Free Republic

Here’s the latest on the vote count. Today our lead increased slightly to 827 votes out of 312,693 cast. Our best estimate is that there are just under 55,000 votes remaining to be counted. We currently have 50.13 percent of the vote; we will need 49.25 percent of the remaining ballots to win the election. The good news is that a precinct-by-precinct analysis of the remaining ballots leads us to believe that the overwhelming majority is from Republican strongholds, but as they say, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

These are crucial races for us, particularly the senate races: Coleman MN-Sen: Coleman leads by about 500 votes. This one looks like it's headed for a recount. How (or will) this change the outcome? Chambliss GA-Sen: Chambliss is leading by 1% or so. He may have dipped below 50%, and if so, we're headed for a runoff. McClintock CA-04: McClintock is leading by about 600 votes or so with 100% of the precincts in, but there are about 4000 ballots yet to be counted. Stevesn AK-Sen: Stevens is up by about 4,000 votes, with about 40,000 absentee and provisional ballots...

Conservative House Races to Watch: Peter Roskam – IL-06 Michele Bachmann – MN-6 Tom McClintock – CA-04 John Shadegg – AZ-03 Tom Feeney – FL-24 Andy Harris – MD-01 Chris Hackett (challenger) – PA-10 William Russell (challenger) – PA-12 Lou Barletta (challenger) – PA-11 Dean Andal (challenger) – CA-11 Marilyn Musgrave - CO-4 Jon Porter - NV-3 Tim Walberg - MI-7 Joe Knollenberg - MI-9 Does anyone live in these districts? What are the ground reports like? We need to keep as many solid conservatives in the House as we can.

Ron Paul is getting ready to welcome Republican California state Sen. Tom McClintock into his caucus, but first, Paul must get him elected. Paul, the libertarian-Republican congressman from Texas who raised more than $34 million for his presidential race, sent out an e-mail last week urging his massive donor base to contribute to McClintock. McClintock is the career Southern California politician, who is in a tough fight to win a congressional seat in the region that runs from east of Sacramento north to the Oregon border. The district is heavily Republican, but Democrats think they have a chance for victory....

Not content with his legacy of seriously damaging the Republican Party in California during his term in office, former Gov. Pete Wilson has weighed in on the Sacramento-area Tom McClintock vs. Doug Ose congressional primary ... I lived in Sacramento and was deeply involved in GOP politics during the “Wilson years,” and as such think there are a couple of items Republican voters in the 4th Congressional district ought to take into account as they weigh the liberal Wilson’s endorsement of the liberal Ose. * If Pete Wilson had gotten his way, Ronald Reagan would have never been in the...

(snip) Doolittle was hailed by elected officials in a vast, stoutly Republican district for bringing home federal dollars. His bountiful political leadership fund furnished the purse strings for candidates and causes. His fiery conservatism plucked the heartstrings of party activists. (snip) Regional elected officials who stood with Doolittle now overwhelmingly support former Sacramento-area Rep. Doug Ose, claiming he is best suited to secure federal funding for local projects and infrastructure. Republican Party activists, particularly the local county GOP central committee members who were among Doolittle's most devout supporters, are breaking strongly for Ose's rival, state Sen. Tom McClintock. (snip) Tom...

Senator Tom McClintock: "I'm not sure if Ron Paul is presidential Timber" 7 Days Before The Primary, McClintock Refuses To Endorse Ron PaulBy Martin HillLibertyFight.com: As a former supporter of California State Senator Tom McClintock, I've been very disappointed in im in recent years, particularly after he endorsed gun-grabbing socialist Arnold Scwarzenegger in 2006. So last week I wrote and posted the article 'Which Big-Government Socialist Will Tom McClintock Endorse Next?' (I also posted it at RON PAUL WAR ROOM and DAILY PAUL). When I had started writing the article, Fred Thompson was still in the race for president. Then...

With Fred Thompson out of the presidential race, who's a self-respecting conservative to go for? Could it be, maybe, perhaps, a certain Republican-libertarian from Texas? That's one question perplexing California state Sen. Tom McClintock, possibly the second-most-famous California Republican currently in office after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. McClintock created a stir two months when he endorsed Thompson’s presidential candidacy. Having run for governor, lieutenant governor and state controller, McClintock has shown that while he has not won a statewide contest, he can win GOP primaries, which conservatives tend to dominate. So heading into the Feb. 5 primary, McClintock’s endorsement is seen...

Video of FRED THOMPSON speech at Laguna Woods, California, it runs approximately 25 minutes. There are also pictures posted. Our thanks to Curt who was at the ralley and taped the event as well as the photographs.

I was going to post MY OWN "after-action report" from the AMAZING rally for Fred Thompson [with Tom McClintck, John Zeigler -- and JERI !] this morning in Southern California......but since Curt from Flopping Aces did such a GREAT JOB, I'll just post a link to HIS report, and add my comments to THIS thread. :o) Plus, Flopping Aces now has the FULL VIDEO of Fred's speech posted online here:www.floppingaces.net/2007/12/01/a-visit-from-fred-thompson ..so you can watch the whole thing online FOR YOURSELF!It's almost like being there LIVE!

I was proud to host Senator Fred Thompson to the 70th Assembly District today to an enthusiastic crowd of 700 people in Laguna Woods. According to my wife, Diane, Senator Thompson, “Covered all the bases. He hit all the conservative themes and he covered them articulately and with passion.” I was very glad to hear that as Diane is very tough to impress (she had a weak moment when she met me, for which I am eternally grateful). Greeting Senator Thompson at the rally were his state chairman, Sen. Tom McClintock, radio personality John Ziegler emceed the event while former...

Today, I saw Presidential Candidate, Fred Thompson for the very first time at a Rally in California! Master-of-Ceremonies, John Ziegler, had the crowd laughing at jokes and insights about the upcoming election. The crowd of several hundred supporters rallied around Thompson after he spoke clearly about why the Democrats are ruining this great country. Fred Thompson stood a literal head above the crowd, as he shook hands with the crowd at the events end. John Ziegler brought up an important issue in his introductions... The most important issue is to stop Hillary from winning the presidency! I wish more of...

O come all ye Thompson faithful to the Laguna Woods Village Clubhouse 3 this Saturday for a rally for the presidential candidate. All the information you need is contained in this flyer, which you will need to show at the gate so you can see Fred. The closer we get to Iowa and New Hampshire, the fewer opportunities we will see these guys in OC, so now is a good time to catch Fred and any others who come around the Orange Curtain.

This announcement needs ITS OWN thread! FRed PING!!I am passing this along for anybody who can make it to Southern CA this weekend. Let's give FRed a good turnout!! ***** Come meet Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson Come join California State Senator Tom McClintock and Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore as they extend a warm Southern California welcome to former US Senator and Presidential Candidate FRED THOMPSONthis Saturday in Laguna Woods at 9:00 AM.Don’t miss this rare chance to meet Senator Thompson in a candid and fun rally. FREE and open to all supporters. Clubhouse 3 at Laguna Woods Village 24351...

The Los Angeles Times reported today that “State officials have warned the Governor that the likely deficit for next year has jumped from a few billion dollars to as much as $10 billion, threatening to wipe out the progress Schwarzenegger has claimed in getting the state's accounts in order.” This is news? For more than three years now, I have been warning that the state’s finances were in worse condition than they were under the Davis administration and that the rate of state spending could not be sustained. This past summer, Senate Republicans warned that the budget was dangerously unbalanced...

The pundits and media and once again telling those of us in Flyover Country what a bad job Fred Thompson is doing as a presidential candidate. Aside from his campaign staff in disarray, his wife running his campaign, and his low energy level, Fred has committed a “gaffe” in New Hampshire by stating that no state legislature had yet passed a law permitting gay marriage, when the New Hampshire Legislature, alone among the states, had passed a law permitting civil unions and the governor had signed that bill into law. Poor Fred couldn’t get his facts straight! Except…he did get...

One of California's leading conservatives delivered a public slap at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday, two days after the celebrity governor called for the Republican Party to move to the political center or risk a future of irrelevance. Sen. Tom McClintock never mentioned the governor by name, but his speech to GOP activists at a state convention was thick with transparent digs at Schwarzenegger and referenced remarks the governor made last week. On Friday, the governor declared that the GOP was "dying at the box office" and would drift into the political margins unless it tackles issues like global warming...

SACRAMENTO, (AP) -- The impasse over the state's long-overdue budget turned heated Wednesday when the Democratic leader of the Assembly said Republicans would lose the gains they had previously negotiated if they fail to end the stalemate quickly. "Political hostage-taking is not the way to do business, and we can't reward it," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, recently returned from a European vacation. . . .

The other night, as the Senate's Republicans were blocking the state budget, GOP Sen. Tom McClintock alluded to the driver's license pledge, sending an implicit but unmistakable message that a big impediment to a deal was mistrust of the governor's promises to cut enough spending to bring the budget into rough balance. Rightly or wrongly, Republicans believe that he'll sell them down the river in his eagerness to deal with Democrats. That mistrust, when coupled with Schwarzenegger's cavalier treatment of GOP politicians last year, made all but one of the senators impervious to his pleas.

Conservative activists, meanwhile, told the lawmakers to hold their ground. "You 15 are officially martyrs for all California taxpayers," Jon Fleischman, a member of the state party's board, wrote to the caucus on his blog Flash Report, http://www.flashreport.org.GOP senators have been using the blog to sound off on Perata, the governor and Assembly Republican Leader Michael Villines of Clovis. They also offered updates on the lockdown. Just before 7 a.m. Saturday, Sen. Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) sent in a posting. "We've been locked in, and there are sergeants at every exit making sure we can't leave," he wrote. "I slept...