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Bill Bolling swears he hasn't decided whether he'll run for Governor of Virginia, but in a mostly one-sided conversation with WMAL's Mornings On The Mall Thursday, the incumbent Lt. Governor sounded an awful lot like a candidate aiming for middle-of-the-road votes. "There are a lot of what I'll call more 'mainstream' Republicans like me that are just not real happy with the current leadership and direction of our party," said Bolling. "I think in this particular race in Virginia this year, there's a lot of uneasiness out there with the candidates of both of the major political parties, so that...

Florida live results.

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson said Monday he thinks President Barack Obama will defeat Mitt Romney to win a second term. “I think Obama’s going to win, that’s what I think,” Johnson told POLITICO in an interview. “[My vote is] really spread out, meaning I don’t think there’s any state that I’m going to do better than another.” Johnson, who’s on the ballot in 48 states and the District of Columbia, hovers in single digits in the polls. The former two-term New Mexico governor declined to single out any state where he expected to do particularly well but said...

Mens' double trap event; 1 Peter Wilson 2 DAHLBY Hakan 3 MOSIN Vasily

Ben Tribbett, one of the state's top bloggers, got me thinking yesterday. He is known as the guy behind the highly rated political blog Not Larry Sabato. But Ben deserves to be even better known as one of the state's best gurus on election statistics down to the precinct level. Ben has done a lot of mentally "running the numbers" on the potential impact of former Congressman Virgil Goode's run for President as the nominee for the Constitution Party here in Virginia. Ben is likely - and hopefully soon - to do a blog post an Obama-Romney-Goode race here in...

With a little help from his friends, former congressman Virgil Goode has taken a key step toward getting his name on November’s presidential ballot in Virginia, submitting more than 14,000 signatures to the State Board of Elections.... ..Goode was a Democrat for much of his career, then became an Independent and finally a Republican for his last six years on Capitol Hill. Now Goode is getting assistance from yet another party, the Independent Greens, whose members have collected thousands of signatures for him.... ...“Virgil supports rail, and that’s our big issue and he’s with us on that,” said Carey Campbell,...

When Rick Santorum ended his presidential bid on Tuesday, he spoke about the illness of his three-year-old daughter, Bella, and expressed a desire to spend more time with her as a parent. But on Thursday, the former Pennsylvania senator suggested the decision largely came down instead to a simple reality: He was out of cold, hard cash. After losing Wisconsin's April 3 primary to rival Mitt Romney by seven points - a contest, Santorum said, that his campaign viewed as necessary to win in order to do well in his home state of Pennsylvania - his fundraising dried up. "For...

Gingrich Says He Will Stay in GOP Race Even If He Loses Mississippi, Alabama March 10, 2012 ELLISVILLE, Miss. – Spurning calls for him to get out, Newt Gingrich insisted Friday that he'll stay in the race for the Republican presidential nomination even if he loses two Southern primaries next week. (snip) Gingrich said he intended to campaign all the way to the Republican National Convention in August, regardless of whether he has won the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. His comments contradicted assertions by a key aide that Gingrich must win both states to remain viable. Asked...

How Newt Gingrich Now Helps Mitt Romney Win The arithmetic of Super Tuesday delegate allocation means that Gingrich's presence splits off vital voters from Rick Santorum Harry J Enten guardian.co.uk, Sunday 19 February 2012 A Romney campaign negative ad ahead of January's Florida primary; Gingrich's presence in the GOP race, bankrolled by Sheldon Adelson, now helps Romney against his main challenger, Rick Santorum. Billionaire Sheldon Adelson has decided to donate an additional $10m to Newt Gingrich's Super Pac. The move is expected to boost Gingrich in the lead-up to the 6 March "Super Tuesday" primaries. Gingrich has taken a back...

LUVERNE, Minn. (AP) — As political watchers fixated on Florida, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum delivered a message to Minnesotans: The race is still on, no matter the outcome of Tuesday’s primary. Santorum, speaking Monday to a crowd of about 300 people at the Palace Theatre in the southwest town of Luverne, seemed determined to regain the Midwest momentum he’d enjoyed in Iowa — even on the eve of Florida’s primary, in which the senator hasn’t polled well. “I believe we’re going to be in it until the end, and I believe we’re going to win this race,” Santorum told...

Fresh on the heels of announcing January fundraising numbers in excess of $4 million, Rick Santorum's presidential campaign announced a new television ad that will begin airing Tuesday in Colorado and Nevada. The ad attacks Newt Gingrich as being too liberal for the GOP nomination by arguing that he shares many policy positions with President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "All three supported radical cap and trade legislation that would destroy American jobs and drive up energy costs. All three supported giving illegal aliens some form of amnesty. All three sported the government health mandates which take...

As I reported this morning, Newt Gingrich is pleading with Florida voters not to "waste" their votes on Rick Santorum, asserting that he alone is the only conservative alternative to Mitt Romney with a chance to win. Given the state's polling picture, that's not an entirely unreasonable argument to advance, but Newt has taken his rhetoric a step further by calling on Santorum and Ron Paul to drop out of the race and unite behind him. Newt floated the same suggestion in South Carolina, which went over about as well as his latest attempt to clear the field: Rick Santorum...

If the polls are correct, Rick Santorum will not win tonight’s primary. But he tells National Review Online that he remains in the hunt for the nomination. “This is a game of survivor,” he says. “I’m under the strong belief that we are going to hang in there. You are going to see some more ebbs and flows in this campaign. We are going to get our opportunity.”

Tampa, Fla. — If the polls are correct, Rick Santorum will not win tonight’s primary. But he tells National Review Online that he remains in the hunt for the nomination. “This is a game of survivor,” he says. “I’m under the strong belief that we are going to hang in there. You are going to see some more ebbs and flows in this campaign. We are going to get our opportunity.” Santorum sees hope to the west, from the Upper Midwest to the Rocky Mountain region. Leaving behind Florida’s air wars, where television advertising ruled, he is confident that he...

Michael Cohen, a Trump Organization executive, has confirmed to Newsmax that he has filed the necessary paperwork to create a non-profit group in California with the express purpose of urging billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump to throw his hat in the ring as a 2012 presidential candidate. Cohen, who provides political advice to Trump and works for his organization, confirmed to Newsmax that he has filed the necessary paperwork to establish the “Should Trump Run, Inc.,” organization. It is designed as a vehicle for Trump supporters to volunteer and donate money to encourage his candidacy, a mechanism that Cohen...

Last night's big winnner? Easy -- Rick Perry Bryan Fischer August 12, 2011 The big winner in last night's GOP debate was Rick Perry. This is for the simple reason that no one else won. The race from this point forward is Rick Perry and the Eight Dwarves. The exchange between Pawlenty and Bachmann was spirited, and there was nothing inappropriate about it. Politics ain't beanbag, as Lincoln famously observed. It's a contact sport, and part of what you must do in the primary season is distinguish yourself from your competitors. You have to throw some elbows to do that....

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is bristling at suggestions that his presidential campaign has been hurt by a number of resignations by his staff. In a Republican presidential debate in Iowa, Gingrich scolded Fox News Channel anchor Chris Wallace for asking a "gotcha question."

Newt Gingrich was on Meet the Press this morning in his first Sunday show appearance since announcing his intention to… challenge President Obama for the Democrat nomination, apparently. Andrew Stiles at NRO has the details: Newt Gingrich’s appearance on “Meet the Press” today could leave some wondering which party’s nomination he is running for. The former speaker had some harsh words for Paul Ryan’s (and by extension, nearly every House Republican’s) plan to reform Medicare, calling it “radical.”

This morning Republicans are just beginning to assess the damage that former House Speaker and current presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has done to the GOP budget plan currently before Congress. On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Gingrich denounced House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan's plan to restructure Medicare, saying, "I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate."

Nader calls for primary challengers to Obama Discontent on the left with President Obama is finally moving toward some form of primary challenge. Jennifer Epstein of Politico writes: Nader told POLITICO on Wednesday that he is working on bringing together about half a dozen presidential candidates who could "dramatically expand a robust discussion within the Democratic Party and among progressive voters across the country." Each would focus on a specific issue where the far left says Obama hasn't done enough, including the environment, labor and health care. Nader, who has run for president five times as an independent or third...