Free Republic

At least it was cordial. But the 150 or so "movement conservatives" gathered at Paul Pressler's this weekend (1/13-14) were a fractured lot. Maybe 10% were for Perry. Almost all of them were against Romney. Well, sort of. Caveat below. There was an official Romney guy there who explained that "You'll either work with us now or work with us later, but you'll all have to get on Mitt's train, because we have the money and the organization, so there's no stopping us." This did not go over well. It just made everyone more determined than ever to do whatever...

It's starting to look like 1948 all over again. Mark Twain observed that while history doesn't repeat itself, it often rhymes. The 2012 presidential campaign is now rhyming with that of 1948 in iambic trimeter - the poetic form tragedians of Ancient Greece such as Aeschylus and Sophocles used to best express portending doom. So let's revisit that extraordinary yesteryear of 1948, resulting in the most famous upset in American politics - Democrat Harry Truman defeating Republican Tom Dewey - and see how we can avoid a similar outcome by using it to our advantage. In 1944, FDR was running...

Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn a district judge's injunction against Texas' sonogram law: "Today's ruling is a victory for all who stand in defense of life. Every life lost to abortion is a tragedy, and this important sonogram legislation ensures that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has all the facts about the life she is carrying, and understands the devastating impact of such a life-ending decision. We will continue to fight any attempt to limit our state's laws that value and protect the unborn."

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Walk into this West Des Moines hotel, and you’ll easily encounter volunteers in Rick Perry fleeces or staffers wearing official Rick Perry badges. The Perry campaign has set up shop here just days before the Iowa caucuses while nearly two thousand volunteers fan out across the state to promote the Texas governor with an expansive ground game as the campaign hopes he’ll earn a top three spot in the caucuses Tuesday. A source close to the Perry campaign confirmed to ABC News they have signed up 1500 precinct leaders across Iowa. At each of the...

Urbandale, Iowa (CNN) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry accused Barack Obama of caring more about politics than American troops on Wednesday, blasting the president for not planning a major parade to welcome home soldiers from the war in Iraq. The last combat troops left the country last week, after nearly nine years of fighting. “This president wouldn’t welcome home our many heroes with a simple parade in their honor,” the Republican presidential candidate told a packed house at The Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – After a four day hiatus from the campaign trail, Texas Gov. Rick Perry restarted his bus tour through Iowa, pounding his opponents for their Washington and Wall Street “insider” status and selling himself as the “authentic conservative” in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. “Why should you settle for anything less than an authentic conservative who will fight for your views and values without an apology? Why should you have to settle for anything less than the real deal to go to Washington DC and to represent your values and work for you in Washington,”...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement condemning the terrorist attacks on Christian churches in Nigeria on Christmas Day: “These attacks are designed to strike at the foundation of a civil society by massacring innocent civilians at worship. These savage acts are part of a disturbing trend of attacks on Christians extending from Nigeria to Egypt to Iraq. Americans should not be afraid to express solidarity with these Christian communities, and to recognize their persecution for the evil that it is. “The United States should stand with our allies to support the Nigerian government in the aftermath...

For those coming in late, let me summarize*: both Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have been excluded from the Virginia Republican primary by the Virginia GOP. This has placed the VA GOP in an awkward situation, given that: they have excluded the current national and Virginian front-runner from their own ballot; have currently no write-in option on the ballot; do have an open primary that anyone can vote in; and generally have created an environment peculiarly suited for conspiracy theories involving Mitt Romney (and ones that won’t contain the word ‘Mormon’ anywhere in their description, by the way). The current...

Today is the last day of Gov. Rick Perry's pre-Christmas Iowa bus tour. Perry will return Friday to Texas for a brief Christmas break, then it's back to campaigning. The Perry campaign has called the bus tour a chance for Iowans to give the Texas governor a second look. As the tour progressed, Perry refined his message and appeared to excite crowds, and by Wednesday afternoon he had assumed the role of a political outsider, which he used at each campaign stop. “We need someone who will walk in who has the discipline, who has the courage to break up...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today released the following statement regarding the death of Kim Jong Il: “The death of vicious dictator Kim Jong Il provides some cause for hope but does not automatically end the reign of inhumane tyranny he and his father constructed. Twenty-three million people still live under North Korea’s isolationist, inhumane and tyrannical policies. North Korea remains a nuclear power, and there is a great threat that those weapons might fall into the wrong hands if civil war breaks out. “At the same time, Kim Jong Il’s death is an opportunity to reunify the peninsula if...

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Obama Administration’s Decision to Slash Number of National Guard troops at U.S.-Mexico Border Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the Obama Administration's decision to cut the number of National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border: "President Obama's decision to slash the number of National Guard troops patrolling and securing our southern border is proof that this administration has no intention to truly secure the border or listen to the American citizens, communities and law enforcement who care about border security and public safety. "After spending billions on failed federal stimulus and...

Texas is its own place. Known for oil, cowboys, cattle, and distinguished swagger, it is the kind of place to which newcomers adapt rather than one which bends for newcomers. Not surprising for a place that used to be its own country. Thus the oft’ spoken motto, “Don’t mess with Texas.” Yet Texas is a big place, and phrases like “remember the Alamo” and “Texas proud” resonate from Galveston beaches to Amarillo plains. And that’s a good thing, because right between those beaches and those plains, a fight is brewing that’s winnable, but which requires some backbone. Case in point:...

The first thing conservative Republicans need to do is stop paying attention to polls pitting potential Republican candidates against President Obama. That campaign is months in the future and every single one of those polls are meaningless right now. Most of the Republican candidates in this primary are strong in their own right, even that lunatic Ron Paul and probably every one of them is capable of defeating Obama, even if the unemployment rate is mathematically massaged below 8%. Michelle Bachman has the requisite experience to deal with Congress in the legislative process and is the most “tea party” oriented...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the National Labor Relations Board’s decision to drop its case against Boeing: “The Obama Administration’s dangerous and inappropriate action against Boeing and the right to work state of South Carolina remains a frightening reminder of Washington excess even with the NLRB dropping the case. Unaccountable federal political appointees should never have the authority to tell a private company where it may or must build factories. “The NLRB action was a political payoff for the Obama Administration’s liberal big labor organizers, and remains a strong example of why President Obama...

Congress is finally feeling the pressure over insider trading, the practice of trading financial securities based on non-public information available to a select few in government. After a series of investigative reports, including several here at Big Government, the American people are beginning to realize that what is wrong with this country can be diagrammed on a map, with a straight line connecting Wall Street and Washington, D.C. Now exposed to the light of day, the political establishment is determined to show the American people it is “doing something” to clean up its act. This week, the House Financial Services...

In an interview today on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, GOP presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke with Wolf Blitzer on a wide range of topics from gays serving openly in the U.S. military to participation in upcoming debates.

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Ambassador Gutman and the Obama Administration’s Hostility Toward IsraelAUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “Ambassador Gutman’s troubling statement is part of a pattern of hostility on the part of the Obama administration toward Israel. In the same week that Ambassador Gutman excused anti-Semitism because of Israel’s refusal to accommodate Palestinian demands, President Obama’s Secretary of Defense ranted that the Israelis must get back to the ‘d*** table’ for negotiations, and his Secretary of State insinuated that Israel’s democracy is less than viable because of gender-related debates between religious and secular...

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Obama Administration’s Use of Gay Rights to Make Foreign Aid DecisionsAUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights. “This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop. “I have proposed a foreign aid budget that starts at zero. From that zero baseline, we will consider aid requests based solely on America’s national security interests. Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries...

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry: U.S. Senate Should Reject Nomination of Liberal Judicial Activist Caitlin Halligan AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “As New York Solicitor General, Caitlin Halligan used her liberal interpretation of the law to target pro-life Americans, gun owners, and gun manufacturers, and otherwise use the law as a liberal political tool. The last thing the American people need on the second highest court is another liberal judicial activist, like Ms. Halligan, who lacks respect for the U.S. Constitution. “The nomination of liberal activist Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding sanctions for Iran’s Central Bank: “Iran’s support for terror, assassination and nuclear proliferation demand tough U.S. sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank to cripple the regime’s access to the international economy. “Tonight’s bipartisan action in the U.S. Senate is a strong step in the right direction. President Obama should stop excusing Iran’s dangerous behavior and drop his opposition to these strong economic sanctions against the rogue Iranian regime. “Earlier this evening, the U.S. Senate voted 100-0 to penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran’s Central Bank, the main...