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A veritable bevy of Republican presidential hopefuls have already hired staff, wooed deep-pocketed contributors and made speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, proving what we already know: The 2016 nomination preseason is well underway. Fundraising, organization, the size of the field and the calendar all will play a significant role in affecting how the race unfolds. The outcome is uncertain. The current conventional wisdom is, in spite of changes intended to shorten the nominating process, the race for the GOP nomination could be more of a marathon than a sprint. The last two Republican presidential nominating fights — with John...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas WASHINGTON – Some of the top minds and leaders in the nation are asking for the help of ordinary citizens to protect America. Conservative stars such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., want to spread word among the grassroots about the greatest dangers America faces and what people can do to effect solutions on a local level. The South Carolina National Security Action Summit is open to the public and will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Brookland Baptist Banquet and Conference Center at 1066 Sunset Blvd.,...

The reality show clan backed Mike Huckabee in '08 and Rick Santorum in '12. Now, they may face a real tough choice. It may be that the fastest-growing demographic in the Republican Party is pro-life, telegenic, homeschooled, and mostly under the age of 27—you know, the Duggars. As in the stars of the TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting. In the past couple election cycles, this birth-control-shunning family has emerged as a political player on the right. And now it looks likely that they will face a tough decision when it comes to which social conservative GOPer to back...

If Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee run for president, their Iowa supporters could have a choice between the head or the heart. Or vote for someone else. Santorum and Huckabee won remarkable victories in the Iowa caucuses, galvanizing social conservatives to pull off unlikely upsets against amazing odds. But while the two had very different paths to victory in Iowa, they achieved it with similar coalitions of social conservatives and evangelical leaders.

Santorums’ New Book Reveals How Faith And Love Are Tested By A Daughter’s Disability By Karen Tumulty and Colby Itkowitz February 7 Over and over, Rick Santorum has watched the old video of himself at a presidential candidate forum in Iowa. He can read in his strained expression the struggle that was going on in his mind as he tried to figure out how to answer a challenge put to the Republican contenders: “Bare your soul.” The shadow on Santorum’s soul was the memory of a time when he hadn’t loved his own child as a father should. Could there...

The 2016 presidential election cycle is already underway. Whether you are delighted or horrified at the prospect, the race is indeed now on. While it might seem impossibly far in the future, consider that the Iowa caucuses are only a year away. So we're going to take a very early look at the Republican field, which seems to be getting larger every week. The 2016 election will be rather unique, since it is a wide-open presidential election on both sides. No incumbent will be running, in other words, but the truly notable aspect of the race is that the parties...

The Talk Shows January 25th, 2015 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): White House chief of staff Denis McDonough; Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): McDonough; former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark. FACE THE NATION (CBS): McDonough; Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.THIS WEEK (ABC): McDonough; Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): McDonough; former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill, Adam Schiff, D-Calif, and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; former Gov. Jon Huntsman, R-Utah.

DES MOINES -- Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum began the 2012 presidential race here trailing badly in both the polls and the money chase, and ended it with a narrow win in the Republican caucuses. Now he's gearing up for another shot at victory in Iowa with a message that's once again geared at courting social conservatives, positioning himself as an alternative to the GOP establishment -- and appealing to disaffected working class voters. Santorum, wearing a navy Air Force One jacket from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, worked the lobby at the Marriott hotel here Friday night, passing out...

There are enough potential candidates for president (on the GOP side at least) that you need an Excel spreadsheet just to keep them all straight. Instead of a complicated algorithm, I've boiled each candidate down to his/her most basic elements. At the end of the day, these are the things more likely to define a presidential wannabe. It's also important to distinguish between durable traits and those that are more ephemeral. For example, low name ID is something easily overcome. But, being on the "wrong side" of the base on key issues can be a campaign killer. This is by...

DES MOINES, Iowa–Saturday will be a “Who’s Who” of Republicans thinking, running or wanting you to think they are running for president in 2016. Congressman Steve King hosts his Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines. But pies, books, thank you’s and speeches will fill some of the time away from the summit. The speakers’ list includes some of the most well-known names on the Republican circuit. They include: Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Newt Gingrich, Marsha Blackburn, Ben Carson, Mike Lee, Carly Fiorina, Jim DeMint, John Bolton and Jim...

Usually, when you accuse someone of being anti-immigrant, that person points out that he or she is anti-“illegal” immigrant. Rick Santrorum has an issue with workers who are not natives. (h/t Karoli at Crooks and Liars). Rick Santorum’s grandfather came to America in 1923 as an immigrant but that fact does not deter him from thinking that we have a big problem in this country that’s “almost as bad” as illegal immigration. Here’s some of what Santorum said: Let me ask you a question. Since 2000 there have been a little over six million net new jobs created. What percentage...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.— A crowd of tea party activists huddled outside a closed conference door here on Sunday. Many hadn’t caught a glimpse of the man they were waiting for, but they knew he was in there. “Here he comes!” someone suddenly shouted, as Ted Cruz emerged. All day long, the Republican senator from Texas was mobbed by people who thanked him for taking on Washington, jostled for pictures and sought out hugs. Even after Cruz had departed the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention, his booth was consistently crowded. Ben Carson and Rick Santorum made their pitches and both...

With 2016 rumblings abounding, we forgot about Rick Santorum. The former Pennsylvania Senator threw some early punches last week at his potential rivals, calling Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “bomb throwers,” who had no real accomplishments on their resumes (via NYT): Discussing Mr. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses, Mr. Santorum raised four policy issues that he said would prompt questions about Mr. Huckabee’s fealty to conservative principles. Mr. Santorum was even harsher when discussing Mr. Paul of Kentucky and Mr. Cruz of Texas, both first-term senators, dismissing them as...

Ted Cruz delivered on Sunday what looked like a dry run of his 2016 presidential stump speech to the South Carolina activists who will help decide that election. In his first visit to the state, which will host the third presidential primary in February 2016, since October, Cruz told the state’s Tea Party activists that nominating a moderate in 2016 would lead Republicans to lose just like they have when those moderates led the ticket in the past. “If we nominate another candidate in the mold of a Bob Dole or a John McCain or a Mitt Romney, all of...

I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist — and I certainly have nothing on Paul Craig Roberts whose most recent article, helpfully disseminated by the Ron Paul Institute, claims the Charlie Hebdo attacks to be a “false flag” operation — but I can’t help but wonder if the “mainstream media” is playing up the potential presidential candidacies of Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum simply to depress Republican voters. Or, going the full tin-foil-hat route, maybe these guys are themselves double agents, part of a MoveOn.org (does it still exist?) sleeper cell which was just activated (by...

Conservative leaders this week shrugged off the sudden moves by Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney toward 2016 presidential campaigns, saying the two establishment-friendly candidates are too far out of touch with grass-roots activists to win the Republican nomination. At the same time, potential candidates with close ties to the party’s conservative base have moved to speed up their own efforts in response. Senior advisers to several of the potential conservative candidates said Wednesday that GOP insurgents will have to do more in 2016 than they did in previous cycles to make a serious run for the Republican nomination. Building a...

Last month, Ed Morrissey submitted the astute observation that the Republican Party is nearing a crossroads. The starkest contrasts on the 2016 debate stage are unlikely to be those highlighted by the dispute over the prudence of a policy of isolationism or interventionism abroad. Nor will it be exposed by the fight between Republicans who back proposals aimed at strengthening border security before engaging in immigration reform against those who would pursue a combined strategy. The most defined distinctions, he contends, will be drawn by the Republicans of the Bush era and those who rose to prominence under Obama. “It’s...

Rick Santorum may have his faults as a potential presidential contender, but he is dead right about Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.): “Do we really want someone with this little experience? And the only experience they have basically — not [Sen. Marco] Rubio, but Cruz and Paul because I don’t think Rubio is going to go — is bomb throwing? Do we really want somebody who’s a bomb thrower, with no track record of any accomplishments?” Cruz may suffer from a lack of consistency, an erratic foreign policy and a grossly inappropriate temperament, but he does, to...

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania threw a few elbows at several potential rivals for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, calling possible contenders Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas “bomb throwers” with little experience.“Do we really want someone with this little experience?” Mr. Santorum said, referring to Mr. Paul, Mr. Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, The New York Times reported. “And the only experience they have basically — not Rubio, but Cruz and Paul because I don’t think Rubio is going to go — is bomb throwing? Do we really want somebody who’s a...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Rick Santorum says he's in for 2016. Rick Santorum has invited former aides to Washington next week for a "private briefing" on his plans for a possible 2016 presidential bid. The "Personal Invitation from Senator Santorum," provided to CNN by a Republican who received it, was sent by a Santorum aide to more than two dozen "friends and former colleagues" from past campaigns and his time in the U.S. House and Senate. "As you probably know, RJS is seriously considering a run for the White House in 2016," Santorum adviser Matt Beynon wrote in the email, using Santorum's initials. "With...