Free Republic

It may be April 1, but apparently Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is not joking about supporting Donald Trump for the Republican nomination if — if — he emerges as the party's nominee in the general election. Paul said Friday morning that he would support whoever is named the Republican nominee, even if it's Trump, telling a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter during a visit to the metro area in Kentucky that backing the Manhattan businessman would be better than going for Hillary Clinton. The senator, according to the report, specifically criticized Clinton's comments in Ohio that she would "put a whole lot...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the top pick of Utah voters in the GOP presidential race but is closely followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to a new poll released Monday. The national front-runner for the Republican nomination, business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, trails behind Cruz, Rubio and "don't know" in the UtahPolicy.com poll. The poll comes the same day as Trump supporters in Utah were scheduled to announce the formation of the Trump for President-Utah organization in a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol. Trump backers in the...

On the eve of his first official overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer, Hugo Chávez has launched a blistering attack on Barack Obama, describing the US president as a "clown" and an "embarrassment". "Focus on governing your country, which you've turned into a disaster," the Venezuelan president told state TV on Monday. Chávez touched down in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, on Tuesday for a summit of Mercosur, South America's leading trade bloc. Chávez's comments followed a rare and strongly worded interview with Obama published by the Caracas-based El Universal newspaper. The American president criticised Venezuela's business and political links...

I almost feel bad for Mitt Romney. He's obviously a smart guy, and when he was governor of Massachusetts he was pretty much the technocratic kind of governor the voters expected -- not pushing conservative social issues too far, creating a health-care reform that's a lot like what the Obama plan ended up looking like. But since he wants to be president, he has to get past a Republican primary electorate that really doesn't care about smarts and technocratic skill. Identity politics is king in the GOP, and Mitt just doesn't have an identity he can hang his hat on....

A feminist dream team is doing its best to get more women's views into the news. Old friends Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda visited the Sun-Times Wednesday as new business partners in the New York-based Women's Media Center. They want to serve as a resource for journalists, they said, and influence the coverage of issues critical to women. And it's all critical, noted Steinem. "Every issue is a woman's issue," she told the Sun-Times editorial board. There aren't just two sides to every story, she said, although cable news has gotten into the habit of scheduling two (male) talking heads...

(CBS) NEW YORK -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine will endorse New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination on Monday, according to two people close to the campaign. The governor will make the endorsement at Elizabeth City Hall, along with U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews and other Democrats. Clinton is scheduled to attend the event. The people confirming the announcement would not allow their names to be used so as not to upstage the governor. A spokesman for Clinton's campaign would say only that the Democratic senator would be in New Jersey Monday for a major campaign...

Martin Sheen is presenting the best movie drama award, and if the speculation is right, Mel Gibson and his The Passion of the Christ will win.