Free Republic

When it comes to fundraising, organization and ground game, we Republicans got whipped. Now, Republicans may criticize Sen. Barack Obama for breaking his promise to accept public funding and play by the established rules, but that doesn't take us too far. We shouldn't kid ourselves: Democrats breaking this precedent had nothing to do with their campaign-finance principles, and everything to do with the fact they could afford to. Mr. McCain could never have competed this fall without the federal funds and, in the end, Mr. Obama simply smothered McCain, outspending him in battleground states by three-to-one, with plenty left over...

Tom DeLay is tired of hearing about the great Republican meltdown of 2006. Instead, he is more interested in planning his party's next victory. "Everybody wants to talk about what happened and who's to blame," DeLay says. "It's time to stop focusing on the past and start rebuilding for the future." DeLay has been out of Congress for two years now but the former House majority leader isn't out of the game. He started First Principles, LLC, a political consulting firm, and a grassroots organization called the Coalition for a Conservative Majority. He still plots strategy with Republican congressmen on...

Two years after he resigned from the House, former Republican leader Tom DeLay says conservatives haven't bottomed out from their 2006 election losses, Democrats are "cleaning their clock," and it will take years before the Republican Party can compete with the operation Democrats have built. "The conservatives refuse to accept that the left is cleaning their clock, and until you hit some bottom, wherever that is, to where it says, 'Well, maybe we ought to do something different,' little or nothing's going to change," Mr. DeLay told editors and reporters at The Washington Times last week. "I think it's going...

Is there a more inspiring movie than Rocky? Everyone knows and loves the story of the underdog boxer seizing his once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight for the world heavyweight championship. This year’s Democrat presidential primary is turning out just like the first bout between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. It’s a grueling match in which neither fighter gives an inch, nor can he can knock the other out. Remember, Rocky lost that match, yet went on to become a great champion in sequels, while Apollo kept his belt but never won another fight. The question conservatives should be asking is this:...

Tom DeLay Says Clinton Will Win Unless GOP Gets Its Act Together Friday , November 09, 2007 AP OXFORD, England — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will capture the presidency in 2008 unless the Republican Party can rise to meet the challenge, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Thursday. DeLay, once a pillar of the Republican establishment and still a fierce Clinton opponent, said the New York senator had the intelligence and organization to beat her Democratic rivals — and her Republican opponents. "Don't kid yourself. She will be the next nominee, and if Republicans don't get their act together...

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay may not be in a leadership position on Capitol Hill anymore, but that doesn't mean he can't weigh in on the current GOP leadership. DeLay told Yeas & Nays that Republicans in Congress are "looking for something to believe in" and "they're not getting it out of this Republican leadership. … The leadership just isn't getting it." "They're looking for some backbone," said DeLay, who also chimed in on the 2008 election. He said the Republican party is "going to get our clocks cleaned in 2008" and unequivocally said that "Hillary [Clinton] will be...

Welcome to Arlen Specter, the B side. One week after standing up for the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick, a Bush appeals court nominee being stonewalled by Democrats, the mercurial Republican from Philadelphia has come up with a strange new quest. On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican announced his plans to "review" the confirmation hearing testimony of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito to see how it matches their decisions on the bench. "There are things he has said, and I want to see how well he has complied with it," Senator Specter said of the Chief...

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich says he'll give his final answer on tossing his hat in the Presidential ring by Oct. 1, but Texas Republican Tom DeLay is not so sure the potential candidate packs the gear, according to a report in the Washingrton Post "He's a dynamic person that can rally a lot of intellectual firepower around him. He has a new idea every five seconds," said the former House Majority Leader, who is fighting charges of campaign law violations. "But I think when people take a look at what he's really saying, he's going to have...

Conservatives need to stop "pointing fingers at each other" and unite or Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the U.S., former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said in an exclusive NewsMax interview. The Texas Republican also admitted he was a "self-centered jerk" before he was born again, called Nancy Pelosi "dangerous" – and said he spent five weeks "on my knees" praying before deciding to resign from congress last June. DeLay, whose new book is "No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight" – spoke with Paul Crespo. [snip] NewsMax: I'm switching gears. How was the left able to...