Free Republic

New York businessman Donald Trump won Republican primaries Tuesday from the Deep South to New England, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took his home state and Oklahoma, ensuring that the race for the GOP nomination will stretch into the spring...

A well-connected GOP operative alarmed by the enduring strength of Republican Donald Trump's presidential bid is planning a "guerrilla campaign" backed by secret donors to knock him out of the race. Liz Mair, former online communications director of the Republican National Committee, recently created Trump Card LLC to "defeat and destroy" the celebrity businessman's candidacy, according to a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. "In the absence of our efforts, Trump is exceedingly unlikely to implode or be forced out of the race," the Trump Card memo says. "The stark reality is that unless something dramatic and unconventional is...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, in his new memoir “A Time for Truth,” confides that when he was a young lawyer learning how to argue a case in the Supreme Court, he had a role model: John G. Roberts, whom he described as “a brilliant Supreme Court lawyer,” the “best advocate” of his generation.That would be the same John Roberts, now chief justice of the Supreme Court, that Mr. Cruz has been lambasting of late for last week’s ruling upholding a key piece of President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law.“When I began practicing, I worked hard to emulate his argument...

House Speaker John Boehner (R.,Ohio) Tuesday endorsed the Obama administration’s plan to ship arms to Syrian opposition forces battling President Bashar al-Assad. “The effort to help the right set of rebels in Syria is in our nation’s best interest,” Mr. Boehner said in response to a reporter’s question.

Abortion Deal In Sight In Senate Healthcare Negotiations Barbara Boxer is 'optimistic' about reaching 60 votes after all-day talks with Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic holdout Ben Nelson. The GOP redoubles threats to slow business to a crawl. By Janet Hook and Noam N. Levey December 18, 2009 Reporting from Washington - With a critical vote looming this weekend, Senate Democratic negotiators closed in Friday night on a deal to persuade a lone Democratic holdout -- Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson -- to back the party's healthcare bill after a marathon day of negotiations. That would give Democrats the 60...

The emergence of Sarah Palin as a political force in the presidential race has left many top Democrats fretting that, just two weeks after their convention ended on an emotional high, Barack Obama's campaign has suddenly lost its stride. Obama has responded aggressively this week to Palin's presence on the Republican ticket, using TV ads and campaign rallies to attack her contention that she is a political reformer who will take on the Washington establishment -- a role Obama has long claimed as his alone. But some Democrats are now worried about the perils of Obama's strategy, saying that his...