Trey Gowdy Endorses Rubio

"South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy officially endorsed Marco Rubio on Monday, calling him the best candidate on national security and saying that the Florida senator is "effective" rather than "flashy." NBC

Rubio on new Obama Spy Scandal

"Marco Rubio treaded carefully on Wednesday in addressing a report from The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. government continued to spy on some leaders of allied nations, including Israel, and collected communications of members of Congress in the process.
But he also warned that the full picture "might be worse," remarking that he did not think the report "gets the entire story." Politico

WFP Endorses Sanders

"For years, the Working Families Party has swayed between an opposition political party and an

establishment political organization. At first glance, those efforts seem to contradict each other. But their strategy has paid off in recent years and they are applying it once again in the 2016 Presidential race. Instead of running a candidate of their own, the WFP has officially endorsed independent US Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary." IPR

Pataki Out....

 "George Pataki, former Governor of New York, ended his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.  His name is now on the ballot in Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. He cannot remove his name from these ballots." BAN

Trump really in dead heat with Hillary?

"If the 2016 presidential election was held today, 37% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for Clinton,

while 36% would vote for Trump. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that a sizable 22% would choose some other candidate, while five percent (5%) are undecided." Rasmussen

Webb hits Hillary on Lybia

"On Saturday morning, Webb used Twitter and his Facebook page to attack Democratic front-runner

Hillary Clinton for her handling of Libya during her time as secretary of state.

The lengthy condemnation on Facebook, which said, among other things that "Clinton should be called to account for her inept leadership that brought about the chaos in Libya," came just days before the end of the year, which his team had previously told CNN would be reasonable time for them to make a decision about an independent bid." Bloomberg

Cruz hits WP back over cartoon with cartoon

Sanders Leads Hillary by 20 among Independents

"Independent voters who plan on voting in the Democratic primary prefer Sanders by a 53% to 33% margin. Clinton holds a 48% to 28% lead among Democrats." DailyKos

Hillary "said it" cartoon

Cruz daughters as monkeys by nasty liberal cartoonist at Washington Post

"The Washington Post has pulled a political cartoon that depicted Senator Ted Cruz as Santa with an

organ grinder and his two young daughters as dancing monkeys.
Cruz lashed out on Twitter: “Classy. @washingtonpost makes fun of my girls. Stick w/ attacking me–Caroline & Catherine are out of your league.” The cartoonist, Ann Telnaes, said she included seven-year-old Caroline Cruz and four-year-old Catherine in the cartoon after they were featured in their dad’s Christmas campaign ad." LauraIngraham

The #'s of SC & NH for the big 3

"South Carolina head-to-head race: Cruz and Trump are tied at 27 percent. Rubio and Ben Carson roughly tied at 12 percent and 11 percent each, respectively. Bush had 7 percent support; 5 percent backed other candidates and 11 percent were undecided. 
South Carolina second-choice race: Rubio was the fallback candidate for 26 percent, Cruz for 23 percent, Carson for 11 percent and Trump for 9 percent.
South Carolina three-way race: Trump is at 33 percent, Cruz at 32 percent and Rubio gains the most by doubling his numbers to 24 percent.

New Hampshire head-to-head race: Trump leads with 24 percent, followed by Cruz at 16

percent, Rubio at 14 percent, Chris Christie at 13 percent and Bush at 9 percent. The other candidates pull a combined 13 percent of the vote and 11 percent are undecided.
New Hampshire second-choice race: Cruz was the fallback candidate for 20 percent, Rubio for 19 percent, Christie for 17 percent and Trump for 9 percent.
New Hampshire three-way race: Trump is at 30 percent, Rubio jumps to 28 percent (again, doubling his numbers) and Cruz’s support grows by 10 percentage points to 26 percent." Politico

 

Rubio pounding the "north country" of New Hampshire

"Ru­bio, sens­it­ive to cri­ti­cism that he’s been out­worked, lav­ished the state’s blue-col­lar “north coun­

try” with at­ten­tion in a three-day cam­paign swing with his fam­ily be­fore the hol­i­days. He spent nearly two hours an­swer­ing ques­tions at every town hall, wait­ing un­til the last at­tendee left be­fore de­part­ing. After a staffer at Monday’s event signaled for the last ques­tion, Ru­bio in­ter­rup­ted. “I’m not leav­ing here. I’ll be around tak­ing every­one’s ques­tion and to say hello.”   NationalJournal

Kenny Rogers support for Trump

"Kenny Rogers is a fan of Donald Trump.  The legendary country star shared his political leaning

-- and much more -- in an interview with the U.S. edition of Britain's The Guardian news title.  
“I really like him,” Rogers said of the POTUS candidate. “I think his problem is that he says what everyone wants to hear, but he doesn’t say it well. I love what he says, I have to admit. He can be president and not owe anybody anything; he’s one of the few people has the money to do it, and has the guts to do it. You’re biting off a lot by doing that. He believes everything he says: whether he’s right or not, he says what everybody fears.”  Billboard

Jeb's campaign on Life Support

"In some kinder corner of the multiverse, Jeb Bush is settling in for a lovely holiday in

Kennebunkport right now, his Christmas spirit buoyed by double-digit leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, where adoring supporters stuff their stockings full of hair bands and key chains branded with his name.

But in our universe, the former Florida governor will end the year with his presidential hopes on life support and his aspirations for a line of branded key chains in serious jeopardy – Mother Jones reports that Bush has abandoned all efforts to trademark “Jeb!”

Last winter, a Delaware corporation called BHAG LLC filed a request to trademark that four-character slogan. Mother Jones later discovered that BHAG was an acronym for Big Hairy Audacious Goal, a phrase taken from one of Bush’s favorite business-management books. When the presumed GOP front-runner filed his financial-disclosure form in July, he revealed himself to be BHAG’s direct owner." msn

G.O.P., NFL & Democrat #'s are in...

"The latest GOP debate edged out NFL football and beat everything else to score as last week's most-

watched prime-time program, leaving Democrats and even Adele in the dust.
The Republican presidential faceoff (the party's fifth, this time from Las Vegas on Dec. 15) drew 18.17 million viewers to CNN, according to the Nielsen ratings company.
Sunday's NFL game between Arizona and Philadelphia, aired on NBC, was the week's runner-up with 18.11 million viewers.
"Adele Live in New York," also aired by NBC, ranked 11th. It was seen by 11.27 million viewers. The New Hampshire debate by Democratic presidential hopefuls, airing Saturday on ABC, drew 8 million viewers to rank 21st for the week." MyWay

Hillary caught Lying about Trump & ISIS

"Donald Trump tells "Today Show" host Matt Lauer that he wants Democratic presidential

candidate Hillary Clinton to apologize for claiming that he was "becoming ISIS's best recruiter."

"Whether it was Whitewater or the email scandal, she always lies. And now to be saying that we're just right in the perfect spot [to defeat ISIS]," Trump says, referencing a statement Clinton made at the debate Saturday night that her campaign is already walking back, "I don't think that's a lie, I think she really doesn't know what she's doing... She's been a mess no matter where she's been. She has created a mess --look at her record as Secretary of State."

"You're talking about people dying," Trump says. "And [Clinton] is making up videos where videos don't exist."

"Her spokesperson last night made the statement, and I think she said she was sorry, she said the videos don't exist. What am I going to tell you?" RCP

Bathroom Break debate controversy heats up

"Debate Highlight: Hillary Takes Long Bathroom Break, Debate Resumes Without Her." TammyBruce

Christie, Hogan & cancer in NH

"MD Gov Larry Hogan joined Chris Christie campaigning in NH. Hogan, now cancer-free, ceremonially cut off Christie's lime NHL cancer bracelet." P1

Nutrition Party nominates Silva

"Last month, Rod Silva announced that he has formed the Nutrition Party and that he will be its 2016 presidential nominee. He has since qualified to appear on the November 2016 Colorado ballot. Silva owns a restaurant chain that is focused on only serving healthful food. So far he does not have a vice-presidential running mate." BAN

Trumps Yiddish

"She was going to beat Obama," Trump said of Clinton in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "... She was going to beat - she was favored to win - and she got schlonged. She lost. She lost."

"Schlong" is a Yiddish slang term for a man's genitals." yahoo

Graham OUT!!!

"Senator Lindsey Graham is ending his presidential campaign, he told CNN during an exclusive interview airing Monday.

"I'm going to suspend my campaign. I'm not going to suspend my desire to help the country," the South Carolina senator said in a wide-ranging and candid discussion in which he acknowledged: "I've hit a wall here." CNN

Shaping up as a Trump - Cruz - Rubio Race

"Donald Trump continues to hold leads in New Hampshire and South Carolina, but Sen. Ted Cruz has grabbed a lead over the real estate mogul in Iowa, according to a poll released Sunday.
In the new CBS News/YouGov battleground poll, Cruz hit the 40 percent marker, topping Trump's 31 percent and dwarfing the rest of the GOP field in the Hawkeye state with 43 days left until the

Iowa caucuses. Cruz also leads the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings.
Over the past month, Cruz's support in the state has nearly doubled. He held 21 percent support in mid-November. Trump, by constrast, is treading water. He also pulled 30 percent support in the previous poll.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ben Carson's standing in the state continues to falter. Carson has fallen from 19 percent and second place to six percent and fourth. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio occupies the third slot with 12 percent backing.
Elsewhere, Trump continues to dominate in the early primary states. He leads in New Hampshire and South Carolina with 32 and 38 percent support, respectively. Cruz runs second in both, with 14 percent in New Hampshire and 23 percent in South Carolina.
Rubio grabs the third spot also in both states, with 13 in New Hampshire and 12 percent in South Carolina." WashingtonExaminer

Christie says its "Game Time"

"It's game time," Christie told a crowd of supporters gathered in an Exeter automotive garage, where

he made a dramatic entrance in a new silver bus, emblazoned with his name and tagline, as the theme song from Star Wars played.

"I've had a fun summer and fall. It's been incredibly entertaining," said Christie, running through a list of rivals that includes senators, current and former governors, and "a real character" — a shot at billionaire businessman and reality TV personality Donald Trump.

But now, Christie said, "Show time is over. It's time to pick a president. We're not picking a legislator-in-chief. We're not picking an entertainer-in-chief. We're not casting a TV show. This is real." yahoo

Hillary criticizes Obamacare

"At a town hall meeting in Iowa City, Iowa Hillary Clinton was asked by a supporter about

companies moving to a mostly part-time workforce and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Clinton said that companies are going to a mostly part-time workforce because of restrictions in obamacare." WB

Ted Cruz Star Wars Ad

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pu_hkbBueOg

Heroin at Democrat Debate

"The Democratic presidential candidates were asked at Saturday night's debate how they would respond to the national heroin crisis, which has hit New Hampshire, the host of the debate,

particularly hard.
That the epidemic would be discussed at all is another indication of how deep it has penetrated, with a moderator noting a New Hampshire survey suggesting that nearly half the people in the state knew somebody hit by the crisis. 
None of the answers broke new ground on the policy front, with each calling for more resources for treatment and a shift away from a criminal justice-first approach. 
Hillary Clinton said that she regularly hears from people hit by the crisis and as a result created a five-point plan to address it. Vermont's Bernie Sanders (I) said that a "variety of treatments" ought to be available to those addicted, presumably a reference to a debate within the community over whether strict abstinence is the only acceptable route to recovery, or whether medications such as methadone or Suboxone should be allowed -- a debate highlighted earlier this year in an in-depth HuffPost investigation. 
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who has extensive experience with the issue given the problems plaguing Baltimore, had the most specific response, highlighting the value of intervening when an addict arrives at an emergency room"HP

Clinton on ISIS & Syria at debate

"Asked whether pushing Assad out of Syria or defeating ISIS in that country should be more

important, Clinton argued that the two objectives needed to be pursued at the same time. “We will not get the support on the ground in Syria to dislodge ISIS if the fighters there – who are not associated with ISIS but whose principal goal is getting rid of Assad – don’t believe there is a political, diplomatic channel that is ongoing,” Clinton said. “We now have that.”
On Friday, the UN Security Council agreed on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Syria, though the agreement does not resolve the question of Assad’s future." msnbc

Hillary hit on "war" record

"Her fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls accused fellow Hillary Clinton of being too eager to

go to war without preparing for the chaos that could follow, as they squared off Saturday night in a debate in New Hampshire." WT

Dem debate 3: Sanders Sorry?

"Bernie Sanders apologized to Hillary Clinton in the third Democratic debate hosted by ABC News

after his staffers accessed Clinton's voter data.

"Yes, I apologize," he said when asked whether Clinton was owed an apology. "Not only do I apologize, I want to apologize to my supporters. This is not the kind of campaign that we run. If I find anybody else involved in this, they will be fired."

“I very much appreciate that comment, Bernie,” Clinton responded. “We should move on because I don't think the American people are all that interested in this. I think they're more interested in what we have to say about all the big issues facing us.”  yahoo

Trump hung up on MSNBC

"Donald Trump left Joe Scarborough stunned after being asked about Vladimir Putin killing journalists." yahoo

Sanders cries foul

"The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) accused

the national Democratic Party of working to "actively undermine" its campaign in a hastily scheduled press conference on Friday.

Campaign manager Jeff Weaver threatened to sue the Democratic National Committee after it revoked Sanders' access to its database of voters. The DNC did that after Sanders' team improperly accessed data compiled by the campaign of top rival Hillary Clinton." yahoo

Focus On The Family endorses Cruz

"The founder of the social conservative advocacy group Focus on the Family has endorsed Sen. Ted

Cruz (R-Texas) for president.
Christian radio host James Dobson said on Thursday that Cruz is the best candidate in the Republican primary field when it comes to religious liberty and preserving the traditional definition of marriage." TheHill

Sanders snags big union endorsment

 "Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is set to pick up one of his biggest endorsements yet Thursday from the powerful Communications Workers of America union, sources told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. The group represents some 700,000 workers ... " DemocraticUnderground

Graham bashes Republican base .. while wanting to be their nominee

“To those people that believe Obama is a Muslim and was born in Kenya I’ve lost ya a long time ago,” Graham said before continuing, “There’s a dislike for President Obama in my party that’s unhealthy. There was a dislike for President Bush in the Democratic Party that was unhealthy.” ChicksOnTheRight

Santorum on Muslims

"Santorum ‘Not All Muslims are Jihadists, But All Jihadists are Muslims’" MarkLevin

Hillary says she's not the devil

"Hillary Clinton sought to set the record straight Wednesday – she’s not Satan.
Campaigning in red-state Nebraska, the Democratic presidential front-runner encouraged a friendly audience of some 800 people to spread the word to their GOP friends.

“First thing you can tell them, as best as you can tell looking [at me] under the lights, I don’t have horns,” NYPOST

Warren won't endorse Hillary yet

"Hillary Clinton will make a stop in Washington, DC, on Monday night to show off her resounding

support from the Democratic women in the US Senate. At a "Women for Hillary" event near the Capitol, 13 of the 14 female Democratic senators will voice their support for Clinton's presidential campaign, with backers ranging from moderates such as Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota to liberals including Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin.
But amid that overwhelming support, it's the lone holdout that might be most notable: Elizabeth Warren." MotherJones

Huckabee on Islam

"Mike Huckabee argued Tuesday night that President Obama’s proposal to allow 10,000 more

Syrian refugees into the United States would pose an unacceptable risk.

“Why should we take the risk?” Huckabee asked. “If it’s such a good idea to bring people here that we really don’t know who they are and Obama thinks that we’re being un-Christian to not do it, I have a suggestion: Let’s send the first wave of them to Martha’s Vineyard and the Upper East Side of Manhattan and to the South Lawn of the White House, where we’ll set up a camp.”
The candidate continued: “On one hand, the left says ‘separation of church and state; let’s not have any discussion of religion.’ And then the left wants to tell me what it means to be a Christian. They need to figure out if they know more about being a Christian than I do, then tell me that they are no longer going to say ‘separation of church and state.’ The country’s most fundamental right is not to protect the reputation of Islam, but to protect Americans’ safety.” Newsiosity

G.O.P. Debates still drawing big audiences

"....the December 15, 2015 Republican presidential debate had the third highest viewership of any televised presidential primary debate in U.S. history." BAN

Marco Rubio's New Ad Targets Christian Voters

"Marco Rubio released a new web ad Tuesday discussing his Christian faith, saying our "ultimate goal is to live in all eternity with our Creator." CP

Carson Launches 'Evangelical Rollout' after Poll Numbers Fall

"Dr. Ben Carson is reportedly launching a new campaign to attract evangelical voters. The New

York Times reports Carson will hold a news conference on the new campaign, which his team is calling an “Evangelical Rollout.” 

 

According to Carson’s spokesperson, the Evangelical Rollout is intended “for a number of pastors to announce their endorsement for the campaign.” CH

RUSH hits Trump

"Rush Limbaugh went after Donald Trump on his radio program Monday, skewering the real estate

mogul for his recent criticism of 2016 rival Ted Cruz and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Limbaugh played an audio clip of Trump telling “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace that Cruz doesn’t have the “right temperament” because the Texas senator behaves “like a little bit of a maniac.”

“Whoa! Wait just a second here,” Limbaugh said, according an online transcript of his show. “Doesn’t that kind of describe the way Trump has been dealing with people he disagrees with? I mean, he’s been calling them stupid, he’s been calling them incompetent, he’s been saying you can’t get anything done with these people.”

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Limbaugh told his audience about why Trump would use an “establishment” line of attack.
Limbaugh then played audio of Trump criticizing Scalia over his position on affirmative action." TheBlaze

Gilmore on ISIS

"Former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-Va.), a GOP presidential candidate, said Congress does not need to

declare war on ISIS because they are not a state.
“I do believe in declarations of war but I am not willing to say that ISIS is a state, and usually declarations of war are against a state. You don’t declare war against an international guerrilla movement,” he said.
“We should not give them the credit of being a state. They’re an intentional gang of terrorists terrorizing people through force of arms, creating acts of barbarity, burning people up in cages, enslaving women, cutting people’s heads off, this is not a civilized nation within the modern day.”
Gilmore called the expansion of ISIS an “ongoing battle” the U.S. should fight with its best assets to protect the American people." PJM

Obama Poll numbers slide from terrorism worries

"President Barack Obama's approval rating has dipped to its lowest level in more than a year, as he

struggles to reassure the public that he's got the right approach to combating terrorism and the threat of Islamic State, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Obama's job rating is now at 43 percent, ...the lowest level since before the 2014 midterm elections. The poll also found that roughly 70 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction,..." Politico

 

Los Angeles school system closed due to threat

"The Los Angeles Unified School District said that schools will reopen on Wednesday, having earlier

ordered its 640,000 students to stay home Tuesday after a bomb threat, officials of the nation's second-largest school system said.
New York City officials said they received the same bomb threat and concluded that it was a hoax, according to The Associated Press.
Los Angeles School Police said all students at district schools were sent home due to a possible electronic threat. KNBC reported that the email was sent late Monday." CNBC 

Hillary under 50% in Iowa

"P2016 IA DEM (Des Moines Register): Clinton 48%, Sanders 39%, O'Malley 4%." P1

Stein overseas trip

"Jill Stein, the 2012 Green Party presidential nominee who is again seeking the Green Party presidential nomination, recently attended meetings in Paris and Moscow. On December 10 she sat at the same banquet table as Vladimir Putin, and she met other Russian political leaders the following day." BAN

Terrorism sparks fly at debate

"With the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., refocusing the race squarely on security issues, Cruz from the outset tried to sound a tough message against radical Islam.

“We will utterly destroy ISIS,” Cruz vowed, later adding: “ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism will

face no more determined foe than I will be.”

But he repeatedly was challenged by Rubio over his Senate positions – including for legislation reining in NSA metadata collection. Rubio accused Cruz of helping take away a “valuable tool” for security officials, while Cruz said: “Marco knows what he’s saying isn’t true.”

Rubio later cited a budget vote by Cruz to say: “You can’t carpet bomb ISIS if you don’t have planes and bombs to attack them with.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used the arguing to contrast his own executive experience against the senators’ legislative history. He described their jobs as “endless debates about how many angels on the head of a pin from people who have never had to make a consequential decision.”

But Rubio and Cruz returned to the fray later on as they tried to cast each other as soft on illegal immigration. “I led the fight against [Rubio’s] legalization-amnesty bill,” Cruz charged." FOX

Undercard 5th debate targets Trump

"At the so-called “undercard” debate of low-polling candidates, held before the main event, former

New York Governor George Pataki blasted Trump's Muslim proposal as “un-American, unconstitutional, and it is wrong.”
Lindsey Graham, a U.S. senator from South Carolina with hawkish views on national security, was especially withering.
"Donald Trump has done the one single thing you can’t do: Declare war on Islam itself,” Graham said, calling the proposal a coup for Islamic State militants trying to recruit new members.
Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said, however, that Trump had brought up an important issue, stressing the need to protect American citizens from Islamic State militants." Reuters

Bush debate party in Miami

"A photo has emerged online of a lone Jeb Bush supporter at a Bush party in Miami, Florida." Breitbart