Free Republic

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is decrying the "war on drugs" in a speech to supporters in Washington state. The Texas congressman told more than 1,000 people at a rally Thursday night in Vancouver, Wash., that Americans should be able to make their own decisions on such matters.

Bix Weir of www.RoadtoRoota.com fame was with us yesterday and explained that Ron Paul is actually ahead in the delegate account for the Republican Presidential Nomination. It seems that his supporters have been working the system and getting Ron Paul delegates installed even when others have won the popular count! If this is true, it could be a major election game changer. Time will tell if Dr. Paul has the winning electoral special sauce. Bix is expecting major market gyrations in March. He believes that a global financial realignment will be rearing its ugly head and that this will further...

Had evangelical Christians had their way in 2006’s Pennsylvania Senate election, then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R) would have been reelected in a landslide: among the quarter of the electorate that identified themselves as such, Santorum won 59% to 41%. The trouble for Santorum was that, of the non-evangelical three-fourths of the electorate, Santorum lost to his opponent, Democrat Bob Casey, by two to one. Santorum was defeated in that race by about 17 points — one of the worst drubbings in modern history for an incumbent senator (see chart at this link). If anything, looking at a year when Santorum did...

By now, it is clear that the Maine caucuses were a complete mess. Evidence is mounting that Mitt Romney's 194-vote victory over Ron Paul was prematurely announced, if not totally wrong. Washington County canceled their caucus on Saturday on account of three inches of snow (hardly a blizzard by Maine standards), and other towns that scheduled their caucuses for this week have been left out of the vote count. Now, it looks like caucuses that did take place before Feb. 11 have also been left out of final tally. As the full extent of the chaos unfolds, sources close to...

Presidential candidate NewtGingrich says even though rivals RickSantorum and Mitt Romney are currently leading the pack in the important primary state of Michigan — which is also Romney’s home state — the former House speaker has not given up on his chances. Gingrich, who has dumbfounded political pundits before with his repeated surges, also told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Wednesday that he continues to confidently look to Super Tuesday. “I’ll be in Michigan campaigning next week — we have every reason to believe we’re going to be competing there effectively — and we’re going to have a number of...

The Maine Republican Party is being urged to reconsider its announcement that presidential candidate Mitt Romney won a preference poll of state caucus-goers, the Bangor Daily News reports. The Maine GOP said on Saturday that Romney had defeated Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, 39 percent to 36 percent, or less than 200 votes, in the state’s weeklong caucuses. To be counted, party officials said the meetings had to be concluded by Feb. 11. According to the newspaper, some communities that followed caucus procedure were still not counted in the final tabulation. In addition, one county was forced to postpone its caucus...

Speaking over the weekend on CNN, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said he would seek to discourage an attack on Iran by Israel, citing a comments from Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who said a nuclear Iran wouldn’t necessarily be an “existential threat”. “You don’t go to war over these kinds of things,” said Mr. Paul. “I would try to use the foreign policy and military experts who say this would be a fallacy and use the people in Israel who are saying these things as well to show that people should stop and think before they start a war.” The...

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, following his wins last week in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, has now jumped ahead of Mitt Romney in Michigan's Republican Primary race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters in Michigan shows Santorum with 35% of the vote to Romney’s 32%. Well behind are Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 13% and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 11%. Only one percent (1%) prefers some other candidate in the race, while eight percent (8%) are undecided.

Republican candidates listed on my local ballot Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Charles Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum

Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both said they would replace Bernanke, not reappoint him. Rep. Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. And it was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more quantitative easing by the Fed would be "almost treasonous." Republicans in Washington are equally unimpressed by Bernanke. Rep. Paul Ryan recently criticized the Fed for bankrolling our huge budget deficits and thereby accommodating...

While Ron Paul is still in search of his first win of the 2012 Republican presidential campaign, one of his Iowa strategists, A.J. Spiker, was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. Spiker will fill out the remainder of Matt Strawn’s second term, which will end in January. Strawn resigned after being criticized for his handling of the Iowa Caucus results and the ensuing certification process. The selection of Spiker by the Republican State Central Committee (SCC) has raised questions from some Republican activists. Spiker is an unabashed supporter of Ron Paul and was on his payroll. Since being...

.........Verniece Zorn, a 70-year-old retired printing company worker, said she made a promise to herself years ago that if Gingrich ever ran for president, she would support him. She liked the newsletters he had sent her as a Georgia congressman. Zorn, who identifies herself as an evangelical Christian, said she has looked beyond Gingrich’s multiple marriages and acknowledged infidelities, and she believes he is the most capable leader in the race. “None of us are perfect. We all have our little hang-ups,” said Zorn, of Stockbridge. “He’s my first choice. I believe he knows more than all of them put...

<p>Maine – Texas Congressman Ron Paul has taken a commanding lead over his GOP rivals in the Maine Caucus heading into its final day on Saturday, hoping to extinguish Rick Santorum’s modest campaign winning streak and launch a comeback of his own in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.</p>

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

C-SPAN's coverage of the 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) continues Friday with speeches by the leading presidential candidates and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. The three top GOP candidates for the Republican nomination -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- are taking a break from the campaign trial to address attendees. Rep. Ron Paul was invited to speak but will instead continue campaigning.

As Libertarian Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul looks for a state he can win, some of his supporters have turned to a new theme: voting fraud. A Super PAC supporting Paul has pledged to monitor the vote in all the remaining states, using an army of exit pollsters to fight what it calls results that are "outrageous, unacceptable and patently un-American." The group, called Revolution PAC, has spent half a million dollars supporting Paul with videos, webcasts, online ads, direct mail, billboards and radio ads in primary and caucus states. We first noticed Revolution PAC last week, when it told...

. . . In every case except the match-up against Ron Paul, more than 20 percent of Republican voters said they are more likely to support Obama than the Republican challenger. And Ron Paul is close, as 19 percent of Republicans said they are more likely to support Obama than Paul. . . . Obama would defeat all of the four Republicans if the election were held today, but Ron Paul fares the best against the incumbent. Obama leads Paul, 44 percent to 40 percent, with 16 percent undecided. “This is likely a reflection of discontent over Obama’s handling of...

Kim Pettengill, GOP state committeewoman from Kennebec County, said she didn't know about two of them coming until she got calls Friday evening from the campaigns of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, of Pennsylvania, saying they would send representatives to Saturday's caucus. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's son Tagg Romney already had been expected to attend. More than 300 Republicans from across Kennebec County attended the caucus. GOP activists were asked to hold local caucuses between Feb. 4 and 11, and more than 30 of them were being held Saturday statewide. Republicans from...

Former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers told The Daily Caller Sunday that he agrees with some of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s policies. “I find some unity with Ron Paul,” Mr. Ayers said at a dinner attended by The Daily Caller’s editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson and others. Mr. Carlson won a $2500 dinner for five at the home of Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. The dinner was part of an online auction to help the Illinois Humanities Council. TBD.com’s Ryan Kearney called Mr. Carlson’s dinner with Mr. Ayers a “stunt.” Despite Mr. Ayers’ appreciation for Mr. Paul’s policies,...

Republican presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) said Monday that the sanctions put in place against Iran are "terrible" for the United States and its allies. "I voted against them and I think they're terrible and I think it's going to hurt the people who are trying to overthrow [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad. People, when they're attacked from the outside and made to hurt, become more nationalistic," Paul said on Fox News's "On the Record" Monday night. President Obama issued an executive order Monday calling for new sanctions against Iran and its central bank, which were included in the defense authorization...

(JediJones: Here are details on their "secret" plan to win a brokered convention with "stealth" delegates. This perhaps explains why Ron Paul is focusing on caucus states. I don't know enough to say if this is a pipe dream or possible. But Newt and Rick people can try it too.) We NEED Gingrich and Santorum to STAY in the race. Because they, along with Dr. Paul will keep Romney from a majority at the convention. Then... At every state primary precinct, as the delegates are being selected to go to the State's Convention, Ron Paul supporters are getting those delegate...

<p>During an appearance on CNN’s Piers Morgan, GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul was asked whether as a man with daughters and granddaughters, Rep. Paul (R-TX) thinks that abortion is warranted if a woman has been impregnated by a rapist.</p> <p>Um, exactly what constitutes “honest rape?” I thought rape was rape. Am I missing something? I remember a time when people thought former president Ronald Reagan was going to hit the switch to start World War III, but I think Ron Paul is a bigger threat than Ronald Reagan ever was.</p>

Mitt’s money. Newt’s lunar landing. Rick’s abortion advice. Ron’s rip-it-all-up rhetoric. Followers of America’s Republican primary contest could easily conclude that the adults have left the political playground. And with unrefereed mud wrestling matches set to roll across the country until summer, it’s a sure bet that no candidate will be coming out as Mr. Clean. It’s a far cry from the pundits’ prediction for a short sharp contest, with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (“Senor Smooth”) felling former House speaker Newt Gingrich (“Mr. Mean”) in a round or two, and Pennsylvania hopeful Rick Santorum (“The Saint”) flat on the...

LAS VEGAS — A special Saturday night Republican caucus intended to accommodate orthodox Jews who couldn’t vote until after sundown became the scene of controversy and confrontation after caucusgoers were told that to gain admittance they had to sign a legal declaration under penalty of perjury that they could not attend their daytime caucus because of “my religious beliefs.” The use of the declaration brought protests from many supporters of Representative Ron Paul of Texas who arrived at the polling place — a school in an upscale neighborhood here named after its benefactors, the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his...

WASHINGTON — Among Ron Paul’s legions of freedom-loving followers, the prostitutes from Las Vegas’ famed Moonlight Bunny Ranch stand out — as passionately loyal. Brothel owner Dennis Hof’s “Pimping for Paul” campaign even tries to raise political contributions — in cash. Hof, who attended Paul’s Thursday night rally in Reno, told NBC-TV, “The Bunny Ranch bunnies are supporting Ron Paul because he’s for states’ rights . . . We love Ron Paul!” His girlfriend, Cami Parker, added, “All the bunny babes are registered Republicans [and] will be at [today’s] caucus.” Paul has said he doesn’t think government can “legislate virtue.”

After his fourth-place showing in Florida, Ron Paul, by then in Nevada, told supporters he had been advised by friends that he would do better if only he dumped his foreign policy views, which have been derided as isolationism. Not going to do it, said Dr. Paul to cheers. And why should he? Observing developments in U.S. foreign and defense policy, Paul's views seem as far out in front of where America is heading as John McCain's seem to belong to yesterday's Bush-era bellicosity. Consider. In December, the last U.S. troops left Iraq. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta now says that...

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...

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.

And then God said, ‘Let every man and woman who wishes to be hipster, avant garde, and cool vote for a smooth-talking young black man in the year 2008.26 Then let them vote for an obscure, rambling, old white doctor in 2012.27’ Genesis 2:26-27, “The Lost Verses” In 1988, Ronald Paul ran for President of the United States as a libertarian and impregnated Radical Devotion and Rebellion. After a twenty-year pregnancy, those mistresses jointly gave birth to a single child in the land of Paulistine. They named him “Paulbot.” At the time of his birth, Paulbot the Paulistinian was overshadowed...

Today at the far right fever swamp known as Free Republic, somebody posted a link to our latest article about Ron Paul’s connections to the white supremacist subculture, which led to an amusing and revealing sequence of comments. *snip*Then, when it finally sank in that they were talking about an article at Little Green Footballs, they dropped this uncomfortable line of discussion and united to attack their common enemy instead:

The “anti-fascist” wing of the “Anonymous” hacker group has broken into a website run by the white supremacist American Third Position (A3P), and released a document dump consisting of private forum messages, emails, organizational notes, and other personal information. The documents show numerous connections between Republican candidate Ron Paul and these racist Neanderthals; they’re heavily involved in campaigning for Paul, and according to the messages, have held regular meetings with Ron Paul himself:

For Romney and Paul, a strategic alliance between establishment and outsider ...........................But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul haven’t laid a hand on each other. They never do.-SNIP-Romney’s aides are “quietly in touch with Ron Paul,” according to a Republican adviser who is in contact with the Romney campaign and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its internal thinking. Infiltrating the party Yet the insurgents are executing a concerted strategy to infiltrate the Republican Party. Five Paul supporters, for instance, sit on the state GOP’s central committee in Iowa, where their candidate finished a strong third in the Jan....

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. They never do.

OMG! Carter thinks Iranian nukes 'not a catstrophe' OMG.... When it comes to the Middle East, the former president never ceases to amaze.In an interview published in Time, he was asked: "What do you think it means that Iran seems to have its first nuclear fuel rod?" His complete answer: "Well, of course, the religious leaders of Iran have sworn on their word of honor that they're not going to manufacture nuclear weapons. If they are lying, then I don't see that as a major catastrophe because they'll only have one or two military weapons. Israel probably has 300 or...

LAS VEGAS — Ron Paul dropped his standard stump speech on Wednesday and aggressively courted Latino voters. At a senior center in East Las Vegas, the Texas congressman told about 100 Hispanics that they have been unfairly made “scapegoats” for the country’s economic troubles. He said it’s “part of human nature” for newcomers to be shunned, but that prejudice toward outsiders worsens when unemployment is high. He said that illegal immigrants were being scapegoated in a manner similar to Jews in Nazi Germany because of tough economic times. “When things go badly, individuals look for scapegoats,” he said. “I just...

As such, the Obama/Clinton/Biden analogy rings hollow. Though every candidate might have his own specific plan, and one can prefer a candidate for myriad reasons, there was never any serious ideological split between these candidates. So handling the end of the primary season and attempting to unify the party, required massaging egos and satisfying personal ambition. Thus, the approach the Welches are proposing here – giving consolation prizes to the losers so they feel connected and valued – makes sense only in that context. When, however, there are substantive policy differences, the efforts to make the losers feel valued can...

Raleigh, N.C. – Newt Gingrich holds a commanding 18-point lead over Mitt Romney in the Minnesota caucuses. Gingrich has more support than any two candidates combined – he garners 36% of the vote, with 18% going to Romney, 17% to Rick Santorum, 13% to Ron Paul, and 15% not sure. Gingrich also receives the highest net favorability rating at +34 (59/25) followed by Santorum at +32 (56/24), then Romney at just +14 (50/36) and Ron Paul holds a negative favorability rating with -9 (36/45). Both Gingrich (50-29) and Santorum (46-34) beat Romney in one on one matchups. Gingrich has a...

LAS VEGAS—Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul outlined his views on immigration Wednesday, saying he favors a compassionate policy that doesn't rely on "barbed-wire fences and guns on our border." Paul spoke to several dozen people organized by Hispanics in Politics, Nevada's oldest Hispanic community group. The Texas congressman has scheduled several days of campaigning in Nevada before the state's caucuses Saturday. Paul went into much greater detail on immigration policy than he has at most of his campaign stops. He typically steers clear of discussing rights for specific groups of people, insisting that his libertarian-leaning views apply to everyone as...

...Immigration, however, was another story. The 12-term Texas congressman spent the better part of a 25-minute address thinking aloud about the thorny subject. He talked about how Americans are more accepting of outsiders when the economy is good, but when trouble looms there is a search for scapegoats. "I believe Hispanics have been used as scapegoats, to say, they're the problem instead of being a symptom maybe of a problem with the welfare state," Paul told the group. "In Nazi Germany they had to have scapegoats to blame and they turned on the Jews....

It’s a two-man race in the Pine Tree State. But the contest isn’t between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich; it’s between Romney and Ron Paul. In 2008, Paul won third place in Maine’s caucuses with 18 percent of the vote. But he was only 178 votes shy of tying John McCain for second. And this year, with an extra push, Paul might just be able to win the state outright. “The Paul campaign has really dedicated the resources to the state that make it possible for them to win the caucuses,” says Ken Lindell, chairman of the Maine Republican Liberty...

At some country-club golf course recently, Speaker Boehner, Haley Barbour and the Bain Capital and banking wings of the GOP probably devised the plan that is now under way: Ron Paul, get on the program behind Mitt and stop talking down wars. Sarah Palin, stop referring to the GOP establishment as Stalinesque. Tea Party members: shut up and get behind the former liberal governor of Massachusetts. Conservative movement, cool it. So what if our nominee was the godfather of ObamaCare? The French say, apres moi, le deluge. The white-shoe, country-club, establishment Republican leaders will be pressuring in unison after Florida,...

At some country-club golf course recently, Speaker Boehner, Haley Barbour and the Bain Capital and banking wings of the GOP probably devised the plan that is now under way: Ron Paul, get on the program behind Mitt and stop talking down wars. Sarah Palin, stop referring to the GOP establishment as Stalinesque. Tea Party members: shut up and get behind the former liberal governor of Massachusetts. Conservative movement, cool it. So what if our nominee was the godfather of ObamaCare? The French say, apres moi, le deluge. The white-shoe, country-club, establishment Republican leaders will be pressuring in unison after Florida,...

It’s the bill that has Tea Party favorites Ron Paul and Michigan Congressman Justin Amash pitted against each other. House Resolution 1380 has been called everything from the “T. Boone Pickens” bill to "the next Solyndra.” Its official name is the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2011. Billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who owns Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which runs natural gas fueling stations in the United States and Canada, has been lobbying in favor of the bill. According to the Club For Growth, the bill offers about $5 billion in tax credits to boost production of...

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (TheWrap.com) - Snoop Dogg, throwing his weight behind Ron Paul? Politics really does make strange bedfellows -- or at least smoking buddies. The rapper and marijuana enthusiast appeared to grant his endorsement to GOP candidate Paul on his Facebook page late Monday, posting a picture of Paul with the headline "Smoke Weed Everyday." Snoop Dogg -- born Calvin Broadus -- included the message "Because I said so" with his post. Broadus -- whose most recent marijuana-related arrest occurred earlier this month, at the Texas border town of Sierra Blanca -- is presumably drawn to Paul due...

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...

...When Gingrich's bus pulled up, Dillard stood silently holding his sign and watched the news-media horde swamp the candidate. Gingrich stepped down from the bus and made a beeline for Dillard. He stopped in front of Dillard and his sign and parked himself for a round of handshaking and pictures with voters. The placement couldn't have been worse. There was Gingrich, standing with his wife Callista at their first event of the day, and a giant Ron Paul sign floated inches from their crowns. Noticing the awkward optics, Gingrich aides and security personnel swarmed Dillard, trying to intimidate him into...

From states, far away, those volunteers called South Carolina talk stations like Clear Channel’s WVOC (100.1) in Columbia. They’ve been calling Florida stations, ahead of today’s primary vote. They called stations in New Hampshire, says the Wall Street Journal - and it’s all social media-enabled grass-roots enthusiasm. Talk radio needs and wants passionate callers, but what’s new is the ability of partisans 2,000 miles away to listen online and call to correct what they perceive as attacks on their candidate. The Journal says a 23-year-old Ron Paul fan in South Carolina uses social media to urge like-minded fans to phone...

Imagine discovering that your police force, funded through local taxes, has begun diverting patrols to a neighboring town instead of protecting your own. Most people would be up in arms, and rightfully so. A similar impulse informs Ron Paul’s foreign policy. He claims our military is off adventuring outside its jurisdiction. It is a message which appeals to a loyal base of supporters who believe that America’s military ought to respond to direct threats against American lives, rather than police the rest of the world. There is a legitimate argument for refocusing our military, but not as Ron Paul and...

Once again, all eyes are on Florida. As a Florida Republican, this has become routine to me. For the last month, the state with the third-greatest number of electoral votes has been the subject of intense campaigning on the part of not only GOP presidential hopefuls but also the president, who has visited Florida more times in January than he did in all of 2011. Especially in the primaries, where Florida’s winner-take-all structure would award the winner 50 delegates, Florida is a crucial state for presidential candidates. At a structural level, it also reflects the country most closely. South Carolina,...

Part of the Paul strategy is to take over vacant Republican precinct committee officer (PCO) positions. That's because PCOs automatically become delegates to county or legislative-district GOP conventions, where they can try to get elected as delegates to the state convention. A local Paul campaign memo displayed a touch of paranoia about the effort. It urged Paul volunteers to consider concealing their support for him when volunteering as PCOs. And for those who become PCOs, the memo suggested organizing caucuses in private homes, avoiding libraries or schools "where the establishment will be in full force and try to control everything."...