Free Republic

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Tuesday that her running mate John McCain's plan to reduce or eliminate taxes and help distressed homeowners with their mortgages will "get this economy moving again." At a raucous rally in Scranton, Palin said McCain's mortgage proposal is "not a handout, but a hand up" to help financially overwhelmed Americans hang on to their homes. "This is going to get our country through a time of testing, and it's going to get the economy back on the right track," Palin said. "Under this plan, we'll help American families keep their...

The New Hampshire Republican Senate primary tomorrow is getting even tighter, with a new PPP poll showing Tea Party-backed Ovide LaMontagne only trailing frontrunner (and establishment pick) Kelly Ayotte by seven points. LaMontagne has gained serious ground since the last PPP poll in July, when he was trailing Ayotte by a whopping 39 points. The latest numbers show Ayotte polling at 37%, while LaMontagne has the second-highest numbers in the multi-candidate field, at 30%. Last time, Ayotte was killing LaMontagne 47%-8%. As we've reported, Ayotte has gotten into some trouble lately, between party in-fighting and some concerns about her conservative...

Presumed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney came out Wednesday against the planned burning of the Quran by a Florida pastor, saying that doing so would endanger American troops. “Burning the Quran is wrong on every level,” the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement to POLITICO. “It puts troops in danger, and it violates a founding principle of our republic.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41895.html#ixzz0yyeKLaDE

It’s a classic movie plot. Think “Woman of the Year,” with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. At first the man and the woman hate each other, then they fall into each other’s arms? Well, feature the fight that has erupted between the president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, and Governor Palin of Alaska. The leader of Big Labor went to Anchorage to give a speech and attacked Mrs. Palin, accusing her of doing everything from writing notes on her hands to coming out with conspiracy theories about President Obama and his “death panels” to getting close to calling for violence....

If there was ever any question about the REAL CHANGE that is coming, just look at Jesse Kelly, a young Marine who faced a Republican-establishment candidate in Tuesday’s primary and won. Our PAC, WarriorsforCongress.com, wasn’t listening to the establishment. We didn’t care that the money was against Jesse Kelly. “No, we can’t help him. He won’t win.” That’s what we were told by “establishment” folks when we asked them to help Jesse. We knew better. Jesse Kelly is a Warrior. We looked at him and saw a man who put his life on the line for our Constitution. We saw...

This interview is part of an ongoing 2010 series of conversations with former Congressman and conservative icon Duncan Lee Hunter. Though he is in the final days of editing his new book on the Iraq War, he has been involved in a number of campaigns for conservative congressional candidates and is still keenly interested in getting his views out to the public. With any luck, Hunter will toss his hat back in the ring for the 2012 presidency, but for now he’s trying to reinvigorate the GOP with a return to Reaganism. AJM: Today is primary day for a couple...

The Hill runs a report crediting Sarah Palin for her many Republic primary victories. Before conservatives take too much pleasure in such news, read how she is credited with helping sweep John McCain to victory. Palin traveled to Arizona and made numerous campaign appearances with McCain, bringing him the Tea Party creds he so desperately needed to undercut the fact that he is a nearly three-decades-long, left-leaning Washington insider. That Palin chose to conveniently back McCain over conservative former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth is a truth that should not soon be forgotten. Her help, McCain’s falsely running to the right,...

In a tweet Wednesday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin suggested that Laura Schlessinger may have had her First Amendment rights violated in the controversy surrounding the conservative talk show host’s repeated use of the n-word. The tweet reads: “Dr.Laura:don’t retreat…reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence”isn’t American,not fair”)” The former governor’s response is a little confusing, and not just because of her mangled syntax and excessive use of abbreviations. In February, Palin asked the White House to fire Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel over his use of the word “retarded.” She has also joined...

Arguing against the building of an Islamic shrine near New York’s Ground Zero, former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin linked the mosque project to “building a Serbian Orthodox church at Srebrenica killing fields where Muslims were slaughtered.” Mrs. Palin is right to oppose the Ground Zero mosque. It is unacceptable, and detrimental to her cause, to invoke false parallels in the process, based on events of which she knows but very little. Mrs. Palin’s metaphor was misguided and deeply insulting to Orthodox Christians. It creates a totally false analogy between an act of brutal Islamist terror which killed three thousand...

She’s met privately with backers of the University of South Carolina’s failed “Innovista” boondoggle … a RINO legislative operative who weeks ago worked feverishly to destroy her political career is now suddenly praising her “outreach” efforts … she wants to cut corporate taxes (which account for just 1.3 percent of the state budget) but not individual and small business taxes (which account for 14.1 percent of the state budget). Oh, and she wants to bring back the tax on groceries … one of several “revenue enhancements” proposed recently by a legislatively-created tax commission. Seriously … who is this woman running...

t hasn't been the greatest of months for Sarah Palin when it comes to her political star power. The two candidates Palin backed in Tuesday's primaries lost their bids, making the former Alaska governor 0-for-5 when it comes to endorsements this month. In Washington State, Palin had backed Tea Party activist Clint Didier in his bid for the Senate over businessman Dino Rossi, the favorite of national Republicans. In making her endorsement of Didier last May, Palin said the Tea Party favorite had "inspired" her, and hailed him as a "patriot running for U.S. Senate to serve his state &...

I had to post it, just because one of my guilty pleasures in blogging is the entertaining groaning in the comments whenever there’s a poll showing Huck doing well. Can you feel the momentum?

For a time, it seemed that Sarah Palin was on a hot streak. Her Republican primary endorsements were generally winners as she racked up favors, praise and credit for the results in across the country. There's still no doubt that a Palin endorsement raises a candidate's profile, significantly. But now, after a string of defeats for Palin endorsees, the question has to be asked: Was Palin’s brand really so strong that she was swinging primaries in her favor? “I have said pretty consistently that these endorsements are fairly meaningless,” said Republican strategist John Feehery. “They were meaningless when Palin was...

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's carefully crafted image as a regular hockey mom has taken a few hits since her unsuccessful vice presidential bid. ~snips~ But all those who wonder whether revelations of her personal prima donna qualities will damage her image are proceeding from an assumption that she does, in fact, disguise her self-centered side well in managed environments. I've long disagreed with that assessment, because her famous Facebook postings often have the tone of a nasty, snotty, slightly dense but popular high-school girl. Sample recent line: "Okay, Mr. President, you tell us we have to keep looking backward...

Will Kate Gosselin hurt Sarah Palin's political career when the two moms appear together on Palin's new TLC show in November? Slideshows: Palin's Changing Looks | Two Years Of Kate’s Changing Looks As silly as that sounds, the pundits are starting to talk after TLC announced late Friday that Gosselin would appear on "Sarah Palin's Alaska" sometime in November, after the fall general elections. Palin is a presumptive presidential candidate for 2012 and has already released one video that appears to be a campaign advertisement. In the time before the 2012 election, Palin is writing books, doing the TLC series...

In a surprising move given her reputation as a political outsider, Sarah Palin is helping the Republican National Committee raise money ahead of November's elections. Palin has attached her name to a letter and survey being mailed to RNC donors soliciting contributions for the committee's Victory 2010 program, a nationwide get-out-the-vote effort. "Millions of Americans are expressing their frustration with the state of our government. I join them and seek to return our country to greatness," reads the letter, obtained by CNN Friday.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is throwing his support to former Rep. Nathan Deal’s campaign for governor of Georgia on Thursday, just five days before the Republican runoff primary that pits Deal against former Secretary of State Karen Handel. The endorsement puts Huckabee at odds with two other potential presidential candidates — former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — who have endorsed Handel, and places him in the same company as former House Speaker and Deal endorser Newt Gingrich. Deal spokesman Brian Robinson predicted that Huckabee, who won Georgia’s presidential primary in 2008, would help...

It was a sobering dinner party last night (6/16). Hosted by a London billionaire in his exquisite home - a Boccaccio hung on the wall behind me - the wine flowed liberally, but the conversation between the ten of us was stone-cold serious. There were lighter moments, as when I proposed a toast to "a great hero of Europe - Geert Wilders." Every one raised their glass in a smile, but the biggest smile was that of a spectacularly gorgeous super-model (you've seen her in many a high-fashion ad). She was from Holland. Then a well-known Hollywood producer raised his...

Sarah Palin may be a popular pick for Republicans in 2012, but the former Alaska Gov. is staying cagey on her presidential plans. "I've never committed to running for president," Palin said on Fox News Sunday. "That's not where my focus is." Instead, Palin says she is devoting her attention to getting Republicans back in office this fall.

First it was the blogger, then it was the lobbyist … could a South Carolina lawmaker be the next Palmetto politico accused of amorous activity with GOP gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley? That’s the story numerous lobbyists are relating to FITS – a narrative that includes allegations of at least one specific encounter between Haley and S.C. Rep. Thad Viers (R-Myrtle Beach) at a 2006 legislative conference in San Francisco, California. Both Viers and Haley attended the conference – which was sponsored by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – and both were married at the time. Haley is still married,...