Ralph Z. Hallow

CPAC 2013: Palin tells conservatives: Rebuild the country, not the party

"We're at CPAC not to rebrand a party; we're here to rebuild a country," said former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, in a speech that shows for many conservatives she's still a rock star of the right.

CPAC 2013: Still tackling the tough issues facing conservatives after 40 years

America's biggest right-wing teach-in/gabfest/fireworks show kicks off Thursday when the annual Conservative Political Action Conference convenes, 40 years after the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam, the Supreme Court issued Roe v. Wade and CPAC was born.

Rand Paul, Marco Rubio duel for soul of tea party in speeches opposing Obama’s State of the Union

HALLOW: Rand Paul’s defining foreign policy speech for a young century

Rand Paul in a Heritage Foundation speech Wednesday showed a commanding knowledge of U.S. foreign policy history, of the shortcomings of the Truman Doctrine and the strengths of George F. Kennan's post-WWII containment policy.

Top GOP voices calling for change

"Change," long the mantra of Barack Obama and the Democrats, is now clearly the watchword for Republicans such as Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul and Paul Ryan.

Priebus overwhelmingly wins second term at RNC

Reince Priebus won election as Republican National Committee chairman for a second two-year term Friday afternoon.

RNC backs the hard line in debt fight

Even as House Republicans in Washington were voting to postpone a showdown with President Obama on raising the federal debt limit, members of the Republican National Committee meeting here Wednesday displayed a determination to point the party in a new policy direction and urged GOP lawmakers to take a much tougher line.

Sen. Rand Paul, Newt Gingrich deny plot to oust Priebus

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, two of the Republican Party's big guns, are sticking by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and rejecting rumors that they have joined a group trying to block Mr. Priebus from another two-year term as head of the party.

Sen. Rand Paul in the Mideast: ‘… I am not anti-Israel’

On the seventh day of his Holy Land tour, Sen. Rand Paul continued to walk a fine line between expressing support for Israel while avoiding the impression that his support for the Jewish state is uncritical and self-serving.

Paul’s Mideast trip stirs talk of 2016 run

Sen. Rand Paul doesn't explicitly deny that his eight-day visit to the Holy Land represents the launch of a 2016 Republican presidential nomination run, describing the trip as "more an effort to become part of an international stage."

A Top 10 list for the new Congress

Washington Times chief political correspondent Ralph Z. Hallow looks at 10 political issues and trends to watch in 2013.

GOP panel urged to root out consultant cronyism

The Republican National Committee's new special panel to study where the party went wrong in this year's election is already taking heat from leaders who say the RNC's first priority should be addressing its own ineptitude and cronyism and reining in the rampant profiteering of consultants.

GOP activists target Priebus

A postelection civil war is brewing among Republicans, with some conservative activists angry over the party's poor performance this cycle gunning for party Chairman Reince Priebus and planning demonstrations at the Republican National Committee's annual winter meeting in Charlotte, N.C.

Critics say Romney digging deeper hole for party

Mitt Romney's excommunication from the GOP continued over the weekend, with top Republicans growing increasingly angry with the defeated presidential candidate for the damage he's done — and continues to do — to the party's image.

Priebus announces RNC re-election bid, majority support

Reince Priebus said Friday he will seek re-election to chairman of the Republican National Committee, and said he has enough commitments from the 168 members to win.

Priebus will announce bid to seek re-election as RNC leader

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, under fire from some quarters for the failure of the party's voter-turnout effort on Nov. 6, will inform the RNC's other 167 members on Friday that he will seek re-election in January, two sources close to the chairman said Thursday.

Republican governors seek bigger say in party messaging

The nation's Republican governors, frustrated by the mangled message and lack of coordination displayed in the 2012 campaign, will take a much more active role in shaping the party's message going forward, new Republican Governors Association chief Bobby Jindal said in an interview Thursday.

Priebus retains Republican support despite losses

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus retains a strong base of support from top GOP officials despite the party's losses in the Nov. 6 election and the breakdown of the Romney campaign's vaunted voter-turnout operation in key swing states on Election Day.

Evangelicals struggle to stay relevant in Republican politics

A call by the head of one of America's top evangelical organizations for Christian conservatives to moderate their opposition to such issues as same-sex marriage, abortion and immigration reform in light of last week's electoral setbacks has ignited flames of protests that threaten all-out civil war.

Reeling conservatives face ‘recalibration’ at their core

Republicans found themselves facing agonizing day-after questions Wednesday that they admit are nearly impossible to answer while trying to hold together their diverse electoral coalition and ensure their survival as America's conservative party.