Free Republic

Gov. Charlie Crist, his predecessor Jeb Bush and other Florida Republicans introduced John McCain to a crowd in the parking lot of a West Miami lumber yard Wednesday. The Republican presidential nominee came onto the stage outside Everglades Lumber to the theme song from Rocky and began his remarks just after 10:30 a.m. ''On Nov. 4, we've got to win the state of Florida, my friends, and we're going to win here,'' McCain said. He talked about the need to reduce America's oil dependency, cut government spending and lower taxes. ''I'm going to make government live on a budget just...

As the presidential race narrows to a handful of states where the two candidates are clawing to get over the top, Florida would be each man's top prize. And the Tampa Bay area is their key to Florida. As in 2000 and 2004, the race here has exploded in a welter of television ads, "robocalls," visiting celebrities and mega-rallies. The result, according to experts, political insiders and a rash of conflicting polls, is a race in Florida that's simply too close to call. Either candidate could win. But for John McCain and Barack Obama, a win would have drastically different...

John McCain "Joe the Plumber" Rally Everglades Lumber 6991 S.W. 8 Street Miami, FL 33144 Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (Doors Open: 7:30 a.m.) 10.27.08 Video: John McCain Talks To CBS 4 - Miami, Ft. Lauderdale - - All eyes are on Florida as a key state to win the 2008 presidential election, and because of this both candidates are doing heavy campaigning throughout the state, and addressing problems that affect our state in particular. John McCain talked with CBS4's Antonio Mora, in a one-on-one interview about what his plans are for the economy. And he...

UTICA, New York - Reuters/Zogby telephone surveys of eight battleground states show Democrat Barack Obama ahead in six. While his lead over Republican John McCain is less than three points in Florida, Missouri and North Carolina, these results still point out the daunting task McCain faces to reach the 270 Electoral College votes needed for election. The surveys were conducted from Oct. 23-26. Sample sizes in each state ranged from 600-603, with a margin of error of +/-4.1%. == Florida == Obama: 47.2 McCain: 46.9 Other/Not Sure: 5.9 McCain is winning 16% of Democrats compared to Obama's 10% with Republicans....

TALLAHASSEE - Love it or hate it, most Florida voters have made up their minds about a ballot amendment to ban same-sex marriage. And most likely, a new poll shows, they'll vote to insert a definition of marriage into the state's constitution. An Orlando Sentinel poll released Thursday found Amendment 2 -- which defines marriage as "only one man and one woman" -- had support from 56 percent of likely voters, while 37 percent opposed it. That's barely changed from a 55-to-34 margin in a similar survey two weeks ago. The remaining 7 percent of undecided voters will determine whether...

Tampa Convention Center - East Hall <> 333 South Franklin Street; Tampa, FL 33602; Sunday, October 26, 2008; Doors open at 9:00 a.m.; Program Begins at 11:00 a.m. Silver Spur Arena <> 1875 Silver Spurs Lane; Kissimmee, FL 34744; Sunday, October 26, 2008; Doors open at 12:00 p.m.; Program Begins at 2:00 p.m.; Beginning 3 p.m. Friday, tickets can be obtained at the following McCain-Palin Victory Offices TAMPA RALLY: 142 West Platt Street Tampa, FL 33606 813-254-8010 800 Lumsden Boulevard Brandon, FL 33510 813-657-6499 6904 West Linebaugh Ave Tampa, FL 33625 813-454-1735 6904 West Linebaugh Ave Tampa, FL 33625 813-454-1735...

I have many Republican friends who are disgusted that I'm voting third party this election year. They believe stopping Barack Obama from becoming president outweighs all else. Meanwhile, I have many Democrat friends who are equally disgusted; for them, seeing John McCain defeated is more important than who wins. They are all wasting their votes. Imagine a reckless teenager who constantly runs up his parents' credit cards, smashes the family car every Friday night, is failing in school, and has serious drinking and drug problems. Now imagine that no matter how reckless and dangerous that teenager became, his parents believed...

ORMOND BEACH -- With the smell of sawdust in the air and planks of wood stacked around him, Republican presidential candidate John McCain hammered his tax cut promises and his opponent's encounter with ''Joe the Plumber,'' referencing the now famous ''spread the wealth'' remark more than half a dozen times at a morning lumberyard rally. McCain's rally at Allstar Building Materials in Ormond Beach was the first leg of McCain's ''Joe the Plumber'' bus tour, named for Ohio plumber Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher, who was catapulted onto the national stage following the last presidential debate when McCain used an encounter between...

Campaign Rally: Thursday October 23rd in Sarasota, FL October 23, 2008 3:00 p.m. Robarts Sports 3000 Ringling Blvd. Sarasota , FL34237 Doors Open at 3:00 p.m. For more information, please call (850) 391-4219 or email Florida@JohnMcCain.com Campaign Rally: Thursday October 23rd in Ormond Beach, FL October 23, 2008 7:00 a.m. Allstar Building Materials 1361 North Highway US 1 Ormond Beach, FL32174 Doors Open at 7:00 a.m. For more information, please call (850) 391-4219 or email Florida@JohnMcCain.com 10.22.08: McCain to push economic policy in return trip to Florida - - Just six days after his last trip to Florida, Republican John...

You know a story is sketchy when even a British tabloid looks at it and goes, "You know, this seems a bit salacious and over the top," as the Daily Mail has just done with the rumor, dating to August but now resurfaced, about how Barack Obama maybe got too close to an anonymous young staffer during his 2004 senate campaign, before Michelle had her exiled to the Caribbean, but probably the whole thing is just a big Republican smear. The Mail tracked the woman down somewhere in the West Indies — they won't give her name or location, dodgy...

What happens if the Messiah's Teleprompter goes out on strike!

Focus on the Family's James Dobson said on his July 21 radio broadcast he is rethinking his previous views on the presidential election and that he "might" endorse Republican John McCain, who the pro-family leader has criticized in the past. Dobson and guest R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spent most of the program discussing Democrat Barack Obama's views on abortion and homosexuality before the two men closed the program by talking about McCain. In the past — particularly during the GOP primary — Dobson had said he couldn't support McCain. Dobson, speaking on his...

McCain's New Line On Obama 22 Jul 2008 04:04 pm When we adopted the surge, we were losing the war in Iraq, and I stood up and said I would rather lose a campaign than lose a war. Apparently Sen. Obama, who does not understand what's happening in Iraq or fails to acknowledge the success in Iraq, would rather lose a war than lose a campaign.Folks on the press bus say that the italicized sentence is new to McCain's oeuvre. So far today, he's used it twice.

The long overdue answer to Obama Girl. It's about three and a half minutes and terrific.

Obama wins Democratic nomination. God damn BLESS America, McCain ‘08 The Democratic superdelegates have seen fit to play a sick practical joke on the American people by throwing their party’s nomination to an individual who is totally unqualified for any position of public trust or responsibility. Barack Hussein Obama’s outstanding speaking voice qualifies him to record books on CD or perhaps serve as a radio personality, but he lacks both the competence and personal character to hold public office. His actions overwhelm any words his powerful, melodic, and mesmerizing voice may deliver to his adoring and adulating groupies, and these...

We can't tell if this is a barometer of how the fall general election might feel, but John McCain today compliments Barack Obama on his political acumen in a televised interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," a curious appearance for a candidate still trying to gather support from the Republican Party's social conservative base. Host Ellen DeGeneres asks McCain about Obama's contention that "a vote for you is basically a vote for" a third George W. Bush term. Says McCain: Good strategy. "I think it's a very intelligent campaign tactic. Obviously the president's popularity and approval ratings are low. So...

More than once I have found his books spread out in the toilet paper aisles amongst the toilet paper. Is this some protest movement I haven't heard about? Maybe I will join in. LOL.

Chip Wall can't help but zero in on the little stuff whenever he watches Barack Obama on TV. It's his old pal Stanley. For Wall and a few dozen others, Obama on the campaign trail often brings to mind Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama's mother and a strong-willed, unconventional member of the Mercer Island High School graduating class of 1960. "She was not a standard-issue girl of her times... "She touted herself as an atheist, and it was something she'd read about and could argue," the only child was a ... daughter of a father who wanted a boy so badly...

When seeking to extricate himself from the tight spot in which he has been placed by his long association with the spiritual leadership of Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama hauled in his (living) maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. Obama has previously characterized Mrs. Dunham as a "trailblazer of sorts, the first woman vice-president of a local bank." She had a direct hand in his upbringing when Obama chose to live with his maternal grandparents rather than his mother, who was then in Indonesia. Today Obama brought Mrs. Dunham into his speech for a cameo appearance as a white counterpart to the fulsome...

As the news of Barack Obama’s pastor and his racist, America-hating comments slowly spreads (despite media’s best effort to ignore it), you just knew the Kos Kidz would be spinning like Iranian centrifuges, didn’t you? There are several Daily Kos diaries on the issue, but my favorite for sheer knuckleheaded idiocy is this one: Daily Kos: An Open Letter to White People.