The next presidential election is still 20 months off, but that’s by no means too early for candidates to be shaping up.
Republican Party
Wasilla or the White House?
Slate put together a brilliant Palin-o-meter, tracking the “will she, won’t she” rumours of whether or not Sarah Palin will run a 2012 Presidential Campaign. Current stats: 51% chance Palin will go for it.
Rundle: Ron Paul’s libertarian chaos sidelines conservative cause
For the second year in a row the Conservative Political Action Conference chose libertarian Ron Paul as its preferred Republican candidate for president in the gathering’s “straw poll”. But it’s just a sideshow.
Raging like a Republican
Republicans in the US are far better at being angry and passionate about a topic — whether it be authentic or manufactured is irrelevant — than their Democrat peers. And it’s costing the Democrats in Congress, notes David Weigel.
A serious discussion wiht my pit bull about Obama
My dog and I have been in serious discussion over dinner about this Barack Obama fellow, says Richard Farmer. And the verdict, he says, is not good. The dog has put him under considerable pressure to be advocating a Republican vote in 2012.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The Republicans’ climate change hypocrisy
Crikey readers have their say on climate change, insulations schemes and Hazlewood.
Crippling Obama: no we can’t
Expect the upcoming US midterms to be brutal for the Democrats, with the Republicans likely to get significant increased power. But will Obama — thanks to a fracturing of the Republicans with the Tea Party — still control the foreign policy debate? Unlikely, says Matthew Hill.
great read 
Tea Party full of crackers
Attend a Sarah Palin-led Tea Party rally and you’ll find yourself surrounded by contradictory old white people living off Medicare and complaining about the welfare state. Matt Taibbi examines how Republican insiders brought them to power.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The Liberal Party and the Republican Party
Crikey readers have their say on Australia’s political climate.
Crikey Wrap: The Tea Party takeover
In just a few short years the super conservative and sometimes a little kooky Tea Party movement has come to dominate the political landscape in the US. And now it’s gunning for control of the Republican Party, following massive wins for Tea Party supported nominees at yesterday’s US Primaries.
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Who supports the Tea Party?
In a fascinating infographic it seems the biggest supporters of the far right-wing Tea Party movement are over 65 years old, white and wealthy. Oh, and they hate the Democrats.
US Primaries: A run-down of how it went down
The always excellent ‘Caucus’ blog at the NY Times examines how the Republican Party are faring the morning after its Tea Party takeover.
Tea and crazies for the Republican Party
The establishment leaders of the Republican Party have lost control of the party, with a huge swing to the kooky conservative Tea Party candidates in yesterday’s US Primaries.
A US Primary primer
As the 2010 Midterm Elections roll underway in the US, NY Times covers the surprise winners and losers from Delaware to New Hampshire and examines the building momentum of the Tea Party amongst Republicans.
Palin for president?
From the popular Glenn Beck-Sarah Palin roadshow rounding up the conservative faithful to the crucial Republican dinner that Palin is hosting in the powerful political state of Iowa, all signs are pointing to a Palin 2012 presidential campaign.
Sarah the Good Witch of the North
All of Sarah Palin’s supported political candidates had big wins at the US primaries overnight. Palin has a special brand of magic that the Republican Party would be stupid to ignore, says John Dickerson.
Lessons of Vietnam continue to ring true for Obama
The strength of pro-war sentiment in the GOP was demonstrated by the angry reaction to Last week Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele’s bid for the anti-war vote.
Republican apologises to BP
Republican Joe Barton apologised in Congress for the government’s treatment of BP since the oil spill, before quickly retracting the apology. Are the Republicans really going to side with BP on this matter?
Bartlett: Are the Libs turning into the Tea Party?
The Coalition has turned into a force that disagrees with everything for the sake of it, no matter how mundane, and it’s destroying the government’s ability to form public policy, writes Andrew Bartlett.
Meet Rand Paul: the new Sarah Palin
Republican Senate candidate and Tea Party pin-up boy Rand Paul is being called the “new Sarah Palin”: a popular political novice making big headlines — for all the right and wrong reasons.
Even Reagan isn’t enough of a Reaganite
The Republican Party has launched so far to the hard right that none of the modern Republican presidents — not Reagan nor Nixon nor Dubya — would be able to be elected today.
Meghan McCain: Obama won and Republicans need to get over it
The anger and petty partisan politics happening in the US isn’t helping anybody, writes Meghan McCain. Extreme politics just makes younger generations indifferent.
2010: The year of the black Republican
Congress has not had a black Republican member since 2003, but this year 32 African-Americans are running. Is it all thanks to Barack Obama?
Will Fox News kill the Republican Party?
With no clear, strong leadership in the GOP, Fox News has become the driver of conservative politics in the US. Except, the Fox Party is way more conservative than the Republicans ever were.
The Tea Party claims its first big scalp
Florida’s governor Charlie Crist has surrendered his attempt to win the Republican nomination for the US Senate to run as an independent, following backlash from tea partiers and the party’s hard-right conservatives, reports Charles Richardson.
