Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Republican Sam Brownback will drop out of the 2008 presidential campaign on Friday, people close to the Kansas senator said Thursday. Brownback, a longshot conservative contender, had trouble raising money to compete in the race. He is expected announce his withdrawal in Topeka, Kan. He raised a little more than $800,000 in the third quarter of this year, his lowest quarterly amount since entering race. He has brought in more than $4 million overall and is eligible for $2 million in federal matching funds.

The Leavenworth Street political blog took note today of a story by Bloomberg News, reporting that Senator Chuck Hagel declined to rule out a bid for president as an Independent candidate, and even said such a bid �is possible.� Interesting story. Hagel didn�t say he would make such a bid, just that (like almost everything else) he would not rule it out. Here is the story, as reported by Leavenworth Street. According to a Bloomberg News article, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel said he would consider running for President as an Independent: An independent bid "is possible," Hagel, 60, said in...

If Duncan Hunter is a long-shot for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, he's not admitting it. Buoyed by a third-place finish -- and statistical tie for first place -- in a Spartanburg County straw poll over the weekend, Hunter brought his conservative message to about 80 people at the 1st Monday Republican Lunch Group at Aunt Chiladas Restaurant on Hilton Head Island. The California congressman outlined a platform that includes ripping up current trade policies with China, building a double wall along the Mexican border and a steadfast resolve to keep nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands. Hunter's...

ONE consequence of President Bush's approval ratings being in the porcelain facility (my editors don't like me using the word toilet) is that many people are looking ahead to the next president. This presidential race is no earlier than the other one. Abe Lincoln was laying the foundation for his 1860 run when he helped form a third party in 1854 called "the Republicans." What makes the 2008 race appear to be early is that is where the attention is. The rest of the political circus is boring, as the Senate debates whether to debate a resolution that in a...

WASHINGTON – Morris Udall. Dick Gephardt. John Kasich. Bob Dornan. Jack Kemp. James Garfield. Dennis Kucinich. What these gentlemen have in common – other than having all served in the House of Representatives – is that each ran for the White House while he was still a congressman. Only one of them made it. Morris Udall Dick Gephardt John Kasich Bob Dornan Jack Kemp James Garfield Dennis Kucinich Duncan Hunter And he got shot. Now that Duncan Hunter has taken the plunge for the Republican presidential nomination official, the Alpine congressman may soon encounter the peculiar challenges that face a...

When Bob Hunter, a Riverside, Calif., businessman, would hear of a conservative's campaign that needed volunteers, he would pile his family into the station wagon and drive off to ring doorbells. Hunter's son Duncan grew up believing in retail politics. When Hunter returned home after serving as an alternate Goldwater delegate at the 1964 Republican convention in San Francisco, he told Duncan about chatting with another alternate, an amiable fellow, some actor, named Reagan. Who two years later was elected governor. Duncan learned early on about rapid upward mobility in politics. In 1969, he dropped out of college, joined the...

Make sure to check out Conservative Grapevine today, where you'll find links like: GOPUSA online poll with 12,841 responses: "Which candidate has the best chance of winning the 2008 Republican presidential nomination?" Newt Gingrich 19%, Duncan Hunter 16%, Rudy Giuliani 11%, Mitt Romney 11%, Tom Tancredo 8%, Sam Brownback 7%, John McCain 6%. Mark Steyn: "The Murtha plan" is to deny the president the possibility of victory while making sure Democrats don't have to share the blame for the defeat. Hit and Run: A blogger, the Liberal Avenger, altered a conservative commenters' post on his blog to try to make...