Free Republic

Rick Perry has started calling Iowa Republicans and a former RNC finance chairman is helping to convene a meeting of national donors later this month in Austin to discuss financing a potential 2012 campaign — signs that the Texas governor and his allies are stepping up their exploratory efforts. The developments come as Perry is being watched by a string of donors, early-state voters and elites who say they're disenchanted, and in search of a stronger candidate. Continue Reading Republican activist Joni Scotter told POLITICO she got a surprise phone call this afternoon from Perry, asking about the political landscape...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With the NASCAR season revving up at Daytona International Speedway this week, companies still have a chance to associate themselves with the sport's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. And they can do so at the relative bargain-bin prices found in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series. In happier economic times a few years ago, the possibility of such a deal would have triggered a stampede of potential sponsors tradin' paint with briefcases as they raced from the boardroom to the track. But as of this week, the Earnhardt family's JR Motorsports team had sponsorship contracts in hand...