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AUGUSTA, Maine — Pressure is mounting on the Maine Republican Party to reconsider its weekend declaration that Mitt Romney won the state’s caucuses, at least until all votes have been counted. The Maine GOP announced Saturday that Romney narrowly edged Ron Paul, 39 percent to 36 percent, in a nonbinding presidential preference poll taken during the caucuses. The margin was fewer than 200 votes. A number of communities were not included in that poll because they had not held their caucuses by the deadline spelled out by the state party. Washington County Republicans postponed their caucuses, originally scheduled for Saturday,...

Apologies if this double posted (Server Error Messgage keeps repeating) It’s time to take a closer look at how the race will most likely stand at the conclusion of Super Tuesday. This is just my estimates, based on proportional allocation, however, I default to the experts at http://www.thegreenpapers.com. They are probably the most comprehensive in terms of what is an incredibly confusing process. This is a long analysis, but I wanted to have all the facts and data down. First, here are the projections up through what is known as of Maine: IOWA (28) Okay, so here’s what we know....

Rep. Ron Paul not conceding Maine voteBy Josh Lederman - 02/12/12 12:46 PM ET Rep. Ron Paul is not conceding the GOP’s Maine caucuses, which state party officials and major networks called Saturday for rival Mitt Romney. With 84 percent of precincts reporting, Romney has 39 percent to Paul's 36 percent, and Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster declared Romney the winner Saturday night, following a week-long series of caucuses. But in Washington County, where Paul had expected to perform well, the caucus was postponed until Feb. 18 due to an expected snowstorm. Washington County Republican Chairman Chris Gardner told the...

Let's be honest Romney's speech and conservative creditials were weaker than the other GOP presidential candidates. So how does he end up winning the CPAC straw poll?

2,190 39% 1,996 36% 989 18% 349 6% WTF? 5,300 people voted in a state? This is on the same level as the other states? Give me a break

As Rick Santorum surges in popularity people may be scratching their heads about his Catholic faith. The American public are used to Catholic politicians, but not this kind of Catholic politician. I grew up as an Evangelical Protestant. We were prejudiced against Catholics. In our mind, Catholics were Democrats--and that was not good. We knew many of the blue collar folks were Catholics, but Catholics were also fat cats. The Kennedys were Catholics and we had no respect for old Joe Kennedy who made his money as a bootlegger, nor for his philandering sons with their assumed air of American...

Ron Paul treats conservatives the same way Romney does: ignore us, demean us, insult us, then demand that we support him.

ATLANTA - Former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich is leading among primary voters in the state he represented for two decades, and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum is second in a poll released Friday. Gingrich gets the nod from 35 percent while Santorum surged into second with 26 percent in the wake of his three primary wins this week in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado. Mitt Romney has 16 percent, putting him in third place a head of Ron Paul’s 5 percent. Another 18 percent were undecided when surveyed by phone Thursday evening.

HARTFORD – Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today announced the names of the presidential candidates who have qualified to appear on Connecticut’s ballot for the presidential preference primary April 24: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Merrill made the announcement at a news conference with Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola at the State Capitol. Today also is the first day primary petitions are available for presidential candidates not chosen for the ballot by Merrill, according a statement by her office. State law gives the secretary of the state, Connecticut’s chief elections official, the authority to...

Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster told The Associated Press that Romney is expected to speak Friday evening at a rally at Portland Yacht Services.

The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign released the following statement regarding the results of yesterday's election results. See comments from Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Manager John Tate. "We are thrilled with yesterday's results. Our campaign to Restore America continues to gain ground, and we are poised to pick up even more delegates from Minnesota and Colorado adding to our delegates in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. "As people across the country view the results of yesterday's contests, it is important to consider a few facts that have not been clearly reported. Not one single delegate was awarded last night,...

Beneath Rick Santorum's stunning three-state sweep on Tuesday stands another stubborn sign of dissatisfaction with the status quo: Republican turnout is down. I'm talking embarrassingly, disturbingly, hey-don't-you-know-it's-an-election-year bad. It is a sign of a serious enthusiasm gap among the rank and file, and a particularly bad omen for Mitt Romney and the GOP in the general election. Here's the tale of the tape, state by state, beginning with Tuesday night: Minnesota had just more than 47,000 people turn out for its caucuses this year -- four years ago it was nearly 63,000 -- and Romney came in first, not a...

Rick Santorum tells South Carolina voters that he is the only conservative purist in the field, attacking Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney for being unreliable conservatives. Well, THE FREEDOMIST has already exposed Rick Santorum for his betrayal of a core conservative value, the right to work, the protection against Union thuggery. He is FOR right to work but NEVER votes for right to work legislation. He also endorsed Arlen Specter in his 1996 Presidential run, in 2004 against true conservative Pat Toomey, AND even endorsed Mitt Romney in his 2008 Presidential run. Well, worse than even his right to vote...

Public Policy Polling surveys Tuesday's caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and finds good news for Rick Santorum: Last night's results in Nevada were bad news for Newt Gingrich and PPP's first day of polling in Colorado and Minnesota indicates things may only get worse for him in the coming days. In Colorado Mitt Romney looks primed for another big Western win to match his one in Nevada. He leads with 40% there to 26% for Rick Santorum, 18% for Gingrich, and 12% for Ron Paul. Minnesota looks like a toss up with any of the four candidates having some shot...

A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against Newt Gingrich and his security team -- claiming he was roughed up outside the Florida Republican Presidential Primary earlier this week ... because he was carrying a sign supporting another candidate. In a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District court in Florida, Edward Dillard claims he was just minding his own business on January 31 when Newt and his wife came strolling up to the polling place. Dillard claims he was standing outside of a canopy which had been set up with a microphone stand, when Newt and Callista came right up...

Sarah Palin is correct. Vote for Newt so the vetting process continues. The longer the primary season continues, the clearer picture we have of the GOP candidates. Bishop Romney, Santorum and Ron Paul appear to be entering the world of SMALLVILLE. As time goes on Romney continues to try to buy the nomination and he continues to expose himself as a Moderate on issues, ie. He just proposed that hikes in US minimum wage should be tied to the inflation rate. Most conservatives know this would be a job killer especially for entry level jobs. Bishop Romney also said that...

RENO, NEV. — The remaining candidates in the winnowed Republican presidential field are attacking one another with abandon, each day bringing fresh headlines of accusations and outrage. But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul haven’t laid a hand on each other.

Mitt Romney won Florida tonight by a comfortable margin of fourteen percent.  He addressed his faithful this evening by congratulating his counterparts and directly addressing the Obama Administration.  Romney seems to be moving away from assaulting his fellow Republican candidates and more toward setting his sights on President Obama.  At one point in the speech Romney addressed President Obama and used a Thomas Payne adage suggesting that he promised to lead, chose to follow and now it is time for him to get out of the way. Romney appears to be looking past the final forty-six states but the question...

Decision time: a former Massachusetts governor who has public and private executive experience; a former Speaker of the House known for “big think;” a Senator from a swing state; and a long-time Representative who approaches policy from a new perspective. Great choices with very broad experiences, and each can bring something to the table. At least they don’t have any heavy baggage or big weak point in their conservative armor, right? I am sure I can find something in each aspect of their policy (fiscal, social, defense/foreign) that appeals to me. That’s where it gets a bit messy. The Massachusetts...

...While Mitt Romney "carpet-bombed" Newt Gingrich with merciless attacks; while Newt Gingrich succumbed to the temptation to respond with similar efforts, one candidate demonstrated the singularly most important trait we need in a President, character. His name is Rick Santorum, Bella's Dad. There was a book of essays on Presidential leadership written in 1996 entitled "Character Above All" The book contained an excellent essay by Peggy Noonan on Ronald Reagan... "In a president, character is everything..." People like me, "former" Democrats, were inspired by the courage, character and manner of Ronald Reagan. His was the kind of "conservatism" which made...

The first primaries of 2012 are complete, but the fight over the proper role of government continues. The question before GOP primary voters is who best reflects their own answer to that question, and then, who is best suited to make that case to the American people? A clear winner has yet to emerge, but there is little question about who has captured the loyalty of young Republican voters on this issue. Although finishing fourth overall, Ron Paul once again won the youth vote in South Carolina, winning 31% of ages 18-29, compared to Newt Gingrich who won 28%. Paul’s...

The website for "Campaign for Liberty", an organization started by "Republican" anti-Israel Presidential candidate Ron Paul, has, since late 2008, been featuring a page offering the opportunity to purchase the notorious forged anti-Semitic book The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. As word spreads of this, inevitably Paul's campaign will take down the page and claim the situation was a mere innocent mistake with which Paul (who of course hopes to lend his managerial skills to the entire nation) had nothing to do, a la the controversy over his newsletters in the 1990s. This of course despite the fact...

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Friday flatly denied a Washington Post report that he was deeply involved in the company that produced provocative, racially charged newsletters and that he signed off on articles. The newsletters from the 1990s have dogged Paul for years, resurfacing as his presidential campaign gained momentum. The Texas congressman has denied writing the inflammatory passages — the articles included racial, anti-Semitic and anti-gay content — and said that he didn't read them at the time or for years afterward.

Democrats to others they disagree with, especially if it deals with an Obama political policy: "you are a racist." McCain: Gingrich is "dangerous." Romney: Gingrich is "erratic." Lots more where that came from, too. Especially from Romney. Romney during the last debate: Santorum is "angry." Gov. Christie: Newt is embarassing to the GOP. Get ready....soon Romney and his supporters will be calling Gingrich a "racist"? There will be nastiness, but Romney started it all with his vicious ad-hominem laced ads in Iowa, and neither Gingrich, Santorum or Paul have even come close to taking the hurling of personal insults to...

I'll give a link to the entire Forbes.com article below, which I am quoting and excerpting. I believe that pro-Gingrich people are running ads on this. "In 1989, Bain Capital purchased controlling interest in Damon Corp...During the time that Bain held its ownership of the company, Mitt Romney sat on the board of directors...during that same period, Damon Corp. was busy selling fraudulent reimbursement claims to the tune of millions of dollars...By the time Damon Corp. pleaded guilty...Bain was long gone having sold the company in 1993 to Corning Inc... When Mitt Romney was confronted with the matter during his...

Security footage of Sen. Rand Paul after he refused a full body pat-down at the Nashville International Airport on Monday does not show the Kentucky Republican acting “irate,” as the police had described him, according to a report. n the videos, released by the Metro Airport Authority and posted on The Nashville Tennessean, Paul can be seen standing and sitting in a waiting area as he speaks on his cell phone. The Tennessean reported Thursday that the police incident report describes officers responding to a “passenger being irate,” but the footage offers no visible evidence of that behavior. Paul had...

Firebomber's Facebook page is covered in Ron Paul posts...

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! Senator Rand Paul was on his way from his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky to Washington, D.C. Monday morning, when he caused some kind of “anomaly” in a body scanner at the airport in Nashville. Agents of the Transportation Security Agency declared that he would have to submit to one of those legendary full-body pat-downs, but before a single rubber glove had snapped into place, Senator Paul refused. He wanted a new scan instead, but the TSA agents really had their hearts set on that pat-down. This ended with Senator Paul parked in a...

On the list of stupid things the Transportation Security Administration could do for their public image: detaining Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the politician most anxious to abolish them, is probably right near the top. But that's exactly what just happened, his Communications Director, Moira Bagley has confirmed it in a tweet. Kelly O'Donnell is reporting that aides say Paul was detained when he refused a full-body pat-down, after the scanner went off. Paul lifted his pant-leg to show he had no metal, and asked to be re-screened. He was denied this request.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s press secretary Moira Bagley tweeted on Monday that Transportation Security Administration officials were detaining her boss in Nashville, Tenn. “Just got a call from @senrandpaul,” Bagley tweeted at about 10 a.m. on Monday. “He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.” Texas Congressman and current Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul – Sen. Rand Paul’s father – placed a post on Facebook about the news as well. “My son Rand is currently being detained by the TSA at the Nashville Airport,” Ron Paul posted. “I’ll share more details as the situation unfolds.” Ron Paul adds, via...

Newt Gingrich can’t be President. Not because of his $1.6 million Freddie Mac scandal, or his fake charity scandal, or his $300,000 ethics fine while Speaker, the arms dealer scandal, or any of his other personal and financial scandals. Newt Gingrich (or Rick Santorum) can’t be President because to be nominated, you need delegates.... Newt has lots of media coverage, but in the physical world where campaigns actually occur he can’t get 1141 delegates.... No candidates besides Paul and Romney filed in all the states: VA - no Gingrich or Santorum - 49 delegates MO - no Gingrich - 52...

<p>Posted by Ron Paul on his Facebook page: "My son Rand is currently being detained by the TSA at the Nashville Airport. I'll share more details as the situation unfolds."</p>

“Three states, three winners, what a great country.” When Rick Santorum said this during his speech he summed up the South Carolina primary beautifully. This campaign that seemed only a few days ago to be completely Romney has now morphed into anyone’s game. Newt Gingrich has seen untold amounts of success in South Carolina, after defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire he stole the show in South Carolina. Gingrich had huge showings in both debates and this pulled him ahead of Romney but no one was ready for the landslide that was South Carolina. Gingrich took forty percent of the...

With Rick Santorum’s performance tonight there will likely be pressure from the GOP establishment on the former Senator from Pennsylvania to drop out of the GOP presidential primary race. So far Santorum mirrors the 2008 Huckabee campaign, obviously because of the win over Romney in Iowa, but also the bare-bones structure of his campaign and lack of fundraising ability.

It's 0930 EST and there's nothing in the sidebar that looks like a live thread for the SC primary . . .

Ron Paul has Brothel “Pimpin for Paul” Ron Paul, known for his Libertarian views, has picked up a new endorsement. The Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a Nevada brothel has begun a campaign they are calling “Pimpin for Paul” The owner of the Brothel, Dennis Hof said in a statement “We decided to go with the guy that’s more about state’s rights — and that’s Ron Paul,” Hof did a survey of 500 prostitutes to see which candidate they wanted to support, and the results were close between Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich. “We thought real closely about supporting Newt Gingrich —...

The news before the debate was almost as good as the debate itself.  Today Perry was out and Gingrich submitted his taxes and spent the afternoon bracing for a tell-all interview by his ex-wife. The debate started with sparks and ended much the same way.  Gingrich was immediately asked about the interview as the first order of business and he fired back at debate moderator John King.  Unfortunately for Mr. King he was the victim of Gingrich saving face.  Gingrich took no prisoners as he personally attacked John King. The rest of the candidates echoed America’s sentiments by basically saying,...

Washington (CNN) -- Briefly back in Congress doing his day job, Ron Paul met with high school students outside his office. True to form, he signed copies of the Constitution and wryly told them with a chuckle, "No one around here reads it very much. I'd like to get everybody to read it." [...] What Paul did not do was attend a closed-door gathering of House Republicans. In fact, the GOP presidential contender is known to never attend these meetings. But Paul's Republican colleagues who did go had no shortage of opinions about his strong showing in the presidential race...

Wall Street Journal editorial board director Stephen Moore explains why Rep. Ron Paul’s ideas on economics are correct and must be accepted in the mainstream GOP platform.

Rep. Ron Paul will drop off the campaign trail in South Carolina on Wednesday and fly back to Washington to cast a vote against raising the debt ceiling, his campaign said Tuesday. ... Mr. Obama said late last month the federal government was once again close to breaching the legal limit on how much it can borrow, and he requested Congress raise the ceiling again. Opponents would need to pass a resolution disapproving of the increase and have it signed into law, or else override a presidential veto, to bloc the increase — which is highly unlikely. But returning to...

The atmosphere was electric in Myrtle Beach for the GOP debate.  The crowd was very vocal and you can tell that South Carolina is ready to be heard.  The debate was surprising due to those who stepped up to the plate. To continue on with the baseball analogies on the debate, some hit it out of the park and some flat struck out.  Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry all hit big home runs in the debate while Mitt Romney grounded out and Ron Paul struck out as usual. It can’t be said enough that Newt Gingrich was the...

epublican presidential candidate Ron Paul has been spending large amounts on airfare as a congressman, flying first class on dozens of taxpayer-funded flights to his home state. The practice conflicts with the image that Paul portrays as the only presidential candidate serious about cutting federal spending. Paul flew first class on at least 31 round-trip flights and 12 one-way flights since May 2009 when he was traveling between Washington and his district in Texas, according to a review by The Associated Press of his congressional office expenses. Four other round-trip tickets and two other one-way tickets purchased during the period...

Ron Paul waxing poetic on Fox News about Iran's recent bombing of its scientists.

This guy does these very Saturday morning. Love 'em.

Rush Limbaugh blasts Ron Paul as the Conservative Killer: ...the majority of people that voted him were not Republican. And in another poll, the percentage of Ron Paul voters who say they will vote for the Republican nominee is... like 80% of Tea Party voters in New Hampshire said no matter who the Republican nominee is they're voting for it. The Ron Paul number is 40%. Now, as I say, I've gotta double confirm. It's ostensibly Rasmussen and we're double-checking this, but what I know so far, or what I've been told is that Ron Paul supporters, 40% say...

Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul ranting, raving and screaming for drug legalization 24 years ago on "The Morton Downey Jr. Show". With special guest appearance by Charles Rangel, as The Voice of Reason. Lunacy on parade (on all sides in this freak show of a debate). Ron Paul on Morton Downey Jr. - 1988

WASHINGTON--GOP White House hopefuls Rick Perry and Ron Paul did not file correctly for the March 20 Illinois presidential primary "beauty contest," leaving them open to a challenge that could knock them off the ballot. Illinois law requires candidates to file using their home addresses. Paul, a Texas congressman used an address in Virgnia and Perry, the Texas governor used a post office box in Austin, Texas for an address. Newt Gingrich, Paul, Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Buddy Roemer all filed the required 3,000 signatures. Jon Huntsman skipped Illlinois.

The blinding speed with which the country has veered left under Obama has left Republicans desperate to find a way to take back the steering wheel. With that in mind, it is impossible to turn on the television and see any political analysis of the GOP presidential nomination process that doesn't inevitably turn to the question of which of the candidates can beat Obama in the general election. As many of the polls reflect, most such discussions come to the conclusion that Mitt Romney is the safest choice. However, this argument from electability is based in fear and defeatism, and...

The vehemently anti-war group is organizing a slew of events this weekend in opposition to the United States' Israel policy, to coincide with the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Ahead of the protests, a Code Pink activist suggested the group -- at least when it comes to Israel -- is actually on the same page as Paul, a libertarian and one of the first candidates to enter the race for the GOP presidential nomination. "The Ron Paul people are closer and closer to our talking points with each election," Code Pink activist Liz Hourican told FoxNews.com.

If you weren't an adult (or were living in a cave) in 1992, I'm here to tell you that any independent run on the Right that pulls over 2-3% means four more years of Obama... this election is way, way too close for us to allow anything like that to develop. (and some people wonder why I'm backing Newt). Yes, a dissed-n-pissed Trump is a serious potential problem we just don't need... but that's precisely what we're looking at now. He's already bolted the party, has an axe to grind, and can easily fund a substantial campaign. The Donald wouldn't...