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If you had to vote in your state primary/caucus today, knowing what you know now about the various declared and probable candidates, who would you vote for? Why? Who would you like to see as the running mate for your preferred candidate? If you could help staff your candidates cabinet and other top appointments, who would you choose? If you could recommend different congressional leaders than we have now, who would they be? And who would you like to see on the Supreme Court and why? And finally, feel free to donate to Free Republic.

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul will host a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus next week to discuss criminal justice reform. The libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky has long been an outspoken advocate for changing how the American criminal system prosecutes and sentences. Now he’s teaming up with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and other black lawmakers, to craft a strategy for advancing legislation as law enforcement issues have taken center stage following the death of several unarmed black men at the hands of police. “Not only is Senator Paul the [S]enate co-sponsor of the Justice Safety Valve Act, which...

Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) said it could have set race relations back by several decades if police had fired back at the shooter of two officers in Ferguson late Wednesday. Cleaver, the former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, along with Ferguson Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) has offered a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter(s) responsible for wounding two officers outside of the Ferguson Police Department. Cleaver told CNN today that “what I think most people can agree on including the police in Ferguson is that the shots didn’t come from the demonstrators.”...

St. Louis, Missouri -- David Gregory, an attorney and lifelong resident of south St. Louis County, has been elected Treasurer of the Tesson Ferry Township Republican Club in South St. Louis County. As Treasurer and member of the Executive Board, Gregory will help establish club policies and guide official business as well as help plan club activities, recommendations, positions, and responses to political action requests. In addition, Gregory will help establish an annual club operating budget and formulate annual goals and objectives. Gregory is an attorney who specializes in civil and criminal litigation. He earned a degree in accounting, a...

JEFFERSON CITY — Some Missouri Republican lawmakers outlined proposals Tuesday to strengthen parental notification requirements for minors seeking abortions, as they sought to expand upon a new law tripling the state's abortion waiting period. Supporters of abortion rights said the bills heard by a House committee could make it more difficult for minors to get abortions and potentially put them at risk of harm from parents who disagree with their decision. Last year, Missouri lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a mandatory 72-hour waiting period before abortions. Tuesday's hearings were the first on the topic this year, as...

For the third time, the cops of the NYPD have turned their backs on the mayor of New York. The first time was when Mayor Bill de Blasio arrived at Woodhull Hospital where mortally wounded officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu had been taken on Dec. 20. The second was when the mayor spoke at Ramos’ funeral. The third was at Liu’s service on Sunday. Detestation of de Blasio among the NYPD and the cops who came from across the country to stand in solidarity with their slain brothers is broad and deep. And, in a way, de Blasio served...

Senator Blunt Joins Cruz, Cornyn On Amicus Brief Against President Obama’s Executive Amnesty WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) joined an amicus brief led by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (Texas) and co-signed by U.S. Senator John Cornyn (Texas) in support of a lawsuit brought by the State of Texas against President Barack Obama’s illegal amnesty. The brief is also co-signed by a number of members from the U.S. House of Representatives. Blunt also voted in favor of a constitutional point of order offered by Cruz and U.S. Senator Mike Lee (Utah) against the president’s executive amnesty. “I agree...

Sen. Rand Paul is blaming politicians for the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, arguing that the criminal justice system fuels racial tension by disproportionately targeting African-Americans. The so-called war on drugs has created a culture of violence and put police in a nearly impossible situation," Paul said in an op-ed published for TIME. He acknowledged that the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer wasn't related to drugs, but argued that outsized penalties for nonviolent drug crimes creates a "tension in some communities that too often results in tragedy." The comments are another attempt by Paul, a Kentucky...

"We want a fair, impartial, and color-blind criminal justice system. But if we're honest with ourselves, that doesn't exist for all Americans today."Late Monday night, after the House took its final votes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus took the floor to speak for about one hour about race in the wake of a grand jury's decision last week not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. "Hands up, don't shoot," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York began. Charles Rangel, the longtime New York Democrat, followed Jeffries and CBC Chairwoman...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Rep. Peter King has a suggestion for the White House in dealing with the latest developments in Ferguson — invite Officer Darren Wilson over. “I think it would be very helpful if President Obama went and met with the police officer, or invited him to the White House and said, ‘You’ve gone through four months of smear and slander, and the least we can do is tell you that it’s unfortunate that it happened and thank you for doing your job,’” the New York Republican told Fox Business on Tuesday. ---snip--- “I thought it was terrible how, over the last...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus has picked its next leader. The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/10IDWhO ) reports that State Rep. Brandon Ellington will serve as caucus chairman for the 2015 legislative session. The Kansas City Democrat was first elected to the House in 2011 and had served as caucus vice-chair....

Black anger at a local Democrat's handling of the shooting of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has given the Republican candidate some hope of winning the race for St Louis County executive for first time since the 1980s. Polls show both candidates virtually tied in this troubled corner of America. A group of African-American leaders is endorsing Republican Rick Stream. One reason: Democratic hopeful Steve Stenger's support of the prosecutor investigating the Ferguson police department, which is under scrutiny after a white officer shot dead Brown, an 18-year-old African-American, in August. That group accuses the county prosecutor Robert McCulloch...

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The two winning primary candidates for St. Louis County executive anticipated a general election campaign heavy on the nuts and bolts of local government: taxes, roads, parks and schools. Then came Ferguson. Sparking a national debate over race relations and police killings, the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, by a white municipal police officer in early August also transformed a local election that typically draws little attention outside of St. Louis....

Low African American voter turnout helped create Ferguson’s mostly white government. Black leaders nationwide are using that fact to get their constituents to the polls.For many African Americans, this is shaping up to be the Ferguson Election. Around the country, black voters are being mobilized to vote in the 2014 midterms with the argument that the death of Michael Brown resulted, in part, from lack of black civic participation. While the population of Ferguson is nearly 70 percent African American, only 6 percent cast a ballot in the last municipal elections. This led to a majority-black city where the mayor...

The Democratic effort to pump up the African-American vote in Georgia just took an interesting turn. A reader has sent us this early-voting turnout mailer sent out by the Georgia Democratic party that focuses on the shooting of Michael Brown and subsequent unrest in Ferguson, Mo. It contains an interesting line that concedes the problem of low interest among black voters: “If we want a better, safer future for our children, it’s up to us to vote for change. The choices may not always be perfect, but the cost of inaction is simply too great.” Here’s a complete look: And...

Below the fold on the front page of the October 15 edition of the Washington Post was a rather fascinating story out of Ferguson, Missouri, about how young black voters in the St. Louis suburb are considering casting at least one vote on the ballot this November for a Republican. Post staff writer Sandhya Somashekhar delivered the scoop you are very unlikely to find noted on race-obsessed MSNBC. Here's a relevant excerpt (emphasis mine): FERGUSON, Mo. — Darren Seals experienced waves of disbelief and anger after Michael Brown’s death, but two months later, he has found a way to channel...

Paul is the first potential 2016 contender to visit the city.Sen. Rand Paul met with civil rights leaders Friday in Ferguson, Missouri, the city torn apart by racial unrest following the August shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer. During his visit, the Republican Senator, who is seen as a likely presidential candidate, stated his concerns about long prison sentences for nonviolent crimes, the loss of voting rights for felons and military programs to give unused equipment to local police departments. “I wanted to find out what we could do to make the situation better,” Paul...

Four days before Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking nearly two weeks of protests, the black community there lost the most racially divisive election in recent memory. On August 5, Democrats in St. Louis County headed to the polls to choose their nominee in November’s county executive race. On the primary ballot was 10-year incumbent Charlie Dooley, who is black, and his challenger, white county Councilman Steve Stenger. When the votes were tallied, Stenger had won overwhelmingly, ousting the black incumbent by nearly the same margin (66 percent...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)There are 65 prominent people who might run for president in 2016. The Democratic and Republican fields contrast sharply. Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner, while there is no front-runner on the Republican side. Twenty-three Democrats have been mentioned as a candidate or are eyeing a bid, according to an analysis by The Hill. The GOP side has 42. Most of the people on this list won’t run, and some have adamantly claimed that they’re not interested. But many politicians have changed their minds on seeking the White House. Before mounting his 2008 bid, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he...

Even after the unrest in Ferguson has subsided, we're left with questions about the tension that built up and exploded in the small St. Louis suburb. Among those questions: How did a city where two-thirds of the residents are black elect an almost entirely white city government? The answer is simple: Ferguson holds its city elections entirely separate from state and national elections, and that can make all the difference. People rarely think about the timing of elections. But Missouri's election rules set the stage for the discontent that has tormented Ferguson recently. The state requires its cities to hold...