Free Republic

John McCain is neither the inevitable Republican Nominee nor as electable as current polling data suggests for three reasons 1) the mainstream media will turn their backs on McCain as soon as he is the nominee, 2) so-called independents and moderates will not show up as strongly for McCain in the general election as in the primary, 3) McCain cannot unify the party because many important conservatives will not rally around him, and 4) McCain-Feingold will literally seal his fate because conservatives will not outlay cash in the general election for McCain. The mainstream media will turn against Senator McCain...

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, polling a distant fourth in the upcoming Florida primaries, continued to attack former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, while offering implicit support for his other rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in his appearance on "Fox News Sunday." When asked to take sides on a dispute between Romney and McCain over whether the former Massachusetts governor called for a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq last April, Huckabee sided squarely with McCain. “Dishonest? I’ve never seen John McCain say something that is just blatantly untrue,” Huckabee said. Huckabee later praised McCain, saying “we have a civil approach to...

A far as legal-brained firepower goes, the chief beneficiary of Fred Thompson’s decision to pull out of the presidential race is Mitt Romney. The Romney campaign Thursday announced that a host of conservative lawyers_and_scholars who were backing Thompson have joined the Romney camp. Among them is Victoria Toensing, who made her mark as an anti-terrorism_policy-maker at the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. Toensing is joined by her husband (and fellow regular on the cable news circuit) Joseph diGenova, the former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. To date, Romney’s conservative legal cabal has been notable for the presence of Catholic_scholars...

The liberal Web site Daily Kos is encouraging Democrats in Michigan to cross over and vote for Mitt Romney in Michigan Tuesday primary. Apparently, the thinking of the liberals encouraging the crossover vote is that a Romney victory there will further muddle the Republican presidential picture and help the Democrats win the White House in November. Fox News reports that “it’s a classic dirty trick, but perfectly legal. And while Machiavellian political ploys of this sort rarely work, the author’s logic is thus: ‘A Romney victory in Michigan will keep him in the presidential race. And the more candidates slugging...

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is already attacking the politician who appears to be his chief rival in New Hampshire, Arizona Sen. John McCain. On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Romney attempted to spin the Iowa caucuses as a defeat for John McCain, lumping McCain with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as the big losers. "The Washington insiders are being rejected," Romney said. Romney placed a distant second to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. McCain and Fred Thompson were in a virtual tie for third. Romney continued to say that placing ahead of big-name candidates Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and McCain in Iowa...

His liberal record went right up until his final days in office as governor. Despite what he has said since leaving office, he was always there, ready to help out to keep abortions safe and legal. His new claim is that he would have blocked it if he had the chance. Of course, Mitt. Of course you would have done that. If only the track record didn't get in the way of facts. Why do facts always have to get in the way of a good story? More hypocrisy from Mitt, after the jump. Former governor Mitt Romney's economic development...

As we reported on the blog yesterday, a group calling itself American Right to Life Action, is running TV ads against Mitt Romney here in Iowa on the Fox News Channel. In Tuftonboro, N.H., Romney said about the ad, from ABC News' Matt Stuart, "I don't know who that is. I'd be interested to know who is really behind that group. I'm very proud that the Massachusetts Citizens for Life, which is the premier right-to-life group in Massachusetts, awarded me their leadership award. My record in being pro-life is very clear as the governor of Massachusetts and my guess is...

Somebody in the Huckabee camp made the mistake of insulting the leader of the conservative movement in the U.S., Rush Limbaugh. Rush responded on Friday's show and basically ripped the Huckabee camp a well-deserved new one. Whoever made the original comments clearly has not been paying attention. Some are questioning whether the Huckabee campaign can survive the shellacking it got on Friday's program. Huckabee is trying to stop the bleeding: SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The best-talking Republican politician in America has a message for the best-talking conservative voice in the country: Let's talk to one another. Mike Huckabee, taking questions...

Tom Tancredo may have gotten behind Mitt Romney yesterday, but the Tanc's top guy on the ground in Iowa will help out Fred. A retired Marine and active farmer, Bill Salier had served as Tancredo's Iowa state chair. He's a true believing social conservative who ran an uphill race in the '02 GOP Senate primrary that raised some eyebrows. In short: he's the sort of worker bee a campaign likes to have on its side. If Salier puts his shoulder to the wheel for Fred, he could be a major asset. M.E. Sprengelmeyer of the Rocky did a great profile...

Yesterday the news was full of a new poll showing Mitt Romney coming from nowhere to tie Rudy Giuliani for first place among Republicans nationally. The surprising NBC/Wall Street Journal poll,conducted between Dec. 14 and Dec. 16, showed Romney and Giuliani with 20% each, Huckabee with 17%, and the resurgent John McCain with 14%. Combine that with an Insider Advantage poll taken on Dec. 16 and Dec 17 showing Romney recapturing the lead in Iowa,with 28% to Huckabee's 25, and a Rasmussen Poll taken on Dec. 17, showing Huckabee's Iowa lead over Romney cut to only one per cent, and...

Stick a fork in him: With fewer than 20 days until the Iowa caucuses, three men in the Republican Party stand to get their tickets punched out of the Hawkeye State. While everything is still in flux, those likely winners will be Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson. Notably missing out on Iowa’s political rocket fuel is national frontrunner Rudy Giuliani. While most political insiders and pundits have known for months that Giuliani had no plans to compete in Iowa, the general American electorate probably does not. Known to not pay attention to the early political pontificating, the average...

That's right Huckbots, while Brian Pickrell does not rule out a Huckabee win, he claims that the race is really between Fred and Mitt. As a supporter of Mr. Thompson, I'll live with Mitt as well. According to Pickrell... I find it hard to believe that Huckabee is actually leading in the polls here in Iowa. Every person I spoke with told me that they’re supporting Romney or Thompson and that everyone they knew or worked with (who are also Republicans) feels the same way. None of them have even considered Huckabee as a serious choice. It could be a...

Conservative and liberal bloggers alike are buzzing about Mitt Romney's alleged statement to an Islamic businessman that he "cannot see that a Cabinet position would be justified" for a Muslim, based on the percentage of Muslims in the U.S. Romney quickly disputed businessman Mansoor Ijaz's account of their exchange, but Ijaz stands by his telling. To make matters worse for Romney, TPM Election Central just dropped another bomb: apparently two NV GOPers had asked Romney a similar question several months ago and gotten a similar answer, which one of them even described as "racist." Will this hurt Romney among IA...

State Sen. Eric Johnson was among the first prominent Georgians to jump on the Fred Thompson for President bandwagon. The Savannah Republican helped persuade dozens of state lawmakers to endorse the former Tennessee senator earlier this year. But he remained relatively quiet after Thompson officially entered the GOP race this summer. Until last week, that is. That was when Thompson slipped to fifth place in one national poll after doing only a little better in other recent ones. Earlier, he'd led in one national poll and stayed near the front of the pack in others. Against that backdrop, Johnson weighed...

The whole time Mitt Romney was talking this morning, we were thinking: "Is he presidential?" And "his hair looks askew" and "but, is he presidential?" What we heard was: "Blah blah blah" and then the money quote: "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin," Romney said. And this: "If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion,...

I guess IÂ’m not that surprised: some folks are using some underhanded push-polling to promote Huckabee. A newly-formed group claiming to support Mike Huckabee hit the phones of Iowa Republicans tonight with an automated push-poll attacking HuckabeeÂ’s GOP opponents and praising the former Arkansas governor. Officials representing the Iowa campaigns of Fred Thompson, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani all said that their supporters contacted them to complain about the calls. A spokesman for RomneyÂ’s campaign said they had gotten reports of calls, but did not know of anything negative being said about their candidate. It appears this group might be...

Rick Moran has a post up exploring Mike Huckabee’s record as Governor of Arkansas in which he concludes that although Huckabee is a social conservative he most certainly isn’t a ‘real’ conservative. “While Huckabee claims to have cut taxes 90 times totaling $378 million, the state’s Department of Finance and Administration says he also raised taxes 21 times that brought in a whopping $883 million,” Rick writes. “Under his ‘conservative’ governance, the ‘average Arkansan’s tax burden’ went “from $1,969 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1997, to $2,902 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005, including...

Falsehoods, exaggerations and stumbles Summary The CNN/YouTube debate among Republicans lacked any talking snowmen, but we did note a few false and misleading statements by the candidates. * Romney claimed New York called itself a “sanctuary city” for illegal aliens. It didn’t. * Giuliani denied New York actually was a “sanctuary city.” But the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has classified it as such, based on immigrant-friendly policies Giuliani still defends. * Huckabee claimed he would “abolish the IRS.” He failed to mention that he’d replace it with another big tax bureaucracy. * Huckabee said he had proposed to make children...

It’s still early in the process, and a lot can happen in the next few weeks, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to see how Rudy Giuliani’s campaign survives a series of early (and humiliating) defeats. In Iowa, Giuliani has gone from first to third, and he’s not done dropping yet. In New Hampshire, Giuliani is either a distant second possibly even third. And then there’s South Carolina, where Giuliani was, up until fairly recently, hanging onto to a first-place lead. Not anymore. On the heels of polls showing Rudy dropping fast in New Hampshire and out of contention in Iowa,...

"I just want to give my buddies here a little air time." -- Fred Thompson sounding like Ronald Reagan (after showing a video about Romney and Huckabee that would take the bark off the trees, and being told the others would have time to respond) ... Thompson's video utilized YouTube clips that have been circulating for quite some time on YouTube. Only this time, they are also being broadcast on CNN. My bet is getting this negative information out is a lot better use of his time than merely putting out some puff-piece ...

Right Wing News emailed more than 240 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to answer 8 questions about the 2008 candidates. The following 61 blogs responded: The Absurd Report, David All Group, AtlanticBlog, The American Princess, Betsy's Page, Bit's Blog, BizzyBlog, Blogs of War, Blonde Sagacity, Bluey Blog, Boi From Troy, Bookworm Room, Keith Burgess-Jackson, Cassy Fiano, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Cold Fury, Conservative Grapevine, Damian Penny, Dispatches from Blogblivion, Argghhhh!, Ed Driscoll, Eckernet, Musings, Fraters Libertas, Ian Schwartz, Jeff Gannon - A Voice of the New Media, Ghost of a Flea, (Michael) GOPUSA Northeast, (Hank) GOPUSA Northeast, GraniteGrok, Gocinatlanta, Guardian Watchblog,...

This is why a lot of people wanted Fred Thompson in the race. Who do you trust? Mitt today or Mitt from...whenever he changed his mind on abortion. What? Three years ago? That doesn't smack of a real change of heart more than a political calculation. If the abortion issue doesn't bother you then listen to Mitt run from the "Reagan-Bush" years.

Republican presidential candidates have pulled out their knives for Mr. Nice Guy. A surprising surge of support for Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who had long seemed a rank outsider in the 2008 presidential race has turned him into a target six weeks before voting in Iowa. The Times of London reports that “running on a shoestring budget as an affable conservative with unrivalled religious qualifications (he is a former Baptist minister), Huckabee has been previously dismissed as an under-funded no-hoper. He is mostly known for a quirky sense of humor and his skills on bass guitar -...

One of the big stories in the Republican presidential race last week was a series of controversial survey calls in Iowa and New Hampshire that asked respondents some pointed questions about Mitt Romney. Specifically, voters in the first two Republican contests received calls with negative messages about the former governor’s religion, his Vietnam-era military deferments, his sons’ lack of military service, and the notion that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible. The question, of course, was who was responsible for the calls. For one thing, they may have been illegal — as the Union Leader...

Yesterday, Senator Fred Thompson issued a statement on the Supreme Court's decision to grant certiorari in the District of Columbia gun ban case. It reads, in part: I’ve always understood the Second Amendment to mean what it says – it guarantees a citizen the right to “keep and bear” firearms, and that’s why I’ve been supportive of the National Rifle Association’s efforts to have the DC law overturned. In general, lawful gun ownership is a pretty simple matter. The Founders established gun-owner rights so that citizens would possess and be able to exercise the universal right of self-defense. Guns enable...

I believe I represent the average Republican voter, or at least a significant slice of the R base. My positions - in no particular order - are as follows: Immigration - Amnesty is a deal breaker. If they are here illegally and we come into contact with them, send them home. Iraq - We were winning, we are winning, and we will win. The various pitfalls and difficulties that we have had do not equal defeat. We need a President to stand firm, and to fire all the traitors(I am not using this word lightly) in the State Department and...

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee Senator and Law & Order actor, slammed Mitt Romney for supporting and signing into law the Massachusetts Health Plan that allows for women to have an abortion with no restrictions for a $50 co-pay. Columnist David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, whose founder Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate, for president, analyzes the contradictions of Romney’s abortion stance. Brody writes that “the problem that Romney continues to have on abortion is that it’s hard for him to criticize Giuliani, Thompson or anybody else on the issue because he has his...

Whodunnit? Here is why it is unlikely that Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson or any top-tier challenger to Mitt Romney had anything to do with the wave of anti-Mormon, Anti-Romney phone calls in Iowa and New Hampshire. Think about the reward. Would the questions asked by the firm elicit any meaningful data for the campaign who wrote them? Would the relative reward of a few dozen voters changing their minds about Romney because of his Mormonism be worth the avalanche of embarassment and ill-will that would accrue to the candidate who authorized the phone calls? Political consultants aren't stupid -- they...

From the desk of Todd Harris, communications director to Fred Thompson: "There is no room for this kind of smut in a Republican primary election. While there are certainly issues our campaigns disagree on, we are united by far more than that which divides us. One of our candidates is going to emerge from this process as the standard bearer for all Republicans, and we will need a united party to win next year. This kind of robo-dial bigotry which tears down Republicans today will only serve to prop up Democrats tomorrow. It has to end and end now."

Mitt Romney supporter Paul Weyrich, one of the founders of the Moral Majority, is pretty upset that Fred Thompson got the endorsement from the National Right to Life Committee. He's so mad he's made a spurious charge against the Thompson campaign and the NRLC which is bound to hurt Romney: Fred Thompson's campaign lashed out at Mitt Romney Wednesday after one of Romney's key supporters suggested Thompson's recent endorsement by the anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee was traded for cash. In an article in The Washington Times on Wednesday, Paul Weyrich — the socially conservative co-founder of the Moral...

MC LEAN, Va., Nov. 14 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today the Fred Thompson campaign announced its Students For Fred National and State Leadership Teams. These student volunteers will be actively leading the Fred Thompson grassroots efforts on college campuses across the nation. Matthew Farrar will serve as the Florida Chairman as well as a National Co-Chair of Students for Fred Thompson. A senior political science major at Florida State University, Farrar has previously served on the 2006 Charlie Crist Gubernatorial campaigns and has worked on numerous state races throughout Florida. "Sen. Fred Thompson has made it clear that he is the...

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Maybe Mitt Romney should study his family tree. Surprised to see a distant relative in the front row at a campaign stop Wednesday, the Republican presidential hopeful interrupted his education speech at a children's museum to introduce her. "In the front row over here is my niece, Heather Glenn," Romney said. "That's probably not your last name anymore, Heather. But Heather is a school teacher. Are you a school teacher?" "No. I'm a pediatrician," she responded. "She's a pediatrician," Romney said, to laughter. "Deals with kids. I haven't seen Heather in, um, 20 years. Good to...

"Reminded that on a visit several months ago, he said he'd be in New Hampshire "early and often," Thompson answered, "I was early then, and now I'll be often."... "Thompson, who helped guide the nomination of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts through the Senate, said he would appoint judges who interpret the law and Constitution as written. He said he will have a strong national defense policy and a free-market approach to the economy. Earlier today, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney labeled Thompson a "Freddie-come-lately on the immigration issue." Thompson criticized Romney for supporting President Bush's immigration plan....

The way to avoid a Rudy nomination is to simply bury him in the primaries. Let's examine a few key facts. 1) The current national polls have Rudy at about 30%, Thompson at 21%, McCain at 13%, Romney at 11%, and Huckabee at 6%. The other 19% are either going for a minor candidate or are undecided. 2) Rudy is mostly leading because a) he's the only pro-choice candidate against seven pro-life candidates and b) he's supported by some conservatives because he's seen as the best chance to win. 3) While McCain is listed as third here, it's pretty generally...

The Politico's Martin looks at large discrepancy between the number of staffers the leading Dems have in Iowa and New Hampshire versus the leading Republican candidates. In fact, Martin finds the second-tier Democratic candidates have more staffers on the ground in the early states than all of the LEADING GOP candidates. (By the way, considering how little of an organizational advantage Romney may actually have in the first two states, does that mean Thompson can get up to speed in Iowa faster than some believe?) --snip-- NBC/NJ's Memoli notes that Ann Romney seemed to take personally Thompson’s "actor" barb in...

Have you given to Jim Ogonowski yet? The Democrats are worried about this seat, and they should be. To be sure, Ogonowski is not the pure through and through conservative I'd like. But frankly guys, we can't expect that in places like Massachusetts if we want to get back in the majority. Sometimes, in some places, we have to accept that there are people to the left of us who still vote "R." I'm not saying I'd back Ogonowski if he were in Georgia or Texas or Missouri or even out in CA-04 where the incumbent Republican is to the...

The Ohio Republican Party announced today the results of its 2007 Presidential Straw Poll, declaring former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson the winner with 33 percent of the vote. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani took second with 24 percent, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed third with 17 percent of the ballots cast. A Fred vs. Hillary matchup would be an interesting repolarization of Ohio, as one would expect that the southern-oriented south and southwest Ohio would be quite friendly to Fred. I would think that Northeast Ohio would remain friendly to Hillary, leaving a big fight over...

Mitt Romney is debuting a new ad in which he challenges Republicans to get back to their historic principles: "If we're going to change Washington, Republicans have to put our own house in order,” warns Romney, as he walks towards the camera. “We can't be like Democrats – a party of big spending. We can't pretend our borders are secure from illegal immigration. We can't have ethical standards that are a punch line for Jay Leno.” Romney adds, “When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses. It's time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans. It's time for a change and...

Over the past four months, Rasmussen Reports polling has consistently shown Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani holding the top two slots in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination. During that time, the weekly poll results have shown Thompson’s support ranging from a low of 20% to a high of 28%. Giuliani’s range has been similar, from 19% to 27%. Although Thompson and Giuliani are the frontrunners, both men still have plenty of detractors who say they can’t possibly win the nomination. For the week ending September 23, it’s Thompson 26% and Giuliani 22%. Occupying a precarious niche somewhere between...

Gallup has a poll out today looking at the GOP side of the White House race, finding that Rudy Giuliani is down to 30%, leading Fred Thompson (22%), John McCain (18%) and Mitt Romney (7%). But what we find interesting is Giuliani's negatives, which are rising. Just before he announced his plans to run, with buzz practically roaring back in December, just 12% of the country didn't like him. Since then, it's risen steadily to 38%. Not exactly danger territory, and a pretty common in campaigns. But we're still a long way from the election and the trend suggests the...

Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan is forming a campaign exploratory committee - his most serious step yet as he considers a run to succeed Congressman Martin Meehan. Sullivan, a Republican, said the committee includes his brother, Kevin Sullivan, a former mayor of Lawrence and one-time state transportation and finance secretary in Republican administrations. The two-term mayor said he would decide by the end of this month if he will run for the House of Representatives. "There are a lot of personal things to consider," said Sullivan, who has two teenaged daughters. "The whole lifestyle change, traveling from Washington back to Lawrence."...

Mitt Romney to us, his neighbors...

You guys should check this group out. I met one of their members out in Ohio working with a congressional candidate. They knew what they were doing and I was impressed but i didn't realize that Alex had his own team until yesterday. I looked at their website its got some really solid ideas in terms of strategy. Check it out: http://www.vandenberg-strategies.com

Howie Carr of WRKO Boston has posted a new Mary Jo Kopechne photo at http://fatboy.cc/live_from_chappaquiddick.htm This is the first new Mary Jo Photo since 1969 to appear.

It's late morning on a brisk day in downtown Boston, and Angelo R. Buonopane, the state's director of the Department of Labor, steps out of his office building. He looks right, he looks left, in front of him, and behind him. Then Buonopane starts strolling up Washington Street, returning to work 40 minutes later with a shopping bag from one of his favorite haunts, Filene's Basement. An hour later, Buonopane emerges from his office again, and this time heads for a two- hour, 12-minute lunch at his North End home. Buonopane returns to the office, for 37 minutes, then heads...

Wear a necktie to show your interest. We deal with government agencies, fund raisers, private organizations. We are a wholesale neckwear business. Star Wonders WHOLESALE Neck Tie Store | $3.50 to $4.75 a Tie ANY Variety. 100's of Ties.

Joan Vennochi said - "The day after the election, a group of women was sitting shiva in my health club locker room. Huddled together, they asked, `How could Kerry have lost? How could Americans be so stupid?' I meekly asked the most vocal if she thought everyone who voted for Bush was stupid. `Yes,' she said. `Stupid, stupid, stupid.' "I guess that makes me stupid. I'm one of those nameless people in Massachusetts with a full set of teeth and lots of education who voted for Bush and won't tell anyone. Not even my best friend who lives 2,000 miles...

http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/

During one of the Secession threads...I came across this piece in the Constitution: Amendment 14 / Article 3: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Democrats are lining up to take John Kerry's seat in the U.S. Senate should he win the White House, while Republicans in Massachusetts won't even discuss the possibility in public.