Free Republic

HAHAHA, this guy is a socialist. He's just mad that it wasn't bipartisan.

The expected announcement Tuesday by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist that he’s running for the Senate would seem to be a rare bit of good news for beleaguered Republicans. But while Crist is a brand-name recruit with sky-high approval ratings and bipartisan appeal, his path to keeping the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez in GOP hands has at least one significant roadblock: Sunshine State conservatives. Despite Crist’s widespread popularity, he faces a primary in which he will have to make his case to a restless GOP base dissatisfied with his high-profile advocacy for President Barack Obama’s stimulus and his handling...

Is Charlie Crist the new Arlen Specter? No, there’s no indication the Florida governor is looking at a party switch. But much like with Specter, conservative Republicans in Florida are speaking out against Crist and hoping his apostasy on the federal stimulus will open the door for a conservative to take him down. The parallels are striking, both because Crist and Specter were among so few major Republicans to support the stimulus and because both are set to wage big-time Senate campaigns in which they face primary challengers. There isn’t yet a chorus of anti-Crist voices in the Florida Republican...

Yesterday’s announcement by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter that he would be permanently ‘reaching across the aisle’ should be considered another wake-up call for the Republican Party. As we all have witnessed, Senator Spectacle has proven to be nothing but a ‘Lib’ in sheep’s clothing throughout most of his Senatorial career. Just recently, Spectacle was one of three ‘moderate’ Republicans that supported President Obama’s ‘Porkulus Package.’ Speaking of pork, we also had another self-proclaimed ‘moderate’ Republican, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, endorse that same spending bill. Governor Crist has also expressed interest in running for the US Senate next year, but Crist...

IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, for the Democratic Party. And the announcement of his switch was all the more painful because I believe it didn’t have to be this way. When Senator Jeffords became an independent in 2001, I said it was a sad day for the Republicans, but it would be even sadder if we failed to confront and learn...

McCain Strategist Warns GOP Risks Becoming 'Religious Party' Steve Schmidt urges Republicans to begin voicing more support for civil unions and gay rights. FOXNews.com Friday, April 17, 2009 John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. Steve Schmidt, in his first political appearance since the election, spoke at the Washington, D.C., convention for the Log Cabin Republicans -- a grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans. He urged Republicans, in the near-term, to...

Newly elected Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Nassour has wasted no time making it clear where she wants the party to go. Last week, in a front-page interview with the hardcore homosexual newspaper Bay Windows, she told the homosexual community that they didn't need to worry about the Republican party opposing them on "social issues" or "the culture wars."

Congressional Quarterly: Senator Says Secret-Ballot in Private Meeting to Determine Whether Democrats Punish Lieberman Senate Democrats will vote by secret ballot on Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman ’s fate this week, according to North Dakota Sen. Byron L. Dorgan . The caucus is due to meet Tuesday to decide whether Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, should be punished for his aggressive support of Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz., for president. Secret ballot, eh? Well, reminding Democrats of this episode should prove amusing when they try and pass card check legislation.

Head Strong: McCain fails the big five tests His aim is untrue in too many areas, so a longtime Republican is voting for Obama. By Michael Smerconish - Inquirer Inquirer Currents Columnist I've decided. My conclusion comes after reading the candidates' memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general-election debates. John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I'm voting for a Democrat for president. I...

Just days after officially dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Mike Huckabee is already making plans for a possible run for the White House in 2012. “We want to stay in touch and start now building a platform to continue addressing issues that brought us together in the first place,” Huckabee said in an e-mail to supporters on Wednesday. “We will keep our Web site up and as we transition, will want to create a way to keep in touch and continue the battle for our families, our freedom, and our future.” Huckabee intends to use...

While Rudy Giuliani is known as "America's Mayor" for his leadership in the weeks following September 11, what has been overshadowed is how he brought accountability and competency to New York's dysfunctional city government during the prior seven years. The best known turnaround story of the Giuliani era is the 65% plunge in serious crime. By restructuring the NYPD and focusing its resources on the neighborhoods that needed them the most via the famous Compstat system, the poorest neighborhoods saw the greatest reduction in crime and improvement in quality of life. 'snip' Rudy could be considered the original "compassionate conservative"...

Political pundits have long discounted former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential prospects, claiming that his particular brand of tough-talking, socially moderate conservatism would never play south of the Mason-Dixon Line. But Rudy has never been one to listen to conventional wisdom, and lately at least, he has been turning up the heat in southern conservative political circles. In just the last week, he endorsed Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry for re-election and met with Evangelicals in Florida. Most impressively, he actually outpaced U.S. Senator John McCain in a just-released Georgia poll, garnering the support of 28 percent of...

Since it is in the Journal News and we are NOT allowed to post it you can read it here Lucciane link for Journal News

Vanity: An Open Message to the Republican Party Cheerleaders on this Forum...