Free Republic

Until a few weeks ago, the race for the Republican presidential nomination seemed wide open. There was a presumptive front-runner, Mitt Romney, but he held first place mostly because he was a familiar face; his support among Republican voters appeared broad but not deep. Many conservatives at the party's core weren't happy with Romney, and a line of would-be champions has auditioned for their support, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. But none of them succeeded in knocking Romney off his perch. Until now. Only two weeks after entering the...

Pella, Iowa— On Tuesday night, as dusk settled over this close-knit Midwestern town, Sarah Palin was swarmed. Hundreds of supporters surrounded her, asking for autographs and posing for cell-phone snapshots. She embraced some, patted others on the shoulder. For over two hours, they kept buzzing, Going Rogue and pulled-pork sandwiches in their hands. The town-square picnic was ostensibly to celebrate The Undefeated, the documentary about Palin’s gubernatorial record. But no one was talking about her energy reforms in Alaska. Instead, everyone from grandmothers in flag pins to fresh-scrubbed kids wondered whether she will run for president. Her appearance in Iowa...

And they don't want to have a debate unless Perry - who's got the best job creation record of any sitting governor - is there to steal the show. ...he doesn't want another GOP "dark horse", former Obama China envoy Jon Huntsman, a skilled debater who recently announced his own candidacy, to get a jump on Perry, pulling the party left, rather than right, where so many want it to go. Huntsman, of course, is already something of a party gadfly for having served in the Obama administration, and for having endorsed its "stimulus" package - in fact, he's even...

Obama's 2012 is already in FULL swing... Below is a listing of just some of the upcoming phone banks scheduled for later this month... Organizing For America is already Phone Banking & putting their massive get out the vote/fundraising machine back in full force for 2012. Alabama Call Bank Tuesday, May 31, 2011 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Arizona Call TeamCalifornia Team Building Phone Bank Wednesday, May 25, 2011 5:30 PM - 7:30 PMConnecticut BRIDGEPORT "I'M IN" PHONE BANKFlorida-Tampa "I'M IN" PHONE BANK Thursday, May 26, 2011 4:00 PM - 8:00 PMFlorida- "I'M IN" PHONE BANK - LAKE WORTH Start:...

A headline like that may seem inocuous enough, but amid the fevered speculation about whom John McCain will select as a vice presidential running mate, maybe it’s a tea leaf. Or maybe not. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, in Denver as an unofficial Republican observer during the Democratic National Convention, has canceled several TV interviews that were scheduled for this afternoon, said a Republican spokesman. Pawlenty said his travel plans — he is scheduled to be at the Minnesota State Fair on Friday — remain unchanged. The governor, of course, has long been said to be on McCain’s list of potential...

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is in the Mile High City making stops on behalf of his friend and Republican presidential candidate John McCain. But most of the questions from the media involved what he's heard from Senator John McCain on whether he'll be joining the Republican ticket. The speculation reached a fevered pitch Thursday afternoon when Pawlenty cancelled all of his afternoon appearances in Denver, including an interview with KARE's sister station KUSA which had been slated for 4pm. Not Ready talking points He appeared at a news conference called by "Citizens for McCain" at a TV studio in an...

Romney, Cantor, Diaz-Balart, Blackburn Host "Not Ready '08" Press Confrence

Mitt Romney, John Kerry: Hair today, gone tomorrow By Howie Carr Friday, August 1, 2008 You won’t have Mitt Romney and John Kerry to kick around much longer. At least on the national stage you won’t. They’ll still be knocking around New England, of course. Maybe Mitt can star in a Lake Winnipesaukee remake of that old TV series Sea Hunt. And minimum-wage restaurant employees may well have to endure two more terms of Liveshot asking them the eternal question, “Do you know who I am?” But when it comes to moving up, I think time is running out on...

REPUBLICANS MITT ROMNEY Total receipts to date (includes contributions for the primary and general elections, loans and transfers): $90.1 million, Total contributions to date: $53.9 million Total spending: $87.6 million Fourth quarter contributions: $9.1 million Fourth quarter spending: $34 million Fourth quarter transfers or loans: $18 million Cash on hand: $2.4 million Debt: $35 million Top donor states this quarter: California, $1,182,895.91, Florida, $954,869.03, New York, $597,719.00, Employees from Lehman Brothers gave $44,300, employees of Sun Capital Partners gave $34,200, employees of Olympia Asset Management gave $32,200 JOHN MCCAIN Total receipts to date: (includes contributions for the primary and general...

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is on the rise as his campaign gains momentum, drawing stronger response not only from voters but also a fellow contender. This past week the ordained Southern Baptist preacher bumped former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney from his first-tier position and caused the best financed Republican contender to take a personal shot at the not-so-well financed Huckabee. Romney took a swipe at Huckabee Friday in an Iowa Public Television interview that the former Arkansas governor had supported “special tuition breaks to the children of illegal immigrants,” according to TIME.com's political blog Swampland. It was the first...

"The unifying principle of the Republican Party is that we should tax our citizens less, and as a result have a smaller government. I embrace that principle and have made tax relief one of the cornerstones of my presidential campaign. "Central to my pro-growth economic agenda is a belief that middle-class Americans should not be taxed as they save and invest for the future. We need a middle-class savings plan to provide critical tax relief to American families. We must cut taxes and make more Americans part of the investor class. I have proposed changing the rate of taxation on...

The Republican Party has a big problem going into 2008, and its name is Mitt Romney. “I’ve always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints if you will,” the hapless ex-governor said last week following his claim that he had been “a hunter all my life.” Varmints? Rabbits? Hello, Elmer Fudd. The flap is more serious than it looks for the GOP because of three other things that also happened last week. First was the news that Romney has already raised more than $20 million, the most of any Republican presidential candidate. Second, John McCain’s poll numbers continued to...

Gov. Mitt Romney flirted with abolishing a state advisory commission on gay youth for promoting a parade featuring a crossdressing master of ceremonies and embracing transgender teens, a spokesman said Friday. Initially, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the governor, who signed a proclamation hailing a similar parade in 2003, considering killing the Gov.'s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth because the parade press release was issued without the administration's blessing. On Friday, Fehrnstrom expanded on that explanation. "This year what was brought to our attention was a press release that was not authorized by this office but which went out...

<p>By Rebecca Dial, Staff Writer The former Campbellsville man who pleaded guilty last November to distributing child pornography has complied with a judge's order and his charge has been reduced.</p> <p>Jerry E. Fox, 46, of 406 W. Liberty St. in Rome, N.Y. was sentenced last week to two years' probation for facilitation to distribute child pornography.</p>