Free Republic

Marco Rubio may be the most gifted natural politician to come out of the GOP since Ronald Reagan. But the GOP base seems in no mood to rally around a principled conservative who happens also to be an optimist. That may change, but it hasn't yet. The problem is, Rubio is competing in a primary with two demagogues willing to say pretty much anything to win; several other candidates long on experience but with little personal appeal; and one neurosurgeon who should stick to medicine. Donald Trump tapped into a deep well of anger in the Republican grassroots, driven by...

Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) general chairman Ed Rendell says his party’s scariest opposition in 2016 would be a GOP presidential ticket comprised of Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “In terms of who we fear the most, the Democratic side, just speaking for myself, I would fear John Kasich and Marco Rubio as vice president,” Rendell told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 on Sunday. “That would be the ticket I would fear the most.”(continued)

More Americans favor than oppose a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are living in the United States illegally, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows. While most Republicans oppose such a path to citizenship, it doesn't seem to be a dealbreaker issue for them. ...

Madness has gripped a segment of the Republican Party that embraces a war on its own voters as unworthy. Instead of blaming himself for a presidential campaign mired at the one percent level of support, failing to make a ripple even in his home state of South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham blames the GOP voters who are too driven by irrational, probably racist beliefs. Caitlin Yilek of The Hill reports: Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says GOP front-runner Donald Trump is doing so well in the polls because nearly half of Republican primary voters think President Obama is...

The Jeb Bush backers who poured more than $100 million into pro-Bush super PAC Right to Rise haven't exactly been getting a lot of bang for their buck. The group has already spent more than $49 million, not including salaries and other operating expenses, only to have its candidate's poll numbers drop to the low single figures, the Washington Post reports. The spending blitz included $18.5 million on Bush ads in New Hampshire, where Politico reports he's still stuck in sixth place. The super PAC still has more than $67 million, according to finance filings, but that may not be...

A billionaire who is backing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has launched a personal campaign against fellow billionaire Donald Trump, calling him an insecure, narcissistic bully who needs to be stopped. Mike Fernandez, a Cuban-born major Republican donor from Miami who built his fortune in the health care industry, has bought full-page newspaper ads blasting Trump and planned to run a pro-Latino television ad during Wednesday's GOP debate coverage designed to counter Trump's anti-immigration message. He is also launching a website this week to be called "Stop The Bullyionaire." [...] Fernandez likened the attraction to Trump to the rise of...

Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump has not faded in the fall, as Republican professionals hoped, but has his biggest lead yet and support from more than a third of GOP voters, according to a CNN/ORC poll released just 58 days before the Iowa presidential caucuses. Trump has 36 percent support, 9 percent higher than he had in October more than double the 16 percent backing for ultraconservative Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, his closest competitor. In particular, Trump is a runaway choice of GOP voters surveyed who do not have college degrees, his support rising above 40 percent. Ben Carson...

Much like the 1960s comedy "Get Smart," GOP establishment operatives and candidates have formed their own version of "KAOS," the evil organization that continually tried to "get" Agent Maxwell Smart. Except in this case, it's many Republican traditionalists that are trying to "get" Donald Trump. These efforts will backfire on them, as did the best attempts at mischief by KAOS in the comedy classic. To fully comprehend how off-base the pundits and establishment consultants are about the 2016 race for the GOP presidential nomination, let's first examine a tale of two polls taken in Florida recently. The first was conducted...

Most Americans agree with Donald Trump -- the illegal aliens have to go. Head 'em up, move 'em out. A new Fox News poll shows 52 percent of the nation favors deporting the millions of illegals back to their home countries. Republicans and Democrats support Mr. Trump’s plan. But the numbers among Republicans are astronomical. Seventy percent agree with Mr. Trump -- a super-majority. So why does the Republican establishment continue to support pro-amnesty candidates? Jeb Bush accused Mr. Trump of preying on people's deep-seated fears. “This whole idea of preying on people’s deep-seated fears of what the future looks...

The super PACs going after Donald Trump are making a "bad, bad decision," the candidate's special counsel and adviser warned Tuesday morning, saying that if the reports are true, "it changes everything." "Donald Trump wants to be treated fairly. He will demand that the GOP treat them fairly," Michael Cohen told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day." If the party does treat him fairly, Trump "will honor the pledge because he’s an honorable guy," he said. But, "if they break that agreement with him, as they say, woe be on them," Cohen cautioned, referring to the loyalty agreement Trump signed,...

Republican donors with links to several presidential candidates - as well as a prominent GOP operative - are pooling their resources in a new effort to go after Donald Trump and keep the party's presidential front-runner from winning the nomination. The most recent bid is a reported "guerrilla campaign" led by a group called Trump Card LLC and run by Liz Mair, former communications official for the Republican National Committee. The group's goal, according to The Wall Street Journal, is to collect money from anonymous donors to "defeat and destroy" Trump, who has essentially led the GOP presidential field since...

A well-connected GOP operative alarmed by the enduring strength of Republican Donald Trump's presidential bid is planning a "guerrilla campaign" backed by secret donors to knock him out of the race. Liz Mair, former online communications director of the Republican National Committee, recently created Trump Card LLC to "defeat and destroy" the celebrity businessman's candidacy, according to a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. "In the absence of our efforts, Trump is exceedingly unlikely to implode or be forced out of the race," the Trump Card memo says. "The stark reality is that unless something dramatic and unconventional is...

Tuesday at a news conference in Kosovo’s capital city Priština, King Abdullah of Jordan declared the planet was in the midst of a Third World War.

<p>The number of families illegally crossing the southern U.S. border has more than doubled over the same period last fall, prompting concern about a new surge of migrants from Central America.</p> <p>Many more unaccompanied children are also crossing, with 4,476 apprehended in September — an 85% increase over that month in 2014, according to new Border Patrol data.</p>

The Democratic Party presidential candidates will hold a two hour long debate Saturday starting at 9 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. PST at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The debate will be broadcast by CBS News and can be viewed on over-the-air CBS television and radio affiliates as well as various online streaming sources. The candidates: Former Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of New York. Co-hosting the debate are CBS News, the Des Moines Register and CBS affiliate KCCI-TV. Debate moderator: CBS News Face the Nation host John...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) corrected a woman who called President Obama a "traitor" during an event on Friday. "He's a traitor," the woman called out during Graham's appearance at the Sunshine Summit in Orlando, accusing the president of betraying the U.S. with the Iran nuclear deal. "No, ma'am, he's not a traitor," Graham responded. "He just doesn't know what he's doing."

Hillary Clinton has a word for Donald Trump's plan to deport 11 million people from the country: No. The Democratic presidential candidate blasted Trump's call for a "deportation force" on Wednesday, calling it "absurd." "The idea of tracking down and deporting 11 million people is absurd, inhumane, and un-American. No, Trump. -H" Clinton tweeted, quoting a New York Times reporter's tweet on Trump's comments made earlier in the morning on MSNBC.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: On this program yesterday after the Republican debate, you know Trump was talking about Eisenhower and how he deported a million and a half, and I added to that news. RUSH ARCHIVE: Trump was entirely correct to point out the history, what Eisenhower did. And I don't think Trump went far enough, actually. In reality, Harry Truman, another Democrat president, deported illegal aliens, over 3.4 million. Did you know that? You did not know about Harry Truman? Well, then I'm happy to be able to inform you. RUSH: Last night, Trump was on The O'Reilly Factor, and...

Sen. Marco Rubio clarified his view on the 11 million immigrants, who are in the United States illegally. The day after a presidential debate, which exposed a continuing divide in the Republican Party on immigration, Rubio told NPR on Wednesday that he favors a path to citizenship for some, though the prospect would be very distant. "If you haven't been here very long, or you're a criminal, you will be deported," Rubio told NPR's Morning Edition. "Otherwise, you will have to come forward, pass the background check, learn English, pay a fine, because you violated the law, start paying taxes,...

To win the crown, you have to knock out the champ. That would be Trump. Nobody came close last night. Apparently John Kasich and Juan Ellis Bush didn’t get the paraphrased memo from Harry S. Truman: If you give people a choice between a Democrat and a Democrat, they’ll pick the Democrat every time. Kasich had no business even being on the stage last night. He belonged in the kiddie debate, from whose bourn no traveler returns. Ditto Juan Ellis Bush. Who exactly did the son of a mailman think he was kidding when he said the U.S. couldn’t deport...