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RNC Event Snags 2016 Hopefuls

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Five of the most talked-about potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates will spend the weekend together next month huddling with top Republican donors near Miami.

The RNC has snagged former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to attend their quarterly finance meeting, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.

The Republican VIPs will convene at Coral Gables’ ritzy Biltmore Hotel over the weekend of March 9th-10th for an event that’s a perk for the RNC’s top donors. There’s a reception and dinner Friday, a full slate of events Saturday and a breakfast on Sunday. It’s less of a fundraiser than a chance for big givers to get face time with some of the biggest names in the party. RNC Chair Reince Priebus will also be in attendance and speak about the GOP’s future and will be joined by assorted other Republican members of Congress and officials.

Read more from this story HERE.

FEC Report: Romney and RNC Donors Taken to the Cleaners

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Federal Election Commission financial reports filed Thursday showed that two consulting firms with close ties to key staffers at the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee were paid more than $152 million by the three organizations that funded Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign.

FLS Connect, LLC, the Minnesota-headquartered firm where RNC chief of staff Jeff Larson was a partner from 1999 to 2010 and Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson was a partner from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2009 to 2011, received $56.3 million during the 2011-2012 election cycle. $38.6 million was paid to the firm by the Republican National Committee between January 1, 2011 and November 26, 2012, according to FEC reports. In addition, the Romney campaign paid FLS Connect $17.7 million during the same period . . .

Targeted Victory, LLC, the Virginia-headquartered firm that was co-founded by Romney campaign digital director Zac Moffat, received a total of $96.4 million during the 2011-2012 election cycle. $72 million came from Romney Victory, Inc., $22 million came from the Romney campaign, and $2.4 million came from the Republican National Committee.

Read full story HERE.

Missouri’s Todd Akin is Now Up Four Points Against McCaskill

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The new poll out Monday showing that Todd Akin is leading Claire McCaskill in their U.S. Senate race comes at a pivotal time.

And it better be a renewed wake-up call to all the Missouri Democrats and McCaskill supporters who might think she’s going to walk to victory over Akin because of his asinine comments on abortion.

The poll, by Republican-leaning Wenzel Strategies, shows a 49 percent to 45 percent lead for Akin. That’s up just a bit from the 45-42 lead Wenzel had for Akin in late August.

In other words, Akin isn’t losing support despite weeks of negative attack ads on him by McCaskill and her forces.

The Akin camp thinks it’s getting a bounce from the revelations last week that McCaskill’s husband benefited from his investments in federally subsidized housing.

Read more from this story HERE.

Why did the RNC “Kick the Hornet’s Nest” With Respect to the Tampa Rules Change?

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Photo credit: CW2 Harting

Why did the RNC “kick the hornet’s nest” with respect to the Tampa rules change? Richard Falknor of the Blue Ridge Forum suggests that it was

because the Romney Team has already prepared plans to govern from the ‘center‘ – ‘compromising’ with the Democrats in one ‘grand bargain’ after another (as they once expected president Barack Obama to have compromised with speaker John Boehner) — and making big government ‘more efficient,’ marginally less costly, and more ‘suburban housewife friendly.’

Ineptly compromising is the way speaker Boehner now leads the House — major bills passed often have bi-partisan but not necessarily full conservative support. And Marylander Daniel Horowitz (Madison Project) here (video) further illuminates the problem in his “Boehner Calls Opponents of TARP ‘Knuckledraggers’”

Reining in the administrative state has not, moreover, been part of the GOP Establishment’s agenda. And, in our experience, they do not see ‘conviction’ conservative politicians as serious players.

Conservatives must assume that the Romney Team doesn’t go about kicking hornets’ nests for pleasure and profit. Ben Ginsberg seems to be a capable and savvy advocate, whether we agree with his clients’ objectives or not.

Our best guess is that the Romney Team anticipates conservative pushback during Mr. Romney’s first term as president. This is because the Romney Team has likely planned some initiatives that will be distasteful to conservatives. Conservatives in turn need to identify those schemes before they are launched, and effectively advance plausible alternatives.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: What the RNC Would Prefer that You Not See from the Tampa Convention

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This video gives an insider’s perspective, from the Ron Paul camp, of some of the shenanigans that went on at the GOP Tampa Convention. It’s a fairly long video, but you should stay with it until about the eight minute mark:

Here’s what Ron Paul said about the convention and Romney’s speech:

GOP Tampa Convention: Huckabee hits it out of the park (+video)

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

I was so very honored to be asked to address one of this week’s themes, “We Can Do Better.” Then I was backstage and I heard some folks say that after hearing me speak, the delegates are going to say, “We sure can do better than Huckabee.” And that’s when they will unanimously nominate Mitt Romney to be the next president of the United States of America.

I want to say that Tampa has been a wonderful and hospitable city. And I’m grateful for all that they’ve done for us. But the only hitch in an otherwise perfect week, was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. Turns out it was just Debbie Wasserman Schultz, practicing her speech for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte next week. Bless her heart.

Four years ago, Mitt Romney and I were opponents. We still are, but we’re not opposing each other. No, we are mutual opponents of the miserably failed experiments that have put this country in a downward spiral. The United States of America was originally an experiment. But it was an experiment in recognizing God-given individual liberty and creating a government in which we no one is deemed better than another. And in which all of us are equal. Not equal in abilities, but equal in intrinsic worth and value. It is the essence, not just of who we are, but what we are. Now let me just say to those who question how once rivals can be now united, it’s quite simple, we have Barack Obama to thank.

It was Barack Obama who said, “You didn’t build it.” Translation, “It doesn’t belong to you.” Well no small differences among us in our party approximate the vast differences between the liberty limiting, radical left wing, anti-business, reckless spending, tax hiking party of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, versus an energized America who knows we can do better.

For four years, we’ve given a chance to a man with very limited experience in governing, no experience in business whatsoever and since taking office, mostly interested in campaigning, blaming and aiming excuses at his predecessor, the Republicans and people in business. Or as Republicans like to call them, “employers.” We’ve stagnated into an economy that has taken all that hope right down the slope and has left millions without jobs.

Forced out of their homes by foreclosure. Herded into dependency upon a government that promises us candy, but gives us cavities. Barack Obama seems intent on enrolling more people on food-stamps. Mitt Romney’s focus is going to be on generating more jobs that will make food-stamps unnecessary for them. We know full well, we can do better.

Read more from this story and see the video HERE.

Mystery Speaker Slated for GOP Convention Tonight: Is it Palin, Eastwood, or someone else?

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The Republican National Convention is abuzz with speculation over the identity of a mystery speaker who’s supposed to appear Thursday night.

Convention officials have refused to reveal who will fill the “To Be Announced” slot on the closing-night schedule, but the list of possibilities being generated by convention delegates and observers stretches from Hollywood (Clint Eastwood) to hologram (Ronald Reagan) to a handful of conservative favorites who fall somewhere in between.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus refused to give even the smallest hint Wednesday.

“Everyone’s going to have to tune in on Thursday night and check it out,” he told Fox News.

Rumors were flying on the convention floor Wednesday afternoon that Hollywood icon Eastwood is the surprise guest, the speculation fueled by reports of the actor and director’s travel plans.

Read more from this story HERE.

Poll: Todd Akin up Three Points in Missouri

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Photo credit: DonkeyHotey

A new poll paid for by the Family Research Council, a pro-life group, indicates pro-life Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin now leads pro-abortion Sen. Clair McCaskill in the race despite the controversial comments he made about abortion and rape.

The pro-life group says the poll is evidence that Akin should not drop out of the race and that calls for him to do so were premature.

The new survey conducted by Wenzel Strategies of likely Missouri general election voters shows that Senate candidate Todd Akin has regained his lead over Senator Claire McCaskill by a 45% to 42% margin, with 13% undecided. It also shows Akin leading by 10 points among independent voters.

Fritz Wenzel analyzed the results of the survey and concluded that “Despite the firestorm of news in the Senate race over the past few weeks, most voters have already made up their mind in the race, the survey shows. The fact that 80% said they were firm in their choice certainly indicates that this is a race that will be decided more by ideology and turnout efforts by the campaigns and less by breaking news that flashes across the news pages and cable news channels.”

Family Research Council Action PAC Chairman Tony Perkins offered the following reaction HERE.

Video: Huckabee’s speech at the 2012 GOP Tampa Convention

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Governor Mike Huckabee hits it out of the park with his address to the GOP convention in Tampa Wednesday night. He slams Obama, takes a swipe at Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and tells attendees that he could care less that Romney is a Mormon: