Free Republic

Rand Paul’s likely White House foes are looking to end his Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll hot streak. The Kentucky senator is still the frontrunner to win the annual measure of grassroots support after claiming victory for the past two years. But how deep other potential rivals — most notably Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — cut into his support will show who is on the rise in the 2016 GOP field. “Every year serious candidates come to CPAC and organize and get people to come here for the specific purpose of voting...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) finished second in last year’s CPAC Straw Poll and delivered another wildly popular speech this year. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in a rousing and well-received speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, drew a proverbial line in the sand between true conservatives like himself and “squishy moderate” Republicans who may also decide to seek the party’s 2016 nomination. In a speech focused on the divides among the prospective 2016 candidates, the Tea Party populist threw bombs at Washington, at Hillary Clinton and, most frequently, at his fellow Republicans. “If you’re really a conservative, you’d be...

On Thursday, several likely 2016 Republican presidential contenders filed in to the Conservative Political Action Conference to make their pitches to activists on the right. Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, and Carly Fiorina all touted their conservative credentials, in hopes of impressing the faithful. But the subtext of several appearances wasn't the hopefuls' strengths — but their weaknesses. Each of the likely candidates has at least one major flaw — and some have several. Their CPAC appearances provided a window into how they're trying to address those flaws. Some tried to show that the seeming problems with their candidacies...

Seeing some oohing and aahing online this afternoon among political media that Jeb didn’t pander to CPAC’s very conservative crowd on Common Core or immigration (“he stuck to his guns!”), but what would he have gained by doing that? Remember, for all the hype in 2012 that Romney was shifting to the center to run as a technocrat instead of as the culture warrior he ran as in 2008, he was still a fairly doctrinaire righty on most issues, the notable exception of RomneyCare aside. That’s what the “severely conservative” nonsense was all about in his CPAC speech three years...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — In a surprise speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) unloaded on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—systematically dismantling Bush’s push for amnesty and a massive increase in guest workers from around the world. “Right now, there are two conferences—one of them in public where candidates are out there having to speak and defend and answer questions on their views and on their positions on important issues facing America,” Sessions said to open up his remarks to the Breitbart News-sponsored meet-and-greet with CPAC activists. “Many people at this conference here and watching...

Scores of CPAC attendees began to file out as soon as Jeb Bush started speaking with talk show host Sean Hannity this afternoon,which did eventually garner plenty of applause. After exiting the main auditorium at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the protesting attendees began chanting “USA, USA” and “Stand with Rand.” Despite the sign of defiance, the main ballroom was as packed for Bush’s talk as it had been for any other 2016 contender, including Scott Walker and Rand Paul. Bush’s comments attracted cheers from some parts of the ballroom, which was more packed than it had been at any...

Chris Plante reported this last hour doing his show at the convention. Can anyone confirm? Thanks...

Just as I suspected. Jeb Bush via his Right to Rise PAC suppose in supporters to sit at CPAC during his Q and A with Hannity earlier today. The people who didn’t walk out of Bush’s Q/A stayed and booed. But there were a smattering of applause. Now we know where it came from. Just like a leftist progressive, Jeb Bush had to bus in supporters to make it appears as if the crowd was in his favor. George Soros would be proud.

Did people walk out when Jeb Bush started speaking at CPAC today in Maryand? Sure. Did he get heckled and booed at times during his q and a with conservative commentator Sean Hannity? Sure. Did Bush more than hold his own with an audience that was ready to embarrass him in front of every national reporter in the country? Yes. Bush was energetic -- maybe due at least in part to nervousness in facing a testy crowd -- and informed. He refused to back down -- particularly on immigration -- from positions that he knew would be unpopular with the...

Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson stole the show Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, taking the conservative crowd through a spirited history lesson which included advice for GOP presidential hopefuls (“keep the scandals down”), quotes from and about President John Adams (‘He was your second president, people!"), and a lengthy warning about sexually transmitted illnesses. Robertson’s speech, which went over the time limit by about 20 minutes, got the largest crowd applause at the annual conservative gathering known as CPAC, held just outside Washington. . Robertson also received the “Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award” at the event....

"Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson gave the most unusual speech at the conservative activist gathering CPAC on Friday.

The Sarah Palin who returned to the GOP stage Thursday had no props, few Palinisms, and just a ghost of her former folksy twang. So what if there were still falsehoods? Palin 2016! Failed reality television star and mistress of liberal America Sarah Palin is strutting out onstage at CPAC, clad in a white blazer and black skirt. She places her water bottle on the floor next to the podium and opens a binder. A typical Palin speech usually involves props: Dr. Seuss books or Big Gulp sodas. This year, she has none. A typical Palin speech is usually an...

Newt Gingrich spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) hosted by the American Conservative Union.

The Sarah Palin who returned to the GOP stage Thursday had no props, few Palinisms, and just a ghost of her former folksy twang. So what if there were still falsehoods? Palin 2016! Failed reality television star and mistress of liberal America Sarah Palin is strutting out onstage at CPAC, clad in a white blazer and black skirt. She places her water bottle on the floor next to the podium and opens a binder. A typical Palin speech usually involves props: Dr. Seuss books or Big Gulp sodas. This year, she has none. A typical Palin speech is usually an...

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) declared “there should be no amnesty” on Thursday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel. When asked what he believes should be done with illegal immigrants already in the country, he stated “there should be no amnesty. You should secure the border, not just for immigration reasons, but why would you put a fence around three sides of your home and leave the back door open? That’s what we have when we guard our ports, we guard our airports, we don’t guard our borders…beyond that you’ve got to enforce the law. We put the onus on...

Matt Walker, son of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker tells Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that he thinks the institutional left is afraid of his father. In addition to attending Marquette University, Matt Walker is also currently the regional vice chairman of the midwest division of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC). [snip] A recent report from The Daily Caller detailed an extraordinary level of hateful rhetoric after University of Wisconsin-Madison College Republicans sent out a campus-wide email supporting Gov. Walker’s recent budget proposal. But liberals on the campus responded with such vitriol and hatred—rather than having a civil discourse...

First in Detroit, then in Stockton, Calif., and now in New Jersey, judges and other top officials are challenging the widespread belief that public pensions are untouchable. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey delivered the latest blow on Tuesday, when he proposed to freeze that state’s public pension plans and move workers into new ones intended not to overwhelm future budgets or impose open-ended demands on taxpayers. The first crack came in Detroit, where a judge ruled that public pensions could, in fact, be reduced, at least in bankruptcy. Then, just a few weeks ago, an opinion by the bankruptcy...

"You fight the good fight against Walker and he beats you," said Seth Markgraf, a 34-year-old construction worker from Arlington, Wisconsin. "They beat us in the recall and they beat us in another general election. It's just apathy. How do we beat Scott Walker?" TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey's Chris Christie and Wisconsin's Scott Walker are getting ready to run for president, but they've still got day jobs as governors — and face another round in the ring with organized labor. For Christie, that means trying to reach a deal to fix New Jersey's underfunded pension system by working with...

I’m overweight, and I hoard things: Hillary goes human in lead up to 2016 while showcasing herself as a mom and grandma Hillary Clinton, who has in past had trouble talking about her wealth and life experiences, is intensifying an effort to humanize herself to likely voters. Clinton has increasingly made mention of her roles as both a mother and grandmother in remarks, framing her public policies in the context of the hardships she dealt with while raising only child Chelsea and the hopes and fears she has about the world her granddaughter Charlotte will inhabit. During a Tuesday speech...

Jeb Bush’s likely presidential candidacy will face its first major test on Friday when he addresses a rowdy group of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). It’s a critical moment for the former Florida governor as he looks to convince conservatives that he appeals to more than just the GOP establishment. Jeb Bush’s likely presidential candidacy will face its first major test on Friday when he addresses a rowdy group of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). It’s a critical moment for the former Florida governor as he looks to convince conservatives that he appeals to...