Today is Primary Day in New York, where registered Republicans can cast their vote for a presidential candidate. Shockingly, a low turnout is expected, even though the candidates include Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. more ›

Would you believe that a majority of pop musicians disagree with Republican dogma? In recent days Newt Gingrich was sued by the co-author of "Eye of the Tiger" after he used it at numerous campaign events, and Mitt Romney was asked by K'naan to stop using his song "Wavin' Flag." "I'm for immigrants. I'm for poor people, and they don't seem to be what he's endorsing," the rapper told the Times. "My song being his victory song didn't seem quite right." So where can the GOP candidates turn to pump up their pasty crowds? We've compiled a shortlist of tunes that are the least likely to earn a cease-and-desist order. more ›

Senator Rand Paul, friend to 9/11 Truthers, was detained by the Transportation Security Administration after refusing to submit to a full body pat-down at Nashville's airport. The Kentucky Republican's plight was mentioned by his father, 2012 presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul, who Tweeted, "My son @SenRandPaul being detained by TSA for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner in Nashville. More details coming." Senator Paul was on his way to D.C. for the Senate session. more ›

Jon Huntsman, the most qualified, moderate Republican candidate for president withdrew from the race today after a poor showing in New Hampshire and polls showing that he trailed a TV personality who isn't even on the ballot in Saturday's South Carolina primary. Before sheepishly endorsing Mitt Romney, Huntsman complained about how mean the other candidates are. “This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of the American people and not worthy of this critical time in American history,” Huntsman said, apparently never seeing those awesome attack ads John Adams launched against Thomas Jefferson in 1800. more ›

Less than a week before South Carolina's Republican primary, Ron Paul is currently polling third behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. He's risen six percentage points in the last seven days according to PPP, and now he has sewn up the crucial "Fiscally Conservative Pimp" vote. Dennis Hof, who owns Nevada's Moonlite Bunny Ranch, tells CNN, "If a client comes into the Bunny Ranch and says 'I'm pimpin for Paul,' they're gonna have a really good time." Presumably this refers to the sense of purpose one feels by being civically-minded shortly after expensive, soul-shattering coitus. more ›

To satisfy America's bloodlust for pallid men in funeral attire yelling at each other, the GOP presidential candidates faced off in two debates, twelve hours apart, ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. At last night's ABC debate at St. Anselm, frontrunner Willard Romney was content to let Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich claw each other's eyes out. But at this morning's NBC/Lunesta debate his rivals came to their senses and with the help of Romney's inability to relate to anyone other than T-1000, attempted to tear down his commanding lead in the polls. more ›

Former American Idol winner and Toyota saleswoman Kelly Clarkson tweeted about her love for Ron Paul this week, pledging to vote for him if he wins the Republican presidential nomination. As a result, many of her followers attacked her, sending her a barrage of angry tweets. But the Ron Paul Nation is nothing if not fiercely loyal, and they had her back in a big way as sales of her latest album surged because of her support for Paul. As one Amazon user wrote, "I have been a Kelly Clarkson fan for many years, however this is the first album I have purchased of hers. I am doing so to show my appreciation of her support for Ron Paul. I am hopeful that her continued support will allow other artists to show their support as well! RON PAUL 2012!" more ›

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul has a loyal base of supporters. We know this as a fact, because who else could inspire people to e-mail us things like, "Your article entitled '3 reasons Ron Paul [will never, ever be president]...etc' is complete garbage. Do you get paid to write that nonsense? Just wondering. Oh, did I mention you're a liar? Just checking." But now, as he emerges as an underdog favorite among those who hate big government, spending on the war, and pot persecution, Paul has to come face to face with charges of racism, in both his newsletters and supporters. more ›

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, once considered "Media Poison," is enjoying a resurgence thanks to the spectacularly abysmal GOP presidential field a string of good debate performances and his well-organized team in Iowa. According to a recent poll [pdf], Dr. Paul now finds himself a single percentage point behind Newt Gingrich leading up to Iowa's primary race on January 3. This has spooked Gingrich enough to hire a political consultant and possibly change his holiday plans to stick around the state, but Ron Paul's comments to Jay Leno on Friday that Michele Bachmann "hates Muslims" may give him some breathing room. more ›

Are you sick of all those boring, avant-garde political ads on TV nowadays? Ron Paul's team finally realized that they needed to boil out all his nettlesome Libertarian beliefs into a simple Declaration of Ass Kicking. Oh, but what about all those "bureaucrats" that will lose their jobs? Too bad. "That's how Ron Paul rolls." more ›

We receive a lot of e-mail. Most of these missives are carefully read, discussed at length among the editors, and courteously replied to in a timely fashion—except for the ones that are so bizarre and irrelevant that we're simply afraid to engage the sender. Instead, we'll share them with you. Behold, the eccentric underbelly of the Gothamist inbox: more ›

Last night's GOP debate centered on foreign policy and national security, and a Politico headline sums up the mood pretty well: "Newt Shocks By Endorsing Mercy." Because "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm" has become taboo within the Republican party with respect to illegal immigration, Newt Gingrich risked alienating primary voters by not acting like an unreasonable jingoist. "Let's be humane about enforcing the law," Gingrich said, telling the audience that he wouldn't automatically kick out immigrants who are "law abiding citizens." more ›

Remember when soda was a nickel and you could just pray whenever you danged well felt like it? Most of the GOP 2012 presidential candidates do, and from the looks of last night's "debate" sponsored by the ultra-conservative Christian organization the Family Leader, they'd sure like to take us back to that magical time. Held in a church in Des Moines, the event was billed as a "Thanksgiving table forum," which makes sense if all your family talks about at Thanksgiving is same-sex marriage and abortion. more ›

Subliminal smoking advertiser and 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain went on Letterman last night to deny, for the 653th time, that he has ever sexually harassed anyone. When asked by the host (who admits he's "no stranger to sexual scandal" himself) if "These statements are all false? All of these women are lying? They're all lying?" Cain responds, "Yes. They are." Well, that settles it! more ›

Mark Twain once told a reporter who expected to find him on his deathbed, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." But Mark Twain was also living in a massive house in Connecticut so screw him. 71-year-old Staten Island resident Margaret Arrighetti has been declared dead three times by the Social Security Administration, and according to CBS has been denied prescription medication because of it. When asked what her current status with the SSA is, Arrighetti says, "I will cross my fingers and pray to God that I'm alive." Cogito ero sum, Margaret! more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Student loans will account for more than $1 trillion worth of debt this year, amazingly set to surpass credit card debt. But there is a presidential candidate who is brave enough to free you from all this debt by never allowing you to get federal assistance to go to school in the first place: Dr. Ron Paul. "Just think of all this willingness to want to help every student get a college education," Paul said on NBC's Meet the Press. more ›

Ron Paul, fierce defender of liberty (there are exceptions!) is having a tough time distinguishing himself from the rest of the GOP field before tonight's debate in Las Vegas. So yesterday, Paul released his "bold, ambitious, Plan To Restore America" [pdf] that would eliminate $1 trillion in government spending his first year in office. Man, weren't things great before the Department of Education, the Department of Energy in the late 70s? more ›

Things are looking up for the Stormin' Mormon: according to various reports, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will endorse Mitt Romney's presidential bid at 3 p.m. Billionaire GOP donors have less than one hour to convince Christie to run unless they throw down a few million to stop Greenwich Mean Time so they can have that custom-made helicopter painted "Jersey Buff." more ›

In this dour global economy, a country will take money where it can get it, even if it means scrounging through the couch cushions of the high seas to find it. According to the Times, $18 million worth of silver sits inside the British ship Mantola, which was sunk in 1917 by a German sub and now lies off the coast of Ireland. Odyssey Marine Exploration, a Tampa-based company, plans to retrieve the silver and split the profits 80/20 with the British government. Maybe Ron Paul and those "silver standard" folks are right: at least you can retrieve this money when it gets torpedoed. more ›

Earlier today, the U.S.-born al Qaeda leader and terrorist recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in Yemen by a missile fired from an American drone aircraft. In the wake of the death of al-Awalki, the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an American citizen had been deliberately targeted and killed by American forces, Ron Paul is not happy: "If the American people accept this blindly and casually that we now have an accepted practice of the President assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, I think it's sad." more ›