Free Republic

Senator Ted Cruz, who appeared in Georgia over the weekend at the Republican state convention in Athens, sees his candidacy for President of the United States as Reaganesque. Comparing the 1980 and 2016 election cycles, he noted the similarity between incumbent Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. And in an interview late Friday afternoon, he told me how he hopes to win the presidency in 2016. Cruz noted that since World War II, the GOP has only won the presidency when they ran on all three legs of the proverbial Republican Stool. The winning candidate has been a fiscal...

In Bible-belt Georgia, one would think that pro-life organizations would support the federal “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which imposes a 20 week abortion ban (with exceptions for rape and incest).  The bill passed the House last week generally along party lines, 242-184.  But one pro-life organization vigorously opposed this bill. Georgia Right to Life wrote that the bill, H.R. 36, “contains dangerous exceptions that allow babies conceived via rape or incest to be murdered despite the ability to feel pain.”  And while that’s true, this is more than a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.  It’s a...

Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) invested time Friday at the Georgia Republican State Convention in Athens as he met delegates and delivered two speeches. Cruz was surrounded by admirers late Saturday afternoon once delegates discovered his staff room on the second floor of the Classic Center in Athens, where the state’s GOP convention was being held. A line formed and a crowd gathered to shake his hand, ask him about issues and pose with him for a photo. Cruz is one of a half-dozen declared Republican candidates for president in what is expected to be a crowded...

Athens hasn’t seen this many Republicans roll into town since Reconstruction. For the second time in a row, the Georgia Republican Party will hold its biannual convention in our bastion of socialism—specifically, at that taxpayer-funded monument to big government meddling with the private sector, The Classic Center. Seeing as how we’re merely 18 months away from a presidential election, a number of GOP contenders will be on hand (after feting big donors in Atlanta, of course). So far, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is scheduled to speak at an 8:30 a.m. breakfast Friday; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s speaking slot is...

Everyone from Susan Sarandon to Van Jones is helping draft and push de Blasio’s new “Contract with America,” which will push for paid sick leave and free, universal pre-K.First New York City. Then America. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is heading to Washington, D.C. next week to present a progressive “Contract with America,” a 13-point agenda intended to push the Democratic Party leftward. According to a draft of the document provided to The Daily Beast by someone asked to join the effort, de Blasio will call for a number of measures for which he has already pushed in...

ATLANTA — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is slated to be the keynote speaker for a dinner at the Georgia Republican Party's state convention this month. Also confirmed for the two day event – presidential candidate Marco Rubio and potential candidate Chris Christie. GPB’s Political Rewind will broadcast live from the state Republican convention Friday, May 15th....

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the third presidential candidate who plans to attend next week’s Georgia Republican convention in Athens. Cruz, who plans to speak at 7 p.m. on May 15, will cap a busy day of politicking for the delegates. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another potential White House hopeful, will speak at a breakfast that morning hosted by Secretary of State Brian Kemp. And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will talk to Republican delegates around 3 p.m. that day. All three are expected to hold fundraisers in Atlanta during the day, giving GOP check-writers a run for their money....

If there is a worse example of our politics today than this, I’d hate to see it. Ted Cruz, the ultra-conservative Texas senator running for the GOP’s presidential nomination, spent an evening last week visiting with about a dozen people at the Manhattan home of Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, the gay proprietors of, among other properties, the Out NYC hotel. Cruz’s opinions about gay marriage are very different from those of the hoteliers. But — gasp! — he and Reisner, in particular, apparently agree about other issues, notably foreign policy and America’s relationship with Israel. So they met to...

2016 presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R) spoke to a sold-out Newberry Hall during an Aiken Republican Club luncheon April 4. After the luncheon, The Bell Ringer interviewed Cruz about his views on education, including his wish to shut down the Department of Education. “It is because education is so important that it shouldn’t be governed by unelected bureaucrats in Washington, that it should be instead at the state or local level,” Cruz said. “And what we’ve seen right now is the Department of Education has grown into a bloated bureaucracy where what’s happening is they’re putting red tape, they’re...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made his case to state leaders at the Georgia statehouse Thursday and waded into several thorny policy debates facing legislators as he prepares a likely run for the White House. Bush said he approved of a state push to legalize medical marijuana and gave a tacit endorsement to the Republicans behind a controversial "religious liberty" measure. He also urged lawmakers to embrace school choice legislation and talked with Gov. Nathan Deal about the Georgian's plan to give the state broad new powers to intervene in struggling schools. The likely candidate was in town as part...

On Friday, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), in an act of pure political desperation, has now labeled her own constituency racist and sexist. “I’ll be very, very honest with you,” Landrieu said. “The South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans. It’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as leader.” The goal: drive out the black vote, the same way President Obama did in 2012. Landrieu then added that the South is “more of a conservative place” and said that women have a problem “presenting ourselves.” The goal: driving out...

The polls this cycle have been cruel to Democrats. A number of surveys have given the president’s party undue hope that they could pull off the impossible on Election Day and retain control of the U.S. Senate. But, like Lucy van Pelt ripping the set football away from a rushing Charlie Brown at the very last minute, Democrats have been robbed of that intoxicating hope just as the buzz was getting good. After abandoning the party’s nominee as determined by the voters, Democrats were thrilled by the prospect that ruby red Kansas might elect a Democrat masquerading as an independent...

Michelle Nunn has fired her primary weapon: a TV ad running in Georgia featuring Dad, former Senator Sam Nunn.

More GOP cavalry arrived in Georgia today as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stumped with David Perdue and Gov. Nathan Deal in Canton, invoking memories of long gas lines and stagflation as he attacked their Democratic rivals. “Here in Georgia, we’ve got on the ballot Jimmy Carter and Sam Nunn,” he said. “It’s like ‘That 70’s Show.'” The Texas firebrand echoed Perdue’s talking points by saying that an election of Michelle Nunn, the Democratic nominee, equals a stamp of approval for President Barack Obama’s agenda. Republicans need a net gain of six Senate seats to take control of the chamber, and...

After President Obama compounded his ‘every single one of my policies are on the ballot’ assertion by praising vulnerable Congressional Democrats as staunch water-carriers for his agenda, I joked that the only way he could assist Republican ad makers any further would be to call out each Democrat by name. And that’s precisely what he’s now done in Georgia, where Michelle Nunn has been impersonating Gumby to avoid being linked too closely with the unpopular president. Over to you, champ — via America Rising:(VIDEO-AT-LINK) “If Michelle Nunn wins, that means that Democrats keep control of the Senate, and that means...

The Democratic effort to pump up the African-American vote in Georgia just took an interesting turn. A reader has sent us this early-voting turnout mailer sent out by the Georgia Democratic party that focuses on the shooting of Michael Brown and subsequent unrest in Ferguson, Mo. It contains an interesting line that concedes the problem of low interest among black voters: “If we want a better, safer future for our children, it’s up to us to vote for change. The choices may not always be perfect, but the cost of inaction is simply too great.” Here’s a complete look: And...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)There are 65 prominent people who might run for president in 2016. The Democratic and Republican fields contrast sharply. Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner, while there is no front-runner on the Republican side. Twenty-three Democrats have been mentioned as a candidate or are eyeing a bid, according to an analysis by The Hill. The GOP side has 42. Most of the people on this list won’t run, and some have adamantly claimed that they’re not interested. But many politicians have changed their minds on seeking the White House. Before mounting his 2008 bid, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he...

Via RCP, I want to believe it, I almost believe it — but I don’t really believe it. All the makings of a Democratic clusterfark are there. If O legalizes five million workers, plenty of blue-collar Democrats are bound to put two and two together and wonder what that means for their wages. And plenty of Democratic Senate incumbents in red states, like, oh, let’s say Mark Pryor, are going to panic, knowing what could happen if the backlash among conservatives is as ferocious as everyone expects. In fact, as Newt alludes to, both Pryor and North Carolina’s Kay Hagan...

Just a simple SHOUT OUT to Barry Loudermilk who won the primary in Georgia tonight. He posted this comment on his timeline just moments ago: A sincere thank you to our wonderful team for your hard work and dedication to the cause. To those who came out to the polls today; thank you for exercising your freedom and fulfilling your duty to vote. US4Palin (Facebook page) reported: Things were not peachy keen for Dr. Bob Johnson. He lost GA-1 getting 46% of the vote as 221 (95%) of the 232 precincts came in Ibatom tonight reported. The winner, Buddy Carter...

Businessman David Perdue stunned Georgia’s Republican political establishment Tuesday by capturing the party’s U.S. Senate nomination in his first run for office. The former CEO of Reebok and Dollar General toppled 11-term Rep. Jack Kingston by a narrow margin, setting up a battle of political newcomers with famous kin in the fall. Perdue’s cousin, Sonny, was a two-term governor and Nunn’s father, Sam, was a four-term U.S. Senator....