Free Republic

State Sen. Kyle McCarter is poised to launch a primary challenge to GOP Sen. John Shimkus in Illinois’ 15th District later this week, according to GOP sources. The news shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. McCarter has been openly discussing the possibility with fellow Illinois Republicans since at least August, when I wrote about him in The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report. In the last few days, McCarter has been calling various Republicans across the state and has unveiled a new campaign logo (noticeably void of the office he intends to seek) at the Little Egypt parade in Salem on...

Unlike the last two presidential elections when Barack Obama soaked up most of the local campaign contributions to presidential candidates, donors so far this year are splitting their money among about a half-dozen contenders. And while Hillary Clinton is the runaway leader in Illinois — she's collected $1.76 million statewide out of the $2.73 million going to the 14 presidential candidates who had filed disclosure reports through June — she's not even the leading Democratic recipient in East Central Illinois. In the ZIP codes that begin with the "618" prefix — which include most of Champaign, Vermilion and Piatt counties...

President Obama and Jeb Bush have drawn the ire of Sen. Ted Cruz after they attacked Gov. Mike Huckabee for his comments about the Iran nuclear deal. Huckabee said the president’s Iran policy would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.” The president bristled at what he called a “ridiculous” comment. “The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are just part of a general pattern we’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad,” he said. “We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We’ve had a sitting senator, who also...

July 1, 2015 Mike Flynn has published about a million and a half words on politics and policy. Now, he's trying to put them into practice. Last month, Flynn, an editor for the conservative Breitbart News, announced his bid for the special election to replace former Rep. Aaron Schock in Illinois. The former columnist and founding editor of the Big Government blog decided to make his first run for political office after the scandal-tarred Schock's resignation, arguing that his role in the media prepared him for office. "My position is long-known, established, and out there, and I think that's something...

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Hillary Clinton didn’t explicitly endorse a $15 minimum wage, but she nevertheless made a surprise call yesterday to a convention of fast-food workers who are rallying for the cause. The Democrat declared, “I want to be your champion.” * On “Face the Nation” yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) reiterated his support for a federal crackdown on states that legalized marijuana. Asked if he would “go after” state experiments, and prohibit the legal use of...

Either Ted Cruz is hip or rap is dead. I am not sure which. It has to be one of the two. A group called We Are Watchmen, a Christian rap group from the Chicago suburb of Westchester, has made what can be loosely described as a “rap paean” to Ted Cruz. It is entitled “Set It On Fire.” It is about four minutes long, and if you listen to it enough times, every ounce of hipness drains from your body and you become Donny Osmond. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)The title is misleading. The gist of the song is that you should vote...

Latin Post presents "Turnout," a series featuring leading Latino politicians, government leaders and advocacy groups discussing and debating the most important issues facing the Latino voting bloc. Listen to the Unedited "Turnout" Interview with People for the American Way's Coordinator for Political Campaigns Carlos Sanchez:(AUDIO-AND-VIDEO-AT-LINK)More than two-thirds of the U.S. Latino electorate live in six states -- Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas -- but one progressive advocacy organization has been working on having anti-Latino and anti-immigrant representatives accountable and heard for Latinos across the country, especially for the presidential election season. With people entering their names for...

A new Rasmussen poll has found that First Lady Michelle Obama would be the strongest challenger to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton if she chose to run in 2016. According to Rasmussen: In a hypothetical matchup with Hillary Clinton, the putative Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, Obama earns 44% support from black voters to Clinton’s 36%. Among Likely Democratic Voters, it’s Clinton 56%, Obama 22%. That appears to be a better showing against Clinton than Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the only other announced Democratic presidential candidate, makes at this point. Among all voters, Clinton earns 37% support to Obama’s 17%....

On Monday, our managing editor Javier Manjarres was on NewsMaxTV’s America’s Forum along with the host of The Agenda, Ari Rabin-Havt discussing Illinois’s new religious freedom law as well as candidates thinking of entering the presidential race. When it came to Illinois’s new religious freedom law, America’s Forum’s host, J.D. Hayworth pointed out Barack Obama voted on a similar law when he was a state senator for Illinois and asked why he was suddenly against it now. Rabin-Havt said the laws back in the day were expected to cover the same thing. He said it was to protect religious beliefs...

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet John Aravosis, AMERICAblog, and Anthony Katsivalis during the Christmas holiday Press Reception #1 in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Dec. 11, 2014.I was invited to the White House Christmas Party this year (there are 12 or so such parties in fact — ours was the print press party), and invited my nephew Anthony Katsivalis as my guest. Anthony has worked in politics (most recently on the Giannoulias Senate campaign), and now is an Internet marketing specialist in Chicago. I’ve noted this before, and had the same reaction this...

Now that the GOP is taking control of the Senate in 2015, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., offered up a resolution of sorts for the opposing party to abide by next year: Get Ted Cruz under control. Durbin’s suggestion comes days after Cruz’s disastrous maneuver last week that brought the Senate into session on Saturday, unwittingly opening the door to the approval of dozens of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees. That infuriated Republicans, leading Cruz to apologize days later. “It was classic Cruz. He knew how to get the headline, but he didn’t know how to close the deal,” Durbin...

One of the Senate’s leading liberals is borrowing a page from the playbook of Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is pushing to strike out language from the “cromnibus” spending bill unveiled Tuesday that would roll back restrictions on “swaps” transactions included in the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul known as Dodd-Frank. Repealing the “push-out” provision would mean that certain derivatives could again be held in bank units with federal deposit insurance. Using a strategy sometimes employed by Cruz for entirely different policy reasons, Warren said that with the $1.013 trillion spending package first being considered by the...

On Friday, President Barack Obama flew Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) on Air Force One with other Democrats to a speech at a Las Vegas high school (Del Sol) where he delivered a speech to celebrate and promote his executive amnesty. Others aboard Air Force One, according to the White House, were Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Rep. Dina Titus (D-NB), Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farm Workers, Marc Morial, the president of the National...

Luis Gutierrez 2016? It could happen. Left-wing Latino activists are reportedly getting ready to launch a "Draft Gutierrez" movement to lure Rep. Gutierrez, the 10-term Democrat from Illinois who has been one of the most vocal proponents of massive amnesty legislation, into the presidential race if President Barack Obama does not go big enough on his executive amnesty. "I'm not running for president," Gutierrez told ChicagoBusiness.com. But the outlet noted that "he repeatedly declined to say whether he might change his mind if the Chicagoan who now holds the job, Barack Obama, fails to deliver on his promise to enact...

Orwellian fun via RCP. You trust a guy who openly admits his only loyalty is to the immigrant community to do what’s best for the country at large, don’t you? The fireworks come in the last minute although I’ll be candid and confess I don’t really understand what the point of disagreement is. Hannity says we should secure the border; Gutierrez replies that securing the border won’t stop ISIS operatives, who are more likely to enter the U.S. through airports than by sneaking across from Mexico. (Jihadis with British or, of course, American passports wouldn’t even need visas.) Could be,...

(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...

New York Times best-selling author and long-time journalist Ed Klein said that Valerie Jarrett has been engaging in secret meetings with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in recent months, giving rise to speculations that the Massachusetts political newcomer is actually the administration’s choice to head the White House in 2016. “President Obama has authorized Valerie Jarrett, his most important political adviser, to hold secret meetings with Elizabeth Warren to encourage her to challenge Hillary Clinton because the Obamas do not want to see the Clintons succeed them in the White House,” Mr. Klein said during a broadcast interview on “America’s Forum” on...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the weekÂ’s top news, including the struggle on Capitol Hill to find a resolution to the political division on the border crisis before Congress leaves for August recess, as well as how these events will affect the November election, plus the outlook for ending the war between Israel and Hamas. (AUDIO-AT-LINK)TRANSCRIPT JUDY WOODRUFF: In Washington, House Republicans were racing to pass something on the border crisis after a day of confusion and chaos on Capitol Hill Thursday. For a taste of what went on...

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) believes the House of Representatives will immediately begin impeachment proceedings if President Barack Obama unilaterally grants work permits and amnesty to millions more illegal immigrants by the "end of summer." Appearing on Breitbart News Saturday with co-hosts Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow from the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, King said that if Obama "completely destroys the rule of law with the stroke of a pen" and "Congress fails to act," there will be "enough Republicans who didn't have a desire to do this" that will be "immediately activated" to consider...

A leading supporter of Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn said that Republican voters are backers of the Ku Klux Klan and members of militias, according to local reports. Outspoken Chicago Pastor Walter “Slim” Coleman made the controversial remarks while standing beside Quinn, who was present to receive the reverend’s endorsement. Quinn’s support for divisive and racist rhetoric has been causing his campaign problems. The governor’s campaign came under fire in April after it tweeted messages urging backers to read an article comparing black Republican voters to Jews who collaborated with the Nazis. Quinn stood by silently as Coleman compared Republicans...