Free Republic

I didn't see a live thread started, so I figured I'd go ahead and post one. A big primary day. I believe it's 12 states including the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The 2012 presidential election may be 29 months away, but the potential players are stalking each other like chess grandmasters. Tonight's round of gubernatorial and Senate primaries could provide early indicators of who is most shrewdly mobilizing their pieces into position. Three states with big races on Tuesday represent potential game-changers in 2012. Iowa and South Carolina occupy key early positions in the presidential-primary calendar, while California boasts a mother lode of winner-take-all delegates. For presumed hopefuls like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee, the calculation is simple. Endorse a statewide candidate who wins (both tonight and in November's...

It looks like not even two scandalous allegations of extramarital affairs can stop Sarah Palin's candidate, Nikki Haley, in the Republican primary for governor of South Carolina. Haley holds a 20-point lead over Rep. Gresham Barrett one day before the vote. According to North Carolina-based polling firm Public Policy Polling, Haley has emerged unscathed from recent lascivious rumors simply because voters don't believe the gossip. "Only 13 percent of voters believe the allegations levied against her, and 54 percent of people just don't believe the rumors at all," said PPP director Tom Jensen. "The view is, if you can't prove...

DES MOINES - Sarah Palin's endorsement of ex-Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad had some Iowans wondering Friday how rogue the former Alaska governor is. "Sarah Palin has demonstrated that she's either not running for president and, therefore, doesn't care about her political future or that she lacks any understanding of the Iowans who would have made up her base of support," said Eric Woolson, campaign manager for Branstad's chief rival in Tuesday's primary election, Sioux City business consultant Bob Vander Plaats. "This is not about going rogue. It's not about defeating the establishment, but about embracing the establishment," Vander Plaats said...