Free Republic

This week, Sarah Palin stoked a late, brief flurry of speculation that she might enter the 2012 presidential race. I wont try to predict the former Alaska governor's decision. But I will predict this: If Palin does enter the race, she won't be any kind of factor. Over the past three years, Palin has systematically laid waste to the basis for a presidential campaign. By her own words and actions, she has discredited herself and alienated her one-time supporters. But before Palin vanishes into her hard-earned obscurity, Republicans need an assessment and an accounting. Had John McCain won in 2008,...

On the eve of Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s announcement that he will be a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Ann Coulter continues to push for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to enter the competition. On Sean Hannity’s Friday radio show, Coulter, author of “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America,” made a prediction on how she thought things would shake out. But, she remains optimistic on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s chances against President Barack Obama should Romney be the Republican nominee. “This is a prediction for the future — that Republican primary voters are desperate,...

The latest trend in the media world is “trending.” That is, monitoring what people are buzzing about and directing coverage accordingly. Just as the unspoken sometimes reveals more than the spoken, what’s not trending suggests more than what’s trending. In all the many thousands of words written in the immediate aftermath of the Republican debate in Iowa, two words were scarce: Sarah Palin.

Some rock-solid Granite State voters for Sarah Palin are carrying a torch for the former Alaskan governor as presidential material — despite the straight-talking reality star’s plummeting popularity in New Hampshire and uncertainty over whether she’ll run — their hopes renewed last weekend as Palin vowed, “I can win a national election.” Warren Rasmussen, who chairs the New Hampshire chapter of Organizers 4 Palin, said the Newsweek interview confirmed what he’s long believed. “We have a crew of volunteers, and we’re anxiously awaiting her announcement,” Rasmussen said. “Everything that she’s doing right now leads me to believe she’s in

Sarah Palin, the woman who put enough sizzle in McCain's 2008 presidential bid to make Republicans think they were finally cooking, now finds herself a few matches short of stoking her own political fire.  Palin has managed to maintain the conservative and national spotlight for three years since that failed White House bid.  She has won over the Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party, and Glenn Beck.  Yet a coveted demographic in her camp continues to elude her: the conservative woman.Sarah Palin is smart, pretty, and adventurous -- a strong red-white-and-blue conservative.  Truth be told, conservative women...

It was probably not the intention of liberal investigative journalists to expose Sarah Palin as a figure far more sympathetic than her public image. Twenty-four thousand pages of e-mail voyeurism reveal a politician who has successfully hidden her virtues behind closed blinds. As Alaska governor, Palin was kind to her staff, responsive to her constituents and protective of her state. She sought God’s guidance in difficult decisions, made time for her family and found media questions on the provenance of her youngest child to be “flippin’ unbelievable.” These revelations read more like a campaign commercial. [snip] Reading through some of...

The vice-chair of Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential team in New Hampshire told The Washington Times Wednesday that he thinks former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will take a pass on running for president. "I have no inside knowledge, but I would be very surprised if Gov. Palin decided to run this time," said Steve Duprey, a national Republican committeeman in New Hampshire. "She is tremendous at raising money, has a tremendous support in the base, but it would take an incredible allocation of time to do well in New Hampshire and I'm not sure she is gearing up for that."

So Obama could lose if -- and here's the big if -- Republicans do not blow the opportunity by presenting themselves as Medicare-annihilating racist maniacs... Tea Party conservatives complain that Republicans who advocate restraint, responsibility and moderation do so in order to be nice to Obama. That's utterly upside down. Restraint, responsibility and moderation are indispensable to the defeat of President Obama. It is Tea Party conservatism itself that is Obama's last, best hope for a second term.

....if I had a chance to pose just one, here's the one I'd put to some of the major Republican contenders: Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House: ........Why do Republican officeholders shy away from you in such numbers and with such fervor, and....do you combine a second-class personality with a first-class intellect? Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts:.....So: Do you compete in Iowa? Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota:......Did your actions as House majority leader and then as governor ease or exacerbate the current fiscal crisis in Minnesota? Jon M. Huntsman Jr., former governor of Utah:.....How could you serve...

Following the Sarah Palin playbook of never admitting error, the ex-governor’s minions are busy flooding the Internet with ’proof’ that Palin did not misspeak when suggesting that Paul Revere warned the British that they would not be taking arms from the colonists during his ride where he, apparently, rung bells and fired muskets. The effort to back up Palin is based on taking bits and pieces of facts surrounding the historic event that, when cut and pasted together, work to make Palin look a little less befuddled than her actual statement would indicate. While I give them credit for the...

Howie thread for the week starting with his Sunday Herald column

Right now, Mitt Romney is on with Greta. And he's knocking it out of the park about our failed trade policy. Hat's off to Mitt, even for when Greta set him up to criticize Trump with a total gimme, he moved the subject back to issues. IMHO the 2012 race is off to a pretty good start.

According to the latest polls, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s political popularity trajectory is heading south. It was inevitable given our 24/7 fame-obsessed culture which feeds on new personalities and controversy to fuel the celebrity media machine. Once Sarah Palin resigned from her office as Alaska governor, she left that respected “higher platform” reserved for our elected leaders and crossed over into celebrity jungle. There, she willingly subjected herself to the unforgiving forces of media pop culture, where the masses are easily bored. And now, without a new hit show, movie, book, clothing line, charity cause, or fragrance, Palin is...

Mitt Romney, my personal favorite front-runner for 2012 on our side just performed a rare *suuuuuhuuckification* on the Hugh Hewitt radio show this afternoon in Hewitt's second segment. (Holy God Hugh, if you ever bore me again as you did in that first segment teasing a Romney appearance, I swear it will be worth my time to drop everything and drive to the OC so I can personally explain to you my displeasure.) No kidding, I think Mitt is the only one who even stands a chance against Zero. (Will save how he would have mopped the floor with Zero...

Prominent New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg says that Sarah Palin just might have a clearer path to the Republican presidential nomination next year than commonly understood – an event he warns would lead to President Obama's clear reelection. Gregg, the former senator and governor of the Granite State, says the muddled GOP presidential field means it's more likely than ever there won't be a clear consensus candidate before the party's nominating convention in August of 2012. If that happens, says Gregg, Palin and her army of supporters might have the upper hand when it comes to settling on a presidential...

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown said he has no plans to run for president next year, but will support Mitt Romney if the former Republican Massachusetts governor jumps in the race.

Mike Huckabee may be especially tempted to run in 2012 by a lingering feud between him and Mitt Romney, a severe hangover from the 2008 campaign that has created a lasting and bitter rift between the two, Republicans who know both men say. “[Huckabee] hates Mitt, and his goal in Iowa last time was to stop him,” said one prominent Republican, who’s known both men for years. “If he sees an opportunity to cut Mitt off [during the nominating process], he will take it.” Continue Reading Huckabee and Romney were never exactly pals before the Iowa caucuses two years ago...

Today's highlighted links of the LDS Church and its members in news coverage include Huffington Post-published predictions of a Mormon in the White House and the Book of Mormon on the New York Times' best-seller list within the next two years as well as a look at Utah Catholics anxious to share Temple Square with their out-of-state peers. HuffPo's "What Will Be The Top Religion Stories of 2012" offering leads off with two bold predictions regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "1. "2. The Book of Mormon will be on the New York Times Bestsellers list throughout...

Washington is replete with idiots, but Senate Republicans seem to have the highest incidence of political idiocy in the entire capital.

WASHINGTON --Reince Priebus was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday after Michael Steeledropped his bid to stay atop the party for another two years. Priebus clinched the victory after seven rounds, securing 97 votes, more than the 85 required to win. Steele dropped out of the race after four rounds. "At this time, I will step aside for others to lead," Steele told the168 RNC committee members at the Gaylord Resort in National Harbor, Md. "But in so doing, I hope y'all appreciate the legacy we leave. Despite the noise -- because lord know we had a...