Free Republic

1) We can contribute to the Lonegan campaign HERE. ( https://loneganforsenate.com/secure-contribution.php ) 2) Anyone living in or close to New Jersey can GET INVOLVED HERE. ( http://www.loneganforsenate.com/volunteer-sign-up/ ) 3) Anyone with a telephone can volunteer to make calls from home HERE. ( https://www.loneganforsenate.com/phonefromhome/ ) Sarah wrote on Facebook today: The momentum is on Steve Lonegan’s side coming into next Wednesday’s election in New Jersey! Please visit Steve’s website to find ways to help out. It was such an honor to rally for Steve yesterday in NJ. Thank you again to everyone who came to join us – including “The Great...

A Johnson County Republican and second cousin of President Barack Obama is expected to move ahead Tuesday with planning for a primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, of Kansas. Milton Wolf, who advocates for a divinely inspired return to limited government and individual liberty, invited supporters to a "major announcement" regarding the 2014 Senate campaign at an Overland Park hotel. The event will feature a performance by “American Idol” singer Krista Branch. Wolf, a 42-year-old physician and a political novice, could highlight in Kansas the division playing out nationally among tea party conservatives and others in the Republican Party....

Sarah Palin, former Republican vice presidential candidate and a prominent voice of the right, has endorsed New Jersey U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan, his campaign announced Wednesday night. Palin's endorsement took aim at Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the Democratic candidate, who leads in polls. She said unemployment, taxes, and violent crime all have grown during Booker's term in office. "In fairness, [he] may not have noticed these facts between his constant tweeting and trips to Hollywood," Palin said in a statement released by the Lonegan campaign. She praised Lonegan for cutting taxes as mayor of Bogota and his work as...

Republicans have plenty of reasons to dislike Obamacare already, but they haven’t focused on one that could affect them in 2014 and beyond: anyone signing up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act will also have a chance to register to vote. Before folks start accusing Democrats of engaging in a vast left-wing conspiracy, it’s worth noting this quirk stems from the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (better known as the “Motor Voter” law, because it allowed all Americans to register to vote while renewing their driver’s license). According to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman Brian Cook,...

Amid the lowlights of the media coverage of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s speech (actual Politico.com headline: “Experts: Dr. Seuss Would Be ‘Offended’ ”), it’s easy to skip how the press was overlooking the obvious accomplishment happening before their eyes: Cruz was winning. No, Cruz wasn’t winning the vote count in the U.S. Senate to defund Obamacare. That was never going to happen. And even if the John McCain surrender caucus had stood strong, bringing five red-state Democrats with them, Cruz still would have lost. President Obama would have vetoed, and the bar in the Senate would have risen to 67 “no”...

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough is waking up to the fact that despite all the hype that accompanied President Barack Obama when he made his 2008 presidential run, he wasn’t ready for primetime. “Barack Obama has proven over the past five years that he wasn’t ready to be president of the United States,” Scarborough said on his show Tuesday, according to Newsmax. “And he proves it still today.” Scarborough said Obama “came out of nowhere” as a freshman senator, and “a couple years later, people elected him president of the United States.” Obama served less than a decade in...

Former John McCain strategist Steve Schmidt criticized former running mate Sarah Palin for throwing her hat into the "defund Obamacare" campaign. Schmidt, McCain’s 2008 campaign strategist, told “Hardball” host Chris Matthews that Republicans need to rid themselves of the "asininity" of both Sarah Palin and Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Tea Partier carrying the banner for defunding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Sarah Palin wrote an op-ed for Breitbart in which she claimed that if Cruz is unsuccessful in his fight against Obamacare it will be failure on the part of the GOP “because there weren’t enough principled...

Huma Abedin, a top staffer for Hillary Clinton and the wife of beleaguered and scandalized Anthony Weiner, was told to give her husband the boot — or leave the Clinton camp. “Huma has a choice to make,” an unnamed source said, to New York magazine. “Does she go with Anthony or does she go with Hillary?” This is the “biggest question among Hillary’s circle,” the magazine said, as the former first lady takes the stage as the Democratic Party’s most likely White House candidate for 2016. Ms. Abedin has been a close aide for years — but her husband’s sexting...

Political analyst and Democratic pollster Doug Schoen tells Newsmax that Hillary Clinton is "the front-runner on both sides" if she decides to run for president in 2016. He also opines that Republicans are making a "political mistake" in backing a bill to defund Obamacare. Schoen is the author of the book "Hopelessly Divided: The New Crisis in American Politics and What It Means for 2012 and Beyond."Story continues below video. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Monday, Schoen assesses a potential White House run by Clinton. "First, there is legitimate...

In a week that will be dominated by the debt ceiling and Republican efforts to defund Obamacare, there will be an irresistible desire to view the outcome as having real political consequences for 2014 and the next presidential race. Let me offer a different view: nothing that happens this week will have much impact come Election Day next year or beyond. Why? Little of this week’s melodrama is likely to affect the quality of life of most Americans. As Sen. Rand Paul observed, Obamacare is overwhelmingly likely to continue. The debt ceiling will be raised. Some politicians will have a...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Sarah Palin for Senate might be back on the table. The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee could be inching closer to running for US Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. Palin appeared on the Fox News Channel today and expressed strong support for Sen. Ted Cruz (R – Tex.) who is leading an effort to remove funding for Obamacare through the legislative process. In July, Palin noted that Cruz, Sen. Mike Lee (R – Utah) and others on Capitol Hill (perhaps including Sen. Rand Paul) need reinforcements to limit the growth of government and cut federal...

The Council on the American Islamic Relations (CAIR) excoriated many of its critics in their "Islamophobia" report, but the group also had a "Best List Inductees" which included New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. CAIR says the list was compiled as a way to recognize those who "deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions to pushing back against Islamophobic trends in 2011 and 2012." The report says Christie is receiving the accolade primarily for his nomination of a Muslim judge and statements in the ensuing controversy: Following Islamophobic criticism of his nomination of Sohail Mohammed as a New Jersey Superior Court judge,...

My assertion that there’s a 70% chance that the GOP controls White House, Senate, and House in 2017 has attracted a lot of pushback. And it’s certainly possible that I’m wrong! Here’s my thinking, for what it’s worth: Since the Civil War, only two Democratic presidents have been succeeded by another Democrat. Both of them–FDR and JFK–accomplished this by dying in office. Since World War II, only four presidents have been succeeded by a member of their party. As I mentioned above, two of them accomplished this by dying in office. One of them accomplished this by resigning in disgrace...

As Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) inches right up to the edge of declaring her intention to run for governor, both she and her supporters know she needs two things to have a serious shot at the post: tens of millions of dollars, and broad policy platform that transcends the issue of abortion. When she sent an e-mail to her supporters Wednesday morning, Davis — who garnered national attention this summer for fighting a sweeping antiabortion bill in her state — wrote she will be “answering the question” of what’s next for her career on Oct. 3. But before...

Allahpundit asked an interesting exit question at the end of his post on John McCain’s possible retirement: Exit question for righties who think a McCain endorsement of Hillary over Paul would mean nothing to anyone: You sure? Actually, yeah, I’m pretty sure it won’t mean anything, but not because of McCain’s relative draw within the GOP or with independents. I just don’t think endorsements at this level have any impact on the fortunes of candidates with near-total saturation with voters already. Endorsements matter for obscure candidates, perhaps especially in local elections, but also in House and Senate races for newcomers....

Lindsey Graham’s reportedly polling under 50 percent in South Carolina and now here’s Maverick wondering aloud if this is his last rodeo in the Senate. Without the two of them around, who will speak for the dubious “pro-democracy” Sunni insurgents of tomorrow? At long last, the day of rejoicing is at hand. Or is it?[At this point two supporters of President Obama cut in to thank McCain for being on "our president's side for once in your life." McCain tells them, "The president and I, he's in his last term, I'm probably in mine, the relationship we have had over...

If you see the Independence Institute's Jon Caldara smiling today, here's one likely reason: He provided the de facto name for the lead segment on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show last night. Sitting to the side of a continental-U.S. map plastered with the Caldara-uttered phrase "Wave of Fear," Maddow explored the recall election defeats of John Morse and Angela Giron over their support of gun-control legislation. Along the way, she featured a clip of Caldara at the lectern and politically incorrect graphics courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. See it all below. Following an introduction noting that her program is...

If you're still wondering -- despite the coy tweets, the impending avalanche of speeches, the assiduous fundraising for the renamed Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation -- whether Hillary Clinton is running for president, consider her reference Tuesday night to Teddy Roosevelt's man in the arena. Roosevelt disdained critics and carpers. "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena," Roosevelt proclaimed, "who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Hillary Clinton is...

If Bill de Blasio wins this week's Democratic primary for New York City mayor, he can thank a Black teenage boy for his victory. No, I'm not referring to his biracial son, Dante, whose TV campaign commercial introduced voters to de Blasio's interracial family and Dante's huge afro. Instead, I'm talking about Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old unarmed Florida boy who was shot and killed last year by George Zimmerman. After all, it was the Martin case, and the Zimmerman verdict that followed, that prepared New Yorkers for Dante de Blasio's subtle but powerful message against racial profiling. All summer long,...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner will appear in a live interview with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie Monday, just a day before New Yorkers head to the polls to cast their vote in the primaries. A taped pre-interview between Weiner and Guthrie appeared Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and Weiner admitted to Guthrie that his campaign was a gamble. “From the moment go, I was waging this campaign on a bet,” he said. “And the bet was basically that I know that people have embarrassing things they would hear about me and did know about me and my...

Dear Patriots. Though apprehensive upon hearing Obama tell Joe the Plumber that he wanted to spread the wealth around, I understand America’s extremely emotional response to electing its first black president. White America naively thought, finally, we can never be called a racist nation again. My 100 year old black grandmother wept. Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine a colored man sitting in the president’s chair in the Oval Office. But little did America realize that the beautiful articulate shiny golden black man that they opened the gates of our country and housed in the White House was...

Given how that Obama is 50% United States and 50% Kenyan, ask yourself this question: would you like to live with just 50% of your body parts? Children are expected to do more than 50% of their schoolwork and the Electoral College is supposed to be won by at least more than 50% of Electoral College votes and George Washington was unaminously elected by the Electoral College. Seems like Obama is a threat to United States Security, remember his friend Rev. Jeremiah Wright? I say that the Supreme Court should nullify Obama's Presidential status.

There was a time, not long ago, when former semi-Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) could cause a stir just by Facebooking her own bad dystopian Obamacare fanfic, but hard times have fallen on the giving a rat’s winking ass about Sarah Palin industry. How bad has it gotten? Barely a month into her serious consideration of a bid to replace Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), Palin announced that she is “not planning to run for the U.S. Senate,” and not only did nobody care, they actually cared more about Palin’s thoughts on Ashton Kutcher than her senatorial ambitions, or lack thereof. In...

Chris Christie is ditching the Jersey Shore for the Hamptons this weekend to woo big GOP donors for his re-election campaign, far away from South Carolina where other star Republican governors will gather Monday to support Nikki Haley. Bill Palatucci, a longtime Bush family donor, and the New Jersey governor’s brother, Todd Christie, are hosting a Southampton soiree Saturday at the home of Clifford Sobel, an ambassador during former President George W. Bush’s administration. Tickets start at $3,800 a person. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sofia Vergara’s fiance, Nick Loeb, will also be attending....

Bill Kristol once referred to himself as a “squish” (VIDEO-AT-LINK)Yet for some reason the GOP establishment holds Kristol in high regard when I think the man projects the intestinal fortitude of a sponge. Kristol is what passes for masculine strength in today’s Republican Party. So it’s no wonder the Party has become a collection of cream puffs who have abandoned their conservative principles. The only time the GOP shows some fight is when they attack conservatives. They never seem to muster that kind of moxie against Barack Obama and the Democrats. But, with conservative Republicans they become junkyard dogs. So...

The mainstream media refuses to give it up. ABC News is trying to fool people into believing that Sarah Palin will be a presidential candidate. Check out this graphic and see it for yourself. Before RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was interviewed on This Week, ABC aired a pre-recorded video package with the announcer saying at the end, “There’s no shortage of prospective Republican candidates, and that makes it even more challenging for the party to resolve its ideological divide.” So let’s take a look at who ABC News thinks is a potential Republican presidential candidate: Ted Cruz? Check. Donald Trump?...

On Election Night 2010, I watched the returns come in alongside a prominent liberal columnist. As he observed the Republicans capture the House of Representatives and gain in the Senate, in governor’s mansions, and in state houses across the country, my friend put the best spin on events that he could. “Well,” I remember him saying, “the Obama electorate just didn’t show up.” How right he was. The voters who went to the polls in 2010 were older and whiter than the voters in 2008. Whites made up 77 percent of the electorate in 2010. And the Republican share of...

One word, my friends: RINOgeddon. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that Christie earns 21% support when Republican voters are asked whom they would vote for if the party’s primary in their state were held today. Florida Senator Marco Rubio runs a close second with 18% of the GOP vote, followed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 16% and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul with 15% of the vote. Congressman Paul Ryan, the unsuccessful Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012, picks up 13% of the Republican vote, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dead last at six percent (6%)....

Can anybody unite a party that’s at war with itself? That’s the question Republicans are asking, and the answer might be former vice-presidential contender Paul Ryan, whose low profile amidst the intra-party squabbling suggests he is deftly positioning himself as Speaker in waiting or the GOP’s last best hope for 2016—either way a Hobson’s choice given the demoralized state of the party. Ryan wrote the budget that balances in 10 years, and that helped bring Congress to its knees, unable to find the votes to pass any of its traditional priorities, a farm bill or a transportation bill, much less...

The former governor and perhaps future senatorial candidate of Alaska is using her Twitter account to make one thing clear. Ever since she emerged on the national stage, basically everything she has said has been right. She was right about Fannie and Freddie. The tweet: Sarah Palin ✔ @SarahPalinUSA Hey media, now do you get it? http://fb.me/2wOtMgTqo 11:29 AM - 7 Aug 2013 218 Retweets 100 favorites The issue: The "it" to which she refers is her argument in September 2009 that the mortgage companies had "gotten too big and too expensive" for taxpayers. The vindication: The president's announcement on...

If you can’t win, you might as well go down swinging. At senior citizens. At an AARP-Univision mayoral forum this morning, mayoral contender Anthony Weiner pulled out the age card to taunt his most vocal challengers, 69-year-old Doe Fund founder George McDonald. Weiner is 48. Before the debate, Weiner put a hand on McDonald’s back and said hello, prompting McDonald to reply: “I would appreciate if you would never touch me again.” Weiner retorted: “What are you going to do about it, grandpa?” according to two sources. A mild overreaction by McDonald, but in his defense, who knows where that...

As the Democratic Party of Wisconsin continues to provide staff support to Madison millionaire Mary Burke and hold meetings behind closed doors to clear the field for her, Party leaders continue to cry foul over the out-of-touch candidate’s viability. Here’s what Democrats have said so far this week about the would-be candidate for Governor: “I was at an event with Mary Burke the other day…She’s got the charisma of a turnip.” [1] -Democrat Rep. Brett Hulsey, on Burke’s candidacy. “But I have been talking with people, listening to what they have to say, and I keep hearing over and over...

Cindy Sheehan is running for Governor of California. Her formal announcement will be made in a few weeks, but the campaign team is being put together now. A very few of the specialized positions may be compensated, but basically everyone involved in the campaign will be donating their labor. Can you help? If you can write, edit, speak to people on the telephone, participate in social media activities, register voters, pass out leaflets, raise money, or organize campaign coffees, here is what you need to do to get involved in Cindy’s campaign: Send a message, with your full contact information...

Freshman Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and some other Republicans think they know why the GOP didn't win the last two presidential elections: They weren't conservative enough. "If you look at the last 40 years, a constant pattern emerges," Cruz told ABC. "Anytime Republicans nominate a candidate for president who runs as a strong conservative, we win. And when we nominate a moderate who doesn't run as a conservative, we lose." It's not a new thought, but it's dead wrong on several different levels. First of all you have to pretty far in right field to think John McCain and Mitt...

A gun-rights group in the bellwether presidential primary state of New Hampshire has warned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that signing gun control bills passed by his state's Legislature could have consequences if he runs for president in 2016. The Pro-Gun New Hampshire coalition urged its members this week to call and email Christie to ask him to veto the proposed laws, posing a political dilemma for Christie as he seeks re-election in November in the Democratic-leaning state while also eyeing the national stage. Christie has a September deadline to sign a number of firearm-related bills seen by their supporters...

Rent free in their empty heads. There would be no home field advantage in Alaska for Sarah Palin if the former governor made a run for the White House in 2016, according to a new poll released Friday. Hillary Clinton, the front runner for the Democrats in 2016, would beat Palin 49-40 in a hypothetical match-up, according to a survey from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. Palin is the only potential GOP candidate Clinton topped in poll. Despite it being her home state, only 18 percent of Alaskans think Palin should make a bid for the White House in 2016,...

In a recent poll of Alaska voters, George Zimmerman -- who was recently acquitted in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin -- got a surprising 2 percent support as a hypothetical Republican presidential candidate. The newest Alaska survey from Public Policy Polling shows Hillary Clinton's only chance of winning the state in 2016 would be in a matchup against Republican Sarah Palin, where Clinton would lead 49/40 percent. Clinton trails all other Republican candidates in the survey. Out in front, Chris Christie leads her by 8 points at 46/38, Jeb Bush leads at 49/42, Rand Paul is up...

In a wide-ranging interview with The New Republic published Tuesday, Sen John McCain (R-AZ) praised former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his running mate in the 2008 presidential race, for "exciting" the GOP base in a way the senator couldn't achieve. Asked if it "bothered" him when people said his legacy was choosing Palin as his running mate in 2008, McCain said "no." "We were four points down when I chose her and three points up afterwards," he told the magazine. "She held her own and, some people said, won a debate with the vice president. She did everything I ever...

Gotta figure her lead would be even bigger without Joe Miller in the field here. Her nomination for the taking? Alaska should be a top tier pick up opportunity for Senate Republicans next year…but their top choice of a candidate is Sarah Palin. 36% of GOP primary voters in the state say they’d like Palin to be their standard bearer against Mark Begich to 26% for Mead Treadwell, 15% for Dan Sullivan, and 12% for Joe Miller. Palin leads mostly based on her strength with ‘very conservative’ voters where she gets 43% to 20% for Treadwell, but she also leads...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)When truth is prevented from ever reaching the ears of the American public during a presidential campaign the consequences can often be tragic. Consider the case of the 2008 mainstream media cover up and strict avoidance of Obama’s long time connection to Black Nationalist minister Jeremiah Wright and his firebrand racist comments. The media shackled the truth and allowed then U.S. Senator Obama to skate all the way to his election as president. What is even worse was former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s recent revelation that the John McCain presidential campaign actually banned her from talking about Rev. Jeremiah Wright...

For the creation was subfected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope... Rom 8:20 The Establishmedia is all atwitter that Obama was able to give speech on the economy and not put the entire country to sleep with his recycled pabulum. He obviously does not have his heart into giving speeches about the economy the way he does about racism. One he thinks he knows something about and the other he has not gotten a clue which the economy proves. Can anybody say they are better off today...

Former state Rep. Pam Byrnes, a Democrat from Washtenaw County's Lyndon Township, announced Thursday she's running for Congress to help fix a "broken system" in Washington. Byrnes is seeking the 7th District seat held by Tim Walberg, a Republican from Tipton who unseated Democrat Mark Schauer in 2010 to regain the seat. Walberg held the seat in 2007 and 2008 before losing to Schauer in November 2008. Byrnes will take her shot at unseating Walberg in 2014. "Washington is broken and Tim Walberg is part of the problem. He puts special interests and corporations ahead of middle-class Michigan families," Byrnes...

For the first time this year, Republican strategists believe they're within striking distance of taking back control of the Senate, thanks to untimely Democratic Senate retirements and red-state Democratic recruits deciding not to run for Congress. The latest blow to Democrats: former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's surprising decision Saturday to pass up a campaign. Republican recognize that they only need to win three Senate seats in the most of conservative of states -- Arkansas, Louisiana and Alaska -- and Mitch McConnell could be a Majority Leader in 2015. (That is, if McConnell can hold onto his own Kentucky seat.) The...

“Keep Trayvon’s family in our prayers. Deeply unsatisfying verdict,” Anthony Weiner tweeted.The city's mayoral candidates quickly weighed in on Trayvon Martin case Saturday night, with many taking to Twitter to denounce George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of the black Florida teenager. Democrat Bill Thompson, the only African-American in the mayoral race, tweeted, “Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black. There was no justice done today in Florida”(continued)

Amazingly, THIS is supposed to be serious: Earlier this year, Jeb Bush told ABC that both his father George H.W. Bush, and brother George W. recommended he run for president in 2016. Mama Barbara Bush is not keen on the idea, declaring in April that “the nation’s probably had enough Bushes.” But in the constantly shifting equations of potential Republican hopefuls for future president and vice president, the former Florida governor’s name has been tied with another former governor: Sarah Palin. The pair have now been framed as a “the GOP’s only chance” in the race by American Thinker contributor...

Since retiring from her position as Secretary of State under the Obama administration, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been out of the public spotlight. Yet most of the political world still wants to know if Clinton will run for President in 2016. I can’t answer that, but I can say if she did, she would win. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskil recently organized a potential 2016 Clinton presidential campaign. “Regardless of who you supported for president back then, we can all agree today that there is nobody better equipped to be our next president than Hillary Clinton,” said McCaskil. In addition, there...

GOP Golden Boy Chris Christie is going to run in 2016, and he might not even do so as a Republican. Seriously. So, will he challenge the highly beatable Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination? Maybe. But all signs point to the whalelike New Jersey governor floating himself as a middleman, neither right nor left — the Chosen One to solve all the discord in the nation’s capital: The Independent. Sound insane? Well, the man who clearly can’t control his base impulses (he’s fat) doesn’t know where he fits into the 2016 scheme. (Get it? “Where he fits in”?)...

In an exclusive sit-down interview with The Brody File, Jeb Bush says that, “Hillary Clinton is a formidable force on the left.” We sat down with Jeb Bush Friday morning at the Faith and Freedom Coalition event in DC. If Jeb Bush decides to run for president, he will most likely be considered the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. The full story on Jeb Bush runs Monday on The 700 Club.

Megan McCardle, writing in The Daily Beast, wrote today in an article entitled 'No, Democrats Did Not Just Want to "Count All the Votes" in the 2000 Election': 'Ironically, I suspect that if Gore had simply unilaterally requested a statewide manual recount, or the Florida Supreme Court had forced one upon him, the United States Supreme Court would have probably stayed out of it. But they didn’t, and as they say, the rest is history.' And, it still wouldn’t have made any difference. For all of the rending of garments by Al Gore and the rest of the Left and...

PARK CITY, Utah — The Republican Party is trying hard to move on from Mitt Romney. His donors are another story. Three potential presidential candidates grasped at the Republican Party’s financial torch Friday by auditioning before an audience of Romney’s most influential fundraisers and GOP officials. After huddling with the former nominee in a dark lodge Thursday night, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Romney running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul woke up early to hobnob with donors and deliver their pitches at Romney’s Experts and Enthusiasts conference. All three Republicans had unique challenges...