Free Republic

Republican decision-makers in New York missed the boat – big time. The U.S. Senate junior position currently held by a one-time “conservative” Democrat turned mouth-piece for Sen. Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, is probably the weakest seat in the state. According to a June 14 Sienna College poll, Gillibrand’s favorability rating is down six points from last month to a dismal 36%. Here is the perfect opportunity to show the rest of the country that even liberal New York is ripe for upheaval. New York State Conservative Party got it right when they chose former Congressman Joe DioGuardi as their designated...

- New York Republicans have given Bruce Blakeman the party's official designation to take on Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The three-day GOP convention came to a fractious end with the Republican delegates split on their choice of Senate candidate. Bruce Blakeman is the former presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature. He won the endorsement over David Malpass, who earned enough support at Thursday's convention to run in a September 14th GOP primary. Malpass is a former Bear Stearns chief economist. A third candidate, former congressman Joe DioGuardi, didn't get enough votes for a primary line. But he is vowing...

D’Amato has supposedly endorsed Bruce Blakeman for Senate, and has lately been selling his soul to get Conservative and Republican endorsements. Even the most amateur of political observers conclude that good old Al has been desperately seeking the Republican nomination for Blakeman, in order to ensure Gillibrand’s retention of her ill-gotten seat. Two pictures are worth a thousand words; and, remember, they are taken less than 18 months apart. On the left we have Blakeman’s formal announcement of his candidacy for U.S. Senate. And on the right, we have the Gillibrand announcement. Anyone who has already endorsed Bruce Blakeman may...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Blakeman is headed upstate today after Republican Scott Brown pulled off the upset Senate victory in Massachusetts last night. Blakeman stopped in Albany this morning before heading to Buffalo and Rochester later today. He’s holding a press conference tomorrow in Rochester after meeting with donors and local leaders. As the only Republican running for the U.S. Senate in New York against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Blakeman, a former Nassau County legislator and state comptroller candidate in 1998, said the results last night showed that voters are “angry, worried and frustrated. They feel their voices aren’t being...

"Brad Blakeman, a very charming, intelligent spinmeister in Florida depicted in the film. He was, by his own account, the man at least partly behind "Sore Loserman," "Surrender Gorethy," "The Gorinch Who Stole the Election,"

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Former White House aides are joining Republican fundraisers in bankrolling a $15 million, five-week advertising campaign putting pressure on lawmakers whose backing of President Bush's Iraq war strategy may be wavering. The group, Freedom's Watch, launched the ads Wednesday, even as Bush delivered a renewed call for keeping U.S. forces in Iraq. The money will pay for ad placements on national cable and local television stations as well as on radio and the Internet. The ads will run in 20 states and will urge viewers to ask their member of Congress to stand by Bush's plan. Organizers...