Free Republic

What will help Republicans unite this difficult coalition is packaging an anti-establishment temperament and policy agenda in leaders of strong character. With Donald Trump out of office, Republicans now face the difficult balancing act of retaining new voters he brought into the party while bringing back voters he alienated. Remarkably, Trump brought former Democrats and union workers and minorities into the GOP. He also oversaw some bleeding in the suburbs. To stop the tide of illiberal cultural leftism, Republicans can’t afford to write off either group. I don’t know what degree of political involvement Trump will have going forward. I...

BERLIN, Germany: Trumpian U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell has expressed great excitement over the wave of anti-establishment conservatism in Europe, saying he wants to “empower” leaders of the movement. At a sit-down interview at his official residence in Berlin with Breitbart London, Ambassador Grenell said: “There are a lot of conservatives throughout Europe who have contacted me to say they are feeling there is a resurgence going on.” “I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders. I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the...

The election of President Trump made it clear that America is not engaged in politics as usual. We are in the midst of a political war. If this wasn’t evident to some observers before, the furor this week over the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe should have driven it home. These are not ordinary political times. Regardless of their partisan leanings, those earnestly seeking to grasp what is happening understand that President Trump is, as Venkatesh Rao says, “more consequence than cause” of the underlying conflict. Perhaps he is...

As the 2018 campaign for control of the U.S. Senate takes shape, a bevy of populist-nationalist candidates are competing for the primary endorsement of a pro-Donald Trump super PAC. “Great America PAC is building the ‘Trump Ticket’ for 2018 and we are proud to support these candidates who have answered the call of their fellow citizens,” Ed Rollins, chief strategist of Great America PAC, said in a Tuesday press release. Great America PAC and its sister 501(c)(4) “Great America Alliance” are confident they will come to define the anti-establishment wing of the developing Republican Party civil war. “We will be the...

The stunning defeat of President Trump’s chosen Senate candidate in Alabama on Tuesday amounted to a political lightning strike — setting the stage for a worsening Republican civil war that could have profound effects on next year’s midterm elections and undermine Trump’s clout with his core voters. It marked yet another humiliation for the Washington-based Republican establishment, particularly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose allies pumped millions of dollars into the race to prop up Strange and reassure his colleagues that they could survive the Trump era. “If you’re an incumbent, you have to assume the wind is against...

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to John Dickerson, host of 'Face The Nation' on CBS. Sanders calls Donald Trump's claim to be "fighting the establishment" to be funny, considering that he is surrounded by billionaires. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, I found it somewhat amusing that Mr. Trump, President Trump, was punching the establishment, but right behind him, John, sitting in the VIP sections were billionaire after billionaire after billionaire, some of the most powerful people in this country , who over the last 10, 20 years have become much, much richer, while the middle class has shrunk. So, I find it somewhat...

My response to the email I received from Steve House Chairman of the Colorado GOP (see below) Dear Mr House, Thank you for your letter. I support President Elect Trump fully. I do not support the Colorado Republican Party in any way. The manner in which you conducted the caucuses represents the worst of establishment politics - the Colorado Republican Party was not interested in my voice - when you and your "I'm next in line"' establishment hacks have been replaced - I will come home - until then I will not support your undemocratic Robert's Rule's based disdain for...

Election 2016: To say that Donald Trump's decisive election victory is a stunning development is the understatement of the century. This election makes Truman's surprise win over Dewey look positively pedestrian. The repercussions are enormous, but so are the opportunities. First and foremost, Trump's victory is a thunderous rebuke to the legions of pundits and armies of pollsters who said it couldn't happen, and the mainstream press that declared all-out war on his candidacy. In the days leading up the election, every poll except the IBD/TIPP tracking poll showed Hillary Clinton winning by a wide margin in a four-way race....

Donald John Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday in a stunning culmination of an explosive, populist and polarizing campaign that took relentless aim at the institutions and long-held ideals of American democracy. The surprise outcome, defying late polls that showed Hillary Clinton with a modest but persistent edge, threatened convulsions throughout the country and the world, where skeptics had watched with alarm as Mr. Trump’s unvarnished overtures to disillusioned voters took hold. The triumph for Mr. Trump, 70, a real estate developer-turned-reality television star with no government experience, was a powerful rejection of the...

Reykjavik (AFP) - History professor Gudni Johannesson won Iceland's presidential election after riding a wave of anti-establishment sentiment, final results showed Sunday, although the vote was eclipsed by the country's eagerly-anticipated Euro football match. The political newcomer, who won with 39.1 percent of votes, was trailed by businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir, also without party affiliation, who took 29.4 percent, according to results announced on public television channel RUV. Johannesson only decided to run for the presidency after the so-called Panama Papers leak in April which detailed offshore accounts and implicated several senior Icelandic politicians, including the prime minister who was forced...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee— Many of the 49 delegates in Tennessee who are pledged to either Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)will reportedly meet this month to seal a grassroots alliance in which they pledge their votes during any contested convention only to Trump or Cruz. “My concern is that whether you are a Cruz delegate or a Trump delegate the establishment wants to nominate somebody like John Kasich who has no mathematical chance or moral authority to become the nominee because he has received so few votes in the primaries,” former State Rep. Joe Carr, an at-large Cruz delegate, tells...

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz Split Anti-Donald Trump Vote In Florida A Florida Atlantic University public opinion poll released Saturday showed Donald Trump with 44 percent of the vote and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz with 21 percent each. With the primary just days away, 5 percent of Florida Republicans still hadn't made up their minds. If the numbers hold through Tuesday's primary, the billionaire businessman and part-time Palm Beach resident would win all of Florida's 99 nominating delegates in the winner-take-all primary. If Rubio, Florida's junior U.S. senator, fares as poorly in actual votes in his home state as the...

The GOP race is not over yet. There is still some time to slow and then stop Trump's march to the nomination. But that probably won't happen if numerous prominent conservatives remain under the delusion that Trump is leading a conservative revolt against the establishment. Some conservative commentators - notably Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham - have been cheering on both Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in the GOP presidential-nomination fight. These commentators like to lump Cruz and Trump together because this allows them to explain the Trump phenomenon as emanating from the same source they say has been...

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at his rally for religious liberty on 8/21/15 in Des Moines. Photo credit: Dave Davidson (Prezography.com) When Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal exited the race a little more than a month ago, I was not sure I would offer another public endorsement. As you can imagine, I have had different campaigns reach out, and I’ve struggled with making a decision. I did have a short list; I admire and respect those who were on it, but I knew that eventually I was going to have make a decision whether I made it public or...

Read these two quotes carefully: The first: “Cruz cannot win because the Washington elites despise him.” The second goes: “[T]here are a lot of good candidates – I like nearly all of them… …except Cruz.” Which one of the similar quotes is from a pro-Cruz Super PAC and which is from a former Republican nominee for president?  The first quote is from an ad from Keep the Promise I, a Cruz Super PAC.  The second is from Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican nominee and war hero, who got trounced by Bill Clinton. Both purport to highlight a negative of Senator...

Ted Cruz just released a powerful new video called “2015: A Year Fighting for Freedom, Texas, and America” that details how he’s fought this year against the Republican Establishment, Planned Parenthood, the Iran deal, and more.

The Texas senator's campaign is beginning to see returns after months of methodically courting evangelical leaders.Ted Cruz increasingly looks like the man to beat in Iowa. He's rising in the polls, building on an already extensive field organization and locking down critical conservative endorsements.Among the biggest yet came Thursday, when Bob Vander Plaats, the head of the conservative group Family Leader, came out for Cruz, citing what he sees as electability in Iowa and nationally. "This is a guy that's been very consistent in principles, in communications, and his campaign has shown ability to slowly gain ground and build momentum,...

Psychedelic mushrooms can do more than make you see the world in kaleidoscope. Research suggests they may have permanent, positive effects on the human brain. In fact, a mind-altering compound found in some 200 species of mushroom is already being explored as a potential treatment for depression and anxiety. People who consume these mushrooms, after “trips” that can be a bit scary and unpleasant, report feeling more optimistic, less self-centered, and even happier for months after the fact. But why do these trips change the way people see the world? According to a study published today in Human Brain Mapping,...

Nebraska GOP Senate nominee Ben Sasse may not see himself as an establishment slayer, but Nebraska's primary voters may have given him a dominating 27-point victory on Tuesday to send a message to the Washington Republican establishment. At the beginning of the year, Shane Osborn's internal polling still showed him with 39 percent of the vote, while Sasse and Sid Dinsdale had 7 percent each. Sasse's internal polling had him trailing by as much as 37 points last year. By February, however, the race was a dead heat, according to a poll by Harper Polling. Sasse closed the gap and...

Asked the question in an interview with local radio station WILM at the Hollywood Diner, Gingrich, one of three contenders left in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, said he wouldn’t be interested in joining likely nominee Romney’s Cabinet, but added—“not because I am opposed to Mitt.” “Look, if the choice does end up being Romney versus [President] Obama, I can be very, very enthusiastic for Romney; that is a huge choice,” the former House speaker said. “But I had a very good life doing a lot of fun things: I’m a grandfather, I’ve got two grandchildren I want...