Free Republic

Former President Donald J. Trump has soundly defeated former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in Michigan’s Feb. 27 Republican presidential primary, notching his sixth-straight primary victory as he marches towards the GOP nomination.The Associated Press called the race for Trump right after the last polls closed at 9 p.m. ET.The result is another blow to Ms. Haley, coming days after a double-digit defeat in her home state of South Carolina. Despite this, she has vowed to stay on through Super Tuesday on March 5, when numerous delegate-heavy states will hold their primaries.Ms. Haley campaigned in Michigan on Sunday and Monday...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Tired of all this #Winning yet? – Another month, another sterling jobs report. The private sector beat “expert” expectations yet again by adding 164,000 new jobs during the month of July, finishing the month with an all-time record 157,288,000 Americans gainfully employed. Even more encouraging is the fact that almost 400,000 Americans moved from the part-time jobs that characterized the Obama economy to the good-paying full-time jobs that are the centerpiece of the Trump economy. This truly never, ever gets old. She’s gonna need some new script-writers. – The Chief of Staff...

The bipartisan Washington elite still cannot grasp the Donald Trump phenomenon. How can someone possibly succeed in politics by telling grass-roots America that he understands their anxieties and intends to do something about them? The Beltway crowd has for years conditioned the country to expect lofty platitudes followed by failure and inaction. When the presumptive Republican nominee for president speaks, large constituencies hear a straightforward message. Then official Washington — in all of its contempt for voters — anatomizes and reads between the lines until they have grossly distorted his words. For example, Mr. Trump’s policy of “America First” says...

Iranians burn US flags outside the former US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 2013, during a demonstration to mark the 34th anniversary of the 1979 US embassy takeover. Thousands of Iranians shouted "Death to America" as they demonstrated 34 years after Islamist students stormed the embassy compound in Tehran, holding 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. AFP/Getty Images Former House Intelligence Chairman Pete Hoekstra is genuinely worried about the fundamental changes President Barack Obama has made to American foreign policy, according to this 28-minute exclusive video interview for The Daily Caller News Foundation. A Michigan congressman for...

Reports say that the influential Teamsters union may snub Hillary Clinton in favor of endorsing a Republican candidate such as Donald Trump for the White House in 2016.Such a move would likely be a notable boost for Republicans with Independents and “Reagan Democrats,” a critical segment of swing-voters that candidates spend millions trying to woo. These “middle of the road” type voters are crucial to winning bellwether regions like Michigan’s Macomb County.Clinton also faces snubs from other powerful unions like the AFL-CIO and AFSCME, refusing to back Hillary as they try to push Vice President Joe Biden into the race.According...

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra has said he'll back U.S. Rep. Justin Amash's opponent in the upcoming August primary. Hoekstra is endorsing local businessman Brian Ellis in the Third District race. Hoekstra, who served in the House from 1993-2011 and was chair of the House Intelligence Committee, in a statement said Ellis will be a "strong partner" with other Michigan Republicans to promote conservative ideas. "Bottom line, I strongly endorse Brian Ellis because he will be an effective conservative voice and a consistent conservative vote for solutions that will help hardworking Michigan taxpayers," Hokestra said. "Brian...

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, is being pressured to stay out of the race for retiring Sen. Carl Levin's seat by libertarian power brokers Ron and Rand Paul. That's according to a National Journal article published Wednesday that examines the potential candidacies of Amash and fellow Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Howell. According to the article, rumors are flying that Amash — branded in several national media articles as the "next Ron Paul" — is being cautioned against a run by the elder Paul and Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator: But perhaps most illustrative of the tension...

President Barack Obama’s decision on Friday to speed up the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan “reopens the possibility of the Taliban to emerge as a major player,” former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra tells Newsmax. “It is a signal to the Afghan people—he signaled to the Taliban, and he signaled to the American people—that the U.S. role, the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, is done,” Hoekstra, the former GOP chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, tells Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview. “It may not be completed, but it is finished. The US will no longer be there primarily to...

ELK RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra couldn't have asked for a friendlier audience than the workers of Traverse Bay Manufacturing Inc., who are fighting mad over what they consider unfair competition — not from China or India, but from their own government. [Snip] "We're the underdog, we're behind," Hoekstra said in an interview after his factory visit in the Lake Michigan town of Elk Rapids. "It's been a very sleepy race ... pretty much been frozen in place for the last eight, nine weeks. But we think that as people start to focus and as...

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, in Holland campaigning for Pete Hoekstra’s Senate bid Tuesday afternoon, said Michigan is key for Mitt Romney's chances. [Snip] Santorum called Michigan a “potential decider.” “If Mitt Romney wins Michigan, he’s going to be president of the United States,” Santorum said. The two talked about national security, the Senate race and Hoekstra’s opponent, Sen. Debbie Stabenow. “Debbie Stabenow’s taking up space,” Santorum said, later pointing to the lack of a budget proposal from the Senate Finance Committee, on which she sits. [Snip] Top of the list was national security. The U.S. has fewer allies...

Former U.S. Rep Pete Hoekstra will trot out Herman Cain, who bowed out of a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, around Michigan next week to drum up support, his campaign said today. Cain will appear in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Ypsilanti and Troy on a blitz across the state as they tout the Holland Republican’s Tea Party ties and taking incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow to task for her spending policies. Cain suspended his quest for the presidency in December amid rumors of marital infidelity. “The Tea Party conservatives have been increasingly supporting Pete Hoekstra over the years as a result...

It wasn’t just rapper M.I.A. who got into hot water for her actions during the Super Bowl. Republican senatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra stirred the pot with a political ad that featured an Asian woman speaking broken English, sparking immediate protests from Democrats and civil rights groups. During the halftime show, M.I.A. made an obscene gesture, extending her middle finger. Both the NFL and NBC, which broadcast the show, have apologized for the offense. Hoekstra's campaign ad was broadcast only in Michigan, where the former congressman and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate is seeking the GOP nomination to run against Sen. Debbie Stabenow,...

Former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra apparently has had a change of heart and is once again thinking about challenging U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing).

Iran Conducts Nuclear Test.” Could we see such a headline in 2011? Yes, and America’s leaders must prepare for this and similar possibilities, however unlikely they now seem. Too often, our leaders are caught by surprise because they refused to consider the unthinkable. This has led to some spectacular intelligence and policy failures. For example, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Washington cut its intelligence budget dramatically. Many Americans believed what Francis Fukuyama argued in The End of History and the Last Man: that the triumph of democracy and human rights was inevitable. Our leaders ignored the possibility that...

John Engler, largely based on superior name recognition, is the top choice of Michigan Republicans to take on Debbie Stabenow in 2012. Among the more likely roster of potential GOP contenders Pete Hoekstra is the leader by a good margin with only Mike Cox also hitting double digits. 31% of Republican voters say Engler would be their first choice, followed by 24% for Hoekstra, and 12% for Cox. Rounding out the Republicans polled is Terri Lynn Land at 7%, Candice Miller at 5%, Mike Rogers at 4%, Thad McCotter at 3%, and Tim Leuliette at 0%. If Leuliette, who has...

Mitt Romney is wading into the GOP governor's primary in Michigan, and he's backing Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.). Hoekstra faces state Attorney General Mike Cox and businessman Rick Snyder in a pitched primary battle. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) is term-limited, and Democrats are waging their own primary battle.

Security: Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the attempted destruction of Flight 253 were released from Guantanamo two years ago. The case for indefinite detention has been made once again, and not in Illinois. Sometimes America's chickens do come home to roost. In a statement released Monday, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which counts among its leadership two former Guantanamo detainees, claimed responsibility for the attempted destruction of Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the crotch bomber, told FBI agents he was trained for his Christmas Day mission in Yemen by top leaders of the group who provided...

Candidate Rick Snyder criticizes opponent for governor Pete Hoekstra for citing attempted Detroit terrorist attack in fundraising letterU.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra was blasted Monday for using an attempted terrorism attack to raise money for his campaign for governor. A fundraising solicitation Hoekstra's campaign e-mailed Monday criticized the response by President Barack Obama administration's to a failed attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it neared landing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The solicitation showed poor judgment, according to a campaign spokesman for Rick Snyder, an Ann Arbor venture capitalist and 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate. Grand Rapids Press File PhotoRick...

Pete Hoekstra on Foxnews hits back at the intelligence community for not connecting the dots and not see red flags,...Good for him, keep speaking up Pete...(Video)

(snipped) Hoekstra says that Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab may have a common link with the Fort Hood shooter that shot 13 people in November. AFP, Dec. 26: There was a suggestion of links between Abdulmutallab and radical US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who had contacts with the US army psychiatrist accused of gunning down 13 people at a Texas military base last month. "He may have been in contact with the American imam al-Aulaqi," Peter Hoekstra, the most senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee and a member of Congress for Michigan, told AFP.