Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President, saved the Republic during the Civil War, ended slavery and was the catalyst for the Transcontinental Railroad that first united the East and West of America.  

With this week's conclusion of the most important Conservative conference on the political calendar, CPAC, Conservatives are energized and ready to make gains in the upcoming 2010 election.

It has been a successful strategy - if you measure success not by the good you do for your country but by your ability to gain partisan advantage.

The inspiration for the Tea Party is clear: Barack Obama.

It was billed as an unprecedented, televised encounter between the President of the United States and the House of Representatives' GOP Minority - a time for frank exchange and a search for the common ground.