Free Republic

The federal mandate to test U.S. school kids annually was at the center of a Senate panel’s work on Wednesday to fix the long outdated No Child Left Behind education law. […] Many educators and parents have complained that the law led to teaching to the test and too much test preparation, but supporters of the mandate such as civil rights and business groups said it’s a critical way to ensure that historically underserved groups of students are learning before it’s too late to help them. […] Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,...

DES MOINES — Gov. Terry Branstad says he would support a statewide Republican fundraising event in Ames next summer where GOP presidential hopefuls are invited to speak as long as no vote is taken as had been the practice during past straw polls that have been the focus of controversy. Branstad added that he did not want to see Iowa face possible sanctions that could cost delegates to the 2016 Republican national convention for conducting a poll in advance of the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses that could run afoul of new party rules. “I’m willing to agree to a statewide meeting...

The No Child Left Behind education law could be making a political comeback. Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who is the incoming chairman of the Senate committee overseeing education, says his top education priority is fixing the landmark Bush-era law. His goal? Get a bill signed by President Barack Obama early next year. Doing so will require bipartisanship that’s been elusive since the law, primarily designed to help minority and poor children, came up for renewal in 2007. …

Backroom deals won’t do Tennessee much good if America’s national security is compromised. Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander (R) and Bob Corker (R) must not have considered national security when they decided to vote in favor of ratifying the dangerous New START Treaty. They also failed to research Russia’s alliance with countries like Iran, China, North Korea and Venezuela. It appears the Tennessee Senators were interested in bringing home the pork at the expense of our nation’s security. Zachary Roth’s December 23rd article states: “It will likely include more than $6 billion dollars for a uranium processing facility, to be built...

NASHVILLE - In a just-released TV ad, Republican U.S. Sen Lamar Alexander is again linking Democratic opponent Gordon Ball to President Barack Obama and asks voters to "trust me." The television ad, Alexander's third, features the senator speaking directly to the camera, saying, "These are serious times, and here’s the choice. A vote for my opponent is just one more vote for Barack Obama’s agenda. "Trust me with your vote," Alexander continues. "It could mean a new Senate majority that will stand up to terrorism, secure our borders, and make it easier to find a job. And finally, we’ll begin...

The contrast between New Hampshire’s two candidates for U.S. Senate couldn’t have been clearer this past weekend. In one town, Senator Jeanne Shaheen spoke to the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers over a pancake breakfast, and in another, former Senator Scott Brown received a rowdy and enthusiastic reception at a tailgate organized by College Republicans at the University of New Hampshire. It sounds like a normal weekend in October, so why the significance? I can’t help but marvel at the juxtaposition: a traditional, pre-planned campaign event with the candidate as the main attraction and the other, a tailgate loosely organized...

In a piece that came out election night, but reads as if it had been written two weeks earlier after a lunch with Lamar Alexander’s pollster, WaPo‘s Sean Sullivan and Robert Costa write: “The Tennessee Republican easily won his primary Tuesday against a conservative insurgent who sought to bury him over his vote [for amnesty 'comprehensive immigration reform'] … snip The success of Alexander [and 'comprehensive' backers] Graham, Collins and Ellmers could be just the evidence pro-reform Republicans have been desperately searching for to coax House leaders into action.” On her Friday show, Laura Ingraham rightly held up this piece...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)It didn't take long for Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to embrace amnesty again. As soon as he won his Senate primary election against conservative Joe Carr, Alexander said it was "embarrassing" that Republicans have not yet passed a bill. Never mind that Alexander spent nearly his entire primary campaign trying to convince voters that he was against "amnesty" and would never dare to embrace it before the primary election. “I don’t know how it will affect our politics in the near term," Alexander told Politico of a comprehensive immigration bill. “I think it’s embarrassing for us not to deal with...

Lamar Alexander, the two-term Republican senator from Tennessee, is in a strong position to win reelection this November. But only if he can get through his August 7 primary. Polling has been scarce in the race between Alexander and his GOP primary challenger, state representative Joe Carr, though the incumbent enjoys advantages in fundraising and name recognition (Alexander twice served as governor in the 1980s). An independent poll in January found Carr down by 40 points. But with Carr getting somewhat of a boost from endorsements by radio host Laura Ingraham and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, an independent outside...

The Lamarer is a grassroots video rebuttal to Lamar Alexander's campaign claims that he is a conservative.The Lamarer

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has yet to endorse a candidate in the Tennessee primary, but incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander has already recruited him for an event in his state. The two senators will host a healthcare roundtable discussion in Nashville on June 30 with Tennessee healthcare executives and professionals to discuss the effects of Obamacare. Although the discussion is closed to the press, the two senators will hold media availability after the event. As he faces primary challenger Joe Carr in the fall, Alexander has touted his work with Sen. Paul in campaign ads – particularly on the Freedom to...

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has just unleashed his latest endorsement for re-election. It comes from former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and 2008 presidential candidate, has a strong following of social conservatives and activists drawn to his populist political message. "He's been your governor, university president, America's secretary of education. He brought the automobile industry to Tennessee," Huckabee explains in the ad. "Lamar Alexander is now a remarkable senator that Tennessee needs to return to office." (VIDEO-AT-LINK)Alexander has released a series of endorsements in recent days, including that of country music star Kix Brooks and former...

Senator Amnesty, Lamar Alexander, from Tennessee has managed to double down on stupid. Mr. Alexander is clearly working on becoming the next Eric Cantor. Mr. Alexander voted along with a lot of other senators for the so-called “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill. Mr. Alexander was one of 14 Republican senators who broke ranks and voted for amnesty. Given how red Tennessee is and given how unpopular amnesty is among the Republican base, a sane candidate would be distancing himself from that vote. Not Mr. Alexander. Mr. Alexander doubled down on stupidity in a comment that was first published by the...

Remember these sixteen names when they run for office again. The sixteen Republicans who voted to proceed were Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Susan Collins (Maine). Bob Corker (Tenn.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Dean Heller (Nev.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), John McCain (Ariz.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.). List courtesy The Hill.com. As reported by RedState yesterday, this bill would allow doctors to add a person’s name to the national database currently used for background checks, and list them as...

Tennessee State Rep. Joe Carr, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), predicted that Alexander will go the way of House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor in an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday. Carr stated, “Sen. Alexander has a similar problem that Leader Cantor had in that he's out of touch with his Republican base in Tennessee.” Like Cantor’s primary challenger, Dave Brat, Carr says that immigration is a strong area of contrast between him and his primary challenger, he declared “the problem Lamar Alexander has and so many of the establishment Republicans have, is...

Washington remains in shock today, two days after an unknown college professor upset House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. The political earthquake is still reverberating around D.C. And many people are now asking, “Who is the next Dave Brat?” His name is Joe Carr, and he’s taking on Lamar Alexander, the liberal Republican senator from Tennessee.

Joe Carr has picked up more endorsements from fellow state legislators, announcing it in an email that brags that Tennessee is the next Mississippi: The Joe Carr for Senate Campaign today announced the endorsements of East Tennessee Representatives Tony Shipley (R-Kingsport), Timothy Hill (R- Blountville), and Micah Van Huss (R- Jonesborough).... "During our time in the House, I got to know Joe Carr as my widely respected colleague," Rep. Timothy Hill said. "He is a true fighter for our conservative values and will do just what he did in the State House when he gets to the US Senate, stand...

Primary battles in Tennessee tend to be very heated affairs. This is not entirely due to the fact that Tennessee holds its primaries in the first week of August as the temperature and humidity sail north of 90 degrees in many parts of the state. While Tennessee’s primary is late compared to many others, what is really surprising is that no one is talking about the Senate primary.... Alexander has amazing, if not almost universal, name recognition throughout Tennessee. Yet he could be the senator the tea party knocks off this year.

Between now and the end of June, more than two dozen states will hold primary elections. A major subplot of this year’s midterm elections is the competition between the Republican establishment and the tea party wing of the party. The establishment is fighting back, but has the tea party already won? The general election is still six months off. But Tuesday opens the summer preseason of intraparty contests, which starts with an important primary in North Carolina. Between now and the end of June, more than two dozen states will hold primary elections. After a July break, the preseason will...

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) is well ahead of his Republican primary challenger but polling under 50 percent a few months ahead of his August primary, a new poll provided exclusively to Breitbart News shows. Alexander leads Tea Party-backed state Rep. Joe Carr 44-20, the Triton Polling poll of approximately 1037 likely GOP primary voters and conducted Wednesday this week found. The poll was commissioned by Tea Party Nation.