Free Republic

What's with the hatred of Michele Bachmann at Free Republic lately? I've seen some psychotic paranoid drivel about her secretly working for Mitt Romney, but apparently there's more to it than that. Please help me out here, folks.

Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role, the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment: Reach out to conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon with a request. Ask him if he would make a series of videos extolling Palin's governorship and laying to rest lingering questions about her controversial decision to resign from office with a year-and-a-half left in her first term. It was this abdication, Palin knew, that had made her damaged goods in the eyes of some...

Newt Gingrich was on Meet the Press this morning in his first Sunday show appearance since announcing his intention to… challenge President Obama for the Democrat nomination, apparently. Andrew Stiles at NRO has the details: Newt Gingrich’s appearance on “Meet the Press” today could leave some wondering which party’s nomination he is running for. The former speaker had some harsh words for Paul Ryan’s (and by extension, nearly every House Republican’s) plan to reform Medicare, calling it “radical.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The problems continue for Tiger Woods, only this time it's his livelihood, not his image, in the balance. Woods withdrew after shooting 42 on the front nine at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday, citing pain in his left leg that has plagued him intermittently throughout his career. "The knee acted up and then the Achilles followed after that, and then the calf started cramping up," said Woods, who triple-bogeyed the par-4 fourth hole and made three bogeys and no birdies. "Everything started getting tight, so it's just a whole chain reaction." The...

I have observed that the polls and the news readers have taken to reminding us that Sarah Palin's nomination spells certain defeat for the GOP in 2012. Let's examine the question of Sarah Palin's prowess as a candidate, measured against the current field: It has been noted that former Senator Rick Santorum won his Senate seat in a big GOP year (1994) and lost it big in a Democrat year (2006), sweeping in with one tide and out with another. This is evidence of weakness as a candidate. Let's examine the rest of this field, using 2006 as the barometer....

It's on the minds of virtually everyone watching the 2012 GOP presidential field: Is Sarah Palin in or out? ------------------- The storyline has been building since John McCain lost to Obama in 2008. From that moment, Sarah Palin has been courted by the grassroots tea party movement and lampooned by both the Left and the GOP establishment. Despite being constantly in the media's crosshairs, Palin has managed to keep any thoughts of a 2012 run for the White House under wraps, which ironically has fueled the Palin rumor mill even more. The the May issue, which is shipping to subscribers...

Sarah Palin may be having some trouble with the voting demographic from her own home state of Alaska. According to results released Wednesday, the Dittman Research Corporation’s AlaskaPoll showed the former Governor and potential 2012 Presidential candidate rated at 61% unfavorably by a survey taken between March 3 and March 17th of approximately 400 Alaskans.

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says Sarah Palin will be the GOP nominee for president in 2012, and she'll "be controlled by the status quo." Appearing on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" Monday at 9 p.m. EST, the one-term Reform Party governor said that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is being groomed for the role, though he doesn't care who the presidential nominees are for either party.

The question on everyone’s mind loomed throughout Sarah Palin’s hour-long appearance in North Naples on Wednesday: Will Floridians see more of the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012? The answer was simple: You betcha. “I’m thinking about it and praying about it,” Palin said when asked whether she’d run for president in 2012. “(But) whether I’m a candidate or not … I’m going to stay engaged.” Palin spoke to a sold-out audience Wednesday as part of the Naples Town Hall Distinguished Speakers Series at the Ritz Carlton Naples Beach Resort. Her speech focused on issues facing...

In front of an Alaskan backdrop of mountains and a lake, Sarah Palin had a busy, busy night on television Friday. She found time to tweak a fellow Republican, dismiss the president, and scold a top rated Fox News talk show host. Palin opened by questioning New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's toughness and attacking President Barack Obama for naivete. After that, she preached about cutting various government programs to Bill O'Reilly before telling him not to interrupt her. All in a night's work. On America's Nightly Scoreboard, host David Asman informed Palin that Christie had told Fox Business News that...

He’s taken a couple of shots at her in the past, all of which went ignored, but I guess the latest iteration of “she needs to be less scripted” finally demanded a response. Ace’s co-blogger, DrewM, makes a nice point: Her critique of Christie on spending at the beginning here is actually a non sequitur vis-a-vis the question she’s being asked. David Asman mentions Christie but all he wants to know is if, unlike him, she finds anyone in the field inspiring. To which she responds by … comparing their records on spending, forcing Asman to repeat the question when...

Palin says that Christie is forced to cut budgets because NJ is broke. But she points out that when she became Governor of Alaska, she cut even though she had a surplus:

DENVER -- A Centennial-based organization has canceled an up coming charity event featuring Sarah Palin, citing safety concerns. The Sharon K Pacheco Foundation announced Saturday that the 2011 Patriots & Warriors Charity Gala scheduled for May 2 would not be held. "Due to an onslaught of personal attacks against Governor Palin and others associated with her appearance, it is with deep sadness and disappointment that, in the best interest of all, we cancel the event for safety concerns," said the Foundation's Director.

To the dismay of all but hard-core political junkies, the endless campaign is a reality of modern politics. With some midterm races still unresolved, voters’ attention is already turned to 2012. And no potential presidential candidate now garners more attention than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Love her or hate her, admire her or fear her, respect her or ridicule her, it seems no one in the chattering class is without an opinion on Palin. Virtually every part of her life is dissected — sometimes by her own choice. Each word is scrutinized, and each misstep — no matter how...

Sarah Palin has not even come close to announcing that she is going to run for President. But, doesn't it seem inevitable? We know this because of her current and past actions. She knows this because of the impact her very presence makes everywhere. Every time she stirs the passions of supporters and detractors she generates political gold in the form of attention. That alone gives her a seemingly significant chance to win any election, because swing voters in these times seem to be choosing fighters, not diplomats. Palin also knows she is going to run because of the Hillary...

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.

Sarah Palin can't expect anyone to take her seriously as a presidential candidate--not after what she said this week. In recent days, the former Alaska governor and Tea Party fave has been on a tear against Journolist, a listserv for nearly 500 journalists, policy wonks, and academics, most of whom are self-identified liberals working for self-identified liberal outfits. The participants on this off-the-record email chain promoted their work, debated politics and policy (occasionally quite sharply), and traded and tested ideas for articles and columns. Last month, The Daily Caller, a conservative website, began running articles based on Journolist archives it...

Ridiculing it as "a silly question," Democrat Barack Obama pledged Wednesday he would resist any overtures to run for president or vice president before the end of his six-year term as a U.S. senator. "I was elected yesterday," Obama said. "I have never set foot in the U.S. Senate. I've never worked in Washington. And the notion that somehow I'm immediately going to start running for higher office just doesn't make sense. "So look, I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years, and my entire focus is making sure that I'm the best...

There are some events that you will always remember where you were when they happened. The events of July 3, 2009 is one of those times. It was an average Friday, the day before our nation’s 233rd birthday. It would have been a slow news day, normally, and on this weekend, the 24 hour news channels had coverage of Michael Jackson’s death playing on an endless loop. What would happen that Friday afternoon would knock Michael Jackson right off the TV and send the political world reeling. We got word “something” was about to happen in Alaska. Now as a...

Come 2012, Palin must not let Romneycare, Pawlenty, Gingrich-scozzafava, and ultimately Obama get away with the "you're a quitter" mantra--especially Obama, who essentially quit his barely 2 year term in the Senate before it even started so he can run for President. It's not about the time one serves in office, but what one accomplishes IN THAT TIME. As governor, Palin accomplished more in two years than most governors do in 4 to 8-- and she didn't leave her state in debt or with a failed universal healthcare system like Romney did! In the 2012 primaries, she needs to have...