Free Republic

It did not take long for Donald Trump to start bragging. Less than three hours after polls closed in Texas, Trump’s political action committee released a statement from the former president. “All 33 candidates that were Trump endorsed have either won their primary election or are substantially leading in the case of a runoff,” it read. “Governor Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick have won in a landslide.” Then, an incongruous “thank you,” before he offered his congratulations to the winners..... You’ll notice a few things off the bat. The first is that most of the candidates being endorsed were...

AUSTIN—Just four days before the start of early voting in the Texas Senate primary, the Ted Cruz campaign announced the endorsement of Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd Palin. In response to a letter from Ted Cruz, Governor Sarah Palin wrote: “We’re proud to join conservatives in Texas and throughout the nation in supporting your campaign to become the next Senator from the Lone Star State.” "Your conservative principles, passionate defense of our Constitution and our free market system come at a time when these cornerstones of our freedom and prosperity are under attack,” Governor Palin added. “Our shared...

Mitt Romney continues racking up delegates — 568 thus far, about half of the 1,144 needed to clinch the Republican nomination. He continues racking up endorsements, with establishment figures like George H.W. Bush and tea party favorites Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan giving him their support last week. And with a huge financial and organizational advantage over his three remaining GOP competitors, he should continue to accumulate delegates where they are awarded proportionally by district or state, even when he loses. By the time the Texas primary rolls around on May 29, there’s a good chance he’ll have the finish...

Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum have agreed to a debate in May sponsored by the Texas Republican party. “Both my staff and myself have reached out to the campaign of Governor Mitt Romney and have been told that they are considering attending the debate,” state-party chairman Steve Munisteri says in a press release. The statement notes:.....

AUSTIN — Mitt Romney missed another chance Tuesday to diminish the importance of the May 29 presidential primary in Texas. Romney could have taken a big step toward the GOP nomination with victories in Mississippi and Alabama, but he finished third in each state behind Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Those losses renewed questions about Romney’s support among the Republican base. Set aside for a moment the fact Romney has a solid delegate lead, stands to do better in non-Southern states and, thanks to voters in Hawaii and American Samoa, actually captured the most delegates Tuesday. Santorum’s victories solidified him...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The federal court in San Antonio has ordered Texas to hold its primary elections on May 29, resolving for now one of the biggest issues in the state's redistricting battles. The three-judge panel issued the election schedule two days after releasing political maps for Texas to use in the 2012 election. Legal disputes over the maps for congressional and House districts have kept Texas from holding elections. In the primary schedule released Thursday, the filing period for candidates reopens Friday and closes March 9. While the court order clarifies the election schedule, some minority groups...

DALLAS—An obscure candidate with backing from the "tea party" movement threatens to deny a decisive victory to either Texas Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the battle for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Texas. Little-known Debra Medina made a splash two weeks ago in a televised debate. She criticized the governor for "painting a rosy picture that doesn't exist" about the Texas economy and said her rivals' "squabbling isn't getting us anywhere." Mrs. Medina "stole the show," said Harvey Kronberg, longtime editor of the Quorum Report newsletter in Austin. On Friday night, Mrs. Medina will try to...

Here is the apportionment so far of presidential caucus delegates to the Texas Democratic state convention based on reports from Saturday's county and senate district conventions. A total of about 7,300 delegates were expected to be selected in this stage of the caucus process, according to the Texas Democratic Party. Results are from 123 of about 280 conventions. • Clinton: 933, or 50 percent* • Obama: 937, or 50 percent* *Results are not official AUSTIN — Traffic jams, long lines, crowds, confusion and chaos marked Texas Democratic regional conventions Saturday as an unprecedented number of political activists turned out to...

The Texas Dems have given up counting the caucus votes. But, never fear, the Dems assure everyone that their votes did count.

Texas Two-Step Leaving Dems Flat-Footed The Clinton campaign may go to court. The Obama campaign wants to take its delegates and get out of town before sundown. The Texas Two-Step is overheating an already fired up Democratic presidential contest. The Newsblog mentioned this on Wednesday but there is a very good chance that winning the Texas primary might not mean that Sen. Hillary Clinton gets to take away the most delegates. That because after the primary -- which she won 51-47 percent -- come the caucuses and it looks like Sen. Barack Obama may win those. Here's where the delegate...

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh led a campaign to have his Republican followers in Texas cross party lines and vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state’s open primary last Tuesday. Why? Because Limbaugh thinks Republicans can defeat Clinton in a general election. Plus, watching Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama bloody each other in a nomination fight is pure sport for Limbaugh conservatives. According to exit polls, Clinton won a notably higher number of Republican voters than she has in past open primary contests. Of the 9% of voters who identified themselves as Republicans in the Democratic Primary, Obama...

It's hard to know how seriously to take things like Rush Limbaugh's call on his listeners to vote for Hillary as the only hope for GOP victory in the fall; there's not much evidence that people ever cast tactical votes like that in meaningful numbers. Still, an interesting report from a reader in Dallas: On the local conservative radio stations, many Republicans are calling and complaining about feeling “disenfranchised”. Apparently, they didn’t realize that by implementing Rush Limbaugh’s strategy of voting for Hillary in the Primaries to prolong the Democrats fist-fight, they would not be allowed to vote for any...

Desperate Hillary Clinton will stay in the White House race even if she loses tomorrow's pivotal primaries in Texas and Ohio, top aides claimed today. The former First Lady had staked her political future on wins – with even her husband, former President Bill Clinton, saying she would drop out if she lost the make-or-break contests. But, as rival Barack Obama closed in on Mrs Clinton's once formidable leads in the two states, her spin machine has changed their tune and insisted she would not give up. Her chief strategist, Mark Penn, said: "There are 16 remaining contests after Tuesday....

Excerpts: Select Link to view whole article. ......this conservative community southeast of Austin, politics is clearly in the air these days. What has particularly struck stylist Pete Campos is how many of his Republican customers are talking about voting for Barack Obama in the March 4 Democratic presidential primary, motivated more, he surmised, by a strong dislike of Hillary Clinton than a strong attachment to Obama.............. .........According to polling, as well as anecdotal evidence, an unusually large number of Republicans and independents may cast their votes in the Democratic contest next week, a prospect that could tip the outcome of...

Gov. Rick Perry is strongly urging Mike Huckabee to drop his Republican presidential bid. Mr. Perry told a Washington, D.C., TV station last week, "It's over for the Republican nomination. And I respect Mike, but it's time for us as a party to get behind Senator [John] McCain," who has an overwhelming delegate lead and is close to securing the GOP nod. Mr. Perry has called Mr. Huckabee urging that he drop out of the race, but the comments are the first time he has done so publicly. Mr. Huckabee has expressed confidence that he can win Texas' March 4...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's must-win states of Ohio and Texas are no cakewalk for her, largely because independents and crossover Republicans are welcome to vote in their Democratic primaries.

Recent polls show that John McCain is in for a struggle in the Republican primary contest in Texas. Despite a recent endorsement from former candidate Mitt Romney and a declaration by much of the American press that McCain is the Republican Nominee, McCain has been forced to stay on the campaign trail and fight for the final delegates needed to win the nomination. If we have learned anything from this election cycle it is that the polls are not to be trusted. So a 4 point lead in Texas is negligible at this point for McCain. McCain could be further...

CALLING ON ALL REPUBLICANS IN THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS Last night Hillery said she was "ready to defeat the Republicans" I say we have a rare opportunity to take her on directly, and take her out. The state of Texas has open voting. We should all tell/plead/beg our friends and family in Texas to "pimp" ourselves out for one day. Vote Obama and sweep that woman into the dust bin of history. Here's our chance republicans - why do you hesitate? Like it or not, Maverick is our horse. His nomination is sure. Lets use our vote wisely on...