Free Republic

He’s just getting started. As he positions himself as Republican kingmaker in 2012, Rove is trying to make sense of a post-Bush party, one riven by ideological schisms and splintered into a dozen or more potential Republican nominees. To take back power and reestablish his dream of a permanent Republican majority (“Durable,” he now corrects. “I never said permanent”), Rove must carefully negotiate a new media world revolutionized by Sarah Palin and bring order to a restive party upended and realigned by tea- party populists, who view Rove as the elitist Machiavellian who once played them like a Stradivarius for...

WASHINGTON—Republican officials say former House Speaker Newt Gingrich intends to take a formal step in the next two weeks toward a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He would be the first of many potential contenders to make the move to challenge President Barack Obama. The former Georgia congressman has been travelling to key primary and caucus states in recent months in the run-up to a campaign for the White House. The officials say an announcement is likely in the first half of March. It is not clear what type of declaration he intends to make. Some White House...

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - A group of Republican activists was sorting out the field of prospective 2012 presidential candidates on a cold night here recently when talk turned to Sarah Palin. In a state whose caucuses will kick off the nomination contest, no one stands clearly above the others, suggesting the competition here is as wide open as it is nationally. But what these voters said about Palin might give the former Alaska governor pause as she considers whether to run for the White House next year. Christi Taylor, a physician, put it this way: "As a woman, and...

Urging conservatives to focus on "real issues," Karl Rove said Republicans should speak out against those in the party who question whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States. The GOP strategist said whatever percentage of Republicans are so-called "birthers," it "ought to be less." He made the comments in an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, where Rove is a regular commentator. "Within our party, we've got to be very careful about allowing these people who are the birthers and the 9/11-deniers to get too high a profile and say too much without setting the record...

A prominent Republican is warning his party about its rhetoric on immigration reform. During a recent speech at an event hosted by The Ripon Society, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said, “We favor welcoming legal immigrants into this country and believe it's a good thing. "But sometimes that policy gets lost because we’re so busy talking about keeping illegal immigrants out," he said. Gillespie said Republicans have a responsibility to "welcome people" into the U.S. His comments come as the party grapples with immigration issues, with some Republicans favoring a guest-worker program and most calling for stricter border...

Scott Brown was the Tea Party’s first big electoral coup. Then Ted Kennedy’s successor began siding, again and again, with Barack Obama—and now, as Andrew Romano reports in this week’s Newsweek, some in his own party want to oust him. Scott Brown isn't himself. Which is to say, he isn't sounding much like the square-jawed, truck-driving, barn-jacket-bedecked Scott Brown—the calm, cool, collected Captain America—who stunned the political world a year ago by winning the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. [SNIP] The strain of walking such a fine line must be getting to Brown, because as...

LAYTON -- A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can become president of the United States of America, says Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush. "Absolutely," said Rove, who was in Layton on Thursday night for a stop-over to address a room full of fellow Republicans at the Davis Conference Center. While he was at it, Rove, who served as the keynote speaker for the Davis County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, autographed copies of his book. More than 400 people attended the event at a cost of $50 per person, which...

The time has come to put any thoughts of Sarah Palin running for President to rest. I say that not because I dislike her; on the contrary, I'm a fan. I think she did an excellent job as a vice-presidential candidate in 2008 and has been an effective spokeswoman for conservative causes in the years since. But there is no way she is ever going to be elected President, and the sooner Republicans get over that idea, the better. SNIP No one with a 59 percent unfavorability rating among independents has the chance of a snowball in Hell of being...

Well, this really was what the inside-the-beltway Republicans were hoping for—Sarah Palin has effectively sunk her campaign for president, just as she was trying to launch it. Last week she gave a fireside chat that was to connect her with “average Americans,” a straight-look-into-the-camera moment for eight minutes without a cutaway or even a camera push-in or pull-out, an attempt to show that she could be “presidential” on the very day the president was in Tucson delivering one of the most compelling speeches of his life. The Republicans, who follow politics closely, work in the campaigns, and run the party,...

Sarah Palin is getting more advice from fellow Republicans – this time from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who says the former Alaska governor needs to "slow down." Speaking on ABC's Good Morning America Tuesday, Gingrich said a string of Palin's recent statements indicate she needs to "be more careful and think through what she's saying and how she's saying it." "There's no question that she has become more controversial," added Gingrich who may face off against Palin later in the year for the GOP presidential nomination.

Speaking on ABC’s Good Morning America Tuesday, Gingrich said a string of Palin’s recent statements indicate she needs to “be more careful and think through what she’s saying and how she’s saying it.” “There’s no question that she has become more controversial,” Worthless DeDe Scazzafaza supporter!!!!!!! Need to be careful who he supports

The America’s President Committee wants Indiana congressman Mike Pence to run for president. The group — which is made up of former Republican congressman Jim Ryun and Ralph Benko, a former Reagan-administration aide and author of the book The Websters’ Dictionary: How to Use the Web to Transform the World — has set up a new site, The Conservative Champion, dedicated to the concept of Pence for President. Benko spoke to NRO about the motivation behind the site. NRO: Why Mike Pence? BENKO: Mike Pence is extraordinary. He is across-the-board rock solid: He is pro-growth in a way I haven’t...

Domenico Montanaro writes: A group of conservatives are pushing Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to run for president in 2012. America's President Committee kicks off today with a signature drive to get Pence, who's popular with social conservatives, to launch a 2012 White House bid. Behind the group are former Kansas Congressman Jim Ryun and is coordinated by Ralph Benko, a former Reagan deputy counsel, who worked with the Bush administration's White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. “Throughout his distinguished career, Mike Pence has demonstrated the ability to enthusiastically advance the cause of conservatives and constitutional, limited government...

Likely 2012 Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty said Sunday that when he promoted a bailout plan aimed at stabilizing the imploding mortgage market in 2008 he was speaking solely as a surrogate for GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona and never actually supported the idea himself. "Play the tape. It says 'he believes' and I was speaking as a spokesperson for Senator McCain," the former Minnesota governor said on "Fox News Sunday" after host Chris Wallace played video of Pawlenty endorsing what was billed as a bailout for both the mortgage industry and "Main Street." "But I didn’t...

As more pundits react to Sarah Palin’s video response on the Arizona shooting, Fox’s Brit Hume professed he’s never in his life seen someone receive such vicious media coverage as Palin and attempted to broadly define the “Sarah Palin Problem” on Fox News Sunday. Before Hume summed Palin up, Fox commentator Juan Williams shared his bewilderment over Palin’s tone and word choice in the video, and thought the whole thing was “unnecessary.” This “just gave her opponents such an opportunity then to excoriate her . . . and did not raise her stature,” Williams concluded. Brit Hume offered up his...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) served notice Friday that he intends to play a major role in deciding who emerges from a sizable pack of GOP Senate contenders in Texas. In an e-mail to supporters of his Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF), DeMint talked up two rumored candidates to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), who announced Thursday she will not be seeking reelection in 2012. Both of the candidates are supported by the Tea Party grassroots movement. His e-mail notably talked down state Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is seen by some political observers in the state as the Republican front-runner,...

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele dropped his bid for a second term on Friday after being offered a lucrative deal in exchange for his endorsement, sources on the committee tell The Hotline. Steele dropped out of the race for chairman after four ballots on Friday and threw his support to Maria Cino, a former Bush administration official who finished third in the race. Steele endorsed Cino from the stage after ending his bid, a rare public announcement in a contest marked more by quiet member-to-member conversations. That endorsement came at a cost, according to committee insiders. As candidates...

WASHINGTON --Reince Priebus was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday after Michael Steeledropped his bid to stay atop the party for another two years. Priebus clinched the victory after seven rounds, securing 97 votes, more than the 85 required to win. Steele dropped out of the race after four rounds. "At this time, I will step aside for others to lead," Steele told the168 RNC committee members at the Gaylord Resort in National Harbor, Md. "But in so doing, I hope y'all appreciate the legacy we leave. Despite the noise -- because lord know we had a...

*** "Let me be clear: I don't think officialdom, in the Republican Party, has a tone problem. It's voices, not many of them, but loud voices that are picked up – and magnified by our friends in the media – that send that signal," Bush said. "The more controversial you are in America – the greater likelihood your voice will be heard." Bush later added: "After the incredible tragedy in Tucson, immediately – within 24 hours – there were people on the left and right back to the same fight. Kind of trying to assess blame rather than to mourn...

Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced that she will retire after her current term expires. In a letter released Thursday, Hutchison said she will not run for re-election in 2012. Hutchison has said she might retire and then changed her mind several times in the last few years. In 2010, she challenged Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican primary for governor, but lost. Hutchison has been in the Senate since 1993.