Free Republic

PAUL RAISES $13 MILLION IN Q4: Ron Paul’s campaign raised $13 million in the last three months of the year. The impressive figure comes after he took in $8 million during the third quarter. The cash flow will allow the Texas congressman to compete through later primaries and caucuses. Because he has the most loyal donor base – the cause of liberty primarily motivates them, not access or perks – he should be able to continue raising substantial sums in the wake of his third-place finish in Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses. Only Mitt Romney will be able to post a higher...

During the Iowa caucuses tonight it wasn’t just the wind sending a chill into the hearts of presidential candidates.At 8:30 p.m., just after entrance polls started pouring in, Ron Paul tweeted a snarky shot at fellow Republican candidate Jon Huntsman.“@jonhuntsman we found your one Iowa voter, he’s in Linn precinct 5 you might want to call him and say thanks,” read the tweet that came from Paul’s verified Twitter account.The tweet from Paul’s account was deleted within half an hour of its being sent, but ABC News captured a screenshot.Screenshot from Twitter

I have grown cynical of party politics in mature democracies, including the most exciting democracy of all, the United States. In the middle of a spectrum exclusively defined by Republicans and Democrats, personality and style must be favored over platforms that few candidates are ever able to implement. So many people are bored by politics in the U.S. that half of the voters don’t bother to vote. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If politics does not affect the daily life of citizens, to the extent that most can choose to ignore it, then some wisdom has been found...

Palin: It's Not Bachmann's Time

Sacred underwear, baptizing holocaust victims, gods of their own planets. When some of America’s most celebrated pundits and public intellectuals talk about Mormons, these are the images that are summoned. Ironically in this “Mormon Moment”—signaled by a hit Broadway musical, polygamous housewives on TLC, and of course two Mormon presidential candidates—Mormons, long considered quintessential “outsiders” to mainstream American culture, today find themselves at the center of the American zeitgeist. Yet it is the Mormons’ supposed theological weirdness that is the centripetal attraction. As Joanna Brooks has noted in these pages, the New York Times recently featured Harold Bloom’s musings on...

The Huntsman campaign is going on-air in New Hampshire with this video, which scores a pretty solid hit on Paul with the newsletter issue, ending with his embarrassing flight from the Gloria Borger interview: As we count down the final few days before Iowa, I also wanted to point out and hopefully tie together some of the remaining questions about the Ron Paul newsletters. This somewhat lengthy piece is definitely worth a read even if it is somewhat obviously written by someone with an axe to grind in an intra-libertarian movement fight. I find the conclusion of the piece to...

December 25th, 2011, Edited by Richard Winger There are currently many news stories and blog discussions about the Virginia presidential primary ballot access law. Some large blogs, such as Red State, have over 300 comments about the story. Some defend the current Virginia ballot access laws on the grounds that in past presidential elections, a fairly large number of Republican presidential primary candidates managed to qualify. But what has not been reported is that in the only other presidential primaries in which Virginia required 10,000 signatures (2000, 2004, and 2008) the signatures were NOT checked.Any candidate who submitted at...

Who do you like in the Republican primary for president? Michele Bachmann Newt Gingrich Jon Huntsman Ron Paul Rick Perry Mitt Romney Rick Santorum None of the above

Gingrich 25% Romney 23% Paul 12% Perry 8% Bachmann 7% Santorum 4% Huntsman 2%

Four Republican presidential candidates – Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Ron Paul -- submitted paper work in time to qualify for Virginia's March 6 primary ballot. No other GOP contender will be on the Virginia ballot. Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman did not submit signatures with Virginia's State Board of Elections by today's 5 p.m. deadline. Those who submitted the required signatures must clear another hurdle. The Republican Party of Virginia has until Tuesday to certify which candidates qualify. Romney was the first Republican presidential candidate to file his petitions....

Many readers are scratching their heads over my endorsement of Ron Paul last week. One writes: Let me add a few more reasons to vote for Ron Paul: If you want all federal student aid eliminated, vote Paul. If you want the Department of Energy, Commerce, Interior, Education and Housing & Urban Development eliminated, vote Paul. If you want the department of Transportation Security Administration eliminated (meaning security is the sole responsibility of private property owners), vote Paul. You can't just ignore Paul's "nuttier policy proposals". These proposals are Paul. If you endorse Ron Paul, you're endorsing his proposals. There...

It's been a bad week for Newt Gingrich in our early state Republican polling, but we still find him with a good sized lead nationally. He's at 35% to 22% for Mitt Romney, 11% for Ron Paul, 7% for Michele Bachmann, 6% for Rick Perry, 4% for Rick Santorum, 3% for Jon Huntsman, and 1% for Gary Johnson. On the surface that's good news for Gingrich but looking under the hood it's more bad news to some extent. We haven't done a national poll in 5 weeks, too long ago to make a good comparison, but on 6 state polls...

(Reuters) - Republican Jon Huntsman, who has based his 2012 campaign for the White House almost exclusively on a strong showing in New Hampshire, has been rewarded with endorsements from two newspapers in the state with an early primary election. The Keene Sentinel and the Valley News both praised the former U.S. ambassador to China in editorials on Sunday. The endorsements were another snub to Mitt Romney, a former governor of neighboring Massachusetts who has dominated most opinion polls in New Hampshire this year but whose lead has recently narrowed in the race for the Republican nomination to run for...

Since it has been an unusual presidential election cycle with various front-runners throughout the horse race for the 2012 Republican nomination, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne and New York Times columnist David Brooks say there is the possibility that anything can happen. On Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” in their regular weekly appearance, the two laid out scenarios that in any other election cycle would have been thought of as nearly impossible. First, Dionne elaborated on a recent column about why he thinks former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman should not be ruled...

Political blogger Andrew Sullivan has made an endorsement among this year’s ever-thinning field crop of GOP presidential contenders, and it’s none other than Ron Paul. On his Daily Beast blog “The Dish,” Sullivan writes that, initially, he had his eye on Jon Huntsman, praising for the former governor of Utah’s tax reform proposals and his experience with foreign relations (particularly where China is concerned, as well as his level-headed approach and — as Sullivan puts it — his “conservative position” when it comes to global warming. However, Sullivan has been less than enthused with what he describes as Huntsman’s “mediocre...

The Economist/YouGov Poll December 10-13, 2011 If you had to choose one, which of these individuals would you want to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012? Asked of registered voters who are likely to vote in a Republican primary or caucus (n=325) Newt Gingrich 29% Mitt Romney 18% Ron Paul 14% Michele Bachmann 7% Rick Perry 6% Rick Santorum 6% Jon Huntsman 2% Gary Johnson 0% Other 8% No preference 10%

A very clear view from Rancho Mirage. Monday A grueling drive down from rainy Los Angeles to Rancho Mirage. It is about the drabbest drive there is anywhere on earth. The New Jersey Turnpike is like the 17 Mile Drive in Carmel by comparison. We always make a lot of stops because, well, because we're old and get tired easily. I visited with people at a hotel in Ontario, then at a CVS and a gas station in Calimesa, and at a Bob's Big Boy. I am like a small town politician and my district runs along Highway 10 from...

Mitt Romney will be missing in The Gift of Life premiere audience, as well as Ron Paul, a pro-life doctor, and as Jon Huntsman. When I asked Governor Huckabee if tonight amounts to an endorsement application test, Huckabee gives them all a pass. “More than anyone” he tells me, “I recognize that candidates have frantic schedules and all can’t come to every event. Those who don’t come aren’t snubbing the pro-life issue, but those who do are showing that they believe it to be a priority and that is significant.” Interestingly, Nancy Keenan from NARAL takes the premiere as an...

Gingrich holds 11 point lead nationwide according to 5 polls released this week. New polls also show Gingrich leads in Pennsylvania and California,

Two GOP presidential hopefuls traded their debate podiums for a conference table Monday in a debate straight from the 19th century. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman took part Monday afternoon in a traditional Lincoln-Douglas-style debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The one-on-one session, the first of its kind during the New Hampshire primary campaign, allowed the candidates to address foreign policy issues in greater detail, giving them five minutes for each response. By contrast, traditional debates allow candidates no more than 90 seconds to detail their positions. “One of the great weaknesses of...