Free Republic

Washington (CNN) - In a move that could again dramatically shake up the Republican primary race, billionaire and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is expected to donate an additional $10 million to the super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, Winning Our Future, a source with knowledge of the donation told CNN. That contribution is expected soon, before the end of the month, the source said. The timing is important because Gingirch, whose campaign has been lagging, is hoping to do well in several of the upcoming Super Tuesday states that vote on March 6 to boost his effort. His allies will...

The Supreme Court on Friday blocked a Montana court ruling upholding limits on corporate campaign spending. The state court ruling appears to be at odds with the high court's 2010 decision striking down a federal ban on those campaign expenditures. The justices put the Montana ruling on hold while they consider an appeal from corporations seeking to be free of spending limits. The state argues, and the Montana Supreme Court agreed, that political corruption gave rise to the century-old ban on corporate campaign spending. In the 2010 Citizens United case, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that independent spending by...

Obama Reelection Campaign Trying To Make Him “Cool” Again… Barack Obama had all the 2008 cool. Now he’s trying to get at least some of it back. A video of Hollywood A-listers singing a Will.i.am song about him, a Shepard Fairey painting with “HOPE” beaming in bold letters beneath his face, constant buzz on social media — the Obama cultural phenomenon four years ago lit up the youth vote like no campaign before. So as the president gears up for a reelection run that’s going to struggle with independents and moderates, his team is looking to revive the cool appeal...

The Obama campaign is today beginning a new effort to enlist and educate at least 2 million supporters for a "grassroots communications team" they're calling the Truth Team. "The goal is to ensure that when Republicans attack President Obama's record, grassroots supporters can take ownership of the campaign and share the facts with the undecided voters in their lives," the campaign said in a statement. The teams will be first launched in 13 "swing states," including Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. The rollout also includes a social media...

First lady Michelle Obama was in Dallas Friday to judge a Top Chef cooking competition as part of her three-day Let's Move national tour. Obama joined White House chef Sam Kass and "Top Chef" host Tom Colicchio as judges in a televised competition that paired child sous-chefs with professional chef — all former contestants on the Bravo television show. Fabio Viviani, Jennifer Carroll and Spike Mendelsohn were the celebrity chef contestants. "Are you guys fired up?" Obama asked the kids before the event started. "The whole point of this is making sure you're healthy." At the end of the 30...

Edwards' campaign spent nearly $900G in 2011 despite FEC complaintPublished February 09, 2012 | FoxNews.com John Edwards' failed presidential campaign racked up close to $900,000 in expenses in 2011, according to newly filed finance reports, dropping thousands of dollars on airfare and hotels despite a ruling from federal election officials that he still owes taxpayers more than $2.1 million. The dozens of pages of filings for the year do not go into detail about where the flights were headed or where the hotels were booked. The purpose of the travel expenses was not clear. But they appeared to criss-cross the...

I thought it'd be fun to spy on this Mitt Romney live chat room to see what they're saying in the wake of his defeats. Below is your window into the mind of the Romneybots via some excerpts. They're somewhat depressed over the loss and going into attack mode on Santorum like good like Romneybots. Feel free to monitor the chat room and post any interesting tidbits here. Note all the insulting remarks towards evangelicals, "crackers," and right-wingers. Also, I was surprised to see a fair amount of them are semi-supporting Ron Paul or want him as V.P. They posted...

MADISON — Candidate committees can rack up cash in a hurry, especially during a high stakes race. And provisions in election law allow campaigns to invest campaign funds, bolstering — or diminishing — contributions. In the 2011-12 election cycle, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-District 1, raised nearly $2.5 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. At the end of 2011, his candidate committee held $4.6 million. In early 1999, Citizens for Arlen Specter, the campaign for the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, sought the opinion of the FEC to determine what could be done with his excess cash,...

MADISON — In 2010, Sen. Russ Feingold raised $13.7 million in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate. The long-serving Democrat lost, but he finished with more than $900,000 on hand. The former senator — like all candidates in federal elections — has some options when it comes to handling leftover campaign funds, some allowances that may surprise donors and the electorate at large. With a flood of Republican presidential candidates bowing out of the nomination chase — and in Wisconsin, U.S. Senate candidate Frank Lasee, a GOP state senator from De Pere, doing the same — Wisconsin Reporter...

Former Vice President Al Gore didn't invent the Internet, but apparently President Barack Obama wants voters to believe he created trash collectors and bus drivers. His first campaign ad of 2012 uses claims made in a debunked study that counted such jobs to boost its “green energy” job count above 2 million. The 30-second TV ad has been aired in six “battleground” states, including Michigan. Among other specious claims in the ad is one giving President Obama credit for 2.7 million “green energy” jobs nationally. The source of this claim was a Brookings Institute study that made the rounds of...

Obama campaign returning $200K in contributions connected to Mexico casino ownerArticle by: KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Updated: February 7, 2012 - 12:21 AM WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's campaign is returning about $200,000 in contributions collected by family members of a Mexican casino owner who fled the U.S. after facing drug and fraud charges. The Obama campaign said Monday it had decided to return the donations arranged by Chicago brothers Carlos Cardona and Alberto Rojas Cardona, who had begun raising money for the campaign and the Democratic National Committee last year. The New York Times reported late Monday that the...

The Super Bowl is televised advertising’s equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival, so White House political strategists must have been smiling when what’s generally being hailed as this year’s best spot -- the Chrysler "Halftime in America" commercial -- subtly echoed the themes of President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.(snip)Just to ice the cake, the gritty two-minute spot featured actor/director Clint Eastwood, whose politics usually put him on the Republican side of the aisle. In the spot, Eastwood’s voice narrates an account of Detroit’s comeback and, then, when his unmistakably craggy face appears on screen, U.S. closes Syria Embassy,

Feb. 6, 2012 - Vice President Joe Biden will speak at Florida State University later this morning and will talk about college affordability certainly; an important topic in a college town like Tallahassee. We're told that the Vice President will discuss the importance of tackling rising college costs to ensure America's students and workers can obtain the education and training they need. The Obama administration says this is crucial so that this country will have a workforce prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out a blueprint for an...

Three and a half years after a rally by then candidate Barack Obama in Springfield, city officials in the state capitol say they are left holding the bill for police overtime. On August 23, 2008 the Obama campaign rolled through central Illinois to announce Joe Biden as its Vice Presidential running mate... Thousands turned out in the square by the old State Capitol to witness the announcement. But before the event could begin, the city of Springfield had work to do, said Alderman Frank Edwards. “There are a lot of things that they asked for,” Edwards said. “Extra police, move...

Planned Parenthood Launches TV Ad Campaign To Defend Obama’s Attack On Catholics… Payback for all support (and taxpayer cash) Obama has bestowed on Planned Parenthood. Via LifeNews: The Planned Parenthood abortion business is defending President Barack Obama’s decision to put in place a mandate forcing religious employers to pay for insurance coverage for their employees that covers birth control or drugs that may cause abortions. The Obama Administration issued a statement re-iterating the “contraceptive mandate” requiring all insurance providers cover the full range of FDA-approved drugs and devices would remain intact. This mandate, issued in August, includes drugs that work...

Former Vice President Al Gore didn't invent the Internet, but apparently President Barack Obama wants voters to believe he created trash collectors and bus drivers. His first campaign ad of 2012 uses claims made in a debunked study that counted such jobs to boost its “green energy” job count above 2 million. The 30-second TV ad has been aired in six “battleground” states, including Michigan. Among other specious claims in the ad is one giving President Obama credit for 2.7 million “green energy” jobs nationally. The source of this claim was a Brookings Institute study that made the rounds of...

First Lady Michelle Obama said her husband — a recent singing sensation — doesn’t hesitate to “show off his lungs” and sings to her all the time. President Obama proved his vocal ability when he sang a few lines of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” at a campaign event earlier this month. ”That was completely spontaneous,” Mrs. Obama told Jay Leno in an interview on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” on Tuesday night. “I didn’t even hear about it until it got on YouTube, but he does have a beautiful voice, and he sings to me all the time.”

The list of contributors for Romney's PAC, RESTORE OUR FUTURE, INC., is shown in the referenced link. The total, as of this posting, is $17,947,952.77.

1) He's not a conservative. There have been a lot of conservatives who've talked a good game during the primaries and then have let us down in D.C., but if Mitt Romney becomes the nominee and gets elected, some people seem to be hoping that he'll be the first Republican moderate to go to D.C. and turn into a fire-breathing conservative. Based on his record, if Mitt Romney is nominated, he will be the least conservative candidate since Nixon. >snip 2) He doesn't believe in anything politically other than Mitt Romney. What conservative cause has Mitt Romney ever fought like...

The Republican establishment is pulling out all the stops to try to keep Newt Gingrich from becoming the party's nominee for President of the United States -- and some are not letting the facts get in their way. Among the claims going out through the mass media in Florida, on the eve of that state's primary election, is that Newt Gingrich "resigned in disgrace" as Speaker of the House of Representatives, as a result of unethical conduct involving the diversion of tax-exempt money. Mitt Romney is calling on Gingrich to release "all of the records" from the House of Representatives...

Good afternoon, Kim Bacchus from Washoe is Gingrich’s northern NV campaign manager. Kim asked for members’ names who would like to work on his campaign. Please contact her using the attached information. Chairmen: Would you be so kind as to send the attached notice out to your county email lists? If you aren't the person who sends information out to your county, could you give me your county secretary's email so that I can keep your voters informed about what is happening with the Gingrich campaign? I appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks! Kim 530-8185

“I think I’m a mortal threat to their world,” he said. “First of all, how would they know? These are the same people who said I was dead in June, the people who said Reagan didn’t have a prayer, O.K.? The Republican establishment is anti-intellectual and anti-change. They’re for winning as long as it’s meaningless. But meaningful victory would mean really big risks. “I’m running because I want to change the old order,” he told me. “They are the old order.” ...he got into trouble with conservatives for criticizing the entitlement-reform plan offered by his friend Paul Ryan. “It was...

Obama ad cherry-picks fact checking organization We love ads that cite fact checkers, but President Obama’s first campaign ad contains a real blooper. It cites a positive fact check by PolitiFact, while ignoring a subsequent column taking away that original ruling. (UPDATE: There were two PolitiFact rulings that same day, and Obama choose the one most favorite, so we are revising our original ruling.)

Two more former aides to Gov. Scott Walker have been charged with crimes linked to political fundraising while working on county time in the ongoing John Doe investigation. Both worked for Walker while he was serving as Milwaukee County Executive, and both are accused of fundraising activities while at their taxpayer-funded day jobs. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said Thursday that Kelly Rindfleisch, the former deputy chief of staff for Walker, also worked as a fundraiser for then lieutenant governor candidate Brett Davis. She is charged with four felony counts of misconduct in public office. Prosecutors say Rindfleisch spent...

The entire GOP establishment has unleashed on Newt Gingrich this week, and it looks like it is slowing his momentum in the polls. Almost all of the anti-Newt Gingrich material hitting the media is coming from conservative institutions: National Review, The New York Sun, and the Washington Times. Just look at the Drudge Report from last night and early this morning.:(Snip for graphic) The number one news source for many populist and conservative readers, looks like an anti-Gingrich pinboard. There are twelve anti-Gingrich links leading the site, with video of Gingrich trashing Reagan,

Most folks should have seen this one coming way back in 2008. Obama made class warfare a part of his campaign then. Does everyone remember the conversation he had with “Joe The Plumber?” The famous quote that came out of this conversation was “spread the wealth around.” The progressives claimed that the “rich” – who Obama defined as individuals making more than $250,000 year – were never paying their “fair share” and were the cause of the economic problems in America. With the 2012 elections looming, the progressives have returned to their roots and have placed the blame for all...

With bland, hapless Michigan-born Mitt Romney betraying a greater likeness each day to bland, hapless Michigan-born Thomas E. Dewey, the comparisons of 2012’s presidential marathon to 1948’s Dewey-Truman match-up slog steadily forward—with the latest installment arriving on our doorstep in the form of tonight’s State of the Union Address. Like many a politician before him, Barack Obama preaches a lilting bi-partisanship but practices a harsh partisanship. Predictions that his 2012 State of the Union Address will in reality be a campaign roadmap are near universal. In this instance, once again, “Give ‘Em Hell” Barry, scold of the “Do Nothing 112th...

[Hussein] embarks Wednesday on a three-day tour of politically crucial states in a post-State of the Union journey to sell his 2012 economic policy goals while pitching his presidency to a divided public.

Candidate Gingrich: it's obvious that Mitt Romney (and his arrogant, and furious advisors) have had a conversation and listened to the polling which say (Rightly may I add) that you are both considered more conservative-the conservative by the electorate, as well as "More electable", and that Mr. Romney (is rightly-I will also claim) a "wimp". WELL it is obvious that he (Governor Romney is ~trying~ to do the same thing to you that he did in IOWA). YOU NEED TO FIGHT BACK- (and not just dwell on your success in SC, and the two debates). Mitt Romney is trying define...

As Mitt Romney puts the South Carolina primary in his rear-view mirror and hits the accelerator in a bid to win Florida, he may discover himself crashing headlong into the bitter legacy of Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor who defected from the GOP and was soundly defeated for the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio. Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Crist’s top political advisers — the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized in Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led...

How many countries did Islamofascist Republic of Iran attack via its Islamists: al-Quds or or via its hezbollah terrorists? * Lebanon (killing French and American soldiers 1983; kidnapping and torturing of Westerners in Leabnon as well as Lebanese Jews 1982-1992; series of assassination of Christians including PM R. Hariri in coordination with Syria; clashes in 2007-2008 initiated by Hezbollah) * France (bombing shopping centers in Paris, 1985/6). * Israel (katyusha-missiles attacks on civilians in the 1980s, and the recent use of Lebanese as 'human shields,' when targeting Israeli civilians). * Argentina (1992 Israeli Embassy, AMIA building massacre 1994) * Panama...

Obama Was Warned By His Economic Team That His Campaign Promises Would Create A Mountain Of Debt Michael Brendan Dougherty Jan. 23, 2012, 8:57 AM Ryan Lizza reports for the New Yorker that on December 15 2008, a few short weeks before his inauguration, president-elect Obama was presented with a 57-page memo on the depth of the economic crisis drafted by Lawrence Summers and other economic advisors. The memo informed the president that if he enacted his campaign promises in the current environment, he would shoot a gigantic hole into the nation's budget. “Since January 2007 the medium-term budget deficit...

The surging Newt Gingrich and fellow GOP contender Rick Santorum, both taking aim at frontrunner Mitt Romney, will bring their campaigns this week to Lake County as Florida's all-important presidential primary takes the political center stage. Gingrich will meet with voters Thursday at the Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora, a campaign official confirmed. The event starts at 9 a.m.

What else ya got? That seems to be the main question voters have for President Obama as he launches his re-election campaign in earnest. Everybody knows what Obama's top priorities were in his first term: enact healthcare reform, beat back the recession, rein in reckless banks better protect consumers. Whether he accomplished those missions is a mixed verdict. Obamacare still faces a key Supreme Court challenge and for the most part won't go into effect until 2014. Obama's stimulus measures helped the economy heal, but fell far short of Obama's own expectations. It's hard to tell if the banks are...

The president starts things off on the defensive, as a new poll shows his standing is worse than conventional wisdom holds. Here in South Carolina, all the attention is on the looming primary and on Romney's tax returns. But the most revelatory development over the last 24 hours is that President Obama's re-election campaign is up with its first ad, which strikes a surprisingly defensive tone - especially for a sitting president. The Obama team apparently thought Obama could be vulnerable on ethics -- usually perceived as a relative strong suit for him -- and is defending his record on...

The four Republican Wisconsin state senators targeted for recall said Thursday that collectively they have about $734,000 in the bank to fight efforts to remove them from office. ~snip~ Recall organizers submitted more than enough signatures on Tuesday to force elections in all four districts. State elections officials are in the process of verifying those signatures, which could take months. It's not known when any elections may be but most expect them to be in the spring or summer. Under state law, anyone targeted for recall can raise unlimited amounts until an election is certified. In regular elections, donations are...

Rick Perry suspends his presidential campaign after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, then endorses Newt Gingrich.

Newt is going to be on live WVOC, Columbia, SC for call in show. Host is Local Conservative Kevin Cohen and will take calls for a half hour (I think). It is FM 100.1 Beck and Rush sstation in Columbia, SC. I can pick it up in Charlotte, NC area. Streams live at link. FYI if anyone wants ot listen live on line or give a call.

After listening to Governor Rick Perry on the Sean Hannity Show, I couldn't help but be blown away by his good nature. What a great guy. You can hear in his voice how he has managed to keep his eye on a goal while working with others to achieve it. His respect for his political foes and his understanding of the the whole process inspired me. Naming names and demonstrating professional links to some of his fellow candidates was generous and kind. I'm going to continue to support Governor Perry but I would never encourage him to drop out. He...

Those who slight the Republican primary candidates and sneer at their campaigns are either innocently misinforming their audience or strategically disinforming them. In fact, this is the all-around spunkiest campaign season I have witnessed since 1968 and the smartest since about 1864. I have been tracking campaigns closely since 1960. Then, as a pre-teen paperboy and JFK fan, I scrutinized the results of the Democratic primaries as intensely as I did Dodger games. In 1964, I chanced upon Ronald Reagan's stirring televised defense of Barry Goldwater and began to rethink my adolescent allegiances. In 1968, I tried desperately to reconcile...

According to a new book, Michelle Obama is seeking to play a more active role on the policy side of her husband's White House. According to her recent schedule, she's certainly playing a more active role in the fundraising part of her husband's political life. Wednesday she was in Virginia and did two poilitical fundraisers, while her husband was in Chicago doing three political fundraisers. We pay so much attention to what comes off those teleprompters into the president's mouth, we thought we'd take a look at what his wife in saying at these financial collections. Scroll down for her...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court rejected on Monday a free-speech challenge to the longtime ban on campaign contributions by foreign citizens who temporarily live and work in the United States. The justices affirmed a ruling by a three-judge federal panel that upheld the ban adopted by Congress to keep foreigners from financially influencing U.S. elections. The court's last federal campaign finance law ruling was in January 2010, when it gave corporations the free-speech right to spend freely to support or oppose candidates. PresidentBarack Obama and fellow Democrats in Congress criticized that ruling while Republicans praised it. The new challenge...

Republicans do not need to nominate a candidate anytime soon. On the contrary, if they want to beat President Obama, they should take their time before settling on a nominee. In January of 2010, Harry Reid looked like a “dead man walking” politically. Fourteen percent of Nevadans were unemployed, and he was having a hard time getting above 43 percent in most polls. There was only one way he could win: destroy his Republican opponent before he or she ever got out of the blocks. [snip] Ending the primary season early simply allows Team Obama more time to focus their...

Mitt Romney takes the stage at a campaign rally in Exeter, New Hampshire January 8, 2012.

The left is hard at work assuring that Santorum remains an "also ran." Rick Santorum wanted people to pay attention to him. Well, he got his way. Now his every utterance is being parsed by the media and he is receiving special scrutiny from progressive pundits, who have been frantically quote-mining for material to use in their obligatory hit pieces. Among the nuggets they have unearthed involves an exchange Santorum had a month ago with a student at Dordt College, a small Christian school in Sioux Center, Iowa. The student cited a 2009 study about the number of people who...

CONCORD, N.H.--It takes just one day with Rick Santorum to see why conservative power brokers might consider him the only ideologically pure GOP presidential candidate with the chops to derail moderate Mitt Romney. A day is all it takes to also understand why President Obama's team might greet a Santorum triumph over Romney with high fives and champagne. This is the Santorum dilemma: Good Rick: The former senator from Pennsylvania uses a powerful personal narrative to explain his values-laden governing philosophy. That message is accentuated by a variety of political skills: As I wrote during his Iowa campaign, Santorum is...

Former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who lost to Rick Scott in the bitter Republican gubernatorial primary, is helping out his former pal, Newt Gingrich, with whom he served in Congress. McCollum is scheduled to open Gingrich's Orlando headquarters on Jan. 13, McCollum's endorsement doesn't mean much (few do, so it's not a knock on McCollum). Consider this story from News 13 in Orlando, which gives McCollum the same billing as former Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, who's to co-chair the campaign. McCollum has a good work ethic, an ability to raise money and his knowledge of Florida and its...

In a sort of power lunch for the not-so-powerful, President Barack Obama broke bread Friday with four winners of a contest for people who give to his campaign in small amounts. The suggested donation to enter the drawing: $3. The winners, including a teacher and an Afghanistan war veteran, gathered at a restaurant in Washington. The Obama re-election campaign has offered the meals with the president, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to boost online contributions.

Friend -- These Republican candidates spent in some cases more than a year -- in Mitt Romney's case seven years -- campaigning in Iowa to be the next president. But tonight, GOP voters there couldn't decisively get behind anyone. Who exactly leads the Republican race going forward isn't clear, but we do know two things: 1) The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory. No matter who the Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win -- vowing to let Wall Street write its own rules, end Medicare as we know...

January 2, 2012 Palin on 'Draft Sarah' Campaign Will former vice presidential nominee join race for White House?