Free Republic

Sarah Palin, liberal darling?! Continue Reading That was the outcome of a Harris Poll taken online at the end of January, with some 23 percent of self-described liberals saying they want Sarah Palin to run for the Republican nomination in 2012. Libs "may be looking at who they would like to see Barack Obama run against," according to the release from the pollsters, whose survey was among a group of 2,566 people taken Jan. 17 and Jan. 24. The pollsters didn't provide a margin of error since the sample size was self-selected — meaning it was only people who agreed...

Sarah Palin did not say she supports gay marriage. She hasn't celebrated the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. But she also did not say that a gay Republican group should be banned from participating in a big Republican conference, and for that, social conservatives are begging her to "clarify." Controversy has been brewing for months over GOProud, a gay conservative group, and its participation in CPAC, one of the biggest Republican events of the year--a must-do for most aspiring presidential hopefuls. Many social conservative groups are boycotting the conference because GOProud was allowed to participate. But Palin said she...

Sarah Palin's big problems among the GOP faithful are on clear display in a new poll that shows large numbers of Republicans aren’t sure about her and the tea party darling trails President Barack Obama in a head-to-head matchup in Tennessee — even with the president's job approval numbers running low in the state. The poll in the solidly red state where she and McCain crushed Obama by 15 points two years ago is a warning bell that Palin, despite her following and appeal to conservatives, remains fairly radioactive to some Republican voters, who are far from convinced she can...

In an exclusive, in-depth interview with E! Online’s Giuliana Rancic, “Dancing With the Stars” finalist Bristol Palin talked about running for public office “further down the road,” son Tripp, ex-boyfriend Levi Johnston, her new boyfriend, and being a Maricopa, Ariz. homeowner. When Rancic asked if she would ever run for office, Palin said, “Probably. But that would be further down the road.” “If I saw something that needed to be changed, then I would step up to the plate and do something about it,” Palin said, addressing what would motivate her to enter elective politics. Palin said she would run...

No great surprise here, really; Palin has quietly backed the end of DADT and expressed support for conservative gays and lesbians in the past. Speaking here with David Brody from the Christian Broadcast Network and excerpted by Breitbart TV, Palin doesn’t endorse GOProud but does defend their attendance at CPAC, and argues that the value of events such as CPAC is to debate the issues and provide as much information as possible to attendees:

Last Spring in New Orleans, Jonathan Martin and I picked up a very clear sentiment from Republican activists about Sarah Palin, reporting from the Southern Republican Leadership conference that "the wide admiration for Palin among the rock-ribbed Dixie Republicans gathered in the room wasn't matched by a confidence that she was ready to run." Jeff Zeleny picks up something very similar at the Reagan Library this weekend: Roy Billings, a Reagan admirer and a longtime contributor to the [Young America's Foundation], said he liked Ms. Palin a great deal, but he hoped that she would not run for president in...

With Mrs Palin's political star apparently on the wane after a much-criticised response to the Arizona shootings, Mrs Bachmann appears ready and willing to step into the breach. Although the official Republican response to Mr Obama's address to Congress was made by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the Tea Party response by Mrs Bachmann was carried live on CNN. Mr Ryan, 40, a mild-mannered fiscal policy specialist, was scathing about Mr Obama's policies but maintained a measured tone, speaking with unadorned, straightforward language. At points, he even praised Mr Obama, stating that "some of his words were reassuring". In contrast,...

This is the winter of Sarah Palin’s discontent. Her “don’t retreat, reload” rhetoric blew up on her when Americans started fretting about heated political talk after an Arizona gunman shot a congresswoman and killed a federal judge. Then she added insult to injury by trying to claim she was the real victim, of a “blood libel.” Her poll numbers now are lower than at any time since she came on the national scene, and when New Hampshire Republicans voted in a presidential straw poll at their annual meeting, only 7 percent picked Palin. A new Public Policy Polling survey suggests...

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he is “more likely” to run for president in 2012 if former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin makes a bid, according to snippets from an interview to air on CNN Monday night released on Twitter. “The more Republicans in which I can show a contrast, probably the better chance, the better chance that I have,” Mr. Giuliani is quoted as saying on CNN host Piers Morgan’s Twitter account. “My one chance, if I have a chance, is that I’m considered a moderate.” The implication being that Ms. Palin, a tea party favorite, is not...

# This Politico story about the group drafting Indiania Congressman Mike Pence to run for the GOP presidential nomination is full of interesting tidbits about Republicans' dissatisfaction with the rest of the field: An Indiana congressman with just five terms in public office, Pence is currently the subject of a draft movement—but he may well pick a gubernatorial run over a White House bid. . . . . The pro-Pence crowd consists of a group of traditional conservatives who, while sympathizing with her, don’t view Sarah Palin as a serious presidential candidate. They doubt Mike Huckabee will run again or...

Rudy Giuliani has already announced that he’s “considering” a run for president in 2012, but, as he tells Piers Morgan in Monday’s episode of Piers Morgan Tonight, he’ll be much more likely to run if Sarah Palin decides to as well. Giuliani says that running against Palin would position him as a “moderate Republican” in contrast to Palin’s views. Morgan called him the “acceptable face of the Republican party,” to which America’s Mayor replied, “Well. I don’t know if I’m acceptable. The way I got elected as mayor of New York City was not being acceptable. My slogan was ‘You...

Washington (CNN) -- A new national poll indicates that 56% of all Americans have an unfavorable view of Sarah Palin, an all-time high for the former Alaska governor. That 56% unfavorable figure is up seven points from just before the midterm elections, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday morning. Thirty-eight percent of people questioned in the poll say they have a favorable view of the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, down two points from October.

When you ask Barack Obama’s admirers what they like most about him, you will typically hear of his personality traits before any specifics about policy. Obama’s fans say that he is so “smart… cool-headed… articulate…” To point out that in terms of policy, Obama isn’t that different from most other conventional Democrats–or even that different from George W. Bush–does little to dissuade the president’s most ardent champions, and any failure to live up to liberal ideals does little to change Obama’s current popular status as liberalism personified. Sarah Palin is the Republican Obama. When you ask Palin’s admirers what they...

Dude, I think we just found our keynote speaker for RINOcon. “(Palin’s) coming from the street, she’s coming from the we-the-people rank-and-file, she makes sense when she talks, she says all the right things, she’s sincere, she’s knowledgeable , she’s articulate, she’s damn good-looking, plus she kills moose, how can you go wrong?” Nugent gushed. However, when Cooper pressed Nugent on whether Palin would make a good president, Nugent balked. “It’s too early to tell. Right know, if we had a vote, I couldn’t vote for Sarah Palin. And I love her. I love her madly, and I respect her.”...

Two more prominent conservatives have gone public with the increasingly familiar view that Sarah Palin simply cannot win the presidency in 2012. The last few weeks have been very tough for Palin, with more and more conservatives voicing doubts about her fitness to be president (see Salon's guide to the criticism here) and her poll numbers dropping. The two latest doubters are columnist George Will and the RedState blogger Erick Erickson. They take two different routes to the same conclusion. Here's Erickson in a blog post today endorsing Rep. Mike Pence for 2012: But right now I am not excited...

Newsmax’s chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler says it’s not “in Obama’s DNA” to move more to the center following big Republican gains in the midterm elections. He also asserts that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “has blinders on” regarding the wishes of most Americans, calls the tea party movement the “conscience” of congressional Republicans, and doubts that Sarah Palin can win the White House in 2012. Kessler is a New York Times best-selling author whose latest book is “In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.” His next...

Former vice presidential candidate and reality television star Sarah Palin has remained quiet over the recent repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. But she may have just made a statement... by re-Tweeting a conservative lesbian's columnist's Tweet about 'homos.' Around 10 p.m. Eastern time on Monday night, conservative pundit Tammy Bruce Tweeted about the recent repeal of the military's discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell policy: But this hypocrisy is just truly too much. Enuf already—the more someone complains about the homos the more we should look under their bed Tue Jan 04 03:12:46 via web The idea being, one imagines,...

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin – whose lips have been sealed about the recent repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – is now hinting that she supports the move. Palin has not spoken publicly about the end of the ban on gays serving openly in the military, but she appeared to show support for the change via a retweet on Monday night of a gay conservative radio host.

Its been a tough couple of weeks for the gay-loathing “social conservative.” First they have CPAC laying the law down, calling a boycott’s bluff by letting GOProud remain at the event and now this. The darling of many on the right and a far chunk of the tea party movement has caused a stir by a simple re-Tweet on her Twitter account. (Re-Tweet for those not Twitter au fait, means forwarding a Tweet by someone else to all your followers.) Palin re-Tweeted a comment from Tammy Bruce about DADT and the idea put forward by some to re-instate the policy...

Rick Santorum the senator didn’t shy from controversy. Apparently, neither will Rick Santorum the presidential candidate. The former senator from Pennsylvania speaks and acts like a man working diligently to become a dark-horse favorite for president. Dark is the operative word: During an hour-long interview with National Journal last week at a busy coffee shop just blocks from the Capitol, no one appeared to recognize the potential presidential candidate. Santorum is making up for his low profile by taking aim at better-known potential rivals: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. In a race where nobody...