Attorney and veteran Ron DeSantis continues to gain the support of conservatives at the national level as he runs in a crowded Republican primary for a new congressional seat ranging from the First Coast to Volusia County. On Tuesday, Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF) announced they were backing DeSantis and contributing $5,000 to his campaign. Citizens United is best known for its successful appeal to the Supreme Court on campaign finance laws.
Businessman Donald Trump, who flirted with running for the Republican presidential nomination, will be honored by a county Republican Party in Florida on the eve of the GOP convention in Tampa.
On Monday, the Republican Party of Sarasota County announced that Trump, who had also been open to running as the Reform Party’s presidential candidate back in the 2000 election cycle, would be honored as the “2012 Statesman of the Year” at a dinner on Aug. 26 -- the day before the GOP convention opens.
Presidential campaigns are not like youth soccer. Not everyone gets a trophy for merely participating. While some of the losing candidates can position themselves for the future, raise their profile or, like Mike Huckabee and Alan Keyes back in the day, get their own television show, some of them pave the way for their political downfalls. Case in point -- a Republican congressman who was starting to gain a foothold of a national following before he ran for president and quickly imploded.
On Thursday, the Eagle Forum PAC and conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly chose sides in one of the most interesting Republican congressional primaries in the nation when they backed U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams over U.S. Rep. John Mica.
“Sandy is exactly the kind of leader we need in Washington,” said Schlafly in a statement. “She is a fierce defender of life with a proven record as an effective conservative leader.”
Schlafly pointed to Adams’ record in Tallahassee as well as in her one term in Congress.
Former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana shows no signs of heading to the political sidelines despite pulling out of the presidential race in May. Roemer first set his eyes on the Republican nomination but, after being left out of the debates, he went third party as he attempted to snag the nominations with Americans Elect and the Reform Party. With Americans Elect opting not to run a presidential candidate in 2012, Roemer ended his presidential bid.
With President Barack Obama focusing on two battleground states -- Ohio and Pennsylvania -- on Thursday and Friday, Republicans are countering with a pair of the leading possibilities to wind up as Mitt Romney’s running mate.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana will be taking a bus tour of the two states and looking to throw jabs at Obama. They’ll be attacking the president on the national debt in Ohio on Thursday morning before heading to a rally in Parma in the afternoon and one in Pittsburgh on Friday morning.
While he still remains a formal candidate in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has also been focusing on his last months in Congress. Paul is not seeking re-election in November.
Paul is focusing on passing his bill to audit the Federal Reserve, which made it out of committee earlier in the session and is up for a vote in the full House later in July. The Campaign for Liberty, a group of Paul supporters, highlighted a new video from Congressman Paul on Tuesday in which he talks about the issue.
U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., came out swinging against President Barack Obama on Tuesday, ripping the president over immigration. West also hammered the Supreme Court for ruling against Arizona’s immigration law last week.
A new poll of likely voters shows that it’s neck and neck in Florida as Barack Obama looks to keep the Sunshine State in his column while Mitt Romney looks to win the biggest swing state on the map.
The poll from We Ask America released on Tuesday finds Obama taking 46 percent and Romney right on his heels with 45 percent, while 9 percent remain undecided.
The poll of 1,127 likely voters in Florida was taken from July 1-2 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent.
This week, supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney have been bashing President Barack Obama for broken promises. U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, went to bat for Romney on Tuesday, hammering Obama on the economy and the national debt.
