Free Republic

It would be the ultimate presidential matchup for Virginia political junkies: Sen. George Allen versus former Gov. Mark Warner. A new poll shows Warner, a Democrat, would easily win red state Virginia over the GOP's Allen if the two faced off for the Oval Office. "Mark Warner's stock has gone up and George Allen, his stock has gone down, obviously," said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. Head to head, Warner would stomp Allen by 17 percentage points, 56 percent to 39 percent, according to the poll's measure of this increasingly unlikely scenario. The poll, conducted last...

Los Angeles, Calif.—The most unanticipated news item to emerge from the California Republican Convention at the Century Plaza Hotel last week is that former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore is thinking seriously of entering the 2008 Republican presidential sweepstakes. Jim Gilmore? At 56, the conservative one-time chairman of the Republican National Committee has been out of elective office for five years. Before serving as Virginia’s governor for one four-year term, he had served as the state’s attorney general and, before that, as Henrico County attorney. But until last week, his name had not been even vaguely mentioned among the long list...

The results of the latest GOP Bloggers straw poll are in. The poll was posted on the Red State homepage over the weekend, and first-choice results are as follows (full results with RS results in parentheses). Giuliani 24.6% (22.0%) Gingrich 21.1% (19.5%) Romney 12.8% (15.8%) Allen 11.5% (11.3%) Tancredo 6.7% (4.5%) McCain 6.4% (6.7%) Hagel 2.8% (3.3%) Brownback 2.5% (3.2%) Huckabee 1.5% (1.8%) Frist 1.1% (0.9%) Pataki 0.3% (0.3%)Read on... The Macaca incident has clearly devastated Allen’s numbers in the blogosphere, his stronghold. He used to have sky-high favorability, largely because he hadn’t done anything to offend anyone. He also...

Washington Whispers It's Gingrich's to Lose in 2008 Sorry, Hillary. And Big John, you might have missed your chance in 2000. That's because a new and innovative poll from John Zogby about 2008 presidential candidates finds former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich way out front of fellow GOP-ers like Sen. John McCain and also finds moderates like former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner far ahead of libs like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Here's the unusual thing about the Zogby poll released to Whispers: When questioning likely primary voters, only brief biographies and not names were given. In other words, voters picked the...

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10274 Things are looking up for Mitt Romney. Not only has the outgoing Massachusetts governor been getting reasonably favorable press from usually hostile places but, courtesy of George Allen's Macaca moment, his position in the 2008 Republican presidential field suddenly looks more secure -- the most viable candidate to the right of front-runners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Romney appears to sense the opportunity . . . (READ ON at the link above)

The S.C. Republican Party’s sponsorship of “An Evening Honoring Rudy Giuliani” last week spoke volumes. It reflected what some said is a shift in attitude toward GOP candidates with more liberal views on social issues. There’s a greater degree of tolerance and acceptance, party officials said. Giuliani, who rose to national prominence for his take-charge performance after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, supports gay rights, gun control and legalized abortion, which puts him at odds with most Republicans. Nevertheless, he has traveled the country extensively on behalf of GOP candidates this year while acknowledging his own interest in a possible...

- Adults in the United States place three Republican politicians as their top choices for the next presidential nomination, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and Press. 26 per cent of respondents would vote like Arizona senator John McCain to be the next presidential candidate.Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is a close second with 24 per cent, followed by current state secretary Condoleezza Rice with 18 per cent. Support is lower for former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich, Virginia senator George Allen, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Tennessee senator Bill Frist, and...

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Virginia Sen. George Allen are strong candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, although each has serious challenges to overcome. That’s the view of Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and one of the most influential conservatives in Washington. “When I talk to each of the presidential candidates, every one of them brings up Romney — unsolicited — because they’re all focused on him as the smartest, toughest guy in the race,” Norquist told reporters Wednesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “He is very well thought of.” But...

First a disclaimer . . . I run a pro-Romney blogsite but do not get paid for it. I am a physician who blogs in my spare time and consider myself simply a vocal grassroots Romney supporter. ********************* Now on to the news at hand: This Examiner article has some interesting "insider information" for the 2008 GOP presidential race. To quote the start of the article: "Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Virginia Sen. George Allen are strong candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, although each has serious challenges to overcome. That’s the view of Grover Norquist, president of...

Related Links Arizona Politics Neither of the frontrunners has publicly committed to running. McCain repeatedly has said he will not decide until after the mid-term elections in November. Clinton also has been vague. Among Republicans, McCain was the top choice among more than 40 percent of those surveyed in the Rocky Mountain Poll. McCain unsuccessfully sought the party’s nomination in 2000. He was followed in the survey by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Next were former Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee and Sen. George Allen of Virginia. “Seeing McCain...

John McCain (R-AZ) raised $213,282 last quarter, spending $384,258. His total cash-on-hand dropped by 15% to only $1,112,476. Compare to some other senators who have been considering running for national office. Joe Biden, from tiny Delaware, raised $3,044,942, while spending $911,196. Evan Bayh (D-IN) raised $4,598,553, while spending $830,152. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) raised $3,310,886, while spending $713,198. John Kerry (D-MA) raised $7,442,952, spending a staggering $10,221,956. Some potential candidates are running for re-election this year, but are quite transparently working to build a national campaign treasure. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has raised a mind-blowing $33,180,959, spending $16,725,827 against token opposition. But...

Arizona Senator John S. McCain, III is everywhere. He virtually lives at NBC. If not there how about CNN. And talk shows. And late night shows. Oh, how the media loves him. A maverick who came close in 2000, he is looking to make one more run at the Presidency. And at the same moment, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says he is thinking very seriously about running for President. Rudy, too, is loved by the media. How many times have you heard "America's Mayor" in introducing him. He is available to any network at the drop of a...

Senator George Allen was on Hannity and was very supportive of Israel, a sharp contrast to the other Senator from Virginia who is blocking the pro Israel resolution. He said, "I hope that Israel takes as big of a bite and chunk out of Hizbollah as possible." Allen also went on to declare that we are not just fighting against terrorism but the Islamofacist ideology. He stated that he liked Newt Gingrich's analogy of our hypothetical response to a rocket attack on Miami. This is why I support George Allen for President in 08'.

ASK GEORGE ALLEN IF HE'S RUNNING for president, and Virginia's junior senator demurs like any politician facing re-election this year. "When we get to the future, I'll determine the future," he told reporters recently. But make no mistake -- George F. Allen is running for president. Or he just happens especially to enjoy primary states. In March and April, he visited Iowa, New Hampshire, Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina. He's courting bigwigs at state party conventions, and throwing his name in the hat for presidential straw polls. Facing two serious Democratic challengers while his re-election poll numbers hover around...

Twenty-eight months to go, and I can't wait. ( edit ) Since Condi insists she isn't interested - and for the moment I believe her - speculation ranges from base-pleasing Republicans like Sens. Bill Frist, Sam Brownback and my current favorite, George Allen, to the intriguing prospects of envelope-pushers like John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. And these two intriguing figures constitute my point of the day. There are two things I have stopped saying: first, Mr. McCain can't win, and second, Rudy won't run. I still don't believe Mr. McCain will be the '08 nominee, but his loyal support for...

Making hay in Iowa By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, June 25, 2006 When it comes to getting face time with presidential wannabes, Iowans get a little spoiled. It is not uncommon to be able to claim that the president once dripped barbecue sauce on your living room carpet.

"As Republicans, we strongly believe in freedom, including freedom of expression and association. We campaigned for office on the principles of a limited and constitutional government. As elected officials we took an oath of office to 'support this Constitution'," the letter's opening states. "The First Amendment's dictates are a model of clarity." And indeed they are: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." But perhaps Allen & Co. didn't get the memo. The modern Republican Party can't quite grasp the plain meaning of the Constitution. After all, its leader, President Bush, signed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform...

"Republicans do not need, and should not attempt, to muzzle their opponents."Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Howard Dean?Try Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), presumed 2008 presidential candidate, in a laudable attempt to return the Republican Party to its historic role as opponent of political-speech regulation. While Newt Gingrich has been railing against 2002's McCain-Feingold legislation in recent months, Allen's attack on the GOP's current effort to regulate so-called 527 groups -- independent organizations banned from coordinating with candidates or parties -- makes him the first top-tier '08 candidate to come out swinging against campaign-finance "reform."Whether it's enough to force a serious confrontation...

If Hillary Clinton is such a shoe-in for her party's 2008 presidential nomination, then a new Florida poll is something for Democrats to worry about.More than 30 months before the 2008 election, Sen. Clinton can't get more than 50 percent of the vote when matched against two unknown Republican candidates?And, given Florida's key role in the Electoral College, the new survey will almost certainly provide more fodder for one of the most popular parlor games in New York and Washington, D.C. these days - "Can Hillary Win?"That's because there is almost a consensus developing among many of the Democrats who...

State GOP Pick Gingrich In Presidential Straw Poll (AP) Minneapolis Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who engineered the Republican takeover of Congress a dozen years ago, got a boost Friday from Minnesota conservatives who want him to run for president in 2008. Gingrich was the top vote-getter in a straw poll of GOP activists at the state party convention. But the vote is at best a limited reflection of Republican sentiment in the state -- the ranks of the 1,275 delegates had thinned down considerably by the time the poll was taken, and 540 valid votes were cast. That was...