Free Republic

Rick Santorum appears to be eyeing the White House again, with the former Pennsylvania senator telling Newsmax TV’s Steve Malzberg that he may run for president in 2016. “I’m certainly leaving the door open for that,” Santorum revealed on “The Steve Malzberg Show” Wednesday afternoon. … “The same advisors who botched these last two campaigns are now saying, ‘Well, you know, since we can’t win with moderate Republicans, we have to now try to be liberal Republicans to win instead of standing up for the values that made our country great,’” he said. …

Former Governor Sarah Palin gave the keynote speech at a Tea Party rally in Indianola, Iowa on Saturday afternoon. "We sent a new class of leaders to DC, but immediately the permanent political class, they tried to co-opt them. Because the reality is we are governed by a permanent political class, until we change that," Palin said about career politicians. "They talk about massive, unsustainable debt and yet they keep incurring more. They spend, they print, they borrow, they spend more, and they stick us with the bill. Then they pat their own backs and they claim that they faced...

Of the two businessmen likely to be in the field for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, long-shot Herman Cain, savior of the Godfather‘s Pizza chain, makes the case that he is far more electable than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive front-runner in the race. Mr. Cain, whose bid has generated a surprising buzz in conservative circles, said in an interview that he admires Mr. Romney‘s business acumen and supported the former governor’s failed 2008 bid, but Mr. Cain argued that he possessed a greater ability to connect with voters and make things happen. “Romney is a successful businessman...

Jim DeMint would go for the presidency in 2012 if none of the other candidates were sufficiently conservative, CNN's Peter Hamby reports. The South Carolina senator has denied harboring such aspirations for a year, but in March, he's headed to Iowa. His closest advisers say DeMint has set a high bar for entering the GOP primary--he'll only step in if there's "a massive void" among the candidates. DeMint, who was a major backer of Tea Party candidates, hasn't found a Republican 2012 candidate worth backing yet--aside from Rep. Mike Pence, who isn't well known and hasn't decided whether to run....

Folks, please welcome back former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter to Free Republic. It has been three years since he last joined us for a live interview. Back then, he was in the midst of vying for the GOP nomination for the presidency. The GOP instead turned to a moderate in 2008, and as easily predicted, the Marxist is now in the Oval Office . Though he is not contemplating another run right now, at just 62 years of age, and being of a restless nature when it comes to promoting conservatism, he is not sitting quietly in retirement either. Aside...

LOUISVILLE — Rand Paul sounds nothing like any major candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky ever has, let alone a front-runner for the Republican nomination. He complains as much about actions of those in his own party as he does about Democrats. He has said he doesn't need the Republican power structure to win the party's May 18 primary or the November election to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning. And he rarely mentions Kentucky in stump speeches. Instead, he sticks to his big-picture message of slashing spending, constraining federal powers and imposing term limits on members of Congress. And...

Seniors have been amongst the biggest critics of Obamacare,a recent Gallup poll released recently found only 36% of people 65 or older thought the healthcare law is a “good thing,” compared to 54% who said it is a “bad thing.” The reason for the rejection of Obamacare is many of its provisions are coming out of the wallets of Older Americans. Taxes on "Cadillac plans," and investments will be skewed to those older American. There is also the Tax on medical device manufacturers and replacement parts which will be passed on to mostly Senior consumers as the taxed Items are...

After 28 years in congress, Duncan Hunter is honored. I know first hand how much he did for our men and women in uniform!

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A Republican congressman has vowed to fight Rep. John Murtha's Iraq troop cuts plan. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thursday claimed that the new plan presented by Rep. Murtha, D-Penn., a Vietnam war combat veteran, to prevent additional U.S. forces being sent to Iraq was "extremely dangerous." "America's military strength and our deterrent capability are largely dependent upon the ability of our nation to send troops quickly in reinforcing capacities to conflicts anywhere on the globe. Congress's attempts to prohibit the movement...

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter plans to make his Republican presidential bid official at a Spartanburg, S.C. breakfast meeting Thursday. The 14-term conservative from California set up his presidential exploratory committee last week. Hunter has made no secret of his White House aspirations. He announced his intentions in October, becoming the first GOP candidate to declare a presidential run, and then began making stops in early primary states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He is scheduled to return to New Hampshire on Monday to repeat his announcement. Little known outside of Congress and his San Diego district, Hunter can...

Columbia, South CarolinaPERHAPS the most overused political tag these days is "budget hawk." It's embraced by Democrats who want to balance bloated budgets by raising taxes and by Republicans who want to cut taxes but have little appetite for spending cuts. Then there is a budget hawk like Mark Sanford, South Carolina's GOP governor, whose thrifty ways infect his politics as much as they do his personal life. "The governor is as cheap as everyone says he is," says his former press secretary. "It's not part of his image."The aide describes a recent staff retreat at Sanford's 3,000-acre farm near...

Many people have been burning up the phone lines to the show today, and firing off e-mails, about a radio interview Tom Tancredo did yesterday with WFLA host Pat Campbell. One of the main complaints made against Hugh today has been that Tancredo's comments were not made in context. Here's a link to WFLA's site, where the audio from the original interview is posted. Listen for yourself. Here's the text of what Pat Campbell asked him, and what he said: PC: Now here's the other thing, too, with the possibility of an attack. I had Juval Aviv on the program...

There has been much speculation about what Tom Tancredo said on the now famous interview last Friday on WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla. From what I am reading here on FR, much of that speculation is wrong. Tancredo was, in fact, suggesting that we consider (not implement, just consider implementing) a strategy similar to the strategy that Reagan used to win the Cold War. Listen for yourself. HERE If you think Tancredo is a nut case, and you don't want to change your thinking, move along, this clip isn't for you. Just post your thoughts without listening.

My agenda as President of the United States 1.) Tort Reform 2.) Closing the borders completely to illegal aliens. We dont need to close the borders completely, just need to do a better job with illegals from Mexico and any other country. 3.) More Welfare Reform-The reform completed in the 1990's by a Republican Congress(NOT by Bill Clinton--he happens to take the credit for welfare reform) was not enough. We still have people on welfare that simply refuses to work although they are very able bodied. 4.) No free handouts to any illegals! 5.) Pay increases to teachers that Perform...