Free Republic

Does anyone know what the legal process becomes if, after a Presidential candidate gets the nomination of a Party but before the General Election, that candidate dies or becomes totally incapacitated? I bring to mind when the Missouri Senator Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash and was elected anyway, with his widow being appointed. Does the Party just get to substitute in whomever they want? With Bernie having heart issues and Joe slipping deeper into dementia (or back in 2016, with HRC passing out regularly), is there any established law or procedure to handle this sort of thing?

I've noticed there are some rather interesting parallels happening in this election cycle with the 1860 election. First, the election came at a time of deep political division. The Dems were led by a weak President, James Buchanan, but they held Congress. The newly formed Republican Party were becoming popular, and were considered radical socially. Then, during the nomination process, the Democrats split three ways into factions, and eventually nominated two rivals, Stephan Douglas (the Dem Establishment choice) and John Breckinridge (the hard-core Southerner choice). Not satisfied with these choices, another faction split from the Dems and ran as a...

For those of you out there who are just not satisfied with the MSM candidates, allow me to present a selection of other candidates running for President: For the celebrity voters: Yaphet Kotto of California, Republican Colonel Launeil Sanders of South Carolina, Republican James Harlin "Jimmy" Carter of Florida, Other General Zod of Texas, Other For the religious voters: Jedidiah Elijah Wendell Kennedy Banks of Pennsylvania, Republican Michael Jesus Archangel of Michigan, Republican (Freddy Irwin Sitnick,Treasurer) Messiah of Maryland, Republican Jesus Bilal Islam Allah Muhammed of Michigan, Republican Joseph Smith of Florida, Republican God Johan Josephe Lally of Vermont, Other...

In the bluest of blue of California's Democratic congressional districts, long-frustrated Republican voters are suddenly and decidedly relevant. That's because in 2008 the Republican Party will scrap its traditional statewide winner-take-all California presidential primary. Instead, the GOP will select the vast majority of California presidential delegates based on who wins in each of the state's 53 separate congressional districts, including 34 held by Democrats and 19 by Republicans. California Republican Party chairman Ron Nehring said the change is an attempt to open up America's most populous state to district-by-district contests he hopes will put candidates in closer touch with voters.

An idea occurs to me. According to Article I, the whole House gets to choose the Speaker. Now, normally this occurs along straight party lines, but since the House is fairly closely divided, what if the Republicans in the House let it be known that they would support a moderate Dem over Pelosi, and vote as a block to do so? Is there any House rule that would prevent this? Many of the incoming Dem freshmen ran as "moderate" centrists. Perhaps some pressure or temptation could be brought to bear to eliminate the dinosaur commie Dems from House leadership positions...

While on vacation, I happened to pick up an out of date magazine which had an article written by a prominent American politician. I'd like to transcribe a short section, with obvious clues elided, and see how many here can guess who wrote it. In response to some inter-racial violence: "...Some see the answer as simply more money – billions of dollars more... ...Before rushing into massive new programs, Congress should find out why programs of the past have failed. It is time to stop using the warmed-over programs of [30 years past] to solve the problems of [now]. When...

Look At Me, I'm Sandy B. Look at me, I'm Sandy B., lousy with hypocrisy Won't go to bed if I'm nabbed by the Fed, I can't, I'm Sandy B. Watch it, hey, I'm not a gay, I was not caught out that way. Won't come across, even Hillary lost her billings the same way. It was a mistake, I swear, I comb over my hair, I get ill from the lies and ponzis. Keep your filthy paws off my silky drawers. Would you pull that crap with Condi? As for Billy, and old Hillary, I know what you...

Hey, all you cool cats and jive jumpers out there in FReeperland! Time for some song dedications to go out to all those people you want to send that special message to! To kick things off, here's a classic going out to the Al Sadr gang in Falujah. Lunatic Fringe I know you're out there You're in hiding And you hold your meetings We can hear you coming We know what you're after We're wise to you this time We won't let you kill the laughter Lunatic Fringe In the twilight's last gleaming This is open season But you won't...

Why are we fighting in Iraq: a primer for the politically shallow Cast your thoughts back to before our present campaign, and place yourself in the position of a Presidential administration with the need to protect the nation from radical Islamic terrorism. Your first blow has driven a bunch them from under their Afghanistani rocks and into the cracks of the earth, but there are plenty more around. Now, before you is the choice: (A) declare victory over terrorism, saying crushing the Taliban and the Al Qaida in Afghanistan has solved the problem of radical islamofascists; or (B) decide to...