Free Republic

Sundance is that quietly salty cuss who prefers to swing the sharp machete alone amid the deep weeds; clearing the path simply for the sake of creating clarity and larger understanding about the topography of the stuff the professional political class would prefer to keep hidden in the weeds. At times, he settles himself atop the bluff, opens his lunchbox and thermos to eat a simple sandwich, shirt sleeves will suffice as a napkin, while looking at the flow coming into the clearing… Amid this era of insufferable pretending, our dear and rebellious non-pretending CTH friend, the Great Lou Dobbs,...

@daveweigel Asked Youngkin (at RGA meeting) about "going on offense" on abortion, as he said he'd do if he won. "A pain threshold bill is something that I would entertain," he said, but it's not part of "day one plan" - that's schools, parole board, cutting back regulations.

Eric Greitens stormed into the governor’s office in January 2017 vowing to clean up a state government he said was corrupt. He resigned Tuesday just as abruptly as he had arrived on Missouri's political scene, his career buried under an avalanche of scandal and felony charges. Mike Parson, 63, a fellow Republican and former sheriff who served 11 years in the General Assembly before being elected as lieutenant governor in 2016, will take over as Missouri’s 57th governor. He’ll finish Greitens’ term, which runs until January 2021. A Rhodes scholar and former Navy SEAL, Greitens was once considered one of...

A spokesman says former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is in critical condition after undergoing an emergency heart procedure at a hospital in Austin, Texas. Ridge spokesman Steve Aaron says the 72-year-old Ridge, Pennsylvania's Republican governor from 1995 to 2001, was attending the Republican Governors Association conference when he called for help at his hotel about 7 a.m.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) slammed Hillary Clinton’s ex-spokesman and CNN political contributor Brian Fallon in a statement on Saturday after Fallon derisively claimed Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie was a white supremacist. “Brian Fallon’s attack on Ed Gillespie is shameful, disgraceful, and has no place in American politics,” said RGA Chairman Governor Scott Walker. “Ralph Northam, Hillary Clinton and CNN should immediately denounce Fallon’s blatant attempt to score political points from a tragedy, and CNN should question whether it serves the network and the viewing public well by giving a microphone to Fallon’s hateful rhetoric.” Fallon claimed that...

There's never been a better time to call a Convention of States. While both Democrat and Republican legislators support limiting the power of the federal government, we've found that states controlled by conservatives are more likely to pass the Convention of States resolution. That's why this article from The Daily Signal is such good news: Republicans now control the governorship and legislature in 26 states and conservative leaders say this trend continues to grow in Republicans’ favor. “Over the last seven years since we have covered state legislatures and state executives pretty extensively, there’s been a significant shift from Democratic-controlled...

The Republican National Committee paid the Trump International Hotel in Washington $122,000 last month after the party held a lavish fundraiser at the venue in June, the latest example of how GOP political committees are generating a steady income stream for President Trump's private business, new Federal Election Commission records show. At least 25 congressional campaigns, state parties and the Republican Governors Association have together spent more than $473,000 at Trump hotels or golf resorts this year, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance filings. Trump's companies collected an additional $793,000 from the RNC and the president's campaign...

TRENTON -- Already trailing badly in the polls, Republican New Jersey governor candidate Kim Guadagno has been hit with another devastating 1-2 punch: She's lost the confidence of a pair of deep-pocketed GOP groups that spend big on governor's races, NJ Advance Media has learned. The Republican National Committee, which is controlled by President Donald Trump, views the lieutenant governor as someone who hasn't been loyal to the president and officials there see her race as a losing cause, according to two sources familiar with the RNC's plans. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly....

Gov. Mary Fallin on Tuesday announced that President Donald Trump appointed her as co-chair of the Council of Governors. Ten governors, appointed by the president, serve on the bipartisan council with a focus on collaboration between federal and state governments on issues related to the National Guard, homeland security and disaster response. “It is an honor to have been named co-chair of the Council of Governors by President Trump,” Fallin said in a statement. “As a previous chair of the National Governors Association, I look forward to continuing my excellent working relationships with the other governors to provide suggestions and...

Mitch's minions need to go!!

Mitch's moderates need to go!!

The Republican Governor’s Association is launching its first ad of the gubernatorial campaign seeking to tie Democratic candidate Jack Conway to President Barack Obama. The ad titled: “Vague” is running statewide in what the RGA is calling a significant ad buy across broadcast and cable networks. In the spot the RGA follows a similar track that has been used against Conway in past Elections. The group attempts to tie Conway to Obama saying the two Democrats are similar in their “vague promises. The RGA ad specifically targets Conway over cap and trade. Cap-and-trade is essentially putting a limit on greenhouse...

Republicans in state governments plan juggernaut of conservative legislation

DENVER — Tom Tancredo isn’t trashing Bob Beauprez, but he’s demanding one of his biggest benefactors, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, come clean about the Republican Governors Association’s influence on Colorado’s GOP gubernatorial primary. On Monday, the Denver Post reported that a campaign finance watchdog group discovered that the RGA, which Christie chairs, funneled money to help Beauprez through the Republican Attorney Generals Association despite its public pledge not to attempt to influence GOP primaries. (SNIP) “We already have a situation in Mississippi where grassroots Republicans feel disenfranchised by party elites. We need to avoid a repeat in Colorado. “Governor...

Republican governors are accusing President Barack Obama of making politically motivated cuts to their states’ National Guard funding. Speaking to reporters after a meeting between the President and the National Governors Association, the GOP governors said they were deeply troubled by Obama’s tone when asked about planned cuts to the National Guard. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said Obama became ”aggressive” and that his tone “chilled the room quite a bit.” “He basically said, ‘Many people in this room have asked for cuts, and now you getting ’em,’” Haley said at a news conference across from the White House at...

Rick Perry admitted at the RGA today that he was very troubled by Obama’s tone today addressing the National Governors Association: I don’t mind telling you I was a bit troubled today by the tone of the president. …For the president of the United States to look Democrat and Republican governors in the eye and to say ‘I do not trust you to make decisions in your state about issues of education, about transportation infrastructure…’ – that is really troubling. Perry went on to say that Obama was going to hollow out the National Guard and warned the state governors...

WASHINGTON — The explosive politics of health care have divided the nation, but America's governors, Republicans and Democrats alike, suggest that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is here to stay. While governors from Connecticut to Louisiana sparred on Sunday over how best to improve the nation's economy, governors of both parties shared a far more pragmatic outlook on the controversial program known as "Obamacare" as millions of their constituents begin to be covered. "We're just trying to make the best of a bad situation," Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, of Iowa, who calls the health care law "unaffordable and unsustainable,"...

New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie will speak at 2014’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the American Conservative Union (ACU) announced late Sunday. The ACU’s decision to invite Christie comes after he was denied a speaking slot in 2013 and amid a scandal over politically motivated highway lane closures that may jeopardize the rough-and-tumble Governor’s political future. “We are very excited to announce that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will speak at CPAC 2014,” ACU chairman Al Cardenas said in a statement. “At this year’s CPAC — and through our theme ‘ACU’s Golden Anniversary: Getting It Right for 50 Years’...

“Bobby Jindal and his political team totally blew it,” harrumphed one advisor for Ken Cuccinelli the morning after a closer-than-expected loss. Cuccinelli, who narrowly lost last night’s gubernatorial election to Terry McAuliffe, was badly outspent in the days and weeks leading up to the election. The New York Times‘ Jonathan Martin described Cuccinelli’s plight as having been “close to abandoned at the end.” He was. As Politico’s James Hohmann reported, ”The Republican National Committee spent about $3 million on Virginia this year, compared to $9 million in the 2009.” And as the Roanoke Times noted, in 2009, the Chamber of...

Republicans are in position to extend their recent gains among governors as they compete for seats they haven't won in a quarter-century. Of the 11 states with gubernatorial elections in November, eight are now led by Democrats, and each of the most competitive races is a GOP pickup opportunity. The numbers suggests that Republicans soon will claim 30 to 33 governorships after holding just 22 a few years ago - an advantage not reflected in the divided Congress or competitive presidential race. 'It says that when people are choosing the government closest to the people, they're choosing Republicans,' Virginia Gov....