Free Republic

The only one of the declared presidential candidates that Americans have positive feelings for overall isn’t a frontrunner and has never held public office before. According to a poll released Thursday by Public Policy Polling, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is the sole presidential candidate whose favorability rating is higher than his or her unfavorability rating. When asked about Carson, 41 percent of the respondents in the national poll reported that they felt favorably about him, compared to 30 percent who have an unfavorable view. That puts him well ahead of all the other candidates in the field, though 29 percent...

On Wednesday, Dr. Ben Carson said America’s borders must be sealed to protect against terrorism and told a prominent group of Latino elected officials that he also supports giving illegal immigrants a path to legalization and eventual citizenship. Addressing the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) in Nevada, Carson said that “the reason that I think we need to seal our borders completely… all of our borders–north, south, east, and west–is not so much because I’m afraid of somebody from Honduras.” “I’m afraid of someone from Syria who wants to bomb us, who wants to do bad...

GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina told the Hugh Hewitt show on Tuesday that it was “inappropriate” for a Kentucky clerk to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “Given the role that she’s playing, given the fact that the government is paying her salary, I think that is not appropriate. Now that’s my personal opinion,” said Fiorina. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, an elected official, vowed not to resign Tuesday under threat of fines and jail time after deciding not to issue marriage licenses to any couples - straight or gay - rather than be forced to comply with...

Seventeen major Republican candidates are running hard for the White House. But not all will make it to Iowa. Of the crowded 2016 GOP primary field, who will be the first to head for the exits? It’s impossible to know for sure at this early stage, but a handful of high-profile campaigns are already showing serious signs of strain six months out from Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 1. Super PACs have changed the game, enabling struggling candidates tochoose to stay in the race as long as they’re propped up by deep-pocketed donors. But as Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich...

Aug. 22 will be judgment day for Rand Paul. That's the day the Kentucky GOP will decide whether or not to move their presidential nomination from a May primary to a March caucus. Should such a change occur, the Republican senator would be able to run for both his Senate seat and the presidency. Rand's campaign has lobbied the Kentucky Republican Party to make the switch. Now, his fate is in the hands of 334 committee members. The Kentucky GOP executive committee unanimously advanced the proposal in March, charging a special committee with developing a plan for how the change would actually be implemented....

I wanted to use our time tonight to directly deal with an attack launched on me today by the left and the media. A couple questions came in on this subject, so I want to address it head on. Today I was accused by the press as having done research on fetal tissue. It simply is not true. The study they distributed by an anonymous source was done in 1992. The study was about tumors. I won’t bore you with the science. There were four doctors' names on the study. One was mine. I spent my life studying brain tumors...

I suppose Scott Walker is still polling a little too well for the comfort level of liberal commentators. If that weren’t the case, one wonders if they would still be so obsessed with the financial situation of one of the least wealthy candidates for the presidency. But since this tired story is being whipped up for another lap around the campaign track, let’s check in on the latest financial burdens being discussed around the kitchen table in the Walker household. (National Journal) Gov. Scott Walker has two credit-card debts of more than $10,000 apiece on separate cards and is...

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is clarifying — but not stepping back from — surprising comments this weekend in support of former Olympian Bruce Jenner's decision to come out as a transgender woman. "If he says he's a woman, then he's a woman," Santorum told BuzzFeed during a roundtable discussion in South Carolina on Saturday. Santorum continued: "My responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are."

NEW YORK - Marco Rubio, the youthful Republican presidential hopeful who touts himself as the candidate of his party's future, has been making moves to court a socially liberal faction of his party that represents gay conservatives. The Florida senator's staff have held quarterly meetings with the Log Cabin Republicans "going back some time", their executive director, Gregory Angelo, told Reuters. The meetings with the advocacy group were to discuss legislation, issues and opportunities to "partner on," Angelo said. Rubio's office declined to comment on the meetings. The discussions highlight the tricky electoral math for Republican presidential aspirants like Rubio....

Nashville - Speaking from the 144th annual NRA Annual Meetings Friday afternoon, potential GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson attempted to clarify his stance on the Second Amendment. "For the record let me make it extremely clear that I am extremely pro-Second Amendment and that I would never allow anyone to tamper with that right," Carson said. "We will never let the right to keep and bear arms be removed from those [generations] who follow us in this great nation," he continued.

HOUSTON — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made his presidential pitch in Texas on Saturday night, touting his fighting spirit and Midwestern thriftiness before a crowd of Harris County Republicans who will have no shortage of choices in 2016. Walker, who has emerged as an early frontrunner for the GOP's nomination, cited his experience battling labor unions and saving taxpayers' money in Wisconsin as a template for a nation he said is on a worrisome path under President Barack Obama. "There's no doubt with the right leadership in Washington, we can transform America just like we transformed the states, and we're...

The Republican governor’s political action committee has tapped Matt Hall to serve as director of operations. Hall held a similar position for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

en. Rand Paul (R-KY) re-introduced the Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act of 2015 on Friday, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that would restore federal voting rights for non-violent, “low-level” ex-offenders. Sen. Paul explained, “A criminal record is currently one of the biggest impediments to voting in federal elections. The Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act will reform existing federal law and give low-level ex-offenders another opportunity to vote.” Non-violent, so-called "low-level" crimes include: Theft, trespassing, arson, and other forms of property offensesFraud, bribery, and other forms of “white collar” offensesDrug possessionPublic intoxicationProstitution Whether a crime...

Nearly 20 years ago, Carson argued for government-run catastrophic health care and “national guidelines” on how and when the very ill should be treated. Carson himself calls his proposals “fairly radical.” In 1996, Dr. Ben Carson, now a conservative favorite and potential presidential candidate, wrote a paper outlining his vision for U.S. health care. Some of his proposals: nationalized catastrophic care, essentially replacing Medicaid with health care food stamps, and “national guidelines” about when the elderly and terminally ill should receive care. By implementing government-run catastrophic health care, Carson argued, the price of premiums would go down so much...

GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson reportedly slammed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates at a Jan. 24 press conference following his speech at Congressman Steve King's Iowa Freedom Summit. Carson, a Fox News commentator and former Johns Hopkins University pediatric neurosurgeon, seemed to hint at a series of disputes that have erupted between same-sex couples hoping to tie the knot and bakeries and other wedding-related venues operated by opponents of same-sex marriage. "What I have a problem with is when people try to force people to act against their beliefs because they say, 'They’re discriminating against me,’" he...

CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — Republican presidential prospect Ben Carson on Thursday compared the Islamic State group to American patriots willing to die for freedom.In a speech to the Republican National Committee's winter meeting outside San Diego, the former neurosurgeon and conservative favorite praised American patriots for their willingness to give their lives for their beliefs. Then he mentioned the Islamic State group.

It’s pretty clear, there is going to be a major push to raise the state’s gas tax during the upcoming legislative session. While that should surprise no one, I was shocked to see the over-the-top TV ad that the pro-gas tax crowd is currently using to advance the issue. That’s right, school children are going to die if we don’t raise the gas tax. This outrageous ad makes all those negative ads in the U.S. Senate race look like child’s play. Talk about jumping the shark. The ad begins with the claim that there are currently 5,000 deficient bridges in...