Free Republic

The man who could be president is ambling through the Texas governor’s mansion on his own, whistling “Frosty the Snowman” as he approaches the parlor to greet a reporter. Gov. Rick Perry (R) leads a tour and points out a historically inaccurate depiction of frontiersman Davy Crockett in an oil painting in the foyer (“His coonskin cap — that’s a myth”). In Sam Houston’s bedroom upstairs, Perry lifts an antique upholstered settee, a gift from the French, to read an engraving signifying Texas’s early-1800s ties to France. He shows off a Civil War-era saber that belonged to a Union general...

Rick Santorum won primaries and caucuses in 11 states in 2012, coming in a respectable second in the GOP presidential primary season. And Republicans have a history of bestowing their nomination on the next guy in line, usually an also-ran from the last contest. Yet the former senator from Pennsylvania is rarely mentioned in the already feverish pre-game 2016 chatter among the political commentariat and the donor class. That’s just the way he likes it. Or so he says. “America loves an underdog. We’re definitely the underdog in this race,” he said in an interview Tuesday. Santorum added that being...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called school choice the greatest civil rights issue of the 21st century.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called school choice "the most compelling civil rights issue of the 21st century" and suggested it will be a significant focus of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and human rights when he becomes chairman in the new Congress. The potential GOP presidential contender made the remarks during a Senate hearing on community policing, scheduled in the wake of racial protests sparked by the deaths of two unarmed African-American men at the hands of white police officers....

As his 14 years in office come to a close, Gov. Rick Perry is dramatically stepping up his outreach to those who could influence a 2016 presidential campaign that he has insisted would be the antithesis of his ill-fated bid three years ago. Angling for a head start in what could be a crowded field for his party's nomination, Perry is hunkering down in Austin with hundreds of influential activists, potential donors and policy experts. The aggressive foundation-laying, which is kicking into high gear this month, marks one of Perry's most organized efforts yet to prepare for the rigors of...

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, predicted Tuesday that neither Gov. Rick Perry nor Sen. Ted Cruz can win the presidency in 2016, calling them both too divisive to garner broad support. “When you get to the general election, people don’t generally want either an angry person or a very harsh, shrill, partisan person,” Castro said about Perry’s prospects. “They want somebody … whose aim at least is to bring people together.” Castro — in a rare joint appearance with twin brother Julián Castro, the Housing and Urban Development Secretary, at a Politico event titled “Lessons from Leaders” — said Cruz...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is inviting hundreds of prominent Republican donors and policy experts to a series of gatherings next month that are intended to rebuild his damaged national brand and lay the foundation for a potential 2016 presidential campaign, fundraisers and organizers confirmed to POLITICO. The small-group sessions kick off Tuesday and Wednesday in Austin with a pair of lunches and dinners held in the governor’s mansion wedged between policy briefings at the nearby office of Perry senior adviser Jeff Miller. In all, Perry’s team expects he will meet in person with more than 500 major donors and bundlers...

With the 2014 election now in the history books, the reality is that the 2016 campaign is upon us. And you can expect Texas to get more time in the spotlight now that the 2016 GOP presidential primary is a main attraction. Four candidates with direct or indirect connections to the Lone Star State are on most early lists of top potential candidates: Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and two scions of families with strong Texas ties — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the son of former Texas Congressman (and frequent presidential aspirant) Ron Paul, and...

On immigration, the GOP primary will have little room for nuance. President Obama on Thursday announced his much-anticipated executive action on immigration, and in doing so he lobbed a grenade squarely into the 2016 Republican primary race. Obama's order will reshape how the feds prioritize deportations of undocumented workers, shielding an estimated five million of them from being kicked out of the country. "We shall not oppress a stranger for we know the heart of a stranger — we were strangers once, too," Obama said, quoting scripture. By moving ahead solo before the new Congress is sworn in, Obama ensured...

On immigration, the GOP primary will have little room for nuance Obama's announcement could affect 2016's probable candidates President Obama on thursday announced his much-anticipated executive action on immigration, and in doing so he lobbed a grenade squarely into the 2016 Republican primary race. ... Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush upset the rank and file earlier this year by calling for a compassionate aspproach to immigration. In April, he said undocumented workers who enter the country illegally do so as "an act of love" because they "are actually coming to this country to provide for their families." Then there's New...

Perhaps Barack Obama had better have his attorney present during his prime-time announcement this evening of his new, unilateral changes to immigration enforcement. Anything he says could be used against him in court, Texas governor Rick Perry warned yesterday at the annual Republican Governors Association meeting in Florida. If Obama moves forward to ignore the law, that could increase costs to the states — and Perry thinks Texas might have a case in court to reverse the action: President Barack Obama may have a phone and pen, but outgoing Gov. Rick Perry of Texas says he has the grounds...

Illegal crossings along the Rio Grande have slowed dramatically since an overwhelming surge of immigrants had state and federal agents scrambling to secure the border earlier this year. Texas leaders still don’t want their ground troops to leave just yet. As the federal government is downsizing its presence on Texas’ southern border, key state officials are proposing that when about 1,000 National Guard troops go home in the spring they be replaced with state troopers who would remain on duty until August. The plan calls for spending an extra $86 million to extend a border security mission that Gov. Rick...

This is liberalism at its finest. Get really angry with someone who holds views different from your own, and then berate that person with hyper-emotional drivel. In this case, the victim was Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who received sexually explicit questions from Dartmouth's student body regarding anal sex during a visit to the college. Perry is a social conservative. According to the Dartmouth, the student newspaper, Perry was there to discuss the midterms, border security, energy initiatives and foreign policy. There was a Q&A session–and that’s when things devolved. Both presidents of the College Democrats and Republicans condemned the actions of...

A student at Dartmouth College asked Texas Governor Rick Perry Sunday if he would accept anal sex in exchange for $102 million in campaign contributions. Senior Emily Sellers, a member of The Dartmouth, the official campus newspaper, posed the question to confront Perry’s stance on homosexuality. Another student, Timothy Messen, accused Perry of comparing homosexuality to alcoholism.

LOS ANGELES, California—In an exclusive interview at Breitbart News Network's headquarters, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said President Barack Obama would cement a legacy of being the worst president in American history if he moves forward on executive amnesty. "I don't think this man wants to go down as the absolute worst president in the United States — although the jury is still out on that," Perry said, adding that if Obama moves forward on executive amnesty "he will be guaranteed that slot. Because the American people will not accept an executive order that basically takes our constitution and throws it...

More than a dozen Republican governors and senators are rushing to line up supporters, pore over policies and map out strategies for the 2016 presidential campaign, concluding that last week’s midterm rout of Democrats shows that the GOP has a strong chance of taking back the White House. Whereas Democrats are rapidly coalescing around Hillary Rodham Clinton as their standard-bearer, there is no heir apparent on the Republican side. The field is as splintered as the Grand Old Party itself, with stark differences along the lines of ideology, style and background. “Tuesday night certainly gives the Republicans a sense of...

I think I can speak for nearly all the pundits in the right side blogosphere when I say that we’re going to miss Wendy Davis. Few candidates have offered more fun coverage and easy peasy headlines than the pink sneaker wonder delivered during the 2014 races. When the end came, it came down like a hammer, and even with all of the rosy pictures being drawn by Texas Democrats about shifting demographics and a new majority, Davis took home a brutal, 20 point drubbing for her efforts. (Prompting Salon to proclaim that White Women had let down the entire state.)...

Texas Governor Rick Perry made his first court appearance on Thursday to face felony charges for abuse of power, a case that has cast a shadow over his possible run as Republican candidate in the 2016 presidential election. The pretrial hearing is expected to address procedural matters concerning his indictment. Perry's office has said he will speak after the hearing at a criminal court in Austin. In recent trips to key states in presidential primaries, Perry has tried to use the criminal proceedings to rally support within the Republican Party by portraying himself as the victim of a partisan prosecution....

If I were advising the White House right now, I would encourage President Obama to take advantage of the end of this year's election cycle—the next fifty or so days—to immediately try to change the subject, in a big way. The Obama administration should act right away to use its executive powers to take steps to deal with long-ignored issues that need to be dealt with for the good of the nation. This cannot be done quietly. To change the media narrative, issues acted upon will have to be controversial enough to dominate the news. President Obama should embrace good...

In some ways you can kind of appreciate an all out, throw the kitchen sink at ‘em political attack. If you’re going to go down, you may as well go down swinging. That seems to be the current theory in Texas, where opponents of Governor Rick Perry have brought a case against him – seemingly for doing his job – which is in the hands of a grand jury. Now these same actors are crying foul and claiming that Perry is engaged in jury intimidation. Texas Governor Rick Perry seems to be threatening to retaliate against grand jurors who...

Potential 2016 presidential hopefuls are facing political peril as they grapple with the spread of Ebola in their backyards.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) encountered those exposed risks this weekend as he faced fierce criticism from a nurse quarantined in his state after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.  ADVERTISEMENT New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), considered a possible Democratic contender or vice presidential pick, appeared with Christie on Friday to emphasize the risks of the virus. After facing criticism, on Sunday night he walked back a stringent Ebola quarantine protocol and said medical workers with no contact with Ebola...