Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) - In the first presidential election since the tea party's emergence, Republican candidates are drifting rightward on a range of issues, even though more centrist stands might play well in the 2012 general election. On energy, taxes, health care and other topics, the top candidates hold positions that are more conservative than those they espoused a few years ago. The shifts reflect the evolving views of conservative voters, who will play a major role in choosing the Republican nominee. In that sense, the candidates' repositioning seems savvy or even essential. But the eventual nominee will face President Barack...

Tea Party activists are injecting into the 2012 GOP presidential primary an element of antiestablishment volatility that could hurt Mitt Romney’s possible bid while benefiting a fast-growing crop of conservative candidates, political observers say. “It is wide open,’’ former House majority leader Dick Armey, one of the leaders of the Tea Party movement, said of the potential field of candidates. In a twist of GOP tradition, the nominee could be someone Americans know little about, he said. “The defining influence electorally in America is we are tired of big-shot insiders taking care of themselves and one another,’’ said Armey, chairman...

Jay Leno made news when he announced that Sarah Palin will be among his high-profile guests when he returns to The Tonight Show next week (aka "The Jaysurrection"). Now David Letterman's lineup for next week pits Mitt Romney against Sarah Palin on Tuesday night -- and the ratings may well provide clues on which probable GOP presidential contender may be most popular. The week's lineup for Letterman's Late Show are: MONDAY, Bill Murray; TUESDAY, Mitt Romney; WEDNESDAY, Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Brokaw; THURSDAY, Tom Hanks; and FRIDAY, Matt Damon. Leno's first week of guests are: MONDAY, Jamie Foxx, Olympic Gold...

Several prominent social conservatives have bailed out of this year's CPAC convention because of the presence of a group of gay Republicans. The three-day convention got started Thursday at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC and will feature such anti-gay figures as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, media personality Ann Coulter, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Conservative media personality Glenn Beck is the event's keynote speaker. Liberty University Law School, the Christian-based university founded by the late Jerry Falwell, backed out of the event after it was...

A Republican renewal could still be possible, according to Murphy, because "conservatism is traditionally energized by a reaction to liberal excess, and the unabashedly leftish tilt of the Obama administration's domestic agenda does give hope. But demography is a powerful force." Republicans need to become more socially libertarian on issues such as gay rights to appeal to young voters, and to support practical immigration reform to win more of the Latino vote, Murphy suggests, adding: "Saving the GOP is not about diluting conservatism but about modernizing it to reflect the country it inhabits instead of an America that no longer...