Free Republic

One word, my friends: RINOgeddon. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that Christie earns 21% support when Republican voters are asked whom they would vote for if the party’s primary in their state were held today. Florida Senator Marco Rubio runs a close second with 18% of the GOP vote, followed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 16% and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul with 15% of the vote. Congressman Paul Ryan, the unsuccessful Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012, picks up 13% of the Republican vote, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dead last at six percent (6%)....

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) recently expressed his concern about Sarah Palin someday becoming president and having control over the information gathered by the U.S government about Americans citizens. In an interview with Shark-Tank.net, Rep. Grayson said he has introduced a bill, 'The Mind Your Own Business Act,' that would ban the U.S. Department of Defense from gathering Internet, phone and other personal information about U.S. citizens without probable cause or evidence of a criminal offense, which is what the Fourth Amendment is supposed to do. Rep. Grayson explained how 'The Mind Your Own Business Act' was modeled "very closely after...

Money line: “This is what I do for a living.” Didn’t he predict a Bush/Clinton race in 2016 just nine months ago? If he believes what he says here about the parties swinging like “pendulums” from moderate nominees to ideologues and then back again, why would he have named Jeb as a strong contender last November? In fact, the roots of the counterargument are in Matthews’s own shpiel here: Most of the time, they head to the center. This is what Republicans did most successfully in 1952 – when, after twenty years of Roosevelt and Harry Truman – they wanted...

In a recent poll of Alaska voters, George Zimmerman -- who was recently acquitted in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin -- got a surprising 2 percent support as a hypothetical Republican presidential candidate. The newest Alaska survey from Public Policy Polling shows Hillary Clinton's only chance of winning the state in 2016 would be in a matchup against Republican Sarah Palin, where Clinton would lead 49/40 percent. Clinton trails all other Republican candidates in the survey. Out in front, Chris Christie leads her by 8 points at 46/38, Jeb Bush leads at 49/42, Rand Paul is up...

Trayvon Martin's brother Jahvaris Fulton steps down after taking the stand during the George Zimmerman trial in Seminole circuit court, July 5, 2013 in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for the February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.The brother of Trayvon Martin, whose shooting death by George Zimmerman gained international attention over the past year, is currently serving as an intern for Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., her office confirmed to NBC News. A Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty of a crime in Martin’s death on July 13. Martin’s brother Jahvaris Fulton attends Florida International University...

Fox News just released a nationwide poll in generall in keeping with many others, finding voters are unhappy with the economy and want Obamacare repealed. But what's truly eye-opening are the comparisons of partisan opinions of President Barack Obama and George Zimmerman, who was acquitted July 13 of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges for shooting unarmed Miami Gardens 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012. Republicans have a more-favorable opinion of Zimmerman, a figure of sympathy to a number of conservatives, than Obama. That's right: The Democratic occupant of the White House is held in less favorable regard by Republicans...

On Monday, conservative talk radio host Mark Levin said former officials in the George W. Bush administration attack Sarah Palin because they favor expanding government. "Sarah Palin has spoken out effectively, articulately, with great knowledge and confidence," Levin said, "about the destruction of this federal goliath." He then noted that when Palin speaks out against crony capitalism and the permanent political class, she comes under "personal, vicious, brutal attack," not just by Democrats but by Republicans as well. He said many of the Republicans who attack Palin worked in the Bush administration and disagree not only with her, but with...

Sen. Marco Rubio took to the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday afternoon, to address concerns that have arisen from some grassroots conservatives over his support of immigration reform. “I have received numerous emails and calls from conservatives and tea party activists,” he said at the beginning of his remarks. “To hear the worry, anxiety, and growing anger in the voices of so many people who helped me get elected to the Senate, who I agree with on virtually every other issue, has been a real trial for me,” he confessed. But he said he told them that he would...

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio understood he was taking considerable risk by putting his name on the immigration reform bill currently being crafted by the so-called “Gang of Eight.” He expected to alienate some conservatives, but did he anticipate Sarah Palin to be among them? The former Republican governor of Alaska took to Twitter on Sunday to call Rubio out for his “flip-flop” on immigration reform. Sarah Palin ✔ @SarahPalinUSA Politicians wonder why we can't trust them? Campaign flip-flops like this and carve-out bribes in the Amnesty... http://fb.me/2IsL1uspC 11:30 AM - 23 Jun 2013 497 Retweets 143 favorites As noted by...

Two Republicans came to Washington as United States Senators. Both were immediately haled as being the future of the Party. Both were young, charismatic and claimed they were devoted to the conservative cause. Both have been talked about as potential Presidential candidates. The problem is, only one of them is a conservative. One is Ted Cruz and the other is Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz burst on to the scene last year in Texas, defeating a RINO Establishment candidate. He has quickly become a superstar. He has stood steadfastly against Amnesty. Yesterday, after the Supreme Court ruled that states could not...

Remember all the build-up around the Facebook IPO? Investors wondered when it would happen and how they could get in on it. People were scrambling to be part of the action. Then, it happened, and it flopped. Marco Rubio is fast turning into the Facebook IPO of the United States Senate. There was hype, there was hope, there was sizzle…but there’s been no steak. In his first year in the Senate, Marco Rubio did … what exactly? He was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2011, and didn’t even deliver his first Senate floor speech until June 14. Conversely, Rand Paul...

Megan McCardle, writing in The Daily Beast, wrote today in an article entitled 'No, Democrats Did Not Just Want to "Count All the Votes" in the 2000 Election': 'Ironically, I suspect that if Gore had simply unilaterally requested a statewide manual recount, or the Florida Supreme Court had forced one upon him, the United States Supreme Court would have probably stayed out of it. But they didn’t, and as they say, the rest is history.' And, it still wouldn’t have made any difference. For all of the rending of garments by Al Gore and the rest of the Left and...

There are times when the words "never" and "always" are the only ones that work. In my case, "never" is becoming the word I must use to describe how I feel about certain candidates for high office. For example, I voted four times for a Bush and once for a McCain — something I will never do again. In 1988, it was Bush the elder over Michael Dukakis. In 1992, I resisted the temptation to punish President "Read-My-Lips" by casting my ballot for Ross Perot, knowing that a vote for the pintsized Texas screwball would simply be handing the presidency...

The battle within the Republican Party over the so-called Gang of Eight’s 844-page immigration bill has often been contentious, but in recent days it has escalated. Despite his plea for cooler heads to prevail in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing last, Alex Conant, press secretary for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, likened the current plight of illegal immigrants to that of slaves in 19th century America. Conant made his remarks in a Twitter argument with the Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll, who accused the Florida Republican of “selling lies.” Conant replied by asking Carroll for suggestions. After Carroll suggested...

Either Sen. Marco Rubio failed to stay awake in his civil procedure class at the University of Miami Law School, or Sen. Chuck Schumer’s lawyers pulled a fast one on him. How else to explain the Florida Republican’s "MYTH VS. FACT" press release purporting to show that his “Border Security, Economic Opportunity & Immigration Modernization Act” does not enable liberal activist groups to nullify the security measures in the bill by tying them up in court. Rubio writes: While it is true that any legislation passed by Congress is subject to potential review by the Supreme Court (see: ObamaCare), it...

The Tea Party Patriots organization is planning protests on Tuesday at the home state offices of several Senators that the group argues are in need of an “intervention” for being sucked up into inside-the-Beltway politics, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). The group is targeting Rubio on immigration reform and Toomey on gun control. “Two Senators in particular are facing Tea Party pressure, as they should--Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Pat Toomey (R-PA),” Tea Party Patriots said in a release. “Both of these men were elected thanks to Tea Party support, yet Senator Rubio is the...

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed arguments Sunday that the Senate immigration bill offers amnesty for illegal immigrants and said border security is not the only key issue -- amid scrutiny from some fellow conservatives and the union that represents immigration enforcement agents. Rubio told “Fox News Sunday” that anybody living illegally in the United States and attempting to get a visa would face a long list of qualifications, which includes paying taxes, a fine and an application fee as well as having a job and waiting for at least 10 years. “That is not amnesty,” said Rubio, a Cuban-American...

Sen. Marco Rubio’s approval rating is six points lower with Hispanics than George W. Bush’s, so the Republican Party thinks it is a great idea to put him on all 5 Sunday shows. The Republican “rebrand” strategy is centered around making Sen. Marco Rubio the face of immigration reform. The problem is that Hispanics aren’t flocking to the Florida Republican. A new poll from NBC News/WSJ/Telemundo found that despite months of efforts to elevate Rubio, the senator’s approval rating with Hispanics is 23%. Twenty five percent of those polled were neutral, 12% had a negative opinion, and 40% didn’t know...

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents’ union president Chris Crane called on Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio to abandon the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” in the U.S. Senate pushing immigration reform on Friday in a statement obtained exclusively by Breitbart News. “Senator Rubio was asked during a recent interview that ‘if you don’t get enforcement first, or securing the borders first, is that a deal killer for you?,’” Crane said. “And he replied ‘Absolutely…Because we will be right back here again.’ But the outline from the Gang of 8 offers legalization, or amnesty, before enforcement is accomplished. Senator Schumer admitted as...

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) says Democrats are "in the red" because they spent more than "everything we had" to get Barack Obama and others elected last November. In an e-mail to supporters, the DNC chair says: "We spent everything we had to spend in 2012 to win the White House, add seats in the Senate, and pick up seats in the House -- our job was to do everything we could to elect President Obama and other Democrats across the country." "We spent every last penny" - and more - Wasserman Schultz says: "The cardinal...

I have my problems with Jeb Bush, but this passage of his speech at CPAC is not one of them. "It is not a validation of our conservative principles if we can only point to the increasingly rare individual who overcomes adversity and succeeds in America," Bush said. "Here’s reality: if you’re fortunate enough to count yourself among the privileged, much of the rest of the nation is drowning. "In our country today, if you’re born poor, if your parents didn’t go to college, if you don’t know your father, if English isn’t spoken at home, then the odds are...

After a week of Rand Paul dominating the news, and rocking the Obama Administration back on its heels, what we clearly needed on Sunday was six shows filled with Jeb Bush launching a long-shot four-year quest for the White House by explaining why he disagrees with the book on immigration reform he just published. The scheduling is probably a tribute to the aggressiveness of Bush's literary publicists and political team, but the net effect is to defuse the momentum from Paul's filibuster, which stood on the verge of crushing Sunday show producers' favorite Republican, John McCain, into the pavement of...

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush told Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday that there is no Bush fatigue in America. Chris Wallace: Do you think there would be any Bush baggage? Do you think that would be a problem? Jeb Bush: No. I don’t think there is any Bush baggage at all. I love my brother. I’m proud of his accomplishments. I love my dad. I am proud to be a Bush. And, if I run for president, it’s not because there is something in my DNA that compels me to do it...

Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster against the confirmation of CIA Director and "drone czar" John Brennan offers a "teachable moment" to the media and the left about the Tea Party. As they seethe in outrage and confusion that it took a Republican to question the constitutionality of drone attacks, it is important to remind our friends on the other side that it wasn't just any Republican, but a--gasp!--Tea Party Republican who spoke "truth to power." Not only that, but the Senators who were first to offer their assistance were also Tea Party Republicans--the so-called McCarthyist Ted Cruz of Texas, and Marco...

Via Politico, I … was not expecting that. Neither was HuffPo, which points to this piece from last summer as proof that he was singing a different tune in 2012: “You have to deal with this issue. You can’t ignore it, and so either a path to citizenship, which I would support–and that does put me probably out of the mainstream of most conservatives–or … a path… to residency of some kind,” he said during an interview last week with Charlie Rose on CBS. Bush’s position diverges from that of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who oppposes amnesty, supports...

Inside the cozy enclaves of GOP bonhomie—hunkered at the tables of see-and-be-seen Washington restaurants—Republican leaders are sourly predicting a party-busting independent presidential bid by a tea-party challenger, like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in 2016. To them, the GOP apocalypse looms larger than most realize. Dueling State of the Union rebuttals and Karl Rove’s assault on right-wing candidates are mere symptoms of an existential crisis that is giving the sturdiest Republicans heartburn. And yet, the heart of the matter extends beyond the GOP. My conversations this week with two Republican officials, along with a Democratic strategist's timely memo, reflect a growing...

Although he fills an obvious gap for his party, the odds are stacked against him With Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) giving the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address, many are asking if he's the answer to his party's electoral woes. Time magazine even put him on the cover and asked if he's the Republican savior. But there are three big reasons why it's unlikely the Florida senator is on a fast track to the presidency in 2016. 1. Republicans almost always pick the next guy in line. Ever since the untested Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) lost...

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) spoke with Buzzfeed's Ben Smith on Tuesday night during a wide-ranging 'Buzzfeed Brews' interview and one of the topics that came up was gay inclusion in immigration reform, CNN reports: Asked Tuesday whether same-sex couples should be covered in any immigration package, Rubio said the group hadn't discussed the "pros and the cons of it." "I can tell you this," he continued. "This issue is so complicated. The immigration issue has so many landmines and pitfalls that it's going to be hard enough to do, as is. I think if that issue becomes a central issue...

WASHINGTON – A Florida congresswoman on Tuesday introduced a resolution honoring Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen whose slaying a year ago this month stirred national controversy. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a South Florida Democrat, introduced a resolution “honoring the life of Trayvon Martin, urging the repeal of Stand Your Ground laws, and calling on the United States government to address the crisis of racial profiling,” according to a statement from her office. “Today, Trayvon Martin would have celebrated his 18th birthday,” the statement read. “We all know the tragic circumstances surrounding his murder: Trayvon was racially profiled, chased, made to fight...

Former Republican star and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and FOX news ended their partnership on Friday after three years, a source close to Palin told the Real Clear Politics Web site, the Morning Joe panel discussed Palin’s exit on Monday morning. “Sarah Palin represented a time and place in American politics and not 2008 so much as 2010. And that time is passing us very quickly. Party leaders are finally understanding that,” Joe Scarborough told the panel. Palin last appeared on Fox on December 19, 2012 when she spoke with the channel’s Greta Van Susteren about Benghazi and the two...

The biggest enemy of conservatism is the Republican Party itself. Get out the TEApots, let's have a Party!!

ORLANDO, Fla. – Declaring "we are going to get this done," an emotional Michelle Obama rallied a central Florida crowd Monday night, telling supporters on the eve of the election that it's "all on the line" Tuesday. "Your president is nowhere near satisfied," she said, making the pitch for a second term for her husband, President Barack Obama. The first lady has maintained a busy schedule visiting key swing states since the Democrats' national convention in Charlotte, N.C., in September. Here in an Orlando park, she made her final solo campaign appearance of the 2012 cycle. "Together, slowly but surely,...

While all national attention is focused — indeed riveted — on the seven to nine swing or battleground states, a major shift is taking place in the rest of the country: Voters are turning off Obama and onto Romney. In the forty states where the Obama campaign has not spread toxic negative ads against Romney, the Republican is gaining by leaps and bounds and will likely carry a bunch of “non-swing” normally blue states. Specifically, Romney is now three points ahead in Pennsylvania, one point behind in Michigan, and only two points behind in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Together, these four...

What a great day! We were right on the front row. The crowd was capacity probably about 8500 including folks on the floor. Gov Romney did not directly attack Jackarse One since he was in NJ being serviced by...um I meaning touring storm damage with Gov Christie. Lots of great uplifting stuff about America. There was a lot of Reagan in him today. Oh....I got to shake Gov Romney's hand. Awesome day! Pics Follow

I really wish all of you who subscribe to TownHall Magazine would contact them and complain about what’s been going on over at HotAir.com lately; for those who don’t know, TownHall owns HotAir and pays the writers there VERY nice salaries to do what they do…which in the case of a few of them includes churning out fear porn. This is normally Allahpundit’s role at that site but today Jazz Shaw joined in, needlessly freaking people out with the article “This Thing May Not Be Over on 11/6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” This is madness. And it needs to stop. First, I’ll tell you...

The Romney campaign decided that during the early voting period only lawyers would be used as poll watchers with few exceptions. I do not agree with the logic behind the decision. But the disagreement path is not a useful one so I came up with a different plan. Here in FL any registered voter is a poll watcher for whatever time they are in the polling place legitimately casting a ballot or lawfully assisting someone else casting a ballot. Not too many people know that and I would hazard a guess that some paid election workers might not be aware...

Gov. Mitt Romney today pulled a bold move in the final debate with President Obama, opting for relatively limited verbal combat with his opponent while instead showcasing his knowledge of foreign affairs, adopting a presidential demeanor, and offering a sense of optimism for the future. This strategy was the political equivalent of the Muhammed Ali Rope-a-Dope against George Foreman in the heavyweight boxing championship in 1974. Everyone expected a war, but Ali laid back on the ropes and let his bigger, stronger opponent pound away until Foreman was exhausted, and Ali knocked him out. And I think Romney may have...

Barack Obama won on points last night. But that victory may not have been enough to undo the damage done to the president by this year's debate season. President Obama came into the first debate in Denver as a heavyweight champ circling his battered, over-matched foe. But Obama let the challenger off the mat and deliver enough blows to change the contest's momentum in dramatic fashion. The next debate was a messy tossup round that barely went to Barack, and last night continued that trend. Now the question is whether Big Mo stays with Mitt. But there is no question...

Covering a lot of ground, from Libya and Syria to Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the third presidential debate was alternately frustrating, boring, and repetitive. Mitt Romney grew stronger throughout the debate, while the President grew weaker. Romney's closing statement struck the exact right note of working in a bi-partisan manner to "carry the torch" of freedom back to America in the future. Romney also did something the President neglected to do: He asked for the job. The President may have hurt himself with a few snarky comments early in the debate with comments like, "I'm glad you recognize Al Qaeda...

Democrats Philosophy Makes Dangerous Foreign Policy President Obama’s foreign policy reflects the same misguided Democrat President foreign policy philosophy which has produced many of the dangers we face in the world today. The attack and killing of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya remind us of the Iranian Embassy attack in 1979 under Democrat President Jimmy Carter. Decades apart, this similarity should motivate all Americans to consider the flawed foreign policy philosophy of Democrat Presidents. - Democrat Presidents feign strong military leadership by overthrowing regimes which are often working to contain radical Muslim movements within their nation - Democrat Presidents use...

You need to read way, way, way down into this National Journal piece to find the key bit, but it’s worth it. Says Jay Cost, “I’ve never seen anybody bury a lede like Major Garrett here.” Let’s bring this treasure chest up to the surface: What also became clear after the dust began to settle from the rumble on Long Island was the electoral map has narrowed and Obama’s team, while conceding nothing publicly, is circling the wagons around Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Plouffe said that Obama remains strong in all four states, but he would not discuss...

Why is Obama still leading Mitt Romney in Ohio, but trailing in Florida? This puzzle might be explained by the early blitz of attack ads the Obama campaign laid down against Romney in Ohio back in May and June, which created a sort of “opinion deficit” that Romney has had to try to make up during the past four months. Yet Obama also hit Mitt early in Florida, and Romney has bounced back pretty strong there in the past two weeks. Is it Libya? And is it possible that the deadly Bungle in Benghazi has raised concerns about the administration’s...

Bear in mind that Chuck Todd is using the WaPo/ABC poll from this morning for part of his analysis, and you can see just how bad things are going for Team Obama. While I agree with Todd on the momentum shift, I’m not as sure it’s recent, but I do think the debate was indeed the big inflection point for the toplines of the polls. Even before that debate, Mitt Romney routinely led among independents in polling outside the margin of error — and in a cycle where Republican enthusiasm outstrips that of the Democrats, that’s a powerful indicator how...

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz may be President Barack Obama's worst surrogate, at least according to the Obama campaign's internal polls. But Wasserman Schultz may be campaigning for herself to win an under-the-radar race for a leadership position in her party that may allow her to succeed Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who could retire from Congress next spring. The Democratic Caucus Vice Chair -- the no. 5 leadership post -- is opening up and the National Journal reports Wasserman Schultz may be actively campaigning for the spot. DWS has been soliciting votes from Democrats who could potentially unseat...

First real earthquake poll that I can recall at the state level, not unlike how Monday’s Pew national poll felt. I’m tempted to break out the mushroom cloud thumbnail, but … no, not yet. Let’s save that for the last two weeks. Second look at that Suffolk pollster’s decision to stop polling Florida? The survey conducted this week found 51 percent of likely Florida voters supporting Romney, 44 percent backing Obama and 4 percent undecided. That’s a major shift from a month ago when the same poll showed Obama leading 48 percent to 47 percent — and a direct result...

Hello, for Nov 6, 2012 I vote in Florida my official address, but I am not living there at the moment so I am not familiar with the local issues in the County of Hillsborough, Tampa, FL. I need help on how to fill in the absentee Ballot with social-conservative/conservative choices. I am interested in the "local Issues" (i.e. Judges for FL supreme court, District Court of appeals judges running for re-election; School Board candidates, the amendments, Sheriff, the works). I already picked everyone with the "R" I found; now I need the "unknown" ones. On Amendments (I need opinions...

Both national and swing-state polls are beginning to tighten in the presidential race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. It's a signal that an expected Romney bump is starting to take shape after his consensus win in the first presidential debate on Wednesday. Polls that track both national and swing state voting have shown nothing but bad news for the president over the last couple of days. Here's a sampling of the national polls: Gallup: Romney is starting to close in on Obama, trailing by only 3 points in the seven-day rolling average. And that average only...

Give up -- Barack Obama has won. With the election only weeks away, it is clear from recent swing state polling that Mitt Romney has lost this election. According to the Quinnipiac numbers, in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania, the president is ahead by 10%, 9% and 12%, respectively. Romney can't win. Just ask any journalist or newscaster. He is toast -- stick a fork in him. Bull... If anything, the closer we get to Election Day, the more apparent it is that Obama is not only losing, but losing big. The Obama campaign, and by "campaign"...

In 2008 and 2010 that is all we heard, Independents, Independents, Independents.... How many times did we hear "It's the Independents that decide the election". Remember that?? Well look how that's changed today. But oddly enough, we don't hear anything about the oh-so valuable "Independents" from the National NotWorks about it. Is Obama really "running away" with this election like they keep trying to portray or "running from it"??? Hmmm.... If Independents decide the elections, these numbers look like Obama's going to get another shellacking. Media Ignore Independents' Swing Toward Romneyby Dustin Hawkins September 27, 2012 Not long ago, Independents...

Prominent Middle East expert Dr. James Zogby tells Newsmax that President Obama is polling about 18 percent below his 2008 numbers among Arab-American voters. But those Arab-Americans who are Muslims now “overwhelmingly” support the Democratic candidate compared to four years ago, he adds. Zogby also discloses that Arab-Americans across the board consider jobs and the economy as the most important issue in this year’s elections. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based organization that serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab-American community, and author of the book “Arab Voices: What...