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Presidential hopefuls seeking to win conservative voters were quick to voice criticism of an Iowa county judge’s ruling to allow gay “marriage” in his county despite the state’s ban on same-sex civil “marriage.” Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was the first to denounce the decision by Polk County Judge Robert Hanson, who last Thursday ruled that the state’s decade-old same-sex “marriage” ban violated the couples’ constitutional rights. Romney even voiced support of a federal ban on same-sex “marriage.” “The ruling in Iowa is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will...

If there was ever a secret to actor-politician Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign, all the wrapping came off Tuesday when West Virginia Republican party officials announced the former Tennessee senator has filed to participate in the Mountain State’s primary convention. Thompson, 65, who served two terms in the U.S. Senate, plans to make the little-kept secret public Thursday when he will make the official announcement he is a candidate for president. He appears on The Tonight Show tonight with Jay Leno. But Bob Fish, chairman of West Virginia’s GOP convention, said Thompson met the party’s Sept. 1 filing deadline. Fish announced...

Last week's Iowa straw poll got a lot of national attention -- historically it's known to be something that could make or break a presidential candidate. On Thursday, Illinois got in on the action, with its first-ever straw poll. The polls were open at the state fair, and voters chose a candidate for president. But it's not Election Day -- its the first straw poll in Illinois. "You felt the enthusiasm in that room -- here it is, it was pouring rain at the time, and people were literally standing in the rain waiting to vote,” said Illinois State Republican...

To revise the old Woody Allen line: Eighty percent of success is not showing up. While Mitt Romney may have nominally "won" the Iowa Straw Poll over the weekend, the real victors were the ones who stayed away from Ames: Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson (who has made something of an art of not showing up, in recent months). The paradox could mean the end of the straw poll as a GOP touchstone. And that would be nothing but good news for the Republican Party. Let's look first at how Mr. Romney comes out of all of this....

By the time the writing of this sentence is finished, Tommy Thompson should be out of the presidential race. The 67-year-old former Wisconsin Governor and Bush cabinet member had been unusually honest in playing the expectation game before today’s Iowa Straw Poll. “I've said all along that if I don't come in first or second, I'll drop out of the race,'' he reminded the media earlier this week. Well, the votes are now in and tallied, and Mr. Thompson came in sixth. If this does indeed mean death-by-straw-poll for the Thompson effort, it can be considered a mercy killing. His...

Republican presidential candidates transformed the campus of Iowa State University into a conservative carnival Saturday, competing for votes by offering free soda and barbecue and a promise of shade for the thousands who braved the 100-degree heat to attend this year's straw poll. The activists came by the busload, more than 30,000 in all, for the first voting of the 2008 presidential campaign. But for many, casting ballots was an afterthought as they made their way past huge stages with live bands, inflatable bouncy rooms for the kids and fair-style booths touting one conservative cause after another. The Iowa Right...

The only "Simpsons" series character whose name was changed for the movie was Austrian-born action star Rainer Wolfcastle, who goes by the name of President Schwarzenegger. This is satire, I think. There are nine Republican contenders for president and many more in the party looking for a rock-star candidate. Is it Rudy Giuliani, a.k.a. the Mayor of Terror Town? Mitt Romney, who bears a spooky resemblance to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves? Tom Tancredo or Tommy Thompson, both of whose names would restore alliteration to the White House for the first time since the Reagan era? I woke up early Sunday...

DES MOINES -- Although heated at the outset, the GOP debate quickly settled into a mild-mannered Sunday morning affair that saw the Republican presidential hopefuls training their fire on would-be Democratic opponents more than on each other. On issues ranging from the war in Iraq to health care to taxes, the top-tier contenders were mostly of a like mind during the 90-minute session held at Drake University and broadcast on ABC News. The session did, though, get off to a contentious start when moderator George Stephanopoulos opened things up by playing a "robo-call" that Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback's campaign has...

Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #4 – Des Moines, Iowa 08/05/07 - Official Discussion Thread ABC News will be conducting a debate to be aired on This Week. The nine announced GOP presidential candidates meet in a campaign debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. George Stephanopoulos is the moderator; Des Moines Register political writer David Yepsen poses additional questions. Debate starts at 8 am CT (9 am ET/ 6 am PT) * check local stations for broadcast time in your area * Candidates participating Sam Brownback Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Duncan Hunter John McCain Mitt Romney Ron Paul Tom...

The alliance of talk radio, blogs and grassroots efforts was a winner when it came to defeating the "shamnesty" bill. Conservatives were enraged and showed just how much power we possess: A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 15,000 adults in June found that just 32.0% now say they're Republicans. That's up more than a full percentage point from a month ago and is within a tenth-of-a-point of the GOP's best showing in ten months. This is purely because of the efforts put forth to defeat a bill that would've rewarded those who broke our laws. The Bush administration suffered...

Through sheer force of will and/or idiocy, he’s managed to stretch his vote Thursday morning on cloture into a three-day, Kerryesque fiasco. Yesterday he said he’d intended to switch from yes to no all along. Today, a more nuanced explanation emerges. Exactly the type of man we need in the White House right now. Though some on both sides of the issue accused Brownback of “flip-flopping” once he saw that he would end up on the losing side of the debate, the senator suggested that it was again compassion — this time for a general public deeply divided over how...

Hot Air takes on Sen. Sam Brownback of KS. VIDEO

Meet Sen. Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas. He wants to be President of the United States. But on the most critical homeland security issues of our time, he can’t make up his mind and stick to it. On the morning of June 28, 2007, he was for the illegal alien amnesty bill…before he was against it… For it…then against it… That’s right. He changed his mind and changed his vote in the span of 11 minutes! Sam Brownback. Leadership only John Kerry could love.

GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul has been excluded from an upcoming political forum in Iowa on the grounds that he is not a "credible” candidate. The event, sponsored by Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance, is set for June 30 in Des Moines. GOP candidates who will speak at the forum include Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson and Tom Tancredo. But Paul, a Texas congressman, was left out because the invitation went only to those candidates who are "credible,” said Ed Failor Jr., vice president of Iowans for Tax Relief. "To plan...

On his radio talk show last Friday, dittohead in chief Rush Limbaugh was working himself into quite a lather. The subject? Immigration reform, specifically the controversial immigration bill now before the Senate -- or, as Limbaugh dubbed it, the Comprehensive Destroy the Republican Party Act. Though Limbaugh pummeled his usual targets on the left, complaining that the current immigration reform proposal was yet another Ted Kennedy-led scheme to destroy America, Limbaugh was also unsparing toward national Republicans: At the end of the day here, what we're talking about is the marginalization, if not the destruction, of the Republican Party. Look,...

Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #3 - Manchester, New Hampshire 06/05/07 - Official Discussion Thread WMUR-TV, CNN, and the New Hampshire Union Leader will host a Republican debate in Manchester, New Hampshire on the campus of Saint Anselm College. Moderated by Wolf Blitzer. Debate begins at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT) and will last two hours. Sam Brownback Jim Gilmore Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Duncan Hunter John McCain Mitt Romney Ron Paul Tom Tancredo Tommy Thompson Watch live video including complete coverage of the Republican debate on CNN.com

Laconia, NH (LifeNews.com) -- At a campaign event in New Hampshire last week, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would not go so far as to label abortion "murder." The former Massachusetts governor's reluctance to use a term frequently employed by pro-life advocates drew criticism from Sam Brownback's campaign. Romney appeared in the Granite State on a whistle tour campaign that finished up with an hour-long town meeting where attendees could ask the candidate any question they wanted. A man who described himself as a "social conservative" wanted Romney to answer the question of whether he thought abortion was "murder." Romney...

Most people following politics already read a lot about last night's GOP debate, so I'll try to keep my comments short here, with maybe just a few words about the candidates. First, the front-runners: Mitt Romney was quite good, and clearly was the best of the front-runners. He didn't make any obvious errors, handled the question about his apparent flip-flop on abortion well, and generally seemed polished and impressive. He went out of his way to emphasize that Americans should care about the character of people (and whether they are people of faith) rather than specifically what church or synagogue...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With Congressional Democrats looking to strip out the funding of abstinence education programs from within the federal budget, two Republican candidates for president said they oppose the move. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee say they strongly support abstinence education.Abortion advocates on Capitol Hill don't plan to reauthorize federal funding for the Title V abstinence education program, which expires at the end of June.They claim the programs have not been effective and want to see more money spent on birth control and the morning after pill. Huckabee and Brownback expressed their disagreement...

Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for Rudy Giuliani fell among Republican Party supporters in the United States, according to a poll by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News. 24 per cent of respondents would vote for the former New York City mayor in a 2008 presidential primary, down nine points since April. Arizona senator John McCain is second with 17 per cent, followed by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with nine per cent, actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson with eight per cent, and former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich with six per cent. Support is...