Televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, endorsed Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday.”It is my pleasure to announce my support for America’s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans,” Robertson said during a news conference with Giuliani in Washington.

My Way News

So people have asked about the endorsements. First of all, the Brownback endorsement is not that big of a deal because I don’t think he may have all that much sway despite how much he is admired by the “Religious Right.” The big one is Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani. Based on his words, I get the impression his endorsement comes out of fear of radical Islam spreading throughout the globe and Giuliani has a renowned reputation for being tough on crime. That’s my opinion, who knows. Whether or not this will help Giuliani remains to be seen. As I’ve said before, Rudy isn’t my ideal choice, but I have no issue with him really and will certainly support him as the Republican nominee if he gets it.

FORT MILL, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson drew a crowd that was ready to clap for him Tuesday as he tacked to the right before South Carolina’s primary.Speaking in front of about 100 people at Beef O’ Brady’s in Baxter Village, the former senator from Tennessee flaunted his conservative platform on his first campaign visit to the area. He said terrorists were determined to come to the United States and kill, he attacked gay marriage and he found applause when he spoke of “activist judges.”Thompson once this fall implored a quiet crowd to clap after he had finished his campaign speech. He had no trouble drawing cheers Tuesday as Thompson die-hards crowded into the restaurant.”(Terrorists) want to kill us,” Thompson said to applause. “It’s just that simple.”

Charlotte Observer

I really wanted to make this event because it is only a few minutes from where I live, but I was absolutely swamped at work yesterday. Thompson is also running a television ad down here in South Carolina. I saw it this morning on Fox while I was ironing my clothes, getting ready for work. It’s an excellent ad, straight to the point. I am having trouble finding it on YouTube, but you can view it at RedState.

Ballard, a 52-year-old retired lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, didn’t have much money and didn’t have the support of party insiders or the business community. But he had something better: votes.

 

With votes from nearly all of the city’s 917 precincts tallied, Ballard was ahead by almost four percentage points. Peterson called him shortly before 10:30 p.m. to concede.

Only a few months ago, Peterson was expected to cruise to an easy re-election to a third term. But voter anger about rising taxes and crime blew massive change into the City-County Building, from the mayor’s office to the council, where Republicans also recaptured the majority they lost four years ago.

 

The repudiation by voters sent shock waves through Democrats who thought they had built an unbeatable majority in Marion County, and revived a county Republican Party that had been declared all but dead by some political insiders.

 

The Indianapolis Star

Wow, this is unbelievable.  Not only did the Republicans win the mayoralship, they also practically swept the City Council.  They now have a 17 to 12 majority.  The best part is all of those local party hacks who wrote Ballard off will now be kissing his bum.

Another ballot question, which would have authorized $450 million in bonds for stem cell research, also failed to pass, New Jersey Network said.Both votes were close and both measures had been expected to pass…

Political observers suggested that voters were more concerned with fiscal issues than moral ones. New Jersey is already carrying more than $30 billion in long-term debt.

I’d like to think that the voters of New Jersey suddenly became concerned with the morality of the issue, but that’s not the case.  Even so, it says a lot that one of the most liberal states in the country rejected having more of their money wasted on research that doesn’t show much promise.  It is worth noting, though, that another measure to increase spending passed, suggesting that the moral issue may have played a decisive role in the outcome even if it did not influence a large percentage of voters.