Free Republic

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has picked up endorsements from six New Hampshire lawmakers who previously supported Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 's presidential bid. From The New Hampshire Union Leader: The six state lawmakers endorsing Cruz are: Rep. Max Abramson of Seabrook, Rep. Eric Eastman of Nashua, Rep. Harold French of Franklin, Rep. Larry Gagne of Manchester, Rep. JR Hoell of Dunbarton, and Rep. Mark McLean of Manchester....

Tech entrepreneur Scott Banister has long been an ally to the liberty movement. The angel investor, IronPort founder, and PayPal board member donated $3 million to a Rand Paul supporting Super PAC, and has been a vocal supporter of the libertarian Republican. Now that Rand Paul is out of the presidential race, Banister has thrown his support behind Ted Cruz. Cruz is a self-described constitutional conservative who earned the endorsements of both Rand and Ron Paul in his 2012 Texas Senate race. Scott Banister Our best chance for a constitutional presidency is now @tedcruz. #LibertariansForCruz Cruz's relationship with the Pauls...

Taking advantage of a splintered vote, the Texas senator is assembling a coalition of tea partiers, libertarians and social conservatives. HUDSON, N.H. -- He hasn't been here in two months, his evangelical emphasis is out of step with this secular-minded state, and he's routinely overshadowed by Donald Trump. But none of that is stopping Ted Cruz from making a final big push for New Hampshire, where he's slowly gained ground since October and is poised to finish among the top three or four candidates. Few in Republican New Hampshire circles expect him to win here, a state where Trump has...

The other day, Steve Hayes had this piece up at the Weekly Standard. In it, he noted that Cruz was running a video positing himself as the heir to the Ron Paul Revolution. You'd never even know Rand was running. Rand Paul, after all, was the fusion candidate who was going to bring libertarians and conservatives together along for a ride against the left. It has not happened. Rand Paul's campaign has imploded. And now, if you scroll down in this article towards the end you will find this blurb: "Former Georgia congressman and Libertarian candidate for president Bob Barr...

I'm old enough to remember the hand wringing. The GOP must reach out to libertarians, they said. Young people are too libertarian for the GOP, was the claim. When we at RedState banned Ron Paul supporters, we were told we were part of the problem, keeping the GOP from ever winning again, because Paul was reaching an 'untapped strain' of voter. Well, here we are in 2016, and Ted Cruz has heard the complaints. He is winning over libertarians, seeking to expand the base to win the nomination and the election. For Ted Cruz to win over Steve Hoffman, a...

Faced with the likelihood of an embarrassing exclusion from a CNN debate Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul hinted he might drop out of the presidential race within days. "We will make an announcement, on that, on Tuesday," Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said when asked if he will continue his campaign if low polling numbers relegate him to the second tier debate Tuesday, the Boston Globe reported....

Four years ago, libertarians were an important force in the Republican presidential race. In the campaign for the 2012 nomination, Ron Paul was routinely drawing big crowds on college campuses. He made a strong third-place showing in Iowa's important first-in-the-nation caucuses. Even though he failed to win the 2012 nomination, his supporters continued to organize, drawing attention to their small-government beliefs and taking over control of much of the Republican Party of Iowa for a time. Many observers thought so-called "liberty movement" candidates might have an edge in 2016. But for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the heir apparent to the...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is fiercely guarding its libertarian base against GOP rival Ted Cruz, producing the harshest pushback yet to the Texan's efforts to consolidate conservative support in his own bid for the White House. As the two candidates crisscrossed this key presidential proving ground Monday, the rift remained on full display, with Paul's campaign all but suggesting Cruz's team was trying to buy the support of libertarian voters. Paul has a long history with the liberty movement, a campaign spokesman said, and "no amount in any bank account can...

After shunning the GOP for decades, Charles and David Koch tried to take it over. And then the Donald came to town… The Republican Party’s ongoing civil war involves lots of fireworks and sub-plots, but the overarching fight is between two visions and three billionaires. Charles and David Koch are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to take over the GOP and push America towards libertarianism. Donald Trump joined the Republican Party to run for President and push the country in the opposite direction, toward populist nationalism. Tragically, the Koch brothers’ mistakes are steadily handing victory to the Donald. Many...

Earns 51% of voter approval in Republican Liberty Caucus Straw Poll -- just a few points behind Rand Paul, among Libertarians. HOUSTON, TEXAS - Presidential candidate Ted Cruz continues to shore up his strong support among libertarian voters, earning 51 percent support from voters participating in the straw poll held at the Republican Liberty Caucus in Nashua, NH over the weekend. Cruz received 399 votes (51%), just a few points behind Rand Paul's 445 votes (57%). “We are very encouraged by the growing support we are seeing among liberty voters in the early states and across the country,” Cruz said....

NASHUA, N.H. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) came to a convention of libertarian-leaning Republicans and talked about shrinking government, slashing regulations, fighting against the bulk collection of phone data and his great affinity for a rival in the presidential race. “I love Rand Paul,” Cruz said. Paul, Kentucky’s junior U.S. senator and scion of one of America’s most famous libertarian families, was fully expected to lock down the support of libertarian voters in the presidential election. But as Paul’s poll numbers have sagged nationally — and in such libertarian-minded places as New Hampshire — Cruz is trying to pick off...

NASHUA, N.H.—He’s sliding in the polls, struggling to raise money — and now the only base he has left is starting to wobble. Rand Paul returned to what should have been home turf on Friday when he appeared at the Republican Liberty Caucus, a gathering of libertarian activists in New Hampshire. And while he was a crowd favorite, there is an intensifying buzz around rival Ted Cruz, even from ideological purists still pining for Rand’s dad, Ron. “Cruz is stronger, he’d have more spunk as president,” said Shirlene Van Doorne, 64, of Nashua, after the Texas senator delivered a rousing...

Hot off his surprise interview with the reclusive Matt Drudge, the excited radio host texts to say he thinks Clinton is ‘too corrupt and evil’ for the presidency—and Paul is his man. In late September, Rand Paul announced that he had been endorsed by eight people: Fox News’s John Stossel; his own father, former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul; Reps. Mick Mulvaney, Justin Amash, Thomas Massie, Cynthia Lummis, and Raul Labrador; and Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Pat Miletich. Paul can now add one more name to that impressive list: professional conspiracy theorist and iodine salesman Alex Jones,...

Another Paul aide told BuzzFeed News that the campaign had made a few new hires in the past two weeks. The campaign insists there will be no shakeups or changes in strategy, that Paul will continue his campaign schedule in the early states and regions off the beaten track, and that it has enough resources to carry the candidate through at least the first four primaries. Now, Paul is bidding for ownership of a niche, and for a long primary where his libertarian base returns to grind out caucus wins. Despite the glimmers of hope, one adviser to the campaign...

The libertarian moment in American politics—foretold just last year in the New York Times magazine—is like the horizon; always retreating as we advance upon it. The political events of 2015 are a brutal reminder about how far this country is from embracing libertarianism and how alien those ideas are even to the purported shock troops of the freedom movement. While libertarianism’s opponents can take heart, its champions are setting their cause back by pretending that all is well. The collapse of the Rand Paul campaign speaks volumes. In a 15-person field, Paul is the only candidate who looks even remotely...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's campaign for president will announce in the coming days that it raised approximately $2.5 million in the third quarter and has $2 million cash on hand, Communications Director Sergio Gor said Thursday. That haul is just a fraction of the $20 million the campaign of retired brain surgeon Ben Carson says it is on track to post for the third quarter -- half of that money coming in in September alone. Paul's third quarter total is well under the $7 million the libertarian firebrand raised in the second quarter. Part of that money was transferred from...

The Libertarian Party conducted a poll a few months back in order to better understand the religious demographic of party members. A result which surely shocked many was the stereotype-shattering data the Libertarian Party got back. Of the 19,428 votes caste, around 50% of those who participated came back as Christian. ArenÂ’t libertarians just a bunch of atheist? Well, only 42% of Libertarian voters identified as Atheists. This is incredibly exciting! This is an opportunity to not only expand the message of limited government, free markets, and individual liberty, but on a personal level, to expand the Gospel of Christ...

Rand Paul is right: Cruz's career in the Senate is "done for." Once he leaves, he can become a full-time grafter.I’m not sure when it started, but at some point the Republican Party ceded the business of governance to the Democrats. Maybe it began with the Tea Party movement or Fox News or the larger conservative media-industrial complex – I honestly don’t know. But it’s clear now that the GOP is no longer a legitimate governing party. A party that allows rank neophytes like Herman Cain and Donald Trump and Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina to run for the highest...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)In the Senate, Ted Cruz stood with Rand Paul. On the campaign trail, he's stomping all over him. Cruz on Tuesday unveiled a coalition of libertarian supporters that is chock full of activists who backed Paul's father, Ron Paul, in the two previous Republican presidential primaries. Cruz very unsubtly moved to stamp out the competition for this voting bloc with a campaign video that features this group recalling their fondness for Ron Paul and discussing how Cruz embodies his libertarian ethos. Libertarian Republicans were supposed to form the bulwark of Rand Paul's 2016 campaign. "There are a lot of things...

via The Iowa Statesman. Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz today named former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr the National Chair of the “Liberty Leaders for Cruz” coalition. The campaign also released a video of eight leaders in the Liberty movement who are actively working for the Cruz campaign, featuring their personal stories of why they supported Ron Paul, and why in 2016, they support Ted Cruz for President. Additional coverage at Reason. – Fmr. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) was the Libertarian nominee for President in 2008, winning on the sixth ballot at a divided and fractured convention. After a...