Free Republic

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There is increased speculation Friday evening about the political future of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. Sources told NewsChannel 36 Gingrich has canceled all of his appearances in North Carolina next week. Gingrich was scheduled to make multiple appearances throughout the state, including a visit to Lincoln Charter School in Denver next Wednesday. Fourth graders planned to present him with an American history project. “We are disappointed that the Gingrich camp has decided to cancel the entire NC tour,” said Lincoln Charter School Chief Administrator Dave Machado. “We were looking forward to the opportunity to showcase the...

Two of America’s most active national tea party organizations say former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has made no effort to win them over, despite his apparent need to attract more grassroots support. “As far as I am aware, we’ve had no contact with Romney’s campaign, nor have any of his representatives reached out,” Mark Meckler, co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, told The Daily Caller. Meckler, however, acknowledged: “We haven’t had a lot of contact with the candidates in general, though [congresswoman Michele] Bachmann, [businessman Herman] Cain, and [former House Speaker Newt] Gingrich have all spent a lot...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the winner of the first major presidential debate tonight according to a survey of Republican and Democratic political operatives, campaign consultants, and party strategists, in a special National Journal Political Insiders Poll conducted tonight. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann also had a good evening.

The insiders are largely agreed: Sarah Palin isn’t really running for president. She is more interested in making money and getting publicity. So her movie, bus tour, and poll numbers mean nothing. Zero. Nada. The best example of this is probably found in Byron York’s column today: “The bottom line is Sarah Palin is not going to run for president,” says a Republican adviser close to front-runner Mitt Romney. “She’s making money, she’s moved on, she’s kind of an entertainer rather than a politician. She still has some sway with the grass roots, but she is not going to run.”...

Mike Huckabee’s supporters might not rush to the side of Sarah Palin, despite the conventional wisdom that she’ll be the key beneficiary of his decision not to run for president next year. Both the former governor of Arkansas and former governor of Alaska are populist Republicans with strong evangelical credentials. Yet there are some significant differences between the two that suggest Huckabee supporters might not flock to Palin en masse. Style Palin’s and Huckabee’s rhetorical styles couldn’t be more different. Palin mocks her Democratic opponents; Huckabee tends to engage them and look for common ground. When first lady Michelle Obama...

ABC News' Amy Walter reports: A new ABC News/Wash. Post poll finds that in a head to head match-up against President Barack Obama, 70% of those who say they are Tea Party supporters say they'll vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president--compared to 69% for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Seeming Tea Party favorites like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, meanwhile, draw 61% and 60%, respectively....

Mitt Romney continues to look like an overwhelming early favorite for the 2012 New Hampshire primary but the most surprising thing about our newest set of numbers there may be that Ron Paul's in third place, outpolling Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin (albeit by small margins.) Romney leads the way with 31% to 14% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Paul, 12% for Huckabee, 9% for Palin, 3% for Tim Pawlenty, and 1% for Mitch Daniels. Observations from the numbers: -Among voters who are more likely to support a candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin...Romney leads...with 29% to Palin's 21%. We've written...