Free Republic

Ted Cruz has to win the Iowa caucuses. Not because there's something magical about Iowa or its predictive powers. No, Cruz can't afford to lose in Iowa because he's already predicted, unequivocally and without reservation, that he will win Iowa. And while Cruz is in so many ways an unconventional politician, there are certain immutable rules in politics. One is that falling short of expectations in Iowa or New Hampshire is bad. "He will win Iowa. We're very confident he will win Iowa," Cruz campaign co chairman Chad Sweet declared last month. It's a bold prediction, though not outside the...

Current Republican Seat Current Democrat Seat Current Independent Seat No Senate election in 2012

Newt Gingrich had to win Mississippi and Alabama in order to remain a viable candidate. Those states weren't essential because of their delegate counts or their importance to the national election, but because Gingrich had won nothing outside the South and staked everything on a southern strategy. He lost. He remains in the campaign, but he's a ghost, a bitter aftertaste, and a thorn in Rick Santorum's side. Santorum now faces his own "must win" primary, Illinois. He's won more states than Gingrich, but his strength so far has been in the Midwest and South, and in neither region has...

I DIDN’T grow up with all the advantages in life. My mom was on welfare for a time, but I had the support of a loving family and good friends and neighbors. I don’t have all the advantages in this race either, and that’s fine by me. Being the underdog has taught me to work harder, and to appreciate the opportunities of our state and our country. I’m running because more of our people are unemployed today than ever before. Public debt has reached $12 trillion and counting, and Washington politicians want to borrow trillions more. Terrorists want to strike...

CHICAGO – A state senator will face an investment banker-turned-teacher after each emerged as his party's nominee for a U.S. Senate race that could shape the balance of power in Congress. "This is going to be a contest of ideas," state Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday after rolling up more than 50 percent of the vote in the Democrat primary, crushing six rivals. The 42-year-old former civil rights lawyer, who could become only the third black U.S. senator in a century, faces Republican Jack Ryan, a 44-year-old millionaire high school teacher who has been dogged by questions about his divorce...