Free Republic

Fred Thompson hasn't decided whether to run for president, but he's committed to headlining a major Virginia GOP fundraiser in June and addressing a dinner for a Florida bar association two weeks from now. These appearances indicate that Thompson is popular enough to draw a crowd of Republican faithful who are willing to plunk down dollars to at least hear him speak. Some will see Thompson's popularity and speeches to Republicans as more an effort to gain PR than the party's nomination, but the same was said about Rudy Giuliani a year ago and proved not to be true. The...

Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he couldn't evaluate whether President Bush's 10-week-old troop increase in Iraq was working."I don't know the answer to that," the former New York City mayor told reporters after speaking with a group of business leaders in the first-in-the-nation primary state.Giuliani did, however, have an opinion on what he said is necessary for victory in Iraq - an emphasis on helping Iraqis rebuild their country."By build I mean, re-establish the infrastructure, both physical and political, and the emphasis on that is going to be key to whether it does work or not," he said...

Newt Gingrich has hired a pollster and a fundraiser, but not for a presidential campaign – at least not yet.Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and leader of the 1994 Republican revolution, has not discouraged speculation he’ll add his name to the list of Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for president.His people, though, have stressed that his political group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, is a vehicle to advance big ideas, not an ad hoc presidential campaign. In fact, it would be illegal for Gingrich to use the group, a so-called 527, to fund a presidential bid, but...

Last week, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain both gained support in the race for the GOP nomination. This week, the top four contenders all lost ground. But, through it all, Giuliani remains on top with a double digit lead.The latest Rasmussen Reports national poll shows Giuliani with 28%, thirteen points more than McCain’s total of 15%. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson remains undeclared but in third place with 12% support. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney remains slightly behind Thompson at 10%. The stability in the GOP competition stands in stark contrast to...

In my article about Fred Thompson’s record on tort reform on federalism, I noted that he had, contrary to some news reports, supported many instances of it. I suggested that on one issue where many conservatives had differed with him — federal legislation on medical malpractice — Thompson was right and most conservatives were wrong. My remaining concerns about his record, Thompson reasonably says, “hardly constitute[] the stuff of a major dispute.” Yet my 712-word article has nevertheless occasioned a 1,120-word response from the former senator. Thompson does not spend much time on the individual policy disputes involved here, preferring...

The list, which was published last week by Religion News Service (RNS), hopes to show the strong influence that religion has had on the “Grand Old Party” over the past years, and how these leaders’ voices may solidify a candidate’s run towards the presidency.“When Focus on the Family founder James Dobson can raise doubts by questioning whether Fred Thompson is a ‘Christian,’ or prays the nation doesn’t get ‘stuck’ with a President John McCain, that really reflects the power religious conservatives have to shape the GOP run for the White House,” said Kevin Eckstrom, editor of RNS, in a statement....

Front-running Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's favorable rating is slipping at home and New York voters aren't quite as sure they prefer her over Republican Rudy Giuliani, a statewide poll reported Monday. The latest poll from Siena College's Research Institute had Clinton leading Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, 48 percent to 43 percent, down from the 51 percent to 39 percent lead she enjoyed in a March poll from the Albany-area college. Clinton's favorable rating among New York voters was at 50 percent in the latest poll, down from 56 percent last month. "The fall in her...

In what is quickly becoming the most ridiculous primary season ever devised by the hand of man, MI and NV have both moved their primary dates up and GA has taken a huge step forward in doing the same.Nevada State GOP officials voted this weekend to move the GOP caucus up to January 19 - the same date as the state Democrat caucus.Michigan State GOP officials voted last weekend to move the GOP primary up to February 5th, but also voted to move it to any date earlier than that if the Democrats should move their primary date before...

RENO, Nev. — Nevada Republicans agreed Saturday to hold their presidential caucus Jan. 19, the same day state Democrats vote for their candidates. The GOP state central committee's action follows the Democratic National Committee's decision last summer to give Nevada the second 2008 presidential caucus in the nation — just five days after the Iowa caucus and before New Hampshire's primary.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani paid $25,000 and filed paperwork Friday to become the first official participant in the early GOP primary here. The former New York mayor's campaign chairman in South Carolina, state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, filed the documents and dropped a check off at the state party's headquarters, a requirement to run in the first Southern Republican presidential primary and participate in a debate next month. The state party uses the money to help pay for the primary. The filing was the first from any of the Republican candidates, said Hogan Gidley, the state GOP's...

With former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani consistently leading early polls for the Republican presidential nomination, pundits have spilled an ocean of ink concerning his electability. Having recently sat down with the man, let me tell you why I consider Giuliani a candidate wholly appropriate for our times. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking and writing about globalization and security, I was brought in recently by the Giuliani campaign to discuss these topics with the mayor. This is standard practice as presidential candidates gear up, and Giuliani's camp is the fourth I've visited in the last...

                        Rudy Giuliani Leads John McCain by More Than 2-to-1 in Race for Republican Nomination Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson Not Far Behind McCain ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is now the front runner by a wide margin in the race for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election, even though the first primary elections will not take place until February 2008. Giuliani leads Senator John McCain by fully 39 percent to 18 percent among those who think they will vote in the Republican primaries or...

No surprises… It’s Rudy and Hillary by 15% and 21%: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 2008 National Primary, conducted April 17th-18th, 2007 Republicans Rudy Giuliani 35%John McCain 16% Mitt Romney 10%Newt Gingrich 9%Fred Thompson 8%Tommy Thompson 4%Sam Brownback 2%Duncan Hunter 2%Mike Huckabee 1%Don’t Know 11% Democrats Hillary Clinton 41%Barack Obama 20%Al Gore 16%John Edwards 12%Bill Richardson 2%Dennis Kucinich 2%Joe Biden 1% Don’t Know 5%

PENNSYLVANIA POLL Below are the poll results based on telephone interviews with 1200 likely voters in Pennsylvania, aged 18+, and conducted April 13-15, 2007. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.1. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's overall job performance? Approve 26% Disapprove 65% Undecided 9% 2. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's handling of the economy? Approve 24% Disapprove 68% Undecided 8% 3. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq? Approve 21% Disapprove 70% Undecided 9% 4. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's...

In two terms as mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani turned a city beset by crime and violence into one of the safest, most livable metropolises in America. And he fearlessly led New York as it confronted the despair and destruction following September 11. But the turmoil of Giuliani's private life prompted many to dismiss his quest for the Republican nomination for President as the folly of a man with too much baggage to be a serious candidate. Never one to put much stock in political pundits or conventional wisdom, Giuliani has soldiered on, and as of Apr. 18, early...

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has led the long list of 2008 Republican presidential contenders in early preference polls — and his perceived position as the front-runner, at least for now, was not contradicted by his recent campaign finance report, which shows he has already built a sizable treasury. Giuliani’s campaign reported total first-quarter receipts of $16.6 million, which included a $1.85 million transfer from the presidential “exploratory” committee he established last November. With total receipts of $18 million for his campaign to date, Giuliani leads all but three of the current crop of White House hopefuls...

As Earth Day dawns Sunday, Americans should consider the relationship between environmentalists and the former mayor of the capital of Earth. From New York's City Hall, Rudolph W. Giuliani successfully confronted green zealots while advancing science and technology. Here again, Giuliani stands well right of where his detractors might expect. _The West Nile virus debuted in the Western Hemisphere in the College Point community in the New York borough of Queens in August 1999. Among 62 New York state residents who contracted West Nile encephalitis (brain swelling) that year, seven died. Rather than study the problem to death, that summer...

CHICAGO, April 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Restaurant Association today announced that respected U.S. Senator (1994-2002) and actor Fred Thompson will be the featured speaker at the Association's 2007 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show(R). Thompson's speech ("Traveling in Strange Circles - From Watergate to Hollywood to the United States Senate to Law & Order") will take place at 2 p.m. on May 20, at McCormick Place in Chicago. The Show, which runs May 19-22, is the largest restaurant-and-hospitality industry trade show in North America and features more than 2,100 exhibiting companies and 73,000+ attendees. The restaurant industry, with its $537 billion in...

With the March 4, 2008 Massachusetts Primary election less than a year away, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has opened up a 12% lead over former Governor Mitt Romney (33%-21%) among likely Republicans and Independents who lean Republican, according to a 7NEWS/Suffolk University poll released today.  Republican Senator John McCain polled third (18%), with 12% undecided.  “This poll suggests that Romney’s decline is due to a movement among Independents from McCain to Giuliani,” said David Paleologos, Director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.  “Romney trailed both Giuliani and McCain among Republicans, but was trounced by Giuliani among...

Mourners on Thursday marked the 12th anniversary of the bombing that killed 168 people here by reaching out to victims of the Virginia Tech shootings and of violence everywhere.Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani told the crowd at the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that the response to the 1995 attack serves as an example to others recovering from violence.The people of Oklahoma City "became a model of compassion and strength, both, a model that helped us several years later get through Sept. 11 and a model that will help the people of Virginia Tech get through the...