Free Republic

Within seconds of Rick Perry's onstage collapse last night, the political world had almost unanimously declared the time of death for the Texas Governor's presidential campaign. But Perry's spectacular meltdown may end up being the best thing that ever happened to his lagging White House bid. In contrast to the Herman Cain camp, Perry's team has been a model for crisis management in the aftermath of the gaffe. The chagrined candidate has been making the morning show rounds today, displaying a startling humble and human side in the face of some pretty snarky talk show hosts. Perry's media blitz is...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama: Mr. Likable. At least that's what the president's advisers hope Americans who are frustrated by the economy and looking for someone to blame will remember when they vote next November. His team is emphasizing the president's "regular guy" appeal, putting him in small-town diners, at roadside pit stops and on Jay Leno's couch. Those settings are designed to highlight his likeability, a political strength, even as the economy, a political weakness, sputters along a year before the 2012 election. During his recent bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia, the president surprised lunchtime crowds at...

See for example this thread first. The MSM is in a snit (I'll tell you in a little bit.) Unaware he was heard Bush used the "S-word" We'll never hear the end of it!

How much would you pay for a bicycle? Is seven grand too much? Not as much as John Kerry [related, bio], I daresay, now that we know, thanks to a front-page story about his butler in The New York Times, that he owns a Serotta bike. The Serotta, see, is custom-made, with the ``holistic (whole-cyclist) approach to bicycle fitting.'' Translation: It's very expensive. How expensive, you ask. Serotta's ``price points'' are between $1,800 and $5,000 - just for the frame, mind you, if you want extras, like gears and titanium spokes, tack on another $2,000 - which raises the question:...

THEIR youthful resumés sound remarkably similar: two young men with prominent pedigrees who prepped in New England, enrolled at the same college and joined the same secret society. As Jay Leno noted, the choices in the presidential election range all the way from a rich, white guy from Yale to a rich, white guy from Yale. But in college there was a wide gulf between George W. Bush and John Kerry. As debates about civil rights and the Vietnam War roiled the campus, they went their separate ways. Nobody in those days talked about a division between red and blue...

U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., continued his traditional annual beach walk here even though he's setting his sights on a higher prize nationwide.The Democratic presidential candidate walked along Wrightsville Beach for an hour Friday, shaking hands with sunbathers as the holiday weekend began. Donna Helledy beamed when Edwards met with her. "I think he's refreshing," said Helledy, who splits her time between southeastern North Carolina and suburban Philadelphia. Edwards has made the beach walk an annual tradition since he won his Senate seat in 1998. Others who do not want him to win the presidency in 2004 received Edwards politely....