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Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol appears on Thursday's Morning Joe to talk about the Republican presidential primary race and candidate Donald Trump. Kristol said Trump supporters don't "think about the implications" of what the candidate is saying. "People I respect think Trump has peaked, that a lot of people are intrigued by Trump," Kristol said causing host Joe Scarborough to break out in laughter. "You can laugh," Kristol told Scarborough. "He's not going to win Iowa. He'll run third."

Despite much hand-wringing by Republican leadership, the GOP is actually complicit in the persecution of Christians in the Middle East because of its vocal support for Israel, argues Doug Bandow in a Forbes essay Saturday. Bandow rightly notes that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world today and are “harassed and harmed in more than 100 countries.” Christians, he writes, “are particularly vulnerable to government abuse, especially in Muslim-majority states.” Yet Bandow takes issue with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 79% ’s Christmas Eve article denouncing attacks on Christian communities, contending that the GOP, rather than the Obama...

I’ve never quite understood either the appeal of Mike Huckabee as a national candidate or why Mike Huckabee thinks of himself as a national candidate but, for the second time Governor Huckabee has made a bid to become the GOP’s nominee for president. In 2008, he made a creditable run in the early states but dropped out in March when it became apparent that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 48% would win Texas and the nomination. Huckabee had hoped to reprise his 2008 campaign this year but has been frustrated by one man: Ted Cruz. Cruz won the endorsement of Iowa...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Wednesday blasted Ted Cruz after a POLITICO report quoted the Texas senator telling a donor that fighting gay marriage wouldn't be a "top-three priority" for his administration. "Conservatives are being asked to 'coalesce' around yet another corporately-funded candidate that says something very different at a big donor fundraiser in Manhattan than at a church in Marshalltown," Huckabee said in a statement released by his campaign Wednesday afternoon. "Shouldn't a candidate be expected to have authenticity and consistency, instead of having to look at a map to decide what to believe and what to say?"...

Full title: Trump Lead Grows Nationally; 41% of His Voters Want to Bomb Country From Aladdin; Clinton Maintains Big Lead PPP's newest national Republican primary poll finds Donald Trump holding his largest lead yet in the wake of Tuesday night's debate. He's at 34% to 18% for Ted Cruz, 13% for Marco Rubio, 7% for Jeb Bush, 6% for Ben Carson, 5% for Chris Christie, 4% each for Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee, 2% each for John Kasich and Rand Paul, 1% each for Lindsey Graham and Rick Santorum, and less than 1% each for Jim Gilmore and George Pataki...

[Full title] Trump Edges Cruz in Iowa; His Supporters Think Japanese Internment Was Good; Clinton Still Well Ahead of Sanders In State PPP’s newest Iowa poll finds Donald Trump and Ted Cruz at the top of the heap with 28% and 25% respectively. Marco Rubio at 14% and Ben Carson at 10% are also in double digits with Jeb Bush at 7% the only other candidate who clears even 3%. Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Mike Huckabee all hit that level with John Kasich and Rand Paul each getting 2%, Lindsey Graham and Rick Santorum each getting 1%, and Jim...

GOP presidential candidates former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum defended GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's statement to ban Muslims from coming into the United States until the government can put in place an effective vetting process during the undercard debate hosted by CNN in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. Even without being on stage, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump managed to drive the conversation within the first five minutes of the debate. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took a swipe at Trump saying, "Donald Trump has done the one single thing you cannot do, declare war on Islam...

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum argued that "Islam is different" and the idea that its political structure is "protected under the First Amendment is wrong," a point former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee agreed with. Santorum said, "The fact of the matter is, Islam is different. I know this is going to come as a shock to a lot of people, and I mean that sincerely. Islam is not just a religion. it is also a political governing structure. The fact of the matter is, Islam is a religion, but it is also Sharia law. It is also...

Chuck Laudner is Donald Trump’s Iowa campaign director. He is a Marine and a fighter who wants Trump to win and is not looking for a position in the Trump Administration. While other campaign staffs sleep with dreams of Pennsylvania Avenue dancing in their head, Laudner says when the Caucuses are over he’ll just go back to his ordinary life in a town so small it doesn’t have a diner. Trump first spoke to Laudner last December because he goes into every contest well prepared. We have heard about surveys in Iowa and how the caucuses are now a race...

Cruz will be in Trussville on December 20 Texas Senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is planning to make more appearances in Alabama. On December 20, Senator Cruz will bring his campaign to the Trussville Civic Center from 2 to 4 p.m. The campaign has also announced a tentative appearance in Mobile for December 19. Alabama recently saw visits from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." ~ Benjamin Franklin ::Separating the Wheat from the Chaff:: By: Larry Walker, II ::Each 2016 GOP presidential candidate has proposed to reform the tax code. While seven have offered legitimate proposals, five have advanced theories, which are basically maniacal. Those proposing to abolish, or end, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be classified as crackpots, because, let's face it, that's never ever going to happen. With taxes of such fundamental concern, it's difficult to take anything else these kooks say seriously. Unless such candidates are willing...

Republican presidential candidates respond to the ridiculous Democratic National Committee ad you can see here. Huckabee’s comment is most apposite, and is true not just of the DNC, but of the Obama Administration and the mainstream media — as well as much of the Republican establishment.“EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Slam DNC Ad Attacking Them for Using Term ‘Radical Islam,’” by Patrick Howley, Breitbart, November 21, 2015: WASHINGTON -Republicans are slamming the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) new attack ad criticizing the GOP for using the term “radical Islam.”After radical Islamists carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, the DNC released an ad hitting...

Live Stream from Des Moines, Iowa

Mike Huckabee might be down in the polls, but he's still up to throwing a good political punch. On this evening's MTP Daily, Chuck Todd suggested, by way of advocating the admission of Syrian refugees, that the US is better than Europe at "assimilation." Retorted Huckabee, speaking of one of the Boston bombers, "he really assimilated, until he blew up the Boston Marathon with a pressure cooker." Ouch! View the video here.

GOP presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is calling on Congress to stop President Obama’s plan to bring more Syrian refugees to the U.S. in light of the recent terrorist attack in Paris by a member of ISIS who had embedded in the refugee program. “Speaker Ryan needs to step down today and let someone else lead if he will not act to stop the flow of terrorists to America,” Huckabee stated in a press release, in which he criticized President Obama’s recent comments following the massacre in Paris. President Obama’s wimpish and amateurish response to Islamic jihadists this...

The hard-line conservative arm of the Heritage Foundation has tough criticism for much of the 2016 field, but high praise for the Texas senator. Many of the lines in the scorecard appear destined for future attack ads.Jeb Bush, for instance, is accused of having "kowtowed to the state's environmental lobby" in Florida. Chris Christie "has shown favoritism toward well-connected real estate developers." Rand Paul's "views at times veer outside the conservative mainstream." And Donald Trump backs "massive tariffs that would damage the American economy."Cruz, by contrast, manages to emerge with barely a blemish, only softly worded critiques of his adopting...

Passionately professing that the Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage must be overturned and laying out their conservative credentials, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pulpiteered to over 1,700 conservative Christians in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday for a two-day National Religious Liberties Conference.Before hearing from the presidential contenders, evangelical families collected name tags, perused a table filled with books like "What does the Bible Say About That: A Biblical Worldview Curriculum for Children" and connected with other like-minded conservatives. In the dimly lit hall, Kevin Sawnson, executive director of Generations, which was...

Fox Business Network on Thursday announced the candidate line-up for the Nov. 10 Republican presidential debates. The candidates qualifying for the prime-time, 9 p.m. ET debate are: Billionaire businessman Donald Trump; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The candidates qualifying for the earlier, 7 p.m. ET debate are: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. The criteria were different than for past...

Governor Mike Huckabee came on the show today and he was funny as hell. Also pretty willing to throw out some jabs. VIDEO AT LINK: Here's something important to note. I like Gov. Huckabee as a person, but just because he's been on my show, this doesn't mean I'm endorsing him as candidate. What is true however, is that I've extended invitations to nearly everyone in the current GOP field, with the conditions that they are given no topic prep, that they use no talking points, and that the interview is long-form. Only two people were brave enough to agree...

Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz delivered the strongest performances in Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate, a group of GOP strategists told CQ Roll call, and should see a bounce in their poll numbers between now and the next faceoff in two weeks."Rubio delivered yet another solid performance in which he demonstrated what a good candidate he is. And how formidable he could be in November,” said Jason Roe, who has managed and advised congressional campaigns, including that of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. “Cruz, I think, had his best night yet. And I think that was...