After a horde of Republican Presidential contenders from Gov. Chris Christie to Sen. Ted Cruz descended on Las Vegas to speak in front of the Republican Jewish Coalition — and kiss the ring of PAC billionaire benefactor Sheldon Adelson — one contender’s absence was noted.

Sen. Rand Paul was nowhere to be found. His positions on Israel, foreign aid, drone warfare and intervention make him unpalatable to this particular crowd.
GOP donors there were vocal in their opposition to Paul’s candidacy. According to Time magazine’s Zeke Miller, “Five donors huddled with a reporter pledged to reach into their deep pockets to ensure Paul doesn’t win the GOP nomination.”

And one put it this way: “The best thing that could happen is Ted Cruz and Rand Paul run and steal each other’s support, but if not, we’ll be ready to take Paul down.”

Former White House spokesman and Republican strategist Ari Fleischer — speaking for many of the establishment hawks who define the GOP — put it this way:
“His edges aren’t as sharp as his father’s (Rep. Ron Paul), but there’s still a naiveté that’s going to be a problem. He represents a departure from something a lot of Republicans are used to.”

So David Jolly wins the House special election in Florida this week by defeating a Democrat who pledged to fix Obamacare, not repeal it. But there’s more.

Jolly won the GOP congressional nomination in the first place by defeating State Representative Kathleen Peters in the GOP primary. And what was Peters promising? Said Peters:

“I do not think that we should take a stand and say absolutely repeal it. Not unless we have a plan and a proposal to replace it.”

Peters lost, Jolly won. Democrat Alex Sink made the same pledge as Peters. Jolly won again.

And what is John Boehner’s GOP House set to do? They’re going to fix Obamacare.

Yes, you read that right. Reports Politico’s Jennifer Haberkorn (hat tip Taegan Goddard here), bold print supplied:

GOP Now Trying to Fix Obamacare Instead of Repeal

Politico: “House Republican leaders are planning to bring up three changes to Obamacare next week — but unlike dozens of prior bills, these are more minor measures that are not expected to be controversial. All three bills essentially fix drafting errors, perceived oversights or unintended consequences in the president’s Affordable Care Act. They have bipartisan support and are scheduled to be considered under a suspension of the rules, which limits debate and requires support from two-thirds of House members — a signal that leaders of both parties do not expect any heated debate.”

In other words, Boehner’s GOP House is set to do exactly what Jolly won promising not to do.

Washington (CNN) - Rand Paul has done something his father never did - top the list of potential Republican presidential candidates in a national poll.

According to a new CNN/ORC International survey, 16% of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP say they would be likely to support the senator from Kentucky for the 2016 nomination.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, garnered 15%, with longtime Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who's considering another bid for the White House, at 11%.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a 2008 GOP presidential candidate, is the only other Republican tested in the survey to crack double digits.

The poll's sampling error means that statistically it's not a win for Paul, but his finish is a breakthrough for his family.

Tea Party Express is proud to announce its endorsement of Congressman Thomas Massie for Congress (KY). "Congressman Thomas Massie has been a stalwart defender of liberty and the Constitution since stepping foot into Congress in 2012. He has held the line for conservative values and has fought passionately to reduce the size, cost, and intrusiveness of the federal government." -Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer

In the midst of the war of words between Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over who best represents Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy, the late president’s son Michael Reagan has weighed in on Twitter.

“Rand Paul Gets it” Reagan wrote Tuesday, Tweeting the link to Paul’s Breitbart op-ed, “Exclusive–Rand Paul: Stop Warping Reagan’s Foreign Policy.”





Reagan is an author, talk host and adopted son of our 44th president.

Paul’s Breitbart column was a response to Cruz, who said on ABC’s This Week Sunday, “I’m a big fan of Rand Paul. He and I are good friends. But I don’t agree with him on foreign policy.”

Cruz continued, “I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world. And I agree with him that we should be very reluctant to deploy military force abroad. But I think there is a vital role, just as Ronald Reagan did… The United States has a responsibility to defend our values.”

Paul responded in his Breitbart column, “Every Republican likes to think he or she is the next Ronald Reagan. Some who say this do so for lack of their own ideas and agenda. Reagan was a great leader and President. But too often people make him into something he wasn’t in order to serve their own political purposes.”

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) can probably relate to singer Taylor Swift’s hijacked speech at the 2009 VMAs, after Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) popped in unannounced to Amash’s talk on Thursday night.

The Michigan Republican spoke at the Millennial Madness, the CPAC party hosted by Red Alert Politics and Generation Opportunity. But his speech on the importance of the youth vote and the House Liberty Caucus was cut short by Perry’s unexpected entrance and off-the-cuff remarks.

Amash didn’t seem fazed, however, snapping a photo of Perry on his phone and tweeting jokingly about the Governor crashing his talk.



Guests of the party also seemed pleased by the party-crashing politician, tweeting photos and wisecracking about Perry’s Kanye West moment.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), the first speaker at this year’s CPAC, urged Republicans to run campaigns on true conservative principles and suggested some recent GOP presidential candidates weren’t up to the task.

“We all remember President Dole, President McCain and President Romney,” Cruz said. He praised the trio as “good men” but said conservatives lose when they don’t stand by their principles.

Cruz then turned to wooing the youth vote, saying Republicans should focus on conservativism rather than identity politics and moderation.

“Who are the Republicans who have most energized young people? Ronald Reagan and Ron Paul,” Cruz said. “...

“Young people came out by the millions and said, ‘That’s the vision I want to be a part of.'”

A Chinese dissident, dismissed from his job as an economics professor at Peking University after clashes with his government over liberalization, will become a visiting fellow at the Cato Institute on Monday, he said.

In an interview on Friday, the dissident, Xia Yeliang, warned that American universities should be careful about partnerships with Chinese universities. “They use the reputations of Western universities to cover their own scandals,” he said.

“Perhaps Western universities do not realize that Chinese universities do not have the basic value of academic freedom, and try to use Western universities to cover their bad side,” Professor Xia added.

He said he had been told that the foreign support he received — including a September letter from professors at Wellesley College — hurt his chances of keeping his job at Peking University.

Russia has urged Ukrainian opposition leaders to end their campaign of "ultimatums and threats" and to step up negotiations with the government.

Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow was concerned by activists' attempts to "inflame" the situation.

Protesters in Kiev have repeated their calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych, who is now back at work after four days of illness.

The EU and US are considering a big loan to help debt-laden Ukraine.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, triggered an angry backlash from Israeli leaders on Sunday after warning Israel faces an economic boycott if it failed to reach a peace accord with the Palestinians.
The uproar came as Mr Kerry held cordial talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif in Munich at which the pair vowed to intensify nuclear diplomacy.
Ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet accused Mr Kerry of effectively endorsing "anti-Semitic" efforts to impose sanctions on Israel by issuing the warning.
"The risks are very high for Israel," Mr Kerry told the conference. "People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — As Democrats intensify their probe in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie has found little support — and sharp criticism in some cases — from the slate of potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. At the same time, would-be allies from key states have been slow to rally behind the Republican governor, whose administration appears to have created a massive traffic jam to punish a political adversary.
Some Republican leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire — states already gearing up for the nation’s first 2016 presidential nominating contests — offered only conditional support for Christie, acknowledging the New Jersey investigation is far from over.
“I think only time will tell on this,” said Bruce Rastetter, a wealthy Iowa businessman who led a group of like-minded Republican donors to New Jersey to encourage a 2012 Christie presidential run. “And if he didn’t have any knowledge, he should have a future.”
Documents revealed last week that figures in the Christie administration may have intentionally caused major backups near the George Washington Bridge, linking the community of Fort Lee to New York City, to exact political retribution against a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse his re-election campaign. Christie fired a top aide and jettisoned his chief political adviser after internal communications confirming their involvement became public.
He adamantly denied any personal “knowledge or involvement” in the lane closures.
Democrats in New Jersey on Monday formed special legislative committees with subpoena power, expanding the traffic-jam investigation into an abuse of power probe. But Christie, who is considering a presidential bid, is also facing criticism from his own party — particularly from other Republicans who are eyeing the presidency.
The intense scrutiny underscores the tremendous political pressure Christie faces as one of his party’s most popular figures ahead of the 2016 presidential contest.