Mike Huckabee: CPAC Broken

Mike Huckabee used some harsh words in explaining why he didn't attend CPAC this year. “CPAC has becoming increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years, one of the reasons I didn’t go this year,” Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, where he is a paid analyst and has his own show. [...] Huckabee said the rise of the ...

CPAC Straw Poll

Matt Lewis notes that "the Conservative Political Action Conference is coming up this week" (tomorrow, in fact) and declares "As always, it will be interesting to see who wins this year’s coveted CPAC Straw Poll."  Apparently, Taegan Goddard agrees in that he's holding a straw poll on the straw poll. I'm not sure why.   The straw poll voters couldn't be less ...

Evan Bayh Retiring

Indiana's Evan Bayh, a much-touted aspirant for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, is announcing that he will not seek another term in the Senate. Mary Beth Schneider for the Indianapolis Star: Sen. Evan Bayh will not run for re-election, a decision that will shock Democrats and Republicans alike in Indiana. In prepared remarks, Bayh, 54, cited excessive partisanship that makes progress on ...

Huckabee Leads Obama

Public Policy Polling's latest 2012 presidential poll (I know, I know) has Mike Huckabee leading President Obama and Mitt Romney within the margin of error. Mike Huckabee has a 45-44 advantage over Obama, aided largely by a 44-38 lead with independents. There continues to be no evidence of any negative fallout for Huckabee after murders of police officers committed by an ...

Newt Gingrich for President?

Newt Gingrich, who has seemingly not-quite-been-running for president for more than a decade tells reporters that he's among the hot prospects for 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he considers himself among the top Republican prospects for the 2012 presidential election, adding that he believes there will be plenty of GOP options for voters to consider. "I think I'm probably ...

Should Republicans Call Domino’s?

NRO's Jonah Goldberg thinks the Republican Party should take a lesson from Domino's Pizza, which has apparently admitted that their product is awful and is working to fix itself. You may have seen the commercials or the YouTube video touting the iconic pizza-delivery chain’s reinvention. But if you haven’t, Domino’s new campaign can be summed up easily enough: “We blew it.” Focus ...

Huckabee Fundraising in Canada

Think Progress' Ben Armbruster thinks he has Mike Huckabee in an inconsistency over the value of a Republican "big tent." At a fundraiser in Canada last weekend, Huckabee stated definitively that the “big tent” will “kill the conservative movement“: HUCKABEE: One of the things that concerns me is that in the United States there’s a real talk of “maybe we need to ...

Comparative Fringes

Steve Benen is a bit disappointed that I didn't "follow [Charles] Johnson's lead and reject what's become of the contemporary political right" in my post responding to his departure.  In particular, he thinks I'm too easy on the conservative fringe groups and understate their hold on the movement. I continue to think this is a mistaken approach to the ideological ...

Glenn Beck, Community Organizer

Glenn Beck has a plan.  Actually, the Plan.  Which he reveals on his website. Today, I have stopped looking for a leader to show us the way out because I have come to realize that the only one who can truly save our country...is us. To change America's course we need to change ourselves, our expectations and our willingness to accept ...

Obama Leads 2012 Opponents

Taegan Goddard links a Public Policy Polling survey [PDF] showing that President Obama would have beaten the most commonly mentioned Republican hopefuls had the election been held from October 16th to 19th and opened to registered voters.  (I hasten to add, it wasn't.) In fact, according to the survey, "Obama leads Mike Huckabee 47-43, Mitt Romney 48-40, Sarah Palin 52-40, and ...

Mike Huckabee and the GOP

Daniel Larison is a bit too charitable here in assessing Mike Huckabee's finish in last year's presidential primaries: While Huckabee was officially the second-biggest vote-getter in the primaries last year, he achieved this mostly through perseverance and concentrated support from evangelical voters. Had Romney continued to compete and waste his money on what would still have been a losing bid, it ...

Mitt Romney Moving to New Hampshire

Mitt Romney is busy selling off a few of many his mansions and plans to move to his family vacation home in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Hotline reports.  He has also registered his PAC there.  This has some people guessing that Romney is contemplating another run for the presidency. "No doubt in my mind that they are doing the necessary maintenance to ...

Bobby Jindal Presidential Bid Underway

A long profile in today's WaPo extolling Bobby Jindal as the Republican Party's best hope to regain the White House may constitute the unofficial start of Campaign 2012.  It's about time. Last weekend, 18 days after Barack Obama decisively defeated their candidate for president, a mostly Republican crowd of self-described conservatives received their first introduction to someone many prominent members of ...

GOP’s G-O-D Problem

Kathleen Parker is getting quite a response to her WaPo piece "Giving Up on God." As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit. Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. I'm bathing in holy water as I type. To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ...

Palin Last Nail in Republican Coffin?

Quite a few reports came out yesterday buttressing rumors that there were tensions between John McCain and Sarah Palin which caused a feud within the campaign team.   It's only fitting, I suppose, since the selection of Palin has highlighted and exacerbated a growing fissure within the Republican Party itself. Fox New's Carl Cameron dished last night about rumors that Palin was ...