Free Republic

Recall there was a mini-boomlet for Rice when Romney was mulling his choices for vice president. At that time, it was gently pointed out that Ms. Rice, a remarkably intelligent and capable woman, had no experience in electoral politics.After watching her excellent speech last night, I wonder if that isn't about to change.Wall Street Journal: In a clear highlight of the evening, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a moving address to delegates at the Republican convention, broadly criticizing President Barack Obama's record without ever mentioning him by name.She made the case for the U.S. to continue to...

Paul Ryan’s speech brought more than just cheers to the convention hall Wednesday night, it picked a fight. The VP candidate’s speech had RNC delegates at a fever pitch from the beginning. It brought a packed convention arena to its feet with over a dozen standing ovations. By many reports and reactions, Paul Ryan can count his keynote a resounding success. And while the speech was filled with conservative buzzwords, what really hat had the faithful cheering were the well timed one-liners about President Obama and his record. Convention delegate and lifelong Republican Mark Mitchell told TheBlaze, “That speech is...

On Tuesday night in Ybor City, the Republican group GOProud — a national organization of gay and straight Americans seeking to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government and a respect for individual rights — held a well-attended party at a nightclub. . . If the Republican Party gets trapped into talking about what I call the "I-GAG" issues of immigration, guns, abortion or gays, the Romney-Ryan ticket will lose in November. . . Nominees and party leaders frequently give a wink and a nod to acknowledge the platform is nothing but a tool to appease the far-right from...

TAMPA, Fla. — Here in the middle of the biggest gathering of Republicans in the world, you’d think the Occupiers and anarchists and liberals would be everywhere. But that hasn’t been the case. Maybe it’s the oppressive humidity, or threat of storms, or armies of police, but the protests have petered out on the streets of Tampa. The one place where hundreds of protesters were supposed to gather was dubbed “Romneyville,” a vacant lot next to an Army Navy store. But just a few dozen were there when the Truth Squad stopped by, and they weren’t doing any protesting —...

Viewers tuning into the Republican National Convention have heard Ann Romney speak lovingly of her husband and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pledge "a new era of truth telling." What they haven't heard is talk of offshore tax havens, Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, or questions about President Barack Obama's birthplace - the kind of divisive issues that have bedeviled Mitt Romney in the weeks before formally accepting his party's presidential nomination.

Even though Ron Paul finished a disappointing third place in the Iowa Caucuses back in January, his supporters made sure to become delegates to the county conventions that were held a few months later in March. The Paul supporters were still fully engaged when the convention process began in Iowa, even though their candidate had yet to win a contest and had basically stopped campaigning. While they were still engaged, Mitt Romney’s supporters were almost absent. Romney’s absence allowed the Paul supporters to go on and dominate everything from State Central Committee elections, to the party platform, to the selection...

Clint Eastwood will be speaking at the Republican Convention in Tampa on Thursday according to Fox News. The network’s website is reporting that a GOP source confirmed “that Eastwood is indeed the mystery speaker”. Thursday night’s line-up has a “To Be Announced” speaker scheduled ahead of Senator Marco Rubio and GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney himself. Eastwood’s name was floated earlier this week as the speaker along with former VP nominee Sarah Palin, Donald Trump and even a hologram of former President Ronald Reagan. No stranger to politics, Eastwood served as the Mayor of Carmel, California from 1986 to 1988....

Unfortunately, as Mia Love and Ann Romney have found out, the Left is not kind to strong Republican women. Instead, the vitriol and ignorance that many on the Left have shown make it clear who is propagating a 'war on women.' Take Condoleezza Rice, the daughter of sharecroppers born into segregation. Impeccably educated and motivated, Ms. Rice became the National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. This would be nearly impossible just two generations ago. But to liberals, she's still nothing but a 'house negro' and not even black: Goat Rider @jarvisnoel "@TatiSmiff: Condaleeza Rice is the only black person...

Two Republican National Convention attendees were thrown out of the RNC venue on Tuesday after several people say they witnessed the 2 individuals taunting a black camera operator...

On Tuesday, during the normally boring rules-and-roll-call portion of the festivities, the Republican National Convention erupted in some contentious and confusing disputes between the GOP establishment and delegates associated with both Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and the Tea Party. Today I asked Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of the Tea Party-assisting political group FreedomWorks, to explain what it all meant. "I think the Republican establishment is struggling with how to manage this very decentralized world we live in, and you saw signs of their acknowledgement on the stage like last night," Kibbe said. "It wasn't remotely about Mitt Romney, it...

Yesterday the Republican Party elected Mitt Romney as their presidential nominee at their national convention happening this week in Tampa, Florida to face Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson and expected Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama in the November 6, 2012 general election. Voting delegates at the convention voted for Romney by a landslide and Ron Paul received a significant number of votes and to a much lesser extent, other Republicans who had dropped or suspended their campaigns. (read more at the original site.) Before yesterday's nomination process began, Republican Party chairman, Reince Priebus was calling Mitt Romney the...

TAMPA, August 29, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) –  Sarah Palin has said a third party may emerge if the Republican Party’s leaders abandon conservative principles. Asked if the GOP’s increasing fractiousness may lead to a new party taking its place, Palin replied, “If history is an indication it is a possibility – if the Republicans don’t remember what the planks in the platform represent.” “Look what happened in the mid-1800’s. The Whig Party went away and the Republican Party surfaced, because the electorate got sick and tired of the party fighting for power and not doing the will of the people,” Palin...

I’m sorry Fox cancelled all my scheduled interviews tonight because I sure wanted to take the opportunity on the air to highlight Senator John McCain’s positive contributions to America, to honor him, and to reflect on what a biased media unfairly put him through four years ago tonight. Granted, our honored and esteemed war hero has gone through much more than the liberal media can ever do to him in their efforts to harm this patriot. I look forward to hearing his words to his fellow Americans tonight more than any of the other convention speeches. God bless John McCain....

Alternate headline: "So far, so good."I assume most of this is due to Ann, whose speech dwelled entirely on Mitt, versus Christie, who didn't mention him until 16 minutes in. But even so, this is interesting: Romney had a 43-percent favorable and 44-percent unfavorable rating in nine battleground states heading into the convention, according to an average compiled by Real Clear Politics.A survey conducted by Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research in nine battle ground states Tuesday evening found Romney’s favorable rating among likely voters had jumped to 48 percent. His unfavorable rating dipped to 39…New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s speech...

There were several inspiring speeches delivered at last night’s Republican National Convention. Talk of “unity” filled the air. Many GOP leaders praised the “grass-roots.” But behind the scenes, the RNC power grab has exacerbated distrust between a diverse group of rank-and-file activists and party bosses. I have no patience for the Republican party-bots telling these front-line soldiers to shut up in the name of unity — and to hide “in-fighting” because the Left will publicize it. It should be publicized. Conservative activists and Tea Party members have worked their asses off within the system, doing the groundwork of righting the...

The noes clearly had it, but the party bosses gaveled the dissenters down, shutting off the microphones and ignoring cries of "Roll call! Roll call!" Yesterday, the Republican National Committee in Tampa adopted some rules changes that shift power from the state parties and the grassroots to the RNC and the GOP presidential nominee. Former Governor John Sununu of New Hampshire touted the new rules as providing “a strong governing framework” for the party over the next four years. But in fact the the new rules should be very troubling and disappointing to conservative grassroots activists, because they move the...

Whether you like Mitt or not, Ann gave a darn good speech last night!  

I’ve covered national political party conventions since 1980. I know how amped-up the rhetoric can get on both sides. But I have never heard so much fear of an incumbent as I’ve witnessed during this week’s Republican National Convention. “Every election we hear that this is the most important election in our lifetime,” Sharon Day, who co-chairs the Republican National Committee, told delegates last night. “This election is more than that. It is the most important election in our nation’s lifetime.” She compared GOP activists to the United States’ Founding Fathers: “What they started, what they believed in, we must...