Free Republic

Some who mistrust the Texas senator may tactically support Rubio over their first-choice candidates. To a concerned and angry bunch of Iowa Republicans, their mission heading into next month’s caucuses is as simple as ABC: Anybody But Cruz. As the Texas senator solidifies his front-runner status with just over a month to go before the February 1 caucuses, a loose network of social-conservative activists has undertaken a quiet effort to defeat him by any means necessary — even if that means rallying together behind a more electable rival to their own preferred candidates. Many supporters of Mike Huckabee and Rick...

Just like it's past time for Jeb Bush and Rand Paul to get out, and it's past time for Rick Santorum and George Pataki to get out. That's obvious, but it's made more obvious now that Huckabee is resorting to off-base and stupidly dishonest ads attempting to trash candidates who have taken his votes away. Here's a PAC ad Huckabee's camp is running in Iowa... (VIDEO-AT-LINK) The same consulting firm also put out similar attacks on Cruz in Iowa on his opposition to ethanol subsidies and accusing Cruz of being bankrolled by the oil industry....

When it comes to Donald Trump's threat to go after Bill Clinton as the former president ramps up campaigning for his wife's bid, Mike Huckabee is all in on his Republican rival. "Look, nothing's backfired on Donald Trump yet. I'd put my money on him," the former governor of Arkansas told "Fox and Friends" in an interview Monday. "Frankly, he's played the whole media game like a kid on Christmas morning with a toy drum. He's beaten the heck out of them, and I honestly don't think that this is going to hurt Donald Trump - and I think the...

Republicans in Iowa are working overtime to prevent a repeat of the botched 2012 caucuses when scores of unaccounted ballots caused Mitt Romney to be wrongly declared the winner over Rick Santorum. State party officials say they've moved aggressively to address the problems that plagued the ballot count in January 2012, and believe the new technologies they've adopted, as well as having more workers on staff and enhanced training programs, will pave the way for a smooth and accurate reckoning at the Feb. 1. caucuses. "We're extremely confident that we've addressed all of the issues," said Iowa Republican Party spokesman...

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol appears on Thursday's Morning Joe to talk about the Republican presidential primary race and candidate Donald Trump. Kristol said Trump supporters don't "think about the implications" of what the candidate is saying. "People I respect think Trump has peaked, that a lot of people are intrigued by Trump," Kristol said causing host Joe Scarborough to break out in laughter. "You can laugh," Kristol told Scarborough. "He's not going to win Iowa. He'll run third."

Despite much hand-wringing by Republican leadership, the GOP is actually complicit in the persecution of Christians in the Middle East because of its vocal support for Israel, argues Doug Bandow in a Forbes essay Saturday. Bandow rightly notes that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world today and are “harassed and harmed in more than 100 countries.” Christians, he writes, “are particularly vulnerable to government abuse, especially in Muslim-majority states.” Yet Bandow takes issue with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 79% ’s Christmas Eve article denouncing attacks on Christian communities, contending that the GOP, rather than the Obama...

I’ve never quite understood either the appeal of Mike Huckabee as a national candidate or why Mike Huckabee thinks of himself as a national candidate but, for the second time Governor Huckabee has made a bid to become the GOP’s nominee for president. In 2008, he made a creditable run in the early states but dropped out in March when it became apparent that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 48% would win Texas and the nomination. Huckabee had hoped to reprise his 2008 campaign this year but has been frustrated by one man: Ted Cruz. Cruz won the endorsement of Iowa...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Wednesday blasted Ted Cruz after a POLITICO report quoted the Texas senator telling a donor that fighting gay marriage wouldn't be a "top-three priority" for his administration. "Conservatives are being asked to 'coalesce' around yet another corporately-funded candidate that says something very different at a big donor fundraiser in Manhattan than at a church in Marshalltown," Huckabee said in a statement released by his campaign Wednesday afternoon. "Shouldn't a candidate be expected to have authenticity and consistency, instead of having to look at a map to decide what to believe and what to say?"...

Full title: Trump Lead Grows Nationally; 41% of His Voters Want to Bomb Country From Aladdin; Clinton Maintains Big Lead PPP's newest national Republican primary poll finds Donald Trump holding his largest lead yet in the wake of Tuesday night's debate. He's at 34% to 18% for Ted Cruz, 13% for Marco Rubio, 7% for Jeb Bush, 6% for Ben Carson, 5% for Chris Christie, 4% each for Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee, 2% each for John Kasich and Rand Paul, 1% each for Lindsey Graham and Rick Santorum, and less than 1% each for Jim Gilmore and George Pataki...

[Full title] Trump Edges Cruz in Iowa; His Supporters Think Japanese Internment Was Good; Clinton Still Well Ahead of Sanders In State PPP’s newest Iowa poll finds Donald Trump and Ted Cruz at the top of the heap with 28% and 25% respectively. Marco Rubio at 14% and Ben Carson at 10% are also in double digits with Jeb Bush at 7% the only other candidate who clears even 3%. Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Mike Huckabee all hit that level with John Kasich and Rand Paul each getting 2%, Lindsey Graham and Rick Santorum each getting 1%, and Jim...

GOP presidential candidates former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum defended GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's statement to ban Muslims from coming into the United States until the government can put in place an effective vetting process during the undercard debate hosted by CNN in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. Even without being on stage, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump managed to drive the conversation within the first five minutes of the debate. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took a swipe at Trump saying, "Donald Trump has done the one single thing you cannot do, declare war on Islam...

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum argued that "Islam is different" and the idea that its political structure is "protected under the First Amendment is wrong," a point former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee agreed with. Santorum said, "The fact of the matter is, Islam is different. I know this is going to come as a shock to a lot of people, and I mean that sincerely. Islam is not just a religion. it is also a political governing structure. The fact of the matter is, Islam is a religion, but it is also Sharia law. It is also...

Chuck Laudner is Donald Trump’s Iowa campaign director. He is a Marine and a fighter who wants Trump to win and is not looking for a position in the Trump Administration. While other campaign staffs sleep with dreams of Pennsylvania Avenue dancing in their head, Laudner says when the Caucuses are over he’ll just go back to his ordinary life in a town so small it doesn’t have a diner. Trump first spoke to Laudner last December because he goes into every contest well prepared. We have heard about surveys in Iowa and how the caucuses are now a race...

Cruz will be in Trussville on December 20 Texas Senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is planning to make more appearances in Alabama. On December 20, Senator Cruz will bring his campaign to the Trussville Civic Center from 2 to 4 p.m. The campaign has also announced a tentative appearance in Mobile for December 19. Alabama recently saw visits from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." ~ Benjamin Franklin ::Separating the Wheat from the Chaff:: By: Larry Walker, II ::Each 2016 GOP presidential candidate has proposed to reform the tax code. While seven have offered legitimate proposals, five have advanced theories, which are basically maniacal. Those proposing to abolish, or end, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be classified as crackpots, because, let's face it, that's never ever going to happen. With taxes of such fundamental concern, it's difficult to take anything else these kooks say seriously. Unless such candidates are willing...

Republican presidential candidates respond to the ridiculous Democratic National Committee ad you can see here. Huckabee’s comment is most apposite, and is true not just of the DNC, but of the Obama Administration and the mainstream media — as well as much of the Republican establishment.“EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Slam DNC Ad Attacking Them for Using Term ‘Radical Islam,’” by Patrick Howley, Breitbart, November 21, 2015: WASHINGTON -Republicans are slamming the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) new attack ad criticizing the GOP for using the term “radical Islam.”After radical Islamists carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, the DNC released an ad hitting...

Live Stream from Des Moines, Iowa

Mike Huckabee might be down in the polls, but he's still up to throwing a good political punch. On this evening's MTP Daily, Chuck Todd suggested, by way of advocating the admission of Syrian refugees, that the US is better than Europe at "assimilation." Retorted Huckabee, speaking of one of the Boston bombers, "he really assimilated, until he blew up the Boston Marathon with a pressure cooker." Ouch! View the video here.

GOP presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is calling on Congress to stop President Obama’s plan to bring more Syrian refugees to the U.S. in light of the recent terrorist attack in Paris by a member of ISIS who had embedded in the refugee program. “Speaker Ryan needs to step down today and let someone else lead if he will not act to stop the flow of terrorists to America,” Huckabee stated in a press release, in which he criticized President Obama’s recent comments following the massacre in Paris. President Obama’s wimpish and amateurish response to Islamic jihadists this...

The hard-line conservative arm of the Heritage Foundation has tough criticism for much of the 2016 field, but high praise for the Texas senator. Many of the lines in the scorecard appear destined for future attack ads.Jeb Bush, for instance, is accused of having "kowtowed to the state's environmental lobby" in Florida. Chris Christie "has shown favoritism toward well-connected real estate developers." Rand Paul's "views at times veer outside the conservative mainstream." And Donald Trump backs "massive tariffs that would damage the American economy."Cruz, by contrast, manages to emerge with barely a blemish, only softly worded critiques of his adopting...