Free Republic

Open letter to O`newt Mr. Gingrich you had my vote . Right up to your jumping the shark moment.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Barely triumphant in Iowa, Mitt Romney campaigned Wednesday seeking an overwhelming victory in New Hampshire's primary - and found tough questions even with Sen. John McCain, the locals' beloved war hero, at his side. Romney returned to New Hampshire the morning after his eight-vote victory in Iowa's caucuses, and McCain joined him on stage as part of his endorsement announcement.

The presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts is scheduled to announce the endorsement of Representative Cynthia M. Lummis of Wyoming on Monday morning, adding a Tea Party voice to its chorus of Congressional endorsements. Ms. Lummis, who will serve as Mr. Romney’s Wyoming campaign chairwoman, is a solid fiscal and social conservative, and the Romney campaign hopes her support will underscore the already growing narrative that conservatives are rallying around Mr. Romney. “Governor Romney’s experience as both a chief executive and conservative businessman makes him highly qualified to lead our nation at this time — a time...

Sarah Palin’s name is often floated for all sorts of potential projects, especially since she has yet to determine whether she will run for president next year. But here’s a new project: Ann Coulter, still dismayed that her first choice for 2012, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, refuses to run, told Sean Hannity today that she nonetheless does not want to see Palin run for president but, instead, make a Senate bid– in the state of Arizona. Coulter had plenty of good things to say about the current crop of 2012 candidates– though still lamenting that Christie has refused to...

Washington (CNN) - In an interview after his presidential announcement Tuesday, former Utah governor and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman tried to downplay a letter he wrote to President Barack Obama in August 2009 calling him a "remarkable leader." Huntsman told Fox News that he was only alluding to the fact that the president would appoint a Republican to "a position as important and sensitive as the U.S. ambassadorship to China."

In a political world where perception is everything, Sarah Palin is really hurting right now, according to The Week. The worst part is, she is pulling the Republican Party right down the drain with her. In the past few weeks, Palin has shown all kinds of signs that she is running for president in 2012. She has bought a home in Arizona, hijacked a ride intended for veterans, released a book and announced a bus tour. All of these things say that she is building toward a run for the Republican nomination...or does it? Rumors abound that Palin is simply...

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is crediting so-called "Reagan Democrats" for helping him win the seat once held by Democratic stalwart Edward Kennedy The Republican made the comments Friday at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. Brown said Reagan Democrats, who crossed party lines twice to elect the former Republican president, also turned out to back his candidacy. He said Reagan Democrats are still a force in Massachusetts and without their support he would not have been elected senator.

"You're talking about being an ideologue? If you're looking for one, I'm not it," said Sen. Scott Brown. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said he doesn't consider himself a member of the Tea Party movement and would welcome any primary challenger. Brown, the Republican senator from deep-blue Massachusetts whose win in a special election last year in part catalyzed the Tea Party movement, said he considers himself just a Republican, though one with sympathies toward some Tea Party issues. "Hey, nothing wrong with a primary. I welcome all challengers," Brown said Tuesday morning on MSNBC. He said Monday evening that he...

Andrea Michell is discussing Sarah Palin (what a surprise) with Democrat David Bonier and Republican strategist Vin Weber, here's the video of Weber. ------- MITCHELL: "She had the choice of when to speak and the tone. and one has to wonder why doesn't she have a wider circling of advisers. i don't know any political strategist of a national campaign, republican or democrat who thinks that was a smart thing to do. VIN WEBER: "Well, we really don't know who advises her. She's quite isolated from what you might think of as the Republican establishment. No one is quite sure...

When I see the fervor of Sarah Palin’s fans — and by no means just those who swell the adoring crowds who go to her public appearances — I am convinced that the question is not, “How can she win the GOP nomination?” but “How can she not win it?” When you have anywhere between five and fifteen GOP candidates, all expressing basically the same conservative views, how can anyone other than the only one with the passionate fan base possibly win? And yet: Reading between the lines of what conservative-movement people are saying and writing, there is a great deal...

Opinion: History Says Mitt's the Man for 2012 Michael Medved Contributor AOL News (Nov. 29) -- Conventional wisdom says the battle for the GOP nomination in 2012 is wide open and unpredictable, but Republican history suggests that there is an obvious front runner who is nearly certain to represent his party in the presidential race. For nearly 70 years -- long before most of the current contenders were even born -- GOP leaders and primary voters have displayed a shockingly consistent tendency to pick a candidate whose previous national campaign, whether successful or not, suggested it was "his turn." This...

So he is, and every last one of us was fully aware of it when Scott Brown fee-vah was raging on the right before the special election. Even the Big Red Wave that’s a-comin’ isn’t enough to paint Massachusetts red, so it’s either Scotty B or Generic Massachusetts Democrat X in Teddy’s old seat. I’ll take Scotty. Sarah Palin, who is pushing tea party candidates further to the right, dissed Brown, saying he was not conservative enough to pass muster in a state such as Alaska.Brown is brushing off the intraparty attacks, making no apologies for the pledge of independence...

Glenn Beck and radio pals Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere rattled down the list of potential Republican nominees for President in 2012 this morning, and they had some bad news for the Tea Party movement: Sarah Palin probably won’t run, Ron Paul is still and long shot, and Mitt Romney, as of now, is the GOP’s best bet. While Gray and Burguiere are harsh to most of the candidates, Beck spreads the love around. He tells his co-hosts that he likes Palin but doesn’t think she will run, Bobby Jindal but doesn’t think he has the charisma, and Congressman Paul...

MITT ROMNEY’S latest position on the Massachusetts health care reform law is, finally, an honest one. “Overall, ours is a model that works,’’ the former Bay State governor and would-be presidential candidate said in Iowa.

Looking at Public Policy Polling's results, it would appear that way. PPP has surveyed GOP primary voters in 10 states since mid-February, each has found Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee to be the favored candidate. Sarah Palin placed second in six states, but did not finish first in any of them. According to PPP's latest round of polls, Mike Huckabee leads in both Alabama (with 41%, over Palin's 27% and Romney's 20%) and Missouri (with 32%, over Palin's 28% and Romney's 22%). PPP has not surveyed Republicans in Iowa or New Hampshire--the two most critical primary states--and some of the...

In light of a recent poll that shows former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leading the pack of possible 2012 GOP presidential contenders, 10 serious questions were presented that Romney must answer satisfactorily in order to gain the support of conservatives. To answer these questions Romney supporters provided various explanations concerning the candidate's stance on key issues impacting conservative support, among these being gun rights, property rights, and healthcare. Conservatives are individualistic voters who think independently. Unanimous agreement on the issues is an unrealistic expectation. However, in general conservatives can unite around several core principles:

Sarah Palin Should Beware Of Exploiting Her Youngest Child By Kathleen Parker February 14, 2010 A hurdle familiar to any mother is learning to view her baby as separate from herself. How many of us have answered questions about our babies in first-person plural? -- How old is your baby? -- Oh, we're 22 months now. Well, no, we're not; he is. Yet we nod in universal understanding of the profound sense of oneness that evolves in part from pregnancy. For nine months, mother and baby are inextricably "we" -- linked in body and spirit, every move and morsel belonging...

Washington » The snows that obliterated Washington last week interfered with many scheduled meetings, but they did not prevent the delivery of one important political message: Take Sarah Palin seriously. Her lengthy Saturday night keynote address to the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville and her debut on the Sunday morning talk show circuit with Fox News' Chris Wallace showed off a public figure at the top of her game -- a politician who knows who she is and how to sell herself. This was not the first time that Palin has impressed me. I gave her high marks for...

Yesterday's 9-12 Project and the local Tea Party rallies were roaring successes. The Tea Parties are much more effective at voicing opposition to Obama's policies than the hapless GOP leadership in Congress. With the success of the Tea Parties, it will be only a matter of time before GOP politicians and especially potential 2012 candidates to attempt to make the Tea Parties as their own. Mitt Romney is a man who might try to "buy" the Tea Party movement. With his vast wealth, Romney could open his wallet and fund Tea Party rallies across the country until 2012. Under such...