Free Republic

It wasn’t a goal-line interception, but it was a game changer. Just one week in to our Fox News First Power Index and we already have a major overhaul after frontrunner Mitt Romney’s unexpected departure. (Though his conditional statement to supporters left enough doubt to still be “on the radar” until he makes a more Shermanesque statement.) Not only did the frontrunner self-deport, but several second- and third-tier competitors showed surprising strength to make substantial strides. We would expect to see the field unsettled a year out from the first nominating contest, but as you’ll see below, the tumult is...

I'd take Romney. He seems more like he is learning, understanding, and trying to be more conservative as the years go on. Bush on the other hand is floating ideas that seem far less conservative to me as the years go on. However, CRUZ IS MY TOP CHOICE!!! Go CRUZ!

Washington (CNN) -- Jeb Bush is the clear Republican presidential frontrunner, surging to the front of the potential GOP pack following his announcement that he's "actively exploring" a bid, a new CNN/ORC poll found. He takes nearly one-quarter — 23% — of Republicans surveyed in the new nationwide poll, putting him 10 points ahead of his closest competitor, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who tallied 13%.

Some conservative political analysts have opined that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced recently that he was further exploring his options to run for the GOP presidential nomination as a means of pre-empting all other potential GOP candidates. Many of the same analysts say there was an additional, not-so-subtle message, and it was aimed primarily at conservatives: ‘Don’t bother running; the monied GOP interests (i.e. the donor class) have spoken and Jeb Bush is who they want.’ Over the Christmas holidays I have had a number of people ask my opinion about Bush, and what I have told them, essentially,...

On Wednesday, Meghan McCain leveled an attack against Rep. Michele Bachmann on MSNBC, calling her a “poor man’s Sarah Palin.” One night later on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham fired back.Host Bill O’Reilly was attempting to point out the so-called divide in the Republican Party between the grassroots Tea Party portion and the entrenched establishment represented by Meghan McCain and Karl Rove, according to O’Reilly. However, Ingraham objected to McCain’s classification.“Bill, are you serious? I can’t agree – are you serious with that?” Ingraham said. “The only reason Meghan McCain is getting any...

Karl Rove -- When did FreeRepublic learn to hate you? Please explain why we hate Karl Rove.

Senator John Cornyn is the current Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Please help the Senator learn to be more careful and respectful. The NRSC announcing they would not support O'Donnell was a PR disaster. Conservatives cannot afford to have leaders who are completely out of touch with reality.

My opinion of Sarah just took a dent. She was on Bill O'Reilly's show and he quizzed her about her opinion, in his overbearing fashion, on how to deal with the illegal alien problem. I'm afraid it seemed instantly obvious that either she has not spent five minutes looking into the issue and talking to people who actually know something about the problem or she has and is keeping her real plans secret a la Chris Christie. She did not bring up any specifics or actual ideas and plans and basically let Blowhard Bill lead her around by the nose...

Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer reiterated her support for Arizona’s senior Sen. John McCain yesterday. Brewer, who in February endorsed McCain in his primary battle against Rep. J.D. Hayworth, told Fox’ Greta Van Susteren that the race is tough. “It's interesting. Sen. McCain, of course, has represented the state of Arizona for a long time. And J.D. Hayworth has served in Congress for eight years,” the governor said. “I believe philosophically, they're different breeds of politicians. And people will just have to make that decision. I've known Sen. McCain for a long time, and I think he's served Arizona well.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ― Republican gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman wrapped up a week of fundraising Friday with help from some big GOP names while facing protests about the amount of money she is spending on her quest for California's highest office. Whitman's political mentor, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, joined her at a donors-only luncheon in Sacramento, where tickets started at $1,000 and went up to $25,900. In the evening, Whitman ended her weeklong fundraising tour at a gala in Redwood City with Romney, former Republican presidential nominee John McCain, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Secretary of State...

Angela Sailor, the Republican National Committee’s Director of Coalitions, called me today to inform me that Michael Steele will speak as scheduled at the annual conference of Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network (NAN). On April 4, NLPC asked Steele to withdraw from the event, which takes place tomorrow through Friday in New York City. When I went through each of our objections, Ms. Sailor gave me some permutation of the following: Chairman Steele is going to New York to speak to 500-1,000 people in a ballroom to ask them to support Republican candidates. When I asked if Steele...

NEW ORLEANS -- I just wrote about "Evangelicals for Mitt," a group of evangelical supporters of Mitt Romney who are pressing people to support Romney at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll. Afterward, I spoke to a young female delegate who said she planned to vote for Romney in the poll. I asked her how she had ended up at the conference. She said "Evangelicals for Mitt" had contacted her and offered to pay for her to have a limited-access ticket -- so long as she agreed to vote for Romney in the straw poll. Asked how "Evangelicals for...

Senator John McCain, whose reelection campaign has adopted a decidedly anti-maverick slant, released a new radio ad Wednesday assailing his primary challenger J.D. Hayworth’s proclivity for earmarking while in the House of Representatives. The 60-second spot features anti-pork crusader Congressman Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, who credits McCain with a career devoted to eliminating wasteful federal spending and aligns Hayworth with big spending Democrats. “Republicans, including Senator McCain’s opponent, lost their bearings on federal spending,” Flake said. “They loaded up bills with pork barrel projects, and the voters punished Republicans by putting Democrats in charge.”

Is cap and trade really "dead"? After all, didn't Sen. Lindsey Graham say so? The South Carolina Republican's recent remarks -- or snippets of them -- have ricocheted around Capitol Hill and beyond in recent weeks, lending momentum to the notion that the congressional effort he is helping lead no longer plans to implement a system that requires companies to buy and sell emission credits. But Graham's remarks appear to be more political than substantive. Indeed, cap and trade remains very much a part of the debate on what legislation will look like when the closed-door negotiations are finished. Graham...

There’s something not to like for everyone in the Mount Vernon Statement of conservative principles that wasn’t signed at Mount Vernon but sure looks good on a masthead. Read more: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-mount-vernon-statement-wont-fix-whats-broken/

Times change, and in the case of the 2010 governor's race, so do political endorsements, apparently. Just ask GOP Rep. John Campbell of Newport Beach: he's switched his backing. A few months ago, Campbell issued glowing statement endorsing California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner -- and this week, the 48th CD representative issued another glowing endorsement statement, this backing former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Here's Campbell on Poizner last December, talking about his backing of the state Insurance Commissioner in the 2010 governor's race: "Steve is the right man at the right time for California. As our nation grapples with...

It’s supposed to be a listening tour to accompany their launch of the National Council for a New America. So, where do they launch it? With the party at its lowest standing in several decades, Republicans on Saturday launched a listening tour in the heart of the Democratic suburbs, where several of the party’s leading voices steered clear of hot-button issues and instead emphasized the need to advance new policy ideas to revive the party’s prospects. There’s a great idea. Let’s listen to Democrats. That should get the Conservative base involved! House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and former Republican governors...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is expected to play a role in the National Council for a New America, a new effort led by House and Senate Republican leaders designed to find ways to make the party more appealing to independent voters. "I understand that Governor Palin is hopefully going to be involved as well," said Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) during a conference call this morning announcing the group's formation. Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the Alaska governor, did not immediately return an email seeking to confirm Palin's involvement. If she does respond, we'll update the post.

(CNN) — John McCain’s general election campaign began as “the strategic equivalent of throwing a football through a tire at 50 yards” – and was doomed weeks before Election Day, his former chief strategist said Thursday. “We were running a campaign under extra difficult circumstances — the state of the Republican Party, the president’s unpopularity, the economy — a lot of issues that were not John McCain’s fault, but were John McCain’s problem in this race,” Schmidt told an audience at the University of Delaware, according to Politico. “When Lehman Brothers collapsed in the fall I knew pretty much right...

There has been much talk of the 8 year BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) from the left but I think it's time we admitted there are DS's on the right and we have to look no further than our own backyard here at FR to find the most glaring example, McCain Derangement Syndrome. McCain wasn't my preferred candidate. In fact, I'd have to go all the way back to Reagan to find my own preferred candidate victorious. But you never get everything you want in politics so many times you have to work with you got and make the best of...