(CNSNews.com) - Michael Reagan is the spokesman for a new conservative political action committee that bears his father's name.

Reagan PAC says it is dedicated to supporting Republican candidates who recognize the "contemporary conservative principles" of President Ronald Reagan and are “committed to their realization."

Reagan PAC's Web site says it supports only candidates who have signed the group's ethics pledge and its conservative principles pledge. "Holding elected officials accountable is as simple as holding them to these pledges. When a candidate fails to keep his pledge, REAGAN PAC works to replace that politician by recruiting and funding their Republican opponents," the Web site says...

(CNSNews.com) – Lech Walesa, a Nobel Laureate and former leader of the Solidarity trade union in Poland, which helped topple 50 years of Soviet occupation there and end the Cold War, went to Chicago, Ill., last week to endorse a conservative Republican in the gubernatorial primary race but the local media largely ignored him.

This near-blackout by the media occurred despite the fact that 1 million people of Polish nationality live in Chicago, making it the city with the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw, Poland, and despite the fact that Walesa himself was the first post-Soviet president of Poland (from 1990 to 1995).

On Jan. 29, Walesa endorsed Adam Andrzejewski in the Republican primary for governor of Illinois at a rally in Chicago. Walesa stressed that he and Andrzekewski shared the same conservative values and commitment to freedom and opportunity.

The only thing missing was quills and powdered wigs.

Eleven House conservatives on Wednesday signed a “Declaration of Health Care Independence” at an event staged by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), and there was no shortage of Revolutionary War rhetoric and tea party references.

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) compared Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts last Tuesday to the battle of Lexington in April 1775. The congressmen signed their names at the bottom of the so-called declaration, which had been printed in a small font to mirror Thomas Jefferson’s calligraphy.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) noted that the signers of the original Declaration of Independence put their lives and property at stake. The Republicans who signed Wednesday afternoon appeared to be in no grave political danger, since they all have fairly safe seats...

(CNSNews.com) – More self-identified Independents are labeling themselves as “conservative” in 2009 than at any time during the past decade, the Gallup organization found in a recently released study.

In fact, the percentage of American Independents who identified as conservatives – 35 percent – increased at the fastest rate in 10 years between 2008 and 2009, the latter Obama’s first year in office.

“The rather abrupt three-point increase between 2008 and 2009 in the percentage of Americans calling themselves conservative is largely owing to an increase – from 30 percent to 35 percent – in the percentage of political independents adopting the label...

(CNSNews.com) - "Senators Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Robert Casey (D-Pa.) gave mere lip service to protect the most innocent among us by placing their stamp of approval on government funding for abortion coverage" in the Democrats' health care bill, a pro-life group said after Senate Democrats advanced their bill in 1 a.m. vote on Monday.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the Senate's middle-of-the night, 60-40 vote to cut off debate -- thus allowing eventual passage of the bill -- reflects the "ugly, partisan and dangerous process" that has characterized the proceedings all along:

"This legislation was drafted by a handful of people, supported by only one political party and will negatively affect every single American citizen"...

Conservatives say that although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid got the votes he needed Saturday night to push the health reform bill on to the next phase, the battle is far from over.

The final vote was 60 to 39 with all Democrat Senators supporting the more than two thousand page bill.

Two final Democratic holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced they would join in clearing the way for a full debate which is expected to begin after the Thanksgiving break.

Conservatives were quick to condemn the Democrats...

The Republican state lawmaker is running against former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in California for a chance to square off against Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer in the general election. He says his GOP opponent embraces big government policies that involve "more borrowed money that our children can't repay."

California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina last week gained the endorsements of eight Republican Senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tom Coburn, Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Jon Kyl, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Olympia Snowe.

In doing so, the eight Senators looked past the more conservative candidate challenging Fiorina in the GOP primary - State Assemblyman Chuck Devore, who is a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army Retired Reserve, and was a Reagan White House appointee in the Pentagon.

DeVore says Fiorina believes in a different scope of government than he does.

A pro-life group that backed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman says the Democratic special election victory in New York's 23rd Congressional District is actually a win for motivated conservative activists.

Democrat and retired Air Force Captain Bill Owens, running in a historically Republican stronghold, capitalized on a split that emerged between Republican liberals and conservatives. Owens defeated Hoffman (49 percent to 45 percent) after the withdrawal of liberal Republican candidate DeDe Scozzafava over the weekend, whose name remained on the ballot, drawing 6 percent of the vote.

The race grabbed national attention when a rift developed among Republican Party leaders...

Albany, N.Y. (AP) - In a Republican Party struggling to find its identity, the surprise withdrawal of the chosen GOP candidate for a New York congressional race -- forced by a rising conservative upstart -- renews a lingering national debate: Are moderates welcome in today's Grand Old Party?

The question became even more relevant Sunday when the ex-candidate, state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, threw her support behind the Democrat in the race rather than the Conservative Party candidate favored by fellow Republicans.

The GOP leadership insisted on Sunday political TV talk shows the party is strong and inclusive while Democrats described a Republican party out of touch with the people...

Political conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

Forty percent of Americans surveyed described their political ideology as conservative, while 36 percent said their views are moderate and 20 percent said liberal, the poll found.

The findings reportedly mark a shift from 2005 to 2008, when the number of moderates was even with conservatives as the most dominant group.

The results, based on 16 Gallup surveys conducted from January to September 2009, also show a greater number of Americans who express conservative positions on specific issues when compared to findings from 2008...