Free Republic

"Donald Trump can typically do no wrong - until he attacks Ted Cruz."HOUSTON, Texas — Today, at a rally held in Myrtle Beach, SC, New York billionaire Donald Trump attempted to attack Ted Cruz using a New York Times hit piece and was booed by the crowd. Watch the video here:Donald Trump Booed for Attacking Ted Cruz (Video)NBC News: Donald Trump Booed By Conservative Crowd After Attacks on Ted Cruz Among conservatives, Donald Trump can typically do no wrong - until he attacks Ted Cruz.On Saturday, Trump drew boos from a grassroots conservative crowd during remarks at the South Carolina...

Is Trump warming to Kasich as his running mate after the last debate? If Donald Trump manages to win the Republican presidential nomination (and this is becoming less of an “if” with each passing day), then he must select a vice-presidential running mate. Surely it will be tough for The Donald to share the national ticket with anyone, but at least he will still be on top. With this decision potentially on the horizon, did Trump spontaneously drop a hint about who could be on his veep short-list during Thursday night’s Republican debate? The answer is yes. Read more at:...

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the annual conservative RedState Gathering, where nine Republican presidential candidates gave fiery speeches. Although all were very impressive speakers, I kept applying the “Buckley rule” — these days, generally thought of as “nominate the most conservative candidate who is electable” — and did not feel confident that any of them could actually win the White House in 2016.

(NEW YORK) - In New Hampshire in an election year, even young children aren't afraid to share their views with politicians - as Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina saw firsthand Friday night. "Do you think Donald Trump is taking away our rights by not letting Muslims in the country because there's some terrorist attacks?" Harrison Golden, an eight-year-old Fiorina supporter, who is Muslim, asked the businesswoman after a town hall event she held in southeastern New Hampshire. "I think Donald Trump says a lot of things that are crazy," Fiorina responded. Harrison's sister, Zahra, who is 10 years old,...

GOP presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is defending GOP frontrunner Donald Trump against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)'s (R-TX) criticism. The Cruz campaign is pointing to Trump's interview with Tim Russert from 1999, in which, according to the Cruz campaign, "Donald Trump asserts that New York 'views' and 'attitudes' are different than other places in the country, such as Iowa." Huckabee was asked if he thinks Trump is now sincere in what he says. "I have no reason to doubt him. He's pretty outspoken, you got to give him credit for that." Huckabee went on to criticize Cruz, although...

A proposed bill in New York seeks to require that all smartphones sold in the state can be decrypted or unlocked and proposes hefty fines for vendors failing to comply.The proposed law marks the latest effort by lawmakers to make it easier for law enforcement to access and read encrypted data stored on smartphones. Should the proposed bill successfully pass through New York's state assembly and senate, Apple and Google could face fines of $2,500 per device sold in the state after January 1, 2016, if a retailer knowingly sold a smartphone that could not be unlocked or decrypted by...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz arrived Jan. 4 at the first stop on a six-day tour of Iowa. The Republican presidential candidate was set to visit 28 counties by bus. (Photo by Patrick Svitek) WASHINGTON — In the more than 200 events he's held since launching his campaign for the White House 10 months ago, Ted Cruz has tested out an unorthodox strategy, one that could rewrite the rules of Republican presidential politics.Since the Texas senator declared his candidacy in March, 40 percent of his public events have taken place in Iowa, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of his travel schedule as of Saturday. But...

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are most likely the six GOP presidential candidates that will appear on the main debate stage at the Fox Business GOP primary debate in South Carolina this Thursday, according to Politico. After the recent NBC News Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, Politico calculated the candidates not likely to make the debate stage this time around are: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Florina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

An email message sent out Friday morning by the campaign of Republican presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) claims the junior senator from Florida "is leading the Billy Graham wing" of evangelical Christians, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) "is leading the Jerry Falwell wing," and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump "is leading the Jimmy Swaggart wing." The email was signed by Eric Teetsell, who was hired by the Rubio campaign in November to serve as its director of Faith Outreach. It began with a controversial quote made at Roll Call last week by Russell Moore, an advocate of amnesty for illegal...

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 97%, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%, Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are most likely the six GOP presidential candidates that will appear on the main debate stage at the Fox Business GOP primary debate in South Carolina this Thursday, according to Politico. After the recent NBC News Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, Politico calculated the candidates not likely to make the debate stage this time around are: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 93%, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Florina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen....

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee didn't just blast President Obama's new gun control initiative and move on, he's produced three shooting targets for opponents to aim their fire directly at the administration. "Americans should go out and buy a new gun – and to improve your accuracy, you can take aim at Washington stupidity, blow holes in ridiculous government programs and shred our unfair tax code with a customized shooting target," said the former Arkansas governor and shooter.

Just four weeks from today, Iowans will cast the first official votes of the 2016 presidential election. And what was once a very crowded GOP field, with 17 people officially declaring their candidacies, is really down to only three potential scenarios. Let's assess the impact of each on the race going forward should it become a reality. Scenario #1-Ted Cruz Wins Convincingly And by convincingly, I mean with 35% or more, which only two Republicans have ever scored in Iowa's history (George W. Bush 2000 and Bob Dole 1988). With the combined strengths of his existing structure and the vocal...

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?"...

After the British victory at the Battle of the Second El Alamein in November of 1942, Winston Churchill spoke to the British people. Churchill eloquently stated, “Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Perhaps, the same can be said of the opening salvos of the 2016 Presidential Election. We have watched numerous debates on both sides, filled with candidates grandiose and not very grandiose. Gradually, the field is being thinned and on February 1, 2016, the games truly begin at the Iowa Caucuses....

A Super PAC supporting Mike Huckabee recently ran an ad that quotes Ted Cruz at a Manhattan fundraiser. The precisely edited clip makes it appear as though Cruz isn’t who he says he is. The recording from which that clip was taken has a lot more to offer. Here’s the actual transcript of the exchange between Cruz and his questioner as provided by Politico: DONOR: “Can I ask you a question? So, I’m a big supporter. And the only issue I really disagree with you about is gay marriage. And I’m curious: Given all the problems that the country’s facing–like...

A Super PAC supporting Mike Huckabee recently ran an ad that quotes Ted Cruz at a Manhattan fundraiser. The precisely edited clip makes it appear as though Cruz isn’t who he says he is. The recording from which that clip was taken has a lot more to offer. Here’s the actual transcript of the exchange between Cruz and his questioner as provided by Politico: DONOR: “Can I ask you a question? So, I’m a big supporter. And the only issue I really disagree with you about is gay marriage. And I’m curious: Given all the problems that the country’s facing–like...

“Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty.” – Nathaniel HawthorneI am profoundly disheartened by Mike Huckabee’s behavior. I was a supporter of his in 2008 because he was clearly the more conservative alternative to John McCain, but a short eight years later, he’s let me down–not because he’s polling at a paltry 1.8%, but because he was willfully dishonest when asked about a recent attack on a fellow candidate.A Super PAC supporting Mike Huckabee recently ran an ad that quotes Ted Cruz at a Manhattan fundraiser. The precisely edited clip makes it appear as though Cruz isn’t...

Now, with Trump training his focus on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, the rest of the pack is fighting to rise above. The latest round involves Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The super PAC backing Bush is out with a new ad blasting Rubio for missing a Senate meeting after the Paris terror attacks - and another contrasting Bush's gubernatorial record against those of Christie and Kasich. "Politics first, that's the Rubio way," the first ad says, slamming Rubio for fundraising while missing meetings and hearings on...

Do supporters of the Christian right candidates Ted Cruz has eclipsed hate him so much they'd sabotage their own heroes? The late stages of the invisible primary would not be complete without reports of intrigue and skullduggery in Iowa, with campaigns forming tactical alliances against common enemies. We have one today from National Review's Tim Alberta and Eliana Johnson, who report that supporters of the last two caucus winners, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, are so bitter at being eclipsed by Ted Cruz that they are conspiring to block the Texan and instead elevate Marco Rubio. There's only one problem...

Back in 2008 on the day of the Iowa caucus, when I was reporting on my first election for Townhall.com, I happened to be grabbing lunch in the same hole-in-the-wall restaurant as then-Huckabee National Campaign Advisor Ed Rollins. He sat in the cafe loudly trash talking the Romney campaign to any reporter he could call on his cell phone. Expletives and insults flew. Anyone sitting in the eatery could hear him. I, stunned any known operative would be so foolish to speak in such a way in a public place, wrote it up as an item. These are the same...