Free Republic

The new super PAC backing Rick Perry has drawn up plans to spend $55 million as part of an ambitious campaign strategy aimed at blowing away the Texas governor's rivals in early primary states and securing him the Republican nomination by next spring, according to internal committee documents obtained by NBC News. The documents underscore the central role that such super PACs — or super political action committees unconstrained by any limits on how much they can collect from wealthy donors and corporations — will play in the 2012 presidential election. They also show that the strategists behind the new...

Ames, Iowa — Political organizer Peter Singleton tells National Review Online that Sarah Palin will likely launch a presidential campaign by the end of September. “I believe that she will run,” he says. “I can’t see her sitting this election out.” Palin, a former Alaska governor, is scheduled to address a tea-party rally on September 3 in south-central Iowa. Singleton is one of the forces behind the event, working with grassroots groups. “Labor Day will kick off the Republican campaign for the nomination,” he hints. “She is going to make a major, major speech.” [....] GOP presidential contenders, from Rick...

I spoke to a group of politically active, so-called conservatives last week at a hotel here in my New Mexico hometown. One of the topics that kept coming up was whether I despised Texas Gov. Rick Perry as much as I despised most other candidates that the Republican/Democrat regime is trying to force me to pick from in the next election. Let’s think through some deep thoughts and do fact-checking on Perry and the entire Left/Right paradigm as most people seem to see it right now: You can spend about five minutes on the governor’s official website confirming that Rick...

Texas, we have a problem. Your GOP governor is running for president against Barack Obama. Yet, one of his most infamous acts as executive of the nation's second-largest state smacks of every worst habit of the Obama administration. And his newly crafted rationalizations for the atrocious decision are positively Clintonesque. In February 2007, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a shocking executive order forcing every sixth-grade girl to submit to a three-jab regimen of the Gardasil vaccine. He also forced state health officials to make the vaccine available "free" to girls ages 9 to 18. The drug, promoted by manufacturer Merck...

Governor, let me ask you about immigration. How many undocumented immigrants are there in Alaska? I don't know, I don't know. That's a good question. As governor, how do you deal with them? Do you think they all should be deported? There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant -there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants- not only economically is that just an impossibility but that's not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue that we face with illegal immigration. Do you then favor an amnesty for the 12 or...

Supports a path to citizenship, but no amnesty for illegals Q: Should undocumented immigrants all should be deported? A: There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant - there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants - not only economically is that just an impossibility but that's not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue. Q: Do you then favor an amnesty for the 12 million undocumented immigrants? A: No, I do not. Not total amnesty. You know, people have got to follow the rules. We have got to make sure...

I listen ad nauseam to posters, some who are pro-Palin and some who are anti-Palin, discourse about Sarah Palin's entry (or non-entry) into the 2012 Presidential sweepstakes, generally advising her to "Hurry up!". Those afflicted with PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) gleefully proclaim that she is not running. Of course, not only is there no evidence for this proposition, her actions in the last six months, as well as many of her statements, would lead any rational observer to believe that she will run. But leaving aside the PDSers (who are in any case engaging in wishful thinking because they do...

CHARLESTON, S.C. and AMES, Iowa -- Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination here Saturday with a speech grounded in attacks on President Obama for "downgrading" America. "I declare to you today as a candidate for President of the United States," Perry told a friendly crowd in South Carolina, host to the nation's third presidential primary. ... As Perry pointed out in his speech, 40 percent of the nation's new jobs since June 2009 have been created in Texas. "It's time to get America working again," Perry said, arguing that "Recovery is a meaningless word...

1 pm EDT -- moments from now -- awaiting Perry speech announcing he is officially running for president

Just about everyone here at the RedState Gathering of conservative bloggers and activists is familiar with one thing about the Texas governor: He's a job creator. Even though it's happening the same day as the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, Perry's 1 p.m. speech is slated to be carried live by CNN, Fox News and C-SPAN, according to RedState organizers.

Rick Perry is rapidly becoming known as a politician who talks a good game, but whose actions belie his words. Last year, he waved the bloody shirt of secession, which horrified the New York Times...until they dug deeper and found that Perry wasn't just talking about seceding. He was aiming to hook up with Mexico in order to fulfill his "shared with [Mexican President] Vincente Fox for open borders." Seriously, though, Perry is becoming a caricature of himself. He first waved the tenth Amendment on gay marriage and abortion, first supporting the interpretations that states should be responsible for defining...

Thank you and good evening. It is a great honor to be in the presence of the Imam of 16 million Muslims around the world, a global humanitarian leader, a man of peace with a pluralistic vision for people around the world, His Highness, the Aga Khan, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. Your Highness, on behalf of 23 million Texans, and over 600,000 thousand Muslims living in Texas, I extend our heartfelt appreciation for your 50 years of great international leadership. We are delighted to welcome you to the Lone Star State and participate in...

Rick Perry has been widely touted as a Republican presidential candidate who could appeal Tea Party voters, but some in the anti-tax movement wonder if his record as Texas governor stacks up to his rhetoric. After all, they say, there are reasons to think he's a spendthrift. He once campaigned for Democrat Al Gore, reviled by the Tea Party for being Bill Clinton's vice president and for his campaigning on climate change, and he even spoke kindly about Hillary Clinton's healthcare reform efforts. Then there is the issue that he was once a Democrat. So as Perry plans the 2012...

I've liked what I've seen in Perry so far, though admittedly, I don't know a great deal about him. That's likely to change given his announcement to Mark Halperin that he wants to be President. Frankly - and we need to be frank about all our potential nominees at this point - my chief concern about him is that he may be more compromised, conservatively speaking, and compromising, than his image would make it appear. The healing of the Bush rift and the Bushies now being firmly behind him does little to assuage any concerns from a purely conservative perspective,...

On Saturday Texas Gov. Rick Perry is expected to announce whether or not he will run for president. Many now believe he will. Perry is eager to separate himself from his predecessor in the Texas governor’s mansion, George W. Bush — who is unpopular with both tea party Republicans and the American electorate as a whole. But one area where Perry’s positions are virtually identical to Bush is immigration. When I ran for president in 2008, I tried to pressure the Republican candidates to take a hard line against illegal immigration. For this, Perry called me a racist. When he...

Gov. Rick Perry now leads Mitt Romney in an ongoing 2012 presidential poll run by iRepublican.com a social network for influential Republicans. Sarah Palin is currently third. Rick Perry has not announced his candidacy for President yet and he's well liked by the Tea Party. Yet he seems to appeal to moderate Republicans as well, especially considering that http://www.irepublican.com started in liberal Manhattan. "Coincidentally, Romney went from first to second the same day he commented on the Debt Ceiling Deal", said Marcello De Luca, founder of iRepublican.com. iRepublicans, as this network's members are referred to, continue to vote and results...

WASHINGTON — After nearly three months of public posturing and private deliberation, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is looking very much like a presidential candidate. ...Here are 10 important steps on Perry's road ahead. 1. The tea party primary ....For Perry to defeat Romney, he must emerge as the conservative alternative......... 2. The money primary By this time...Texas Gov. George W. Bush had raised more than $37 million. Perry, still a non-candidate, has raised zero..... 3. Rudy-palooza ....Perry endorsed...Rudy Giuliani... This time, Perry is counting on the moderate Yankee to reciprocate..... 4. The Iowa caucuses Iowa Republicans will be the first...

Perry's job creation record is formidable. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 32,000 new jobs were created in Texas in June, more than in any other state. Proving his policies were not a one-off, between June 2010 and June 2011 Texas added 220,000 new jobs, again more than the other "57 states," as President Obama might say. Perry is no "let's all get along" conservative. He wants to make a political difference, mentioning the revival of the 10th Amendment, which guarantees states' rights, as the way to reduce encroaching federal power: "America is not going to move forward until...

Rick Perry’s name will not appear on the Ames Straw Poll ballot, he will not be there, and the Republican Party of Iowa will not allow a pro-Perry PAC to purchase space at the event. However, all those obstacles are not preventing Americans for Rick Perry from attempting to influence the Straw Poll. Since they will not be allowed a lot at Iowa State University, Perry supporters will set up shop in a Holiday Inn conference center, less than a mile away. They are offering free t-shirts and other inexpensive “swag” to people who drop by the hotel. According to...

Speaking to a packed house at the Western Conservative Summit, Mr. Perry continued to leave his supporters guessing as to his political future, although he did refer repeatedly to the importance of the 2012 election. At one point, he suggested that President Obama should be defeated so that he could take up a career on the Sunday morning talk shows. "The mixture of arrogance and audacity that guides the Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American and a threat to every job in the private sector," said Mr. Perry. While his plans for 2012 remain a mystery, Mr....