Free Republic

The meeting of Ron Paul activists was well under way when organizer Steven Talcott Smith offered the kind of basic advice you probably wouldn't hear at a gathering of any other Republican presidential candidate's supporters. "By the way," Smith told the Internet-driven "meet-up" of about 40 people at a library west of Boynton Beach, "by the end of this year everybody in this room should plan to be a Republican." Florida's Jan. 29 Republican primary is, not surprisingly, limited to registered GOP voters. But a Republican pedigree or a familiarity with the elections process cannot be taken for granted with...

Biz bigs from oilmen to software execs join push to fatten war chest by $25MThey are Texas oilmen and Nevada liquor magnates, California software execs and New York financiers - and they are all hosting events for Rudy Giuliani in the next five weeks as part of an aggressive fund-raising push. Having set a goal of $25 million in campaign cash for his presidential bid by March 31, the next federal filing deadline, the former mayor has planned a whopping 27 fund-raisers over the next 26 workdays, according to campaign documents obtained by the Daily News. The mostly private events...

This was so marveleous I thought it deserved its own post!

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Gov. Mark Sanford said he might shut down the Governor's Mansion for four months because most of the mansion's budget was spent before his predecessor, Jim Hodges, left office last month. Sanford said that he will either have to close the mansion until June 30 or raise private money to cover operating costs like utiltity bills, food and salaries for the 11 employees. If the mansion is closed, Sanford's family would continue to live in the private quarters but wouldn't have a staff and would cook their own meals. Hodges left office Jan. 15 to work for...