As Rick Perry’s campaign begins, the supposed feud between the current Texas Governor and former President George W. Bush has become a commonly accepted piece of knowledge. But a closer look suggests that any such conflict is confined to the aides and advisers of the two men – not to their larger political organizations. When   more

As Governor Rick Perry begins his presidential campaign, Hispanic voters open to the idea of voting Republican are wondering which Rick Perry will show up.
In Texas, Hispanic voters concerned about immigration issues and undocumented immigrants have witnessed two Perrys: the good Perry who signed the Texas DREAM Act, and the bad Perry who aggressively pursued   more

Romney’s campaign filed FEC reports indicating the candidate’s personal wealth to be between $190 million and $250 million. The most important sentence is buried in this Los Angeles Times article:
“The couple owns between $250,001 and $500,000 in gold.”  more

A spirited debate tonight on Fox News, but one where the winner ultimately turned about to be someone who said the least substantively.
Frontrunner and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney escaped unscathed – no one seriously challenged him, and with expectations that he would be targeted, this alone makes him the winner.  more

Chalk up another win for Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus.
The four Republican victories in the Wisconsin recall elections means that the GOP maintains control over the state senate. But for Priebus, this was something more personal – he has strong ties in Wisconsin, as the former chairman of the state GOP.  more

On Saturday, Texas Governor Rick Perry will announce that he intends to run for president. Perry will bring a lot of conservative rhetoric to the GOP field, but what about his actual record? The truth is, not all of Perry’s policies have been successful and some of them may not fit the Tea Party’s definition of   more

What would happen if two of the most notorious conspiracies of the last decade converged to create a super-conspiracy?
As you might recall, writer David Horowitz condemned CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) this year for the inclusion of Suhail Khan, a Muslim conservative who was a senior political appointee during the Bush administration.  more

There goes another lazy narrative. Fifty-nine Republican House freshmen voted ‘yes’ last evening on a debt ceiling compromise, making up about 68% of the freshmen class. In the 60-member tea party caucus led by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 53% voted in favor of the compromise.
But what will be the consequences of a ‘yes’ vote on the compromise   more

How seriously are outside conservative groups opposing the debt ceiling compromise negotiated in part by Republican Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell?
Not very seriously, it seems. Ultra-hardliner Erick Erickson, the proprietor of RedState.com, appeared to praise the compromise just days after he said he could offer “no absolution” on a debt deal.  more

The Thursday vote on the Boehner debt ceiling bill was a clarifying moment, and one that should be reexamined as House Republicans now consider how to vote on a deal with the White House, announced on Sunday evening.
Firstly, the Boehner vote served to illustrate what separates those who would never raise the debt ceiling to   more

Connecticut GOP state chairman and one-time RNC chair candidate Chris Healy announced this week that he would not be running for reelection.  more

In the wake of the NY-26 special election results, which Republican presidential candidates will prove most vulnerable to the challenges that will come with running on the Paul Ryan budget proposal?  more

The Associated Press has a good story on how some freshmen collaborate to manage town halls; and an in-depth look by the Las Vegas Sun at how Rep. Joe Heck has such strong tea party support despite more moderate stances in Congress. Meanwhile, freshmen seem to be universally condemning Obama’s use   more

Eric Cantor got the most applause of the AIPAC conference when he took a jab at Obama’s recent comments about the 1967 borders.  more

After his address to the AIPAC conference, many attendees were grateful Obama clarified his remarks on the ‘67 borders, but still had many questions.  more

In a meeting with reporters, Former GOP Rep. Tom Davis argued that while tea partiers get the headlines, the party’s centrists are getting results.  more

Freshmen continue to pump gas for constituents, while Rep. Diane Black experienced her first town hall since taking office, calling it ‘cantankerous’. Meanwhile, Rep. Chris Gibson introduced a bill that would issue an award to children of those killed serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Scott Desjarlais proposes $500,000 in federal funding to support a   more

Several Reps. who avoided scheduling town hall meetings during the Easter recess are making them up this week. Meanwhile, a common event during district work week has been Reps. heading to a local gas station to pump gas and talk to constituents. Also emphasizing energy policy are Reps. Palazzo and Womack, who are going to   more

Todd Rokita faces a tough challenge as Indiana’s redistricting plan places his home just 500 yards outside his Congressional district.

Meanwhile, the DCCC targets 16 freshmen Republicans with robocalls on the Ryan budget, and MoveOn takes on Rep. Allen West with a planned town hall demonstration. This is FroshUpdate for May 17, 2011.
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Freshmen have been pushing the energy bills in the American Energy Initiative, but conservative economists tell FrumForum it will have little effect on gas prices in the next year. Meanwhile, freshman Rep. Martha Roby calls rising gas prices “the greatest threat to our economy”.

Rick Berg is expected to announce for Senate this evening, and   more