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Jeb Bush's fundraising totals for the first half of 2015 were eye-popping: $114 million raised ($103 million of which came through his Right to Rise super PAC) with a stunning $98 million in the bank. But, as amazing as Bush's haul was, it's Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's fundraising totals that stood out to me as the most important money number from the June reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Cruz raised $14 million through his campaign committee and another $37 million through a constellation of super PACs set up to aid his campaign. That total of $51 million raised...

Clearing the field. (VIDEO-AT-LINK) Appearing on the “Greg Gutfeld Show” Sunday night, Gavin McInnes made a bold prediction about GOP candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. But first, he explained the reason Trump is so popular. McInnes said, “He’s proud to be an American. He’s sick of pretending that illegals are wonderful people. And that’s a good thing because it’s sort of rattling modern America and getting non-voters out to the polls.” But he said that Trump will eventually move out to make way for the eventual Republican nominee — and future POTUS: “Now don’t be scared,” McInnes said. “[Trump's]...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday gave what one attendee described as a quintessential Trump speech before a group of Hollywood conservatives — brash, self assured, and plenty of humor. Trump’s appearance before Friends of Abe — a fellowship of showbiz right-of-center professionals — was met with protests outside the Luxe Hotel in Brentwood over remarks he has made about Mexican immigrants. Chanting “Donald Trump has got to go” in English and Spanish, the protesters drew occasional honks from passing cars on Sunset Boulevard, with a heavy presence of Los Angeles Police Department officers on watch. But Trump told...

Jeb Bush has won the first primary of the 2016 campaign – the money primary. In just 16 days as a candidate, he brought in $11.4 million, while his Super Pac, for which he raised money before entering, netted $103 million. The total – $114 million – is more than double that raised by the next closest competitor, Ted Cruz. One long-time GOP fundraiser tells me he has never seen it so easy to raise money for a candidate. The reason is clear. In a campaign so far dominated by Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, Bush is the candidate for...

Texas senator Ted Cruz is summoning the biggest donors to his presidential campaign to Colorado Springs in mid-July. Cruz and his top bundlers — those who, according to a top campaign aide, “have met or exceeded their finance goals” by raising a minimum of $100,000 — will convene at The Broadmoor, the five-star resort owned by the conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz. The Colorado event, which will run from July 10-12, will serve as an opportunity for the campaign to update its top donors on the state of the race and to ask them to redouble their efforts on Cruz’s behalf....

He's got $50 million behind him, a fervent following in Iowa, and a brand that he's worked hard to never muddy, but Ted Cruz has yet to have a breakout moment. Is that about to change? The Texas senator may remain mired in the middle of the seemingly endless Republican pack, but his allies say he is poised to make his move. Doing just well enough nationally to make the debate stage and showing enough promise in early-primary to have a shot next winter, Cruz and his allies are unperturbed by surveys that show him sitting stagnant. He is bracketed...

Abby Wambach, Wife Sarah Huffman Share Kiss After U.S. World Cup Win By Wilfred Chan, CNN July 6, 2015 So when her squad's memorable 5-2 triumph over Japan was sealed, she chose an unforgettable way to celebrate. With the crowd roaring, as cameras flashed, Wambach -- one of the greatest players in the history of women's soccer -- ran to the stadium's edge and leapt into the stands to kiss her wife, Sarah Huffman.

In a little more than three months, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz‘s presidential campaign has raised more than $14.2 million from over 175,000 contributors. Combined with the $37 million raised by a political action committee backing Cruz, the Texas lawmaker’s presidential aspirations will be supported by a $51 million war chest. “The grassroots energy and support we are seeing is overwhelming,” Cruz said in a statement. “In Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina – and all across the country – we are seeing courageous conservatives coming together for real change. We’re reassembling the (Ronald) Reagan coalition – from conservatives to libertarians...

Republican Senator Ted Cruz and the outside groups supporting his presidential bid have raised more than $51 million in the three months since he launched his campaign for president, according to a statement from his campaign on Sunday. Cruz, who announced his candidacy on March 23 in a speech at the conservative school Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, has raised far less in donations directly to his campaign than his supporters have collected for the four outside spending groups supporting him. The statement said there were 175,000 individual donations to the campaign with an average contribution of $81. About $10...

So the nation’s birthday is coming up. What better time than to raise a cool million or two in the name of 2016? That appears to be the plan for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign this week, which features five major fundraisers in four states in the days leading up to July 4. The Founding Fathers might have puzzled over the wealth and scope of Hillary for America events in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and finally New Hampshire on Friday, the eve of the patriotic holiday. The events follow the “conversation with Hillary” template — $2,700 per person as...

Hillary Clinton has a dinner invite for you. Jeb Bush is out to make a big splash. Rick Santorum wants to scare the heck out of you. Ted Cruz is looking for a sacrifice. Lincoln Chaffee wants to be your pal. Oh, and all of them want your money — and preferably before midnight on Tuesday night, please. Danger: The 2016 presidential candidates are emailing Americans such a flurry of appeals for money and support that the risk of inbox internal combustion is high....

Sen. Ted Cruz is imploring supporters to donate $1 million to his presidential campaign by Tuesday, saying in a recorded email appeal that positive fundraising results are important to shaping the media narrative of the 2016 contest. The Texas Republican proved to be a surprisingly prodigious and effective fundraiser in the opening weeks of his White House bid. He raised $4 million online his first week and has told reporters that super PACs backing his candidacy have "banked" an eye-popping $37 million. Now, Cruz is asking his backers to help him close the second fundraising quarter strong to help him...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) The money race for second place is on. With a June 30 fundraising deadline drawing near, speculation over how much money Republican presidential candidates will collect is reaching a fever pitch. It's already clear that Jeb Bush will come out on top regardless of whether he hits or even surpasses the $100 million target many in the donor world set for the former Florida governor. The more interesting question, many donors and campaign operatives say, is who will come in second. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has an unusually broad donor list thanks to his highly publicized recall election and...

He’s stuck in the middle of the pack in Iowa, lags in polls, and much of the GOP donor class views him with disdain. But Ted Cruz is embracing a novel strategy for winning the nomination: He’s lowering expectations in the early states while investing in later-voting states that hardly see a candidate before March. In the past week or so alone, the Texas senator has taken his presidential campaign to Michigan and Massachusetts, staffed up in New Jersey and Tennessee, and skipped an Iowa cattle call to stump in North Carolina — all states expected to vote in March,...

A little-known private foundation controlled by Bill and Hillary Clinton donated $100,000 to the New York Times’ charitable fund in 2008, the same year the newspaper’s editorial page endorsed Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, according to tax documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The Clinton Family Foundation, a separate entity from the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, has been the family’s vehicle for personal charitable giving since 2001. It is funded directly by the Clintons and distributes more than $1 million a year to civic and educational causes.

Curious how NOT to capsize your fishing vessel in heavy seas? New Zealand journalist Geoff Mackley decided to visit the infamous Greymouth Bar, grab the saltiest old sea-captain he could find; an unintelligible yet undeniably talented Kiwi fisherman, and ask that very question. The dialogue in this video is impossible to understand but, trust us, amid the profanity is secret to heavy surf shiphandling.

Port Authority of Allegheny County said Wednesday it will remove promotional slogans on nine buses that appear to spell a racial slur when read backward or viewed in a mirror. Transit agency spokesman Jim Ritchie said a driver complained Tuesday after seeing the message “Ziggin Zaggin” on a bus in her vehicle's rear-view mirror.

Actor Patrick Stewart, who starred in "X-Men" and "Star Trek," says he supports the right of a Christian baker in Northern Ireland who refused to make a cake with a gay marriage slogan on it. The baker was last month convicted of "discrimination," and fined. Speaking on BBC's "Newsnight" show in a video published Thursday, Stewart showed support for Ashers Baking Company – owned by Colin and Karen McArthur, in Belfast – which was fined last month for refusing to make a cake with "support gay marriage" written on it along with a picture of Bert and Ernie from "Sesame...

A few weeks ago I had to go back to DC yet again for the Right Online conference and it involved flying in and out of Reagan, as well as Newark. As usual, I stood in the long lines – even with my previous screening check mark on my boarding passes – and went through all the rituals of unloading some of my things and passing through a detector. When I arrived at the hotel I opened my bag to find the usual TSA greeting card indicating that they had searched my checked baggage, no matter how much of...

Kathleen Willey, the former White House aide who claims President Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her in 1993 during his first term, now suspects the former president suffers from dementia, and calls Hillary Clinton a “money-hungry” hypocrite who looks “awfully haggard” and is the “worst role model for a wife and a mother and a politician.” Willey, author of the book “Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton,” made her scathing comments in an interview Sunday night on Aaron Klein Investigative Radio, broadcast on New York’s AM 970 and Philadelphia 990 AM, as well as online. She is...