Free Republic

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)There are 65 prominent people who might run for president in 2016. The Democratic and Republican fields contrast sharply. Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner, while there is no front-runner on the Republican side. Twenty-three Democrats have been mentioned as a candidate or are eyeing a bid, according to an analysis by The Hill. The GOP side has 42. Most of the people on this list won’t run, and some have adamantly claimed that they’re not interested. But many politicians have changed their minds on seeking the White House. Before mounting his 2008 bid, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he...

WASHINGTON — Regardless of whether Sen. Rob Portman or Gov. John Kasich runs for president in 2016, the Republican convention in Cleveland will give both a chance to enhance their national profile as they try to highlight what they believe is their pragmatic brand of conservatism. At a time when Republicans are hoping to temper the image of a party in the grips of social conservatives and tea party activists, analysts say Portman and Kasich can help Republicans present Americans with a more soothing alternative to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Portman can emphasize his...

Frustrated with President Barack Obama’s reaction to Russian action in Ukraine, a group of Republican senators said Wednesday they will introduce legislation outlining a more muscular response. “What we’ve seen from the administration is a lot of rhetoric,” Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. The White House has been dealing “with the situation after something bad has already occurred,” he said. Earlier this week, violence flared up in another area of Ukraine that hugs the Russian border, as the new government in Kiev criticized local police...

Conservative restlessness within their own party poses challenges to three Republican stars in the battleground state of Ohio, where House Speaker John Boehner, Sen. Rob Portman and Gov. John Kasich all have riled up the right. Kasich upset some by pushing for certain tax increases and embracing Medicaid expansion under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul; Boehner is clashing with conservative groups over the federal budget; and Portman faces backlash from social conservatives over his about-face in favor of gay marriage. …

During my time in the Senate, I have used this space to speak to the people of Ohio about the issues that our state and our nation are facing, and how we are working to address those problems in Washington. But this week, I want to let the people of Ohio speak for themselves. Last month, I invited Ohioans to contact me and share their experiences with Obamacare and explain how this law is impacting their lives. These are their stories. Susan from Batavia I am a single mother. I pay for my own health insurance. I am active and...

John McCain voted yea WASHINGTON, D.C., November 7, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This afternoon the Senate approved a bill that could force business owners who adhere to traditional values to hire homosexuals, bisexuals, and those who do not dress in accordance with their biological sex or face litigation. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed following a bipartisan 64-32 vote. Supporters say it would forbid “workplace discrimination” against homosexuals and transgender employees and job-seekers. But critics say, like the HHS mandate, its religious exemption is unduly narrow and would force employers – including Christian schools and nurseries – to violate their consciences....

By now, you really would have thought Michael Bloomberg would have learned his lesson. The out-of-touch New York City mayor has lately made it his business to be in everyone else’s business – whether that means trying to decide for New York residents what they are allowed to eat or drink, or trying to tell people from other states what to think of their elected officials. More often than not, however, Mayor Bloomberg’s overreaches have been repelled. The courts struck down Bloomberg’s ban on large sodas. Notable Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, from Bloomberg’s home state, is on the record as...

Marco Rubio Sinking in New Hampshire 2016 Poll BY: KEVIN DERBY | Posted: August 7, 2013 8:59 AM The latest Granite State poll by WMUR and the University of New Hampshire was released late on Tuesday and it shows U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sinking in New Hampshire, home of the first presidential primary. Rubio is expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. In recent months. Rubio has drawn fire from conservatives for his prominent role in supporting immigration reform. The poll finds New Hampshire Republicans divided on who they want to see as their party’s nominee...

The libertarian advocacy group that grew out of Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign slammed Sen. Marco Rubio Wednesday after the Florida Republican voted against a bill to freeze aid to Egypt that had been introduced by Paul’s son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The younger Paul’s bill, which would have halted $1.5 billion in annual aid given to Egypt, failed Wednesday by a lopsided of 86-13 vote. The Ron Paul-inspired group, Campaign for Liberty, released a statement to its national press list after the vote, singling out Rubio and calling his decision “disgraceful.” “Senator Rubio today stood with President Obama and...

The Talk Shows May 19th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Pfeiffer, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Rep. David Camp, R-Mich.; Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Pfeiffer, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Sen. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; Associated Press President and CEO Gary Pruitt.THIS WEEK (ABC): Pfeiffer; Sen. Robert Menendez, D- N.J.; Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.; Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Pfeiffer, Sen. Rand...

Rick Santorum says it would be “suicidal” for the Republican Party to support same-sex marriage. In an interview with The Des Moines Register on Monday, Santorum said that Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) backing same-sex marriage is similar to the Republicans in the 1960s and 1970s who broke with the GOP and supported abortion. “I’m sure you could go back and read stories, oh, you know, ‘The Republican Party’s going to change. This is the future.’ Obviously, that didn’t happen,” Santorum told the Register. “I think you’re going to see the same stories written now, and it’s...

On The Huffington Post, gay radio host Michelangelo Signorile—last mentioned here when he told a pro-Romney caller to his show to buy arsenic and drink it—is angry at the son of Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.). Salmon must either cave and support the LGBT agenda, or the son must reject his father for being “selfish” and remaining conservative. All parents should “reconcile their faith” with the LGBT agenda, or be cut off:Fortunately, my own parents, like millions across the country and around the world, including, most recently, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), came around after their initial shock and reconciled their support...

CINCINNATI — No one heckled Senator Rob Portman during his first appearance before thousands of Ohioans since becoming the most prominent elected Republican in the country to endorse same-sex marriage. “Wouldn’t you say,” he said, turning to his wife, Jane, after marching in an opening day parade for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, “that most of the comments were thank yous and thumbs up and ‘You did the right thing’?” True, but for some of the Ohioans who acknowledged Mr. Portman, doubts flickered below the surface. “Senator!” said one spectator, Pete Kidnocker, reaching out to shake Mr. Portman’s hand. But...

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced in a Mar. 15 commentary that he had switched his position on “gay marriage” because one of his sons had disclosed he was homosexual, a reversal of views that some conservative leaders criticized as harmful to the people directly involved and to society overall. … Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement that he applauded Portman for loving his son no matter what the circumstances but that he—as a conservative aware of the social necessity for marriage between a man and a woman—could not condone Portman’s view about “gay marriage.” … Peter...

Last week, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio announced that he had reversed his position on same-sex marriage. The reason was that his son had come out to the senator and his wife as gay. This is not the first such instance. Periodically, we hear about Republican politicians whose child has announced that he or she is gay, prompting the parent to change his mind about the man-woman definition of marriage. As a parent, I understand these parents. We love our children, and we want them to love us. Nevertheless, I differ with their decisions to support the redefinition of marriage....

Did Rob Portman's support of same-sex marriage cost him selection as Mitt Romney's running mate? Mika Brzezinski imagines so. Brzezinski made that suggestion on today's Morning Joe, but Joe Scarborough sarcastically said that the reason Romney didn't pick Portman was that he didn't want to win Ohio. View the video here.

Last week, Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio announced that he had reversed his position on same-sex marriage. The reason was that his son had come out to him and his wife as gay. This is not the first such instance. Periodically, we hear about Republican politicians whose child announces that he or she is gay, prompting the parent to change his mind about the man-woman definition of marriage. As a parent, I understand these parents. We love our children, and we want them to love us. Nevertheless I differ with their decisions to support the redefinition of marriage. In...

In an opinion article in the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman announced that he has changed his mind and now supports same-sex marriage. He wrote that on learning that one of his sons is gay he "wrestled with how to reconcile my Christian faith with my desire for Will to have the same opportunities to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister." He is not the only prominent Republican to come to this view in this way. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is another. And at the Conservative Political Action Committee convention, a panel sponsored by...

As Senator Rob Portman has demonstrated, people are entitled to their opinions as much as they are entitled to change their mind. While I remain someone who supports traditional marriage I too have recognized that the momentum away from it is unstoppable (and at our own peril). It's why I don't spend a lot of time and brain damage on it. Of the moral decay plaguing America and the world this one issue is impossible to sway people on because those who don't believe there are inherent differences in gender that impact the raising of a child will simply not...

Rob Portman’s dual revelations that his son is gay and that he has decided to support gay marriage are both a touching story of familial love and another signpost in the astonishingly rapid success of the gay-rights revolution. Just over eight years ago, when Republicans gleefully seized on the gay-marriage issue to mobilize their base in Portman’s own state, it was inconceivable that a statewide Democrat would endorse gay marriage, let alone a Republican. The triumph of the issue relies upon the changing of minds — some thanks to force of argument, others to personal contact with gay friends, colleagues,...