Free Republic

The map, which demonstrates the devastating effects of global warming in just a century, shows how San Francisco Airport would be completely underwater if sea levels were to rise by ...60in. The coastline on the map was also coloured, highlighting how nearly half a million Californians are at risk from rising sea levels. The map, named CalAdapt, which was revealed at a press conference on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay by Mr Schwarzenegger and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, was created as part of a plan for the state to adapt to global warming. 'Within a century, Treasure Island, this...

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator John McCain on Wednesday strongly defended the top advisers from his 2008 presidential campaign in the face of sharp criticism from his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin. McCain, in a telephone interview with Reuters, singled out campaign manager Steve Schmidt and senior adviser Nicolle Wallace for praise after Palin blasted the pair in her memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life." "There's been a lot of dust flying around in the last few days and I just wanted to mention that I have the highest regard for Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace...

WASHINGTON (CNN) - John McCain's former presidential campaign manager Steve Schmidt is the latest McCain adviser to cry foul over accusations Sarah Palin has penned in her yet to be released memoir "Going Rogue." Excerpts obtained by The Huffington Post characterize Schmidt in an unfavorable light, particularly in reference to the prank phone call Palin received from someone pretending to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Right away, the phones started ringing," Palin writes. "One of the first calls was Schmidt, and the force of his screaming blew my hair back. 'How can anyone be so stupid?! Why would the president...

LITTLE ROCK — In a talk here today, the top strategist for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign defended the decision to pick Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate and criticized conservative talk radio hosts who opposed McCain’s nomination. Former McCain adviser Steve Schmidt praised Palin during remarks at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, despite having said earlier this month that a Palin presidential nomination would be “catastrophic” for the GOP. “I believe to this day that had she not been picked as the vice presidential candidate, we would never have been ahead — not for...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A top adviser from John McCain's presidential campaign who has criticized Sarah Palin's odds as a presidential candidate in 2012 is standing by the decision to pick her as McCain's running mate in the 2008 election. Steve Schmidt, who was chief strategist for McCain's presidential race, said Palin helped McCain as a running mate in the 2008 race. Schmidt earlier this month said that Palin would be a catastrophe for the GOP if she's the party's presidential nominee in 2012.

She's poised to become the best-selling author in the United States, has a devoted base of conservative supporters and is considered a front-runner to lead the Republicans into the next election in 2012 - and yet key party strategists are tormented by the popularity of Sarah Palin. The very notion of a Palin candidacy has been derided in recent days by some of the brightest minds in the Republican party even as the former governor of Alaska outlines her policies on Afghanistan, energy and other issues of national importance. "Were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic...

Dear Steve Schmidt, You don't know me, but I'm the one who got you your last job. Indeed, one could say that I am your current employer. I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful job you did in the 2008 election as John McCain's strategist. To be fair, he was a spectacular candidate for our cause. Who would have ever thought that a man who had endured so much, so heroically, a man who has had a career of taking principled stands, could be so utterly self-absorbed, narcissistic, and erratic? He was...

Stu Bykofsky: Philly politics is Einsteinian insanity: It's time for 2-party rule By Stu Bykofsky Philadelphia Daily News Daily News Columnist EINSTEIN DEFINED insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Next month, will Philadelphians hoping for an improved city again elect nothing but Democrats and expect a different result? Under Democratic monopoly, Philly residents have: the highest city tax rate in the nation, craven Council members cashing in on DROP, an incompetent Board of Revision of Taxes, a 25 percent city poverty rate, a pinball pay-to-play system, a Department of Human Services that...

Opponent: Butkovitz, GOP had PPA deal Schmidt claims he was told to lay off controller by party leaders. They deny it. By BOB WARNER Philadelphia Daily News warnerb@phillynews.com 215-854-5885 DID CITY Controller Alan Butkovitz pull his punches in a recent investigation of the Philadelphia Parking Authority as a favor to city Republicans? The GOP's candidate for controller, Al Schmidt, says that it looks that way to him, based on the tepid results of the probe and the warnings that he received from a couple of Republican leaders, telling him to tone down his criticism of Butkovitz. " 'Back off him...

Steve Schmidt, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign, today laid out the case for gay marriage, warning that the GOP will continue to lose young voters and the Northeast as long the party opposes it. At a meeting in Washington of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights GOP group, Schmidt dismissed conservative arguments that allowing gay marriage would weaken the institution, as well as objections from religious conservatives, warning that they could turn the Republican Party into a "sectarian" party. "For the party to be seen as an antigay, that is injurious to its...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The man who ran John McCain's presidential campaign warned Friday that Sarah Palin could lead to a 'catastrophic' election result for the GOP in 2012 if the former Alaska governor captures the party's presidential nomination. "I think that she has talents," Steve Schmidt, the former campaign manager of McCain's failed presidential bid, told CNN's John King. "But my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012, and in fact, were she the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election result." The comments came during The Atlantic Magazine's First...

Vote of Confidence A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape—and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama. By Gretchen Reynolds A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape-and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama. In the final, climactic buildup to November's general election, with George Bush gaining ground on Bill Clinton in Illinois and the once-unstoppable campaign of senatorial candidate Carol Moseley Braun embroiled in allegations about her mother's Medicare liability, one of the most important local stories managed to go virtually unreported: The...

Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum joined Chuck Todd, filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball, to discuss his recent article on Sarah Palin.

John McCain and Sarah Palin both personally approved an intensive internal search of the emails of top campaign staffers in order to determine who had been leaking damaging information about Palin to reporters, McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt just told me in an interview. “John McCain and Sarah Palin were both informed that we were doing this in an attempt to catch the person,” Schmidt told me, referring to his decision to undertake the email search, which has been the topic of fierce controversy since it was revealed yesterday. Schmidt’s revelation sheds new light on the campaign’s internal discord and...

Alaskan Governor and GOP 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may be nice looking, but she sure wasn’t a very good candidate is the bottom line of Vanity Fair’s 9,920-word profile about her released Tuesday. The comments about her beauty weren't entirely complimentary, either. Vanity Fair writer Todd S. Purdum said her looks probably hurt her as much it helped win voters during the campaign. The brunt of his article, the notion that she was never suited to run nationally, relied heavily on unattributed quotes from McCain campaign staffers who felt she wasn’t up to snuff and refused properly study...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/06/kristol_liberal_media_and_gop.asp Lefty journalist Todd Purdum has a hit piece in the new Vanity Fair on Sarah Palin. You don’t have to be a big Palin fan to recognize the article is full of dubious claims, and is dependent on self-serving stories provided on background by some of the people who ran the McCain campaign into the ground. Here’s a highlight of Purdum’s reporting: “More than once in my travels in Alaska, people brought up, without prompting, the question of Palin’s extravagant self-regard. Several told me, independently of one another, that they had consulted the definition of ‘narcissistic personality disorder’ in...

It was only five years ago that opposition to gay marriage was so strong that Republicans explicitly turned to the issue as a way to energize conservative voters. Yet today, as the party contemplates the task of rebuilding itself, some Republicans say the issue of gay marriage may be turning into more of a hindrance than a help. The fact that a run of states have legalized gay marriage in recent months — either by court decision or by legislative action — with little backlash is only one indication of how public attitudes about this subject appear to be changing....

NEWARK, Del. – The men who ran the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain appeared together on stage for the first time Thursday at the University of Delaware to complete a pair of tasks: To articulate their (remarkably similar) views of the election, and to hash out the details of continuing coursework so that they can, at last, graduate. McCain chief strategist Steve Schmidt and Obama campaign manager David Plouffe seemed to agree on a central point: McCain was always the longest of long-shot candidates. (You would not have known this from hearing either of them talk during...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Analysts who follow Google Inc. cut their estimates for the Internet giant's fourth-quarter financial results Wednesday, as the company's shares dipped below the $300 mark for the first time in more than three years

I participated in on today's press conference call with John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis and senior adviser Steve Schmidt. Much was said that was of interest, but most striking to me was Schmidt's teeing off on the New York Times. My notes reflect that he said something along the following lines: The New York Times is a pro-Obama advocacy organization, not a journalistic organization...the Times attacks McCain every day...the Times is an organization that is completely in the tank for the Democratic candidate...that's their prerogative, but let's not be dishonest, everything in the New York Times should be evaluated...

John McCain's White House campaign Monday lashed out at the media and declared the venerable New York Times was "150 percent" behind Democratic hopeful Barack Obama. McCain senior strategist Steve Schmidt rebuked journalists he said had failed in their duty to submit Obama to intense scrutiny and accused news organizations of hounding McCain's running mate Sarah Palin. "Whatever the New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization," said Schmidt on a conference call with reporters. "It is a pro-Obama advocacy organization that every day attacks the McCain campaign, attacks Senator McCain, attacks Governor...

(From the end of his entry): Steve Schmidt does not impress me in the slightest. He is guilty of professional malpractice. And some of us can't be bullied by spitballs from National Review. I will keep asking questions - in order to provide as much information to my readership as possible. We don't live in a totalitarian society. We can talk about whatever the hell we want. And if the First Amendment does not apply to asking important questions of someone who could be president next January, then it's meaningless. And what does it tell you that in the week...

An adviser molds a tighter, more aggressive McCain campaign By Jim Rutenberg and Adam Nagourney Sunday, September 7, 2008 ST. PAUL: It was what aides to Senator John McCain describe as probably the worst night of his campaign. As Senator Barack Obama claimed the Democratic nomination before a cheering sea of faces on national television, McCain countered with a lackluster speech in a half-empty hall, posed in front of a pea-green screen that became fodder for late-night comedy. Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to McCain who worked on President George W. Bush's campaign in 2004, could barely hide his fury...

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 2 -- Sen. John McCain's top campaign strategist accused the news media Tuesday of being "on a mission to destroy" Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by displaying "a level of viciousness and scurrilousness" in pursuing questions about her personal life. In an extraordinary and emotional interview, Steve Schmidt said his campaign feels "under siege" by wave after wave of news inquiries that have questioned whether Palin is really the mother of a 4-month-old baby, whether her amniotic fluid had been tested and whether she would submit to a DNA test to establish the child's parentage. Arguing that...

Karl Rove is passing the torch and his weather machine onto Steve Schmidt. McCain's campaign is now running like a well oiled machine. Thanks to Steve Schmidt.. also known as the Bullet. McCain ad stirs tensions among Hillary/Obama supporters. McCain responds rapidly to Obama's economic claims. McCain uses Dem Delegate to hit Obama. New McCain Ad: Why was Hillary passed over? McCain takes on Obama's "Above my pay grade" remark. McCain takes advantage of Obama slip up. McCain attacks Obama on pro-abortion stance. McCain rolls out new ads with Biden's words. McCain's 'housing' ad strikes back at Obama. New McCain...

The John McCain campaign ... installed Steve Schmidt, until now an ultraintense counselor to the campaign, as its operations manager. Mr. Schmidt has a reputation for ruthless efficiency, a take-no-prisoners campaign style and the ability to inspire confidence in subordinates. Karl Rove once dubbed him "The Bullet," a reference to both the shape of his shaved head and his lethal impact when deployed against opponents. Starting with a stint on Capitol Hill as communications director for the House Republican campaign effort, the 37-year-old Mr. Schmidt has had a meteoric rise in politics. He became a counselor to Vice President Dick...

Victoria Wulsin, whose effort to unseat Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) fell short by fewer than 3,000 votes last year, announced Monday she would challenge the second-term GOP lawmaker again in 2008.

Three weeks after the midterm elections, Democrat Victoria Wulsin conceded to Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt on Tuesday. The Associated Press declared Schmidt the winner November 21 after the first provisional ballot tallies were reported in the 2nd District.

Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt, known for calling a Democratic lawmaker a coward, clinched re-election Tuesday when additional ballot counts were released two weeks after the election. Results from heavily Republican Warren County in southwest Ohio's 2nd District added to Schmidt's lead, giving her an insurmountable edge of about 3,300 votes over Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin. Schmidt had 51 percent of the vote compared with 49 percent for Wulsin, according to unofficial results. The race was one of a handful that had remained unresolved across the country since Election Day when the Democrats took control of Co0ngress. Schmidt, a backer of...

I heard on Bill Cunningham today all about the wildest most hypocrictical Vic Wuslin makes up an imaginary nuclear waste dump in her letter supporting a Piketon Project fuel recycling project , then blames Jean Schmidt for supporting it. Cincinnati Enquirer runs with the story! Ignores United Steel Workers letter to Wuslin telling Wuslin to quit making things up. Ohio 2nd Election is impacted because the reporter purposely distorted this story, despite having all of the facts. No correction is forthcoming. Silence on all of the news stations except Bill Cunningham on WLW. This sounds like.. "I was for the...

Our Murtha Visit push back protest went pretty well for a last minute operation. Seven folks, mostly Vets showed including a two tour Iraq War Vet. We set up about 12 pm and held vigil to about 1:30. Murtha appearantly arrived and snuck in the back door because we never saw him. One of the various folks who were attending the fundraiser and press conference screamed across the street to this group of Marine Vets and a Navy vet with Marine and Navy Ball Caps and USMC emblems on jackets, asking if they had ever servered.. and everyones jaw dropped....

FLASH FREEP!!! Jack Murtha is visiting Jean Schmidt's District to campaign against the lady who said, "Cowards Cut and Run, Marines Never Do!" This is personal and we would like invite Jack to "Cut and Run from Ohio" Any Freepers in Southern Ohio who can, PLEASE COME AND HELP!!! When Saturday, October 14, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Where ACROSS FROM IBEW Hall 1216 East McMillan St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45206 Map to IBEW Hall

Cincinnati, Ohio – Congressman John Murtha, a national Democratic leader and a decorated war veteran, will come to Cincinnati on Saturday and stump for Dr. Victoria Wulsin, who is running for Congress in Ohio's 2nd District. Murtha will attend a rally with supporters, will hold a press conference, and then will headline a fundraiser for Wulsin. When Saturday, October 14, 2006 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Where IBEW Hall 1216 East McMillan St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45206 Congressman John Murtha to campaign for Wulsin, hold fundraiser on Saturday afternoon Saturday Schedule for Murtha and Wulsin 12:30 Rally: IBEW Union Hall, 1216...

Schmidt (R) 45% Wulsin (D) 42% Other 1% Undecided 12% Topline numbers based on 497 likely voters called between September 17th and 19th. Partisan breakdown: Republican 49% Democrat 31% Independent 18% In an election for US House of Representatives in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District today, 9/20/06, Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt leads Democrat Victoria Wulsin by 3 points, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WCPO-TV Cincinnati. 7 weeks to the 11/7/06 election, Schmidt gets 45%. Wulsin gets 42%. The 3-point edge is within the poll's 4.5% margin of sampling error, and is not statistically significant. Republicans support Schmidt 6:1....

Republican Schmidt Faces Strong Challenge in OH2: In an election for US House of Representatives in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District today, 9/20/06, Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt leads Democrat Victoria Wulsin by 3 points, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WCPO-TV Cincinnati. 7 weeks to the 11/7/06 election, Schmidt gets 45%. Wulsin gets 42%. The 3-point edge is within the poll's 4.5% margin of sampling error, and is not statistically significant. Republicans support Schmidt 6:1. Democrats support Wulsin 14:1. Independents break 5:4 for Wulsin. Republicans have a 3:2 advantage among 2nd CD likely voters. Wulsin leads among lower-income voters....

Excerpt - CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc. said Tuesday that Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt is joining its board, adding another well-known name to the list of high-profile directors who oversee the management of the company behind the iPod portable player and Macintosh computer. Schmidt has become a multibillionaire and emerged as one of high technology's best-known leaders since Google named him chief executive in 2002. He becomes the eighth member of Apple's board, which already consists of several prominent members. ~ snip ~

Rep. Schmidt's Marathon Ad Questioned By MATT LEINGANG ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt is fast, capable of running a marathon in 3 hours, 19 minutes, 6 seconds. At least that's what a photo on the Ohio congresswoman's Web site shows. No way, says a rival who contends that the picture from the 1993 Columbus Marathon is doctored and complained to state election officials. A four-member commission panel ruled Thursday that there was enough evidence to look into the complaint. State law prohibits candidates from publishing false statements designed to promote their election. The photo shows...

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt can't seem to outrun controversy. The freshman congresswoman is facing a complaint about the truthfulness of her education and her endorsements. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, or COAST, has endorsed Schmidt's opponent in the GOP primary, Bob McEwen. The group claims that some of Schmidt's claimed endorsements are bogus, and instead of two bachelor degrees as stated on various biographical material, she has one. "If it was one incident, I might think there was some merit in letting it go," COAST's Jim Urling said. "But we've got a very...

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt can't seem to outrun controversy. The freshman congresswoman is facing a complaint about the truthfulness of her education and her endorsements. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, or COAST, has endorsed Schmidt's opponent in the GOP primary, Bob McEwen. The group claims that some of Schmidt's claimed endorsements are bogus, and instead of two bachelor degrees as stated on various biographical material, she has one. "If it was one incident, I might think there was some merit in letting it go," COAST's Jim Urling said. "But we've got a very...

As a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1984, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) expressed her contempt for a future colleague and allegedly likened young Republican activists to Hitler, according to an interview published by the local paper at the time. While shadowing Schmidt at the convention, The Cincinnati Enquirer reporter initially described Schmidt as a “woman who will speak her mind whenever she pleases.” Schmidt, who was 32 at the time, provided evidence for this assessment during her time with the reporter, who quoted her taking issue with future Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), who was then President Reagan’s transportation...

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt is upset with some of her political opponents for slicing up a cake made to look like her. State Representative Tom Brinkman cut the head off the Schmidt-cake at a meeting of COAST, an anti-tax group he founded. Bob McEwen, Schmidt's opponent in the Second District Republican congressional primary was also in attendance. Both say they will not apologize for their actions.

Hackett Drops Senate Bid, Takes Democrats To Task Veteran Calls Party Moves 'Betrayal' POSTED: 6:35 am EST February 14, 2006 UPDATED: 7:01 am EST February 14, 2006 Email This Story | Print This Story CINCINNATI -- Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, who gained popularity for his staunch criticism of President George W. Bush, has dropped out of the Democratic race for U.S. Senate in Ohio, according to a published report. Hackett told The New York Times for Tuesday's editions that the same party leaders who urged him to run for Senate after his sensational political debut in a House race...

Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and popular Democratic candidate in Ohio's closely watched Senate contest, said yesterday that he was dropping out of the race and leaving politics altogether as a result of pressure from party leaders. Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent. Mr. Hackett staged a surprisingly strong...

Steve Schmidt displayed his uncanny political talent -- the ability to launch "rapid response" -- when Martha Alito fled weeping after senators cast her husband, Judge Samuel Alito, as a closet racist during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Schmidt, a former California political operative, was a member of the exclusive "breakfast club" led by top White House adviser Karl Rove that ran President Bush's re-election campaign. Now he has brought his tough, colorful and famously quotable skills back to the bluest of the blue states to handle operations for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election effort. Schmidt, before leaving the White...

Eric Fingerhut is canceling his quixotic bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against the anointed candidate, Ted Strickland. Also, Paul Hackett (D-Barking Moonbatville) cancelled his appearance on Hardboiled with Chris Matthews, fueling speculation that he will drop his primary challenge to Sherrod "Stalin" Brown and instead take another crack at the congressional seat now held by Jean Schmidt. This sets up a Brown v. DeWine race in the fall. DeWine is probably grateful because if Hackett had been his opponent, Hackett may have gotten NRA support. Look for the NRA to stay neutral on this one. Source for the (drop...

WASHINGTON -- There is no doubt Rep. John Boehner of Ohio is quietly enlisting support from fellow House Republicans to elect him as majority leader in January. The question is whether Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York also is campaigning to be majority whip.Reports of a Boehner-Reynolds ticket have circulated in Washington, but Reynolds vigorously denies it. If he does run for whip, Reynolds would be accused of cutting and running from his duties as House Republican campaign chairman because of the difficult 2006 midterm election ahead.A special election in January would mean House Republicans have given up on Tom...

Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday accused critics of "corrupt and shameless" revisionism in suggesting the White House misled the nation in a rush to war, the latest salvo in an increasingly acrimonious debate over prewar intelligence. Cheney also denounced proposals for a quick U.S. withdrawal from Iraq as "a dangerous illusion" and shrugged off the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. "We never had the burden of proof," he said, adding that it had been up to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to prove to the world that he didn't have such weapons. Following President Bush's lead, Cheney praised...

Ken Blackwell - "I am thoroughly disappointed with the governor's alleged inability to handle simple paperwork. It appears that he is paying a price for it." Jean Schmidt - "The news today from Columbus is very unfortunate for the state of Ohio and the Taft family. I have known Governor Taft for 30 years, and I have always known him to be an honest and honorable man." More quotes from politicians can be found at: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/NEWS01/508180453/1056

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- An Indiana couple who chose to pray over their dying newborn daughter rather than seek medical care for her were sentenced Friday to six years in prison for reckless homicide. But a judge suspended most of those prison terms for Dewayne and Maleta Schmidt, instead ordering the couple to serve about a year each at a work-release center.

BATAVIA, Ohio — Jean Schmidt campaigned nearly nonstop in the 24 hours before the polls opened, hitting all-night restaurants in search of voters. The 53-year-old Republican wore out staffers half her age, and she was still going strong as the sun came up, casting her own vote, attending Mass and then continuing to campaign until around 11 p.m., when it became clear she had won the special election for Congress. On Sept. 6, she'll be sworn in to replace Rob Portman, a 12-year Republican representative who left to become U.S. trade representative. "If you want to do something, nothing holds...