Free Republic

Ten days before the 2008 presidential election, as blame was beginning to be laid out for John McCain’s “likely defeat,” a top communications adviser to the campaign wrote a detailed strategy memo focused on how to preserve the reputation of another key adviser, Steve Schmidt, POLITICO has learned. *** The protective maneuver sheds more light on the final days of the 2008 campaign, a period of low morale marked by tensions between the Palin and McCain camps and the expectation of defeat. *** “Thankfully, and rightfully so, some members of the political punditry are already coming his defense (Rove, McKinnon,...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Friday defended GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney from critics who mocked him for calling himself an "unofficial Southerner" at a campaign stop the previous day. "Now they’re attacking Romney for joking about learning to say “y’all”? According to the left, no one can have a sense of humor - lighten up!" In Mississippi, Romney told the crowd that his bodyguard, a Mississippi native, was turning him into an "unofficial Southerner." "I'm learning to say 'y'all' and I like grits, and strange things are happening to me!" the former Massachusetts governor added. Critics were quick to...

Via Ben Smith, John McCain will endorse his '08 rival Mitt Romney tomorrow: Arizona Senator John McCain, his party's 2008 nominee, will endorse Mitt Romney in New Hampshire tomorrow, a well-placed former McCain aide told BuzzFeed Tuesday. McCain and Romney were bitter foes in 2008, but Romney repaired the relationship after his defeat with a season of determined campaigning for his former rival.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain predicted on Tuesday a third political party will emerge in response to Americans' economic frustrations and said it might as well be called "the Fed-Up Party." The Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2008 raised the possibility of a third party about a year ago, but his comments on Tuesday suggest he has hardened his views as polls show Americans increasingly disillusioned with Washington politics. The 75-year-old McCain may now be the most prominent politician forecasting Americans will look to another party to compete with Democrats and Republicans. "Unless both parties change, then I think...

Arizona Sen. John McCain is not backing any Republican candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. "I have stayed out of it and I'm not endorsing anybody because I don't think it's appropriate," said McCain on News/Talk 92.3 KTAR's Karie & Chuck Show. He may have declined to back a specific person, but McCain said it's "pretty obvious" that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has maintained a steady lead in the popularity contest. McCain said there is likely to be a clearer picture of the GOP field after the Florida primary election on Jan. 31, 2012.

(snip) Graham said it is crucial for the U.S. to continue to support Israel, and said the president has "thrown Israel under the bus" by talking about settlements and pre-1967 borders. "It is our best friend in the Middle East," Graham said. He did praise the president for sending military advisers into Uganda.Graham said he is hoping to hear more on foreign policy from the Republican presidential candidates. "Rick Santorum is speaking like Ronald Reagan better than anybody else on peace and strength," Graham said. "Ronald Reagan confronted the challenges of his time. He did not isolate America." Graham declined...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Friday he was “concerned” about the infighting in his party during the 2012 Republican presidential primary and called on the candidates to ease up on each other. “I think they should be more respectful,” McCain said on CBS’ Early Show. “I am a bit concerned because, obviously, the people who are making this judgment [GOP primary voters] aren’t as much interested in seeing fighting as they are in judging the candidate’s knowledge, expertise and talent.”

Video at link.

According to the survey, which was released Monday, 28 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say they support Perry as their party's presidential nominee, with Romney at 21 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at ten percent, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who's making his third bid for the White House, former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, all at seven percent. The poll indicates that Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is at four percent, with former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at three...

You’ll have to watch this to believe it. In a harsh criticism of House Republicans and think tanks critical of Rep. John Boehner’s plan to raise the debt limit, the 2008 Republican Presidential nominee, who chose Tea Party darling Sarah Palin for VP, said about this about a faction of his own party: Granted, Sen. McCain was quoting a Wall Street Journal opinion piece this morning when he recited this passage: “The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and...

July 3, 2011 2 Republicans Open Door to Increases in Revenue By JOHN M. BRODER WASHINGTON — Two senior Republicans said Sunday that they might be open to raising new government revenue as part of a deal to resolve the dispute over the federal debt ceiling, but they warned that there was little time to enact a comprehensive deal. One of the senators, John Cornyn of Texas, said he would consider eliminating some tax breaks and corporate subsidies in the context of changes in the tax code, provided there was not an overall increase in taxes. “I think it’s clear...

“Incivility is everywhere,” Meghan McCain said during a presentation at Kennesaw State University on Monday. “It’s on television, it’s in real life, but most especially, it’s in the political arena.” McCain, the daughter of former Presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain, spoke at the Prillamin Hall auditorium before opening up the floor to questions. The Daily Beast writer and author of the books “My Dad, John McCain” and “Dirty Sexy Politics” addressed a number of political and social issues during her lecture, specifically the future of the Republican Party in the United States. “The town hall really is the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was clear Sunday on what he wants in a 2012 GOP presidential nominee: "the most electable conservative." But the senator was pressed on NBC's "Meet the Press" on specifically which of the current names believed to be in the ring would deliver. "Probably [Mitt] Romney," Graham said. "He's got his problems as a candidate, but so does everyone else," he said.

Meghan McCain said Sunday that she is prepared to “kick Obama’s ass the next election.” Speaking at the Miami Book Fair International to promote her book, “Dirty Sexy Politics,” the daughter of Sen. John McCain expressed an interest in working as a Republican “strategist.” “I've already had people interested in me working, which is unbelievably flattering,” McCain said. “I want to go out and do it all over again with somebody else -- I want to go get a Republican elected. I want to kick Obama’s ass the next election and get a Republican elected.” She added that she will...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain expects many U.S. Republicans to seek the party's presidential nomination in 2012. "I think there's going to be 1,000 flowers bloom," he said Monday at the annual Washington Reuters Summit. McCain, who won the nomination in 2008 and went on to lose to Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential election, did not predict who he thought might run. "I think it's too early," he said. (snip) McCain's advice to Republicans: Keep your eye on New Hampshire. (snip) "For Republicans it seems to me that New Hampshire is still the very key place," McCain...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates seem to be playing a game of chicken, with contenders waiting for someone to move first, observers said. Some 2012 GOP hopefuls this year seem more reticent about promoting themselves before the midterms in November while others are keeping mum for more strategic reasons, Politico reported Sunday. GOP 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former Republican National Committee chief and current Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels are among those who are jockeying behind the scenes, leaving Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty virtually...

WASHINGTON -- On the day her father won the New Hampshire primary in 2008, Meghan McCain feared she would be arrested for removing Mitt Romney campaign signs from a Nashua street corner. "Stealing campaign signs is technically illegal, but I never thought anyone would enforce this. Nor did I expect we'd get caught," McCain confesses in her memoir, "Dirty Sexy Politics," which is released today. McCain writes that she "had gotten pretty sick" of seeing Romney's signs, particularly a cluster she and friends suspected had been strategically placed outside the McCain campaign's hotel. After stashing several of them in a...

Now that John McCain has taken care of his political business in Arizona, it is time for him to return to Washington and the responsibilities he bears as a leader of the Republican Party and the nation. (snip) One of the conspicuous failings in the past few years has been the absence of a second party making principled decisions on when to support and when to oppose the president. McCain has the best opportunity -- and the best credentials -- to restore this. (snip) It is up to McCain to choose when and how to exert the influence he commands......

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sen. John McCain hasn't always talked tough on immigration. That haunted his presidential ambitions, and now his political survival hinges on whether he can show that his conversion is genuine. It hasn't been easy. Boycotts, vigils and a legal fight over the state's attempted crackdown on illegal immigrants have kept voters attuned to each nuance in his run for re-election. "Since 2007, I've said we have to secure the border first. I said it in 2008 and 2009 and 2010," McCain told 120 people at a town hall meeting in suburban Phoenix. Leaning against the back wall...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The chairman of the Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele pledges big bucks to support Carly Fiorina's senate campaign against Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. Steele was in San Francisco Thursday morning, talking about California politics and the money it will take to win in November. Show me the money, but of course he wouldn't -- to ABC7 anyway. The question is will he show Fiorina the money? The two are scheduled to sit down together on Friday. Steele told reporters financial help for GOP candidates is coming. "We're going to be in play here, big time...