Free Republic

BOISE, Idaho — State Rep. Raul Labrador defeated Vaughn Ward in western Idaho's 1st Congressional District and punched his ticket to face incumbent Democrat Walt Minnick in November. "My friends, the key to our renewal is liberty," Labrador told a cheering crowd at GOP headquarters in Garden City shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday. "The answer to Obamaism is liberty." Ward, a Marine reservist and a first-time candidate, had a 6-to-1 money edge and the backing of the Idaho and national GOP hierarchy. Ward was a commanding presence on TV, while Labrador ran only a smattering of radio spots in the...

Surprise: Palin's a feminist Betcha didn't know I'm president of our local Tea Party. I'm also a middleweight boxer. Whew, talk about muscle pain. Good thing I'm a massage therapist as well. You didn't know that? Where've you been? Guess that means you never knew I won the Boston Marathon in 1987. Ran in bare feet, I did. Sometimes, my frontier spirit just fills me up until I'm punch-drunk with adventure. Growin' up in the wild, wild West, and all. Don't tell me you didn't know that, either? Geez. Listen, I don't want you to feel bad if you didn't...

Listen up, what could it be????

Sarah Palin took to her Facebook account today to inform her readers that Joe McGinniss, an award-winning reporter and author, had rented the house next door. I saw Ben Smith flag this earlier today but did not really appreciate how strange and, frankly, immature Palin's post was until I read it. Palin informs her readers that McGinniss is "overlooking my children’s play area" and "overlooking Piper’s bedroom." Alternately sounding angry and mocking, she refers to "the family’s swimming hole," which at first reference sounds like she's accusing McGinniss of checking out the Palins in their bathing suits, until you realize...

As a vice presidential hopeful two years ago, Sarah Palin drew passion and loyalty from the Republican base even before there was a Tea Party movement. And though her rhetoric is still red meat, her political tactics have become far more nuanced — more opportunist, say her critics — than fans or foes expected. The former Alaska governor left office 17 months before her term was up to canvass the Lower 48 so she could leverage her book-tour-burnished brand to help selected — and at times unpredictable — Republicans. Her picks are a somewhat quixotic blend of traditional candidates and...

Turning to California, we noted last week that a poll, this one by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), indicated Carly Fiorina had moved ahead of Tom Campbell, albeit the two candidates were both within the margin of error. Still, the poll was significant in that Campbell had consistently been narrowly ahead of Fiorina for weeks and this was the first poll to reverse that trend. We wondered at the time if the poll could have been an outlier. Late yesterday Survey USA released a poll which threw cold water on the idea that the PPIC poll was an...

Please help. I plan to keep this thread alive until McCain loses the primary. Let's NAIL THAT RINO! Please help scout for headlines to bring here. I will ping people here once a week with choice headlines and links. [Since it's the OPPOSITE of high volume, several have already signed on.] If you would like to be on this once-a-week ping list, please let me know. Any helpful links will be appreciated. "The most recent online scores from the American Conservative Union are from 2008. In that year, John McCain scored 63 and had a lifetime average of 81.43. ......