US Conservative Politics

Republicans believed they had no shot at this seat when former US Senator Scott Brown took a pass. But a surprise run by a moderate Republicans and former SEAL has made the race close. Three recent polls have the GOP nominee Gabriel Gomez within single digits and double-digit favorability despite below average name recognition. Could the Massachusetts voters be ready for a little change once again?

Read: Massachusetts 2013 Special Election Preview

Last week, we released our 2016 Presidential Power Rankings for Republicans. In that list, Marco Rubio led the field, followed by Chris Christie at number two, Rand Paul in third, the rising Ted Cruz in fourth, and Jeb Bush rounding out the top five. (Read the whole list here).

A new Public Policy Poll out today shows a tight race with four of those in a near-tie. Cruz has gained the most from previous polling and comes in 6th with 7%. But at the top of the poll, it's a four-way tie with Marco Rubio (16%), Jeb Bush and Chris Christie (15%) and Rand Paul (14%). If all four run, it would be one heck of an interesting race.

Scandal. Cover-up. Using those words often means you will be dismissed as a kooky conspiracy theorist out to do nothing but destroy a President you disagree with. After 8 months, the evidence became too strong and even the complacent media had to start getting (somewhat) serious. Deception about who was involved with the official story. Testimony of witness intimidation. The reality that the American public was intentionally misled on the involvement of Al-Qaeda, and what was mentioned as but a possibility was disseminated as pure truth. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked what difference it made whether the attack was plotted by Al-Qaeda or a spontaneous movement brought-on by a YouTube video. Clearly it mattered to the people working in the State Department and the Obama campaign who found it easier to claim the attacks were something they were not and to blame people not involved.

Continue Reading: Questions Persist on Official Benghazi Story

With about two years to go before the presidential primary season gets seriously underway (yes, that close already), it's time to release the first edition of our 2016 power rankings for the Republican side. This list is based on a few criteria. First, how likely are the candidates to run? Mitt Romney and Condi Rice are not on the list since they could do fine in polls but will most certainly not run. Some candidates have given clear signals that they intend to run by intentionally raising their national profile and perfecting their messaging. These moves have also helped these particular candidates' standing in the polls, which also helped their ranking. Some on the list do not poll well and have not signaled an intent to run, but have better than even chances to run and if they did could make a huge splash.

Read: 2016 Republican Presidential Power Rankings

The Kermit Gosnell trial has opened up a window of opportunity for conservatives to aggressively push a pro-life message. Many people do not want to know the truth about abortion. Will moderately pro-choice people who choose not to know be repulsed when they find out the realities of abortion? Pro-life group Live Action is on the forefront of the pro-life battle, exposing what really happens in abortion clinics. Conservatives should no longer sit back and allow the pro-abortion movement to push their agenda without rebuttal. Conservatives cannot simply assume that people will look into the issue themselves because the really is people are afraid to do so. Ignorance is bliss. And conservative politicians should not be on the defensive when asked: "why do you hate women's rights"?

Read: Conservatives Must Become Aggressive on Pro-Life Issues

Sadly, the sequester has ruined my ability to watch movies when they are actually in theaters (haha, get it?). But on the bright side, having waited to watch both "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" after both award season and their theatrical runs have ended helps me properly raise or lower my expectations. One of these films was a home-run. The other? Well... "eh" pretty much sums up my feelings. Also, I have not read a single review of either movie, so I have yet to see how other liberal and conservative outlets have viewed the two films. I guess I know what I will be reading tonight while my wife watches "Les Mis" (Sorry folks, not getting a review of that one on here.)

Read: Double Movie Review: "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty"

This is starting to get brutal for Democrats. Max Baucus (MT-D) is now the sixth Democrat to announce he will not run for re-election. Montana now joins red states South Dakota and West Virginia, toss-up states Michigan and Iowa, and safe state New Jersey on the Democrat's vacancy list. The 2014 US Senate landscape remains fluid, but the GOP's shot at taking control of the Senate continues to increase.

While the Republican's have 14 seats to defend in 2014, it's getting difficult to find one that the GOP has a good shot at losing. Mitt Romney carried 13 of them with relative ease. The only state Obama carried was Maine, which remains safe in the hands of Susan Collins. Democrats appear to be favoring both Georgia and Kentucky, but we will have to see how those races unfold.

Meanwhile, the Democrats have 21 seats up for grabs and 12 of them could be competitive, and some are very likely to go Republican. Of the 12 states on the competitive list, Mitt Romney won 7 of them by wide margins.

The number of admitted Hollywood conservatives is quite small. The number of conservative celebrities who will also publicly engage in political talk on twitter is even smaller. Those who made this list get extra credit for being brave enough to engage with their liberal celebrity counterparts on twitter and be outnumbered roughly 4,000 to one.

Read: Five Hollywood Conservatives to Follow on Twitter

As the horrifying trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell continues, it seems likely that the pro-life vs pro-abortion debate will once again start to heat up. As pro-lifers try to convince Americans on the facts, science, and realities of abortion, they will also have to fend off the straw-man attacks from abortion activists that divert attention from the real issue at hand: when does life begin and when should it be protected? Instead, the "anti-science" and "anti-woman" charges will fly. Of course, these and other such charges are far from the truth.

Read: 5 Myths About the Pro-Life Movement

Remember that one time when a pro-life, pro-gun, pro-school choice Republican Governor of Florida once wanted to be John McCain's VP in 2008, praised Palin when she was chosen, and called Marco Rubio a RINO? Fast forward two years and Charlie Crist has abandoned nearly every political position ever held and jumped from the GOP to the "No Labels" crowd to fell-fledged Obama Democrat. And Charlie Crist wasn't exactly an Arlen Specter politically. Let's be honest, Specter was always more aligned with the Democrats long before bailing in 2010 when it was clear he would lose his primary. Crist was actually quite conservative. And now?

Let's just say, Crist easily tops the list of Worst "Conservatives" of the 21st Century