Free Republic

He is overseeing the boldest expansion of government in a generation. Is it a 'new pragmatism' right for the times or dangerous overreach by a young president? BY LINDA FELDMANN WASHINGTON - On the basketball court, Barack Obama likes the old "up and under" move. When he has the ball, he'll fake one way, wait for the guy who's covering him to jump, then duck under him. That observation from Denver sportscaster Vic Lombardi – who lucked into a game of pickup hoops last year with the future leader of the free world – is too juicy to pass up...

A handful of readers took note of this passage in my story on Steve Schmidt's and David Plouffe's appearance in Delaware last week: [Schmidt] explained his decision to deny Palin an election night speech as a nod to the fact that the concession is a “singular moment” in American public life. “It begins the process by which power is transferred peacefully,” he said. Asked blogger DougJ: "Is Schmidt implying that Palin would have given an incendiary speech that would have, in some small way, disrupted the peaceful transfer of power?" I hadn't really heard it that way, but it seemed...

Arizona Sen. John McCain suggested today that the push to investigate and possibly prosecute Bush administration officials who crafted the legal basis for the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," such as waterboarding, may have grown from a desire to "settle old political scores." Appearing on CBS' Face The Nation Sunday, the former Republican presidential nominee, who was himself tortured as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese, said, "Are you going to prosecute people for giving bad legal advice?" He suggested that Washington should ignore calls to investigate who was behind government lawyers writing memos which gave legal cover to the...

How I Can Save the Republican PartyBy Meghan McCain. . . . . Lately I’ve been working on helping the Republican party (which I totally love) back on track with my columns, and my blogging and twitter. And also going on CNN and morning shows to denounce everyone in the party who sucks. Which is basically everyone except my dad. The Republican party is stuck. It has a dumb name and no one likes us. Which sucks because we could totally rock if they gave us the chance. But we need to make some major changes around here. . ....

He's flip-flopped, strayed, say some border activists. BY DANIEL SCARPINATO PHOENIX — When Chris Simcox announced last week that he would challenge Arizona Sen. John McCain in the 2010 Republican primary, he arrived at a state Capitol in the traditional politician garb, a suit and tie. Gone were the signature jeans and ball cap he often wore during his days patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border as a founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "It's part of the uniform," Simcox said in an interview Friday about his makeover. "I had to learn to tie a tie," joked the 48-year-old activist, who...

Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) said Thursday that he’s leaning more toward running for Senate rather than another term in the House, if he decides to run for Congress again in 2010. In an interview on Capitol Hill, Castle also acknowledged that several GOP Senators, including John McCain (Ariz.), have been pushing him in recent weeks to make the move to the other side of Capitol Hill. He said a final decision on his 2010 plans would likely have to come by early summer “at the latest.” Castle’s comments come a week after former Delaware Lt. Gov. John Carney (D) filed...

In his campaign kick-off for U.S. Senate against John McCain, Republican Chris Simcox admitted Wednesday that he cast a ballot for McCain in November for president. So, Simcox thinks McCain was fit to lead the free world but not represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate? “I had no choice,” Simcox explained of his vote. “Let’s say Sarah Palin was acceptable, and that's who I voted for.” Which leads to an interesting question: Who will Gov. Palin support in this GOP primary?

WASHINGTON — Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday said he believed some of the 9/11 hijackers entered the United States from Canada, triggering a new round of frustration and anger among Canadian government officials only days after a similar remark by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. McCain, an Arizona senator who has championed free trade ties with Canada, told Fox News Napolitano was accurate when she suggested the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington crossed into the U.S. across the Canadian border. "Well, some of the 9/11 hijackers did come...

(snip) ...... “It was communicated back to us very clearly from within the party that not only was Senator Lieberman not acceptable, but any pro-choice nominee was not acceptable, [and] it would lead to a floor fight at the convention with an alternate nominee for vice president put into play. “Blowing up the party wasn’t one of the menu items of things that were going to improve our situation,” he said. Schmidt also criticized his party’s political performance in the early days of the Obama presidency. “As a matter of reality, in the first 100 days, [the Republican Party] has...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Friday sought to make clear that he doesn't always agree with the views of his daughter, Meghan McCain, who has criticized former Vice President Dick Cheney and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and spoken about her disagreement with conservative opposition to gay marriages. "I love and respect my daughter, and I appreciate the fact that she brings fresh views and ideas and we need that in our party," McCain told CNN. "We don't always agree, and sometimes we have spirited discussions, and that is good in families."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., makes the dubious claim that Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States through Canada -- just days after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano came under fire for saying the same thing. What's up with Arizona politicians? Arizona Sen. John McCain made the dubious claim Friday that Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States through Canada -- just days after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, said the same thing. Napolitano retracted her claim on Thursday after Canadian officials chided her for the remark, calling it an unfortunate misconception. Napolitano admitted Thursday that...

Chris Simcox, the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps in Arizona announced Wednesday he is stepping down from his position with the Minutemen to challenge Sen. John McCain in the 2010 Republican primary. In an earlier blog post, we asked who you would be more likely to vote for. As of 11 p.m. April 23, roughly 58 percent of the 36 respondents said they would vote for Chris Simcox over John McCain. Do you agree? You can still take our poll.

Meet "Juan" McCain. You already know him as John McCain, however you can expect McCain to get much more in touch with his inner illegal alien. McCain will finally get a serious primary challenge for his Senate seat from Chris Simcox, a founder of the Minutemen organization. How better to draw attention to ineffectual RINOs like McCain, than to take one out, and deservedly so. McCain's has been pandering to illegal aliens for the sake of votes. Because the fact of the matter is that no country in the world sanctions illegal immigration. (Except now, apparently, the United States.) I...

(CNN) — John McCain’s general election campaign began as “the strategic equivalent of throwing a football through a tire at 50 yards” – and was doomed weeks before Election Day, his former chief strategist said Thursday. “We were running a campaign under extra difficult circumstances — the state of the Republican Party, the president’s unpopularity, the economy — a lot of issues that were not John McCain’s fault, but were John McCain’s problem in this race,” Schmidt told an audience at the University of Delaware, according to Politico. “When Lehman Brothers collapsed in the fall I knew pretty much right...

Hey, MeggieMac, if you like Eminem, you’ll love MaggieCarta! "Meg, You Go, Girl" Tune: Fat Bottomed GirlsAre you gonna get a date tonight? Ah, that would be your life’s highlight! Are you gonna blog and just hang out? Meg, you go, girl! You make those Valley Girls profound! Hey! It was ‘cause your ninny dad Ran a campaign just so bad with a message that looked quite cursory-huh! Let alone a bit uncanny, He looked like a haughty granny. That kept victr’y from the Grand Old Party. Now you’re twittin’ to beat the band Across the wire, across the land...

. . . . . That's why the primary campaign for Republican John McCain's Arizona Senate seat comes as a welcomed popcorn-watching nail-biter that many conservatives including me are looking forward to. It's not that I want to see the incumbent, more senior McCain taken down a few pegs by another Republican. Despite his transparently moderate leanings that gave me great pause during the presidential election, he was still to the far-right of candidate-turned-President Barack Obama, and as result was the more palatable. Moderation aside, folks like McCain are one of the reasons the Republican Party is attractive to more...

Washington, D.C. – In advance to the Homeland Security field hearing on border security in Phoenix on Monday, April 20, 2009, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) made the following statement: “The unfortunate reality is our Southwest border remains unsafe due to the drug cartels, and now more than ever, we must focus first and foremost on securing our borders,” said Senator John McCain. “The current plan being developed by the Administration and organized labor calls for immigration reform that does not adequately address either securing the border or a legal temporary worker program and is a plan I cannot support,”...

Sen. John McCain warned that a pursuit for charges against Bush administration officials who helped design harsh interrogation tactics used on terrorist suspects would turn into a "witch hunt." Speaking on CBS' The Early Show, the former Vietnam POW and Republican opponent of President Barack Obama in the 2008 election, said there is no evidence that he knows of that shows the officials who approved the tactics weren't giving plausible legal advice. This will have a "chilling effect on legal counsel," McCain said. McCain, who was himself tortured as a U.S. soldier by his North Vietnamese captors, was a vocal...

PHOENIX — It was supposed to be a surprise. But by the time Chris Simcox arrived at the state Capitol Wednesday morning — trading his standard jeans for a suit and tie — his intention of challenging U.S. Sen. John McCain had made national news. "The calls have been flooding in from across the country," Simcox said before dozens of television cameras and reporters. "We have the ability to run a national campaign as well as a state campaign. There are millions of supporters around the country who have been waiting for some leadership in Washington to take on this...

PHOENIX — Minuteman founder Chris Simcox announced his bid for U.S. Senate against John McCain Wednesday, blaming the senator for deaths caused from violence on the Mexican border and promising a national campaign to unseat the four-term incumbent. “We have the ability to run a national campaign as well as a state campaign,” Simcox said outside the Arizona state Capitol. “There are millions of supporters around the country who have been waiting for some leadership in Washington to take on this border security issue.” Simcox — who as president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has toured the country —...