Free Republic

"I've resisted the idea that Donald Trump could and would become the Republican nominee," writes GOP strategist Alex Castellanos in an email assessment of the presidential race. "Unhappily, I've changed my mind." Castellanos, who once said flatly that "Trump is not going to be the nominee," writes "the odds of Trump's success have increased and been validated in the past few weeks."

Via Politico, skip to 12:00 of the clip below for the key bit. Oh, it’s on. Or is it? Normally, a candidate for president claiming that he’s going to peel away his opponents’ supporters and win the nomination would be so banal that it wouldn’t qualify as news. It’s the ultimate “dog bites man” story. Of course Cruz believes this. If he didn’t, why would he be running? But these aren’t normal circumstances. Cruz is the only Republican in the field who has yet to utter a critical or discouraging syllable about Trump, part of his talk-radio-ish strategy not...

Madison— The collapse of Gov. Scott Walker's presidential campaign could actually propel conservative legislation in Wisconsin over the next several months. From ending all public money to Planned Parenthood to allowing state retailers to sell goods at cost or at a loss, lawmakers are considering proposals that conservatives have sought to pass in Wisconsin for years. Bills before the Legislature this fall could put new limits on biomedical research and remake the state's ethics and elections agency. The controversial bills could match scientists against activists opposed to abortion and big Wisconsin retailers like Kwik Trip of La Crosse against far...

When Carly Fiorina rips into Hillary Clinton, the tendons in her neck snap taut like clotheslines, her eyes turn into human blinking machines, her voice roars like a buzzsaw, and low information Republican primary voters clap like trained seals. The reality is, however, that Carly Fiorina is a moderate Republican. The good people at Conservativereview.com have compiled a rather disturbing dossier of her political views. Immigration: Carly supports keeping birthright citizenships and allowing anchor babies, calling attempts to change the law a mere "distraction". She supports amnesty for so-called "Dreamers", and supported Marco Rubio's gang of 8 amnesty bill. (By...

Sherlock Holmes famously solved the mystery of the Silver Blaze by noting the dog that didn't bark in the night. It strikes me that in this wild and woolly campaign cycle there have been numerous dogs not barking in the night, or in the daytime either. Start with the race for the Democratic nomination, which has not unrolled as predicted. Every observer knows Hillary Clinton's numbers have been falling and Bernie Sanders' numbers have been rising, leading her in Iowa and New Hampshire. Every observer is waiting to see if Joe Biden will run, perhaps in time for the Democrats'...

MIAMI — One day in the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Marco Rubio, the young speaker of the House, strayed from the legislative proceedings to single out a lanky, silver-haired man seated in the balcony: a billionaire auto dealer named Norman Braman. This man, Mr. Rubio said in effusive remarks in 2008, was no ordinary billionaire, hoarding his cash or using it to pursue selfish passions. “He’s used it,” Mr. Rubio said, “to enrich the lives of so many people whose names you will never know.” As it turned out, one of the people enriched was Mr. Rubio himself. As Mr....

On the campaign trail, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush frequently tries to allay concerns about the dynastic aspects of his candidacy. “I’m my own man,” Jeb said during a speech earlier this year, “and my views are shaped by my own thinking and experiences.” As a fundraising quarter ends, however, Jeb is relying heavily on his father and brother to boost contributions to his struggling campaign. Former President George W. Bush hosted two fundraisers for Jeb last week. He is scheduled to host three more over the next few weeks. In October, George W. and former President George H. W....

I grew up in a blue-collar family in a working class neighborhood (the South Bronx) where just about everybody (if not literally everybody) voted Democratic. In college, I was a liberal – and proud of it. The big issue was civil rights and liberals were on the right side of that one while conservatives – yes, mostly Democrats from the South – were on both the wrong side of history and the wrong side of decency. When the issue of women’s rights came along, I was on board with that too. I didn’t think much about taxes, mainly because I...

If you’re looking for a candidate who will stand for principles against the establishment in our party and against our opponents on the Left, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is the man to support for president on the Republican side. I can confidently say and promise that my vote in Virginia’s primary contest on Super Tuesday-March 1, 2016-will be cast for Senator Cruz as long as he remains in the race. (Luckily, there’s no indication of his campaign suffering or him exiting any time soon.) In fact, Wall Street Journal wrote in August 2015 that Cruz is among five plausible...

Only a day after Donald Trump announced that he was boycotting Fox News— and after Fox News announced they had cancelled him first– the network has announced that they will enter talks with Trump to discuss his concerns. Below is the full statement, provided to Mediaite by a Fox News spokesperson: Fox News Chairman & CEO Roger Ailes and Donald Trump spoke this morning and plan to have a meeting next week to discuss their differences of opinion regarding Fox’s coverage of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. Ailes will be joined by senior Fox editorial executives. Mr. Trump believes he has...

Sen. Marco Rubio calls for a 'new American century' Presidential hopeful goes on 'Special Report' to discuss the Pope's views, GOP opponents and his record Last night, Marco Rubio was interviewed on the Special Report with Bret Baier. Some of his comments were on the money, some leave me wondering, "Just who is this guy?" See the entire (short) interview at: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/special-report-bret-baier/videos#p/86927/v/4501976564001

The Virginia Senate Republican Caucus is footing the bill for republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s visit to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol Thursday. The fundraising event, called Java with Jeb, only lasts an hour long, but we found out it’s costing the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus $1,000 to rent the museum, according to public records. Birthplace of Country Music Executive Director Leah Ross says $1,000 is the standard rental cost. Java with Jeb starts at 11:45 tomorrow. The letter of agreement estimates 50 people will attend.

... moment in the political life of every big-personality, more-sizzle-than-steak candidate when they step across the line of legitimacy, or illegitimacy (depending on your perspective), even for media addicted to the high ratings these candidate-entertainers provide. That moment for Sarah Palin was her Katie Couric interview in 2008 -- the hockey-mom-has-no-clothes revealing from which she, and the McCain campaign, never recovered. In Donald Trump's candidacy -- which The Huffington Post is appropriately covering in our Entertainment section -- the equivalent moment might have just happened. It was not the moment in the second Republican debate when Carly Fiorina carved him...

It’s almost always bad news when a candidate’s spouse calls an emergency meeting. But that’s what happened late last week when Scott Walker’s wife, Tonette, and his campaign chairman, Mike Grebe, reached out to a small number of longtime Walker aides and summoned them to the governor’s mansion on Monday morning. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/scott-walker-quits-2016-213912#ixzz3mUwHxWmX

The new CNN poll has Scott Walker polling at less than one half of one percent, or effectively zero. Statistically speaking, no one supports Scott Walker, not his campaign staff, not his family, not even himself. He is the epitome of zero, zilch, nada. It is expected that he will soon discover a burning need to spend more time on governing Wisconsin, or to be with his family, or perhaps spend quality time with his motorcycle. But before he goes, what are some lessons from his fall? 1) Busting public unions is good, but it doesn't make you into a...

In a tastefully furnished conference room somewhere in the nation’s capital, leaders of the GOP establishment are popping antacids and shaking their heads. Donald Trump is the face of their party now — and there’s no stopping him. In the latest CNN poll, his lead has grown, due to increased support among two groups they assumed would grow to hate him: Republican women and college graduates. Every candidate challenging The Donald has seen his numbers drop. Ben Carson may be next over his rather dubious decision to attack Trump on illegal immigration — the issue that propelled Trump to first...

Rick Perry dropping out of the 2016 presidential race is a damn shame. It's an indictment of Republican voters, who express a preference for entertainers and oddities, of the Republican Party apparatus that allowed Perry to languish at a "kid's table" debate, and the media institutions that spent more time talking about Donald Trump's hat than the success of governors.

Mika Brzezinski: fired up and ready to go . . . for Donald Trump? Not exactly. It isn't that Mika's jumping on the Make America Great Again express. It's just that she wants "intellectual honesty" from her peers when it comes to admitting that Trump has gone from amusing sideshow who's sure to eventually crash to true frontrunner who is now likely to be the Republican nominee. You might not think of Brzezinski as being particularly data-driven, but on today's Morning Joe she repeatedly argued that there is no data supporting a Trump meltdown scenario. Going around the table with...

Imagine you are playing basketball and abiding by the generally accepted rules of the game: traveling, out of bounds, fouls, etc. Now imagine that the team you are playing against doesn't follow any of those rules. Also, there are no referees. Or think of it like "Calvinball" — the "game" from the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip. That should give you some sense of what it's like for the 16 Republican presidential candidates not named Donald Trump to run against the reality star/real-estate mogul. You can't win a fight with someone who isn't playing by the rules or doesn't, really,...

RUSH: Now the news today. And it's... Well, it's what it is. The big news today is Trump. Trump seems to be the big news every day. Trump went out and did an interview with Rolling Stone. I don't know why. I don't know what the purpose was. I don't know what anybody thought was the upside there, but it's not for me to question. There was a time on this program maybe a month ago where some similar things were going on. And I very graciously, and with just overwhelming humility, came to the Golden EIB Microphone with just...