Who will be the Reagan in '08?

On Monday’s Rothenberg Report Stuart Rothenberg asked “Who’ll Be GOP’s ‘Next Ronald Reagan’ in ‘08 Presidential Race?” citing President Reagan’s advocacy for less government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility, among other issues. Rothenberg also wrote that today some hold up President Reagan as a cultural conservative even though he did not make cultural issues a legislative priority.
Today, we’d like to ask you – Who do you think will be the next Reagan? Who lives up to the real Republican core principles and can carry on the tradition of our Party? Who is willing to move beyond divisive cultural issues to focus on the things that we can all agree on to lead our Party and our nation?

Click here to read the full article from The Rothenberg Political Report.

Schwarz Considering '08 Run in MI-7

Former MI-7 Congressman Joe Schwarz has publicly stated his consideration to run to reclaim his seat in 2008. Schwarz, a moderate Republican, was defeated in the August 2006 primary. Tim Walberg, the present Congressman, went on to win in the general election by less than 50% of the vote.
This tally was alarming given the fact that the district has been a stronghold for the GOP for many years. The Democratic Party has this seat at the top of their target list and has been actively recruiting candidates.

Click here to read the full article in the Lansing State Journal.

SCOTUS Releases Decision on Federal Abortion Ban

Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down a decision to uphold the ban on a certain type of abortion procedure with no exception to preserve the health of the mother.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the 5-4 majority opinion and was joined by Chief Justice John Robert and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito. Justice Ginsberg wrote the minority opinion.
No matter how one feels about abortion, we must recognize what the Court actually said in this decision; the careful balance between the rights of the state and those of the individual has been blurred. The Court seemingly has placed priority of personal objections of legislators over the health and safety of women.
Yesterday's ruling only opens the door for other decisions that will further limit personal privacy.

Candidates File with the FEC

All first quarter reports for the 2008 presidential race have been submitted to FEC. A true test of a campaign is often the measure of its cash on hand, rather than the actual amount of money raised in a given period.
In the first quarter, John McCain raised $13.1 million, yet ended with $4.7 million on hand-- spending at a rate of 61.4%, an extremely high rate.
Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani each ended the quarter with more than $10 million on hand and now have an advantage over McCain heading into the second quarter.

Click here to read a story on the reports from the Washington Times.

Stem Cell Bill Passes in Senate

The U.S. Senate last night voted to approve S5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The final vote was 63-34, unfortunately not enough votes to muster a veto-proof margin.
We must commend the GOP Senators who recognized that this bill is about advancing science and were able to put politics aside:Olympia Snowe (ME), Susan Collins (ME), Arlen Specter (PA), Gordon Smith (OR), Richard Burr (NC), Thad Cochran (MS), Judd Gregg (NH), Orrin Hatch (UT), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Trent Lott (MS), Richard Lugar (IN), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Ted Stevens (AK), John Warner (VA).
Will President Bush recognize the need for the science that could produce life-saving cures for millions of Americans, or will he once again play politics with the health and lives of those in need?

Fred Thompson Once a Pro-Choice Advocate

"Government should stay out of it... The ultimate decision must be made by the women... Government should treat its citizens as adults capable of making moral decisions on their own." -- Fred Thompson, July 1994
Yet another potential GOP presidential candidate has flip-flopped on this important issue of personal freedom. Will any candidate stand by a truthful position?American Spectator first reported on this story.

Conservative Wing Poses Threat to Senator Smith

Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a moderate Republican on many issues, has already drawn opposition for his re-eletion in 2008. But now, it appears the far right will try to produce a challenger to him in the primary.
Once again, it appears the far right conservative group Club for Growth has not heeded the lessons of 2006. In a blue state such as Oregon, an ultra-conservative will certainly not win office, but will only cause the Party to lose the seat entirely. Smith is the only GOP Senator serving the West Coast and the only Republican serving Oregon at the federal level.
The far right needs to leave this race be or the GOP will become a permanent minority.

Click here for a related article from Oregon Live.

Romney Once Again Tries to Appease the Far Right

On a visit this week to New Hampshire, the state slated to hold the nation's first primary in 2008, Mitt Romney once again referred to himself as a life-long hunter. The problem with this statement? Romney admittedly has only been on two hunting trips in his life-- one when he was 15 and the other just last year with the Republican Governor's Association, which he headed at the time.
He has blatantly softened his position on gun control since being Governor of MA. When asked why he joined the NRA last August as a lifelong member, Romney replied, "I'm after the NRA's endorsement. I'm not sure they'll give it to me. I hope they will. I also joined because if I'm going to ask for their endorsement, they're going to ask for mine."
This is just another issue that Romney has changed his position on for mere political gain. What issue will he choose next?

First Quarter Fundraising Numbers Released

The first quarter of the year closed on Saturday, March 31st. Though the official reports are not due to the FEC until April 15th, most campaigns have released their numbers. Here they are below in order of most funds raised.

Mitt Romney
•Raised $20.63 M in primary contributions
•Total receipts are $23M; includes $2.35M loan from Romney and a $20,000 transfer from his 1994 Senate campaign

Rudy Giuliani
•$15 M raised during the first quarter; $2 M raised prior to January 1, 2007
•$11 M cash on hand
•Stated most of these funds were for primary

John McCain
•Raised approximately $12.5M
•Last week he lowered expectations, which had reached as high as $30 M, saying he got a late start and doesn’t like raising money

Tom Tancredo
•His campaign will report about $1.3M raisedMike Huckabee
•Stated had met his goal of $500K for the Q and would report roughly $300K CoH

These numbers differ drastically from what all the polls show-- Giuliani has consistently come in first in all major polls, with McCain second and Romney trailing much further behind, often behind GOPers who have not even formed exploratory committees such as Fred Thompson.

The question remains, how will these fundraising tallies affect public opinion polls? Will we see a shift in the coming weeks?