Free Republic

Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin Their harsh views conflict with those of grass-roots GOP voters, revealing a serious split within the party. By Mark Z. Barabak July 13, 2009 Since announcing her resignation, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been pummeled by critics who have called her incoherent, a quitter, a joke and a "political train wreck." And those were fellow Republicans talking. Palin has been a polarizing figure from the moment she stepped off the tundra into the bright lights last summer as John McCain's surprise vice presidential running mate. Some of that hostility could be expected, given...

On the eve of his big day, Fred Thompson has let another staffer go. Jim Mills, the former Fox News producer who joined the campaign only weeks ago, has resigned due to "strategic differences." This from campaign manager Bill Lacy in a memo to the staff, sent out Tuesday "just before we begin the Big Dance." "Our new Communications Director Todd Harris is building an experienced and aggressive team of campaign professionals to help lead our press operation," Lacy wrote. He added, "This constitutes a substantial shift, not in our candidate's message, but in the way we support it and...

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson's current political playbook - a high-profile visit to the "Tonight" show, a splashy bus tour, the efforts to take a familiar actor and reintroduce him in a new political role - contains pages that look eerily familiar to California voters. Maybe that's because the former Tennessee senator now has at his side some of same key aides who - in nine short weeks - helped transform Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger from "The Terminator" into the chief executive of the Democratic-leaning most populous state in the nation. Thompson plans to formally kick off his presidential bid -...

Republican Fred Thompson, hoping to solidify his ever-changing inner circle for a Republican presidential bid, has named strategist Todd Harris to head his communications department. Harris, a former aide to Sen. John McCain and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will replace Linda Rozett who left the fledgling campaign operation earlier this week, according to a Thompson aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. Harris served as deputy communications director to McCain during the Arizona senator's 2000 presidential race. He was communications director to then-Gov. Jeb Bush for the 2002 gubernatorial campaign in Florida. Harris worked for Schwarzenegger from 2003 to 2005....