcoming message."

SYRACUSE, New York, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A conservative uprising against the GOP's selection of a staunchly pro-abortion, pro-gay "marriage" nominee has transformed the battle for New York's 23rd congressional district into a tight three-way race that has the strong possibility of a dark horse Conservative Party candidate pulling an upset victory - or sending a strong message to the GOP that they alienate social and fiscal conservatives at their peril.New York's 23rd Congressional District covers much of the northern areas of upstate New York just north of Syracuse, bordering Canada, and encompassing most of the Adirondacks. While conservative...

Gay rights activists stood alongside religious fundamentalists in the balcony of the state Assembly chamber last Tuesday looking down upon what could either be a monumental movement for the gay community or the solidification of traditional religious beliefs in New York state. Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s controversial program bill to legalize same-sex marriage, sponsored by Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, D-Manhattan, found its way to the Assembly floor after several weeks of stagnation. After three hours of emotional debate, the bill passed 85 to 61. ::snip:: Party lines became less clear as the bill came to the Assembly floor after an hour-long Republican...

Anyone surprised?They certainly lost touch with me. When the Democrat Party became the Socialist Party, the Republican Party became the Democrat Party. If the conservatives can’t take back the Republican Party, then we’ll need a new party.

Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich is taking real heat over his endorsement of a moderate Republican, Dede Sozzafava, in a special congressional election in upstate New York. David Keating, executive director of Club for Growth, has taken to a third-party conservative, Doug Hoffman, and rakes Gingrich on the anti-tax group’s web site: “Gingrich does this all the time,” said Keating. “He does whatever the party committee asks him to. He likes to cultivate this image of being an innovator (snip) But this afternoon, on his own web site, the former Georgia congressman pushed back: The choice in New York...

The Republican Party is in search of a message to attract voters who are angry with just about everything — healthcare, the U.S. deficit, Wall Street bonuses, increased unemployment and home foreclosures to mention a few. “There’s a lot of anger out there and there’s a lot of frustration,” said Republican Senator John McCain, who was defeated by Democrat Barack Obama for president last year. Thousands of people are turning up at townhall meetings and “tea party” protests against government policies, he noted. “So there’s something going on out there. And I’d love to sit here and tell you that...

WEST VALLEY CITY — The head of the Republican National Committee said Friday he believes voters may have moved beyond the bias against Mormonism that hurt Mitt Romney in last year's presidential election. Speaking to reporters after a town hall meeting at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, Michael Steele said comments he made earlier this year about Romney being rejected by the GOP base because of his faith were "old news." "I was speaking to an attitude or a mindset at the time that I thought was unfortunate and I said that I think (Romney) proved just how unfortunate it...

The nominee in a looming House special election is at the heart of an angry dispute between conservatives and Republican House leadership, a rift so serious that it threatens the party’s chances of keeping control of the upstate New York seat. At issue is the National Republican Congressional Committee’s support for Dede Scozzafava, a New York assemblywoman who conservatives assert is so liberal that they absolutely cannot support her candidacy. Instead, many conservative groups are rallying behind Doug Hoffman, a third-party candidate running on the Conservative Party line, even though their support for him might pave the way for a...

David Brooks ruins a good argument with this: Back in 2006, they [talk radio hosts] threatened to build a new majority on anti-immigration fervor. Republicans like J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, both of Arizona, built their House election campaigns under that banner. But these two didn’t march to glory. Both lost their campaigns. This is at best misleading. It remains true that immigration restriction will never win elections on its own, and it is also true that candidates who present themselves as nothing other than restrictionists are not going to win in the absence of any other compelling message. Hayworth...

In the Long Run, the GOP Must Be Inclusive. BY MICHAEL GERSON Mel Martinez's recent resignation from the U.S. Senate was for personal and family reasons. But the departure of the Republican Party's most visible Hispanic leader crackles with political symbolism. Martinez does not consider himself disillusioned, but he is "frustrated." "There are lots of Hispanics to the right of you and me on immigration," he told me, "but they think, 'Republicans just don't like us.' " Martinez makes clear that a number of his Senate colleagues were "conservative, but not inflammatory." Other elected Republicans, however, made "pretty divisive use...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, impressed with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s recent rollout onto the national political stage, is urging him to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. “Governor Pawlenty is a terrific talent, he’s a very attractive guy and he has a good reform record,” Gingrich told POLITICO over the weekend after his speech to the annual Americans for Prosperity conference in Washington. Pawlenty is “certainly going to be a player. There is every reason he should run, there is wide open field right now,” Gingrich said. “He’s an example that the future of the Republican Party...

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is taking the opposite route of most defeated presidential candidates: rather than quickly bow out of national politics, McCain is working to become a transformative force in the Republican Party, Politico reported Friday. Concerned about the GOP's direction, McCain has been recruiting and raising money for candidates who share his pragmatic center-right style. McCain has been a particularly generous advisor to Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), who he encouraged to run for Senate and threw a $500,000 fundraiser to support.

Fresh from a humbling loss in last year’s presidential election, Sen. John McCain is working behind-the-scenes to reshape the Republican Party in his own center-right image. McCain is recruiting candidates, raising money for them and hitting the campaign trail on their behalf. He’s taken sides in competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial primaries and introduced his preferred candidates to his top donors. When the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy created a vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts, McCain went so far as to solicit former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling to run for the seat. It’s all part of an approach...

Fresh from a humbling loss in last year’s presidential election, Sen. John McCain is working behind-the-scenes to reshape the Republican Party in his own center-right image. McCain is recruiting candidates, raising money for them and hitting the campaign trail on their behalf. He’s taken sides in competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial primaries and introduced his preferred candidates to his top donors. When the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy created a vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts, McCain went so far as to solicit former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling to run for the seat. It’s all part of an approach...

Utahns continue to open their wallets for Mitt Romney. The former leader of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City raised about $125,000 at a Tuesday dinner held at the Little America Hotel, according to his spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. Fehrnstrom said 150 people attended the event, which cost contributors $1,000 a plate or $5,000 for special access to a VIP reception before the dinner. "Mitt Romney appreciates the support, and the money raised will allow him to stay active politically and help the Republican Party come back strong in the 2010 elections," Fehrnstrom said.

Mitt Romney, the early favorite of many for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, is making nice with his rivals from the last race. The former Massachusetts governor, who was the source of much consternation among his opponents during the GOP presidential primaries last year, has made strides to repair those relationships in recent days. The latest example came Saturday in Romney’s speech to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Michigan, in which Romney will praise former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s (R) effort to clean up New York and suggest Detroit could use a similar program.“Detroit needs to be...

MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan (CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said he thinks President Barack Obama could be in for an ousting from office similar to what happened to Democratic President Jimmy Carter after his first term. "I think the people wanted a change," the Florida Republican said, speaking of the election of Obama in November while drawing similarities to events decades earlier. "They wanted a change back in 1976. You remember? Richard Nixon had been president. That ended. Gerald Ford took over. The people decided they wanted a change. They got one-Jimmy Carter. Four years later, they took care of...

NEWS | POLITICS Michael Steele Withdraws Support for Mark Kirk's Senate Bid Kirk's changing positions on a "cap and trade" environmental bill are inspiring angry boos from some fellow Republicans Copyright Associated Press / NBC Chicago First Published: Sep 24, 2009 1:48 PM CD By ANDREW GREINER Updated 3:54 PM CDT, Thu, Sep 24, 2009 Michael Steele has been responsible for some monumental gaffes since he took the reins of the Republican National Committee. Perhaps he’s trying to avoid another error by supporting a flip-flopper. The RNC Chairman has reportedly withdrawn his sole endorsement for Illinois Representative Mark Kirk...