Free Republic

ACU Announces Ann Coulter Will Join CPAC FL For Immediate Release: August 3, 2011Contact: Kristy Campbell, (703) 836-8602, KCampbell@conservative.org   ACU Announces Ann Coulter Will Join CPAC FLAll-star Panels to Feature Bill Kristol, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed and Jim Talent ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Conservative Union (ACU) today announced eight-time New York Times’ bestselling author Ann Coulter will be a headliner at CPAC FL – the organization’s first in an inaugural series of regional events expanding on the legacy of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Additionally, ACU announced several national conservative leaders will serve on CPAC FL panels, including the founder...

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., will make a second trip to Iowa later this year, speaking at a Des Moines event organized by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and the Iowa Christian Alliance in October. The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition was founded and headed by Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and a veteran Republican strategist.

Christian Coalition - Ralph Reed for Congress? Ralph Reed the former Executive Director of the Christian Coalition is reportedly “seriously” considering running for Congress. That's according to an online report by David Brody.

A New Grassroots Political Organization Makes Its Mark by Deal W. Hudson    11/06/09 The election results of November 2 were not merely the spontaneous reaction of Republicans to the bad economy and liberal excesses of the Obama administration. The four pro-life, conservative GOP candidates in Virginia and New Jersey were elected in a groundswell of religious and social conservatives, many of them independent voters who had voted for Obama only a year ago. A new grassroots organization played a major role in getting these voters to the polls -- the Faith & Freedom Coalition was founded by Ralph...

Here is video of GOP consultant Ralph Reed yesterday talking about the Obama Administration's reaction to a groundswell of grassroots protest across the country against the Democrats' Government Health Care Plan. Reed said their reactions gives a great insight into how the Obama Administration views grassroots activism on the part of those who disagree with them. He said that the Obama Administration is "confusing Democracy with something that they consider to be evil." Reed said he believes Barack Obama's biggest problem is not the protesters, but the fact that 68% of Americans are satisfied with the level of their health...

WASHINGTON — John McCain’s presidential campaign is denying any connection to Jack Abramoff ally Ralph Reed and accusing Barack Obama and Democrats of taking “desperate” measures to link the two men together. “It’s unfortunate that Barack and his allies have sunk to such depths that they are trying to draw connections that don’t exist and everyone knows don’t exist,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds told FOXNews.com. Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition whose political career was thwarted last year by links to convicted lobbyist Abramoff, recently sent an e-mail to his friends urging them to attend a McCain...

(CNN) — Barack Obama's campaign is linking John McCain to the infamous Jack Abramoff scandal that ended several Republicans' political careers three years ago in a new campaign ad hitting Georgia airwaves Wednesday. The 30-second spot is the Obama campaign’s second negative ad in the past 24 hours. It attacks the Arizona senator for his association with former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, one of the Republicans implicated in the scandal. The ad also seems to suggest McCain didn't call Reed to testify before a Senate panel he chaired in return for political favors. “When the Senate investigated, the senator...

Mitt Romney took his Mormon faith directly to the public Thursday, defining the relationship between religion and public office in a speech in Texas — and many Christian conservatives said they came away impressed with the Republican presidential candidate. The 20-minute address titled "Faith in America" was in large part an attempt by Romney to dispel concerns of evangelical Christians and Southern Baptists who have been skeptical of his religion. --- "He will get a second hearing or a second look from a lot of Southern Baptists," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty...

Though he was the nation's most prominent evangelist since Billy Graham, the Rev. Jerry Falwell was best known for preaching a political gospel rather than a biblical one. In that respect, Falwell - who died yesterday at age 73 - accomplished something remarkable: Along with such figures as Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed, he gave powerful political voice to a sizable community, evangelical Christians, who long felt ignored by the national political leadership. To some, this proved a mixed blessing. True, his efforts in mobilizing these voters into a political force lay the groundwork for the election of Ronald Reagan...

I had expected this year’s 34th annual Conservative Political Action Conference to be a low-attendance dud. The conventional wisdom was that conservatives were a spent, divided force in American politics. Well, they are divided, to be sure. But, judging from CPAC, they aren’t finished with us. I’ve been to many CPACs over the years, and this was the most heavily attended and, more significant, the most youthful, and amped-up since Ronald Reagan’s day. To understand why, I’d like to introduce you to the conservative—pro-life, anti-tax, pro-Mexican-fence, pro-“surge”—“director of campus activism” for the Georgia College Republicans. This Georgia Tech business major...

WASHINGTON - Republican activists Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed landed more than 100 meetings inside the Bush White House, according to documents released Wednesday that provide the first official accounting of the access and influence the two presidential allies have enjoyed. The White House released the Secret Service visit records to settle a lawsuit by the Democratic Party and an ethics watchdog group seeking visitors logs for the two GOP strategists and others who emerged as figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Earlier this month, the White House suggested to the judge in that lawsuit that such records need...

Three disgruntled state affiliates have severed ties with the Christian Coalition of America, one of the nation's most powerful conservative groups during the 1990s but now buffeted by complaints over finances, leadership and its plans to veer into nontraditional policy areas. "It's a very sad day for our people, but a liberating day," said John Giles, president of the coalition's Alabama chapter, which announced Wednesday that it was renaming itself and splitting from the national organization. The Iowa and Ohio chapters took similar steps this year. Giles said he and his Alabama colleagues have "a dozen hard reasons" for the...

Everyone has an opinion about why Ralph Reed lost the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Georgia. The most widely publicized theories miss the mark widely, and the best explanations for Reed’s loss are largely ignored. There is one fundamental reason to reject most of the explanations being advanced by the pundits. In a nutshell, most of the rationales offered for Reed’s defeat are self-serving spin.Secular liberals want you to believe that Reed lost because he was simply “too religious.” Christian conservatives want you to believe that Reed lost because he looked “too liberal” in aiding Jack Abramoff’s gambling interests....

Last week, Ralph Reed, once the golden boy of hard-core religious conservatives, was defeated in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, his first attempt at elective office. Because he rose to prominence as the cherubic face of the Christian Coalition, his political remains have been autopsied by pundits nationwide, some of whom are speculating that the cause of death was the more general demise of America's theocrats. But they're wrong. Reed lost because his hypocrisy on the issue of gambling became too glaring for his ultraconservative constituents to ignore. While he was recruited by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to work...

In the end, Ralph Reed couldn't even fill a room. None of the boldface names who'd once embraced him were present, nor was there much sign of his diminished fundamentalist base. Tuesday night, less than three hours after the polls closed and with more than half the precincts still unreported, Reed -- deemed an almost unstoppable force when he declared his candidacy for Georgia lieutenant governor -- stood, flanked by his teary-eyed wife, Jo Anne, and four children, to concede defeat before a half-empty ballroom of downcast loyalists and representatives of the hated media.

ATLANTA - Two of Georgia's most controversial political candidates got a cool reception from the voters, who rejected former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed and left U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney facing a runoff. Reed was unable to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and conceded defeat to state Sen. Casey Cagle in Tuesday's Republican primary for lieutenant governor. McKinney drew less than 50 percent of the vote in her re-election bid, her first since a highly publicized scuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer. She edged her leading challenger, former county commissioner Hank Johnson, by fewer than 1,500...

Maybe it should have come as no surprise, since first time candidates rarely fare well, but yesterday most likely derailed any presidential prospects a decade or so hence for former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed. Bad news, too, for U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney. McKinney’s been pinned twice now by more mainstream candidates — first Denise Majette and yesterday by DeKalb Commissioner Hank Johnson, who’s forced her into a runoff. The McKinney magic’s gone, a sign that the era of housing-project vote-the-slate candidates is passing. With the black middle class flocking to South DeKalb, and Rockdale, the 4th District is easily...

Reed loses first election amid Abramoff scandal GREG BLUESTEIN Associated Press ATLANTA - Successful campaign strategist Ralph Reed's famed base of supporters proved more invisible than invincible Tuesday as he lost his first run for public office in his bid for Georgia's No. 2 job. State Sen. Casey Cagle's victory ended, for now, the political career of Reed, the former leader of the Christian Coalition and veteran Republican operative who has helped others win election. And Reed's loss gave national Democrats a political casualty to associate with Republican ethics scandals, as Reed's campaign was hampered by his ties to disgraced...

ATLANTA - Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, unable to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, conceded defeat Tuesday in Georgia's Republican race for lieutenant governor. It was a stunning turnaround for Reed, who was making his first bid for elective office after working for years as a behind-the-scenes campaign strategist and leading the Christian Coalition and the state Republican Party

Governor Republican 20% of precincts reporting Votes Percentage Ray McBerry 8,845 13.1% Sonny Perdue 58,868 86.9% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Governor Democrat 20% of precincts reporting Votes Percentage Bill Bolton 1,770 2.6% Cathy Cox 31,514 45.7% Mac McCarley 1,699 2.5% Mark Taylor 33,902 49.2% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Governor Republican 20% of precincts reporting Votes Percentage Casey Cagle 36,056 55.1% Ralph Reed 29,433 44.9% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Governor Democrat 20% of precincts reporting Votes Percentage Greg K Hecht 23,829 37.9% Griffin Lotson 3,808 6.1% Jim Martin 27,188 43.2% Steen "Newslady" Miles 6,051 9.6% Rufus O. Terrill 2,036 3.2% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secretary Of State Republican 20% of precincts...