Free Republic

A restless electorate and a target-rich map have the GOP on the cusp of winning the Senate majority. But with fewer than 40 days until November, Republican campaigns are suddenly confronting a problem that undermines high hopes of victory: a sudden and serious lack of cash. GOP campaigns, political committees, and—above all—the party's outside groups are scrambling to raise money, worried that Democrats and their allied groups are poised to heavily outspend them on TV ads in the final weeks before Election Day. Concerns run deepest about October, when Democratic groups are on track to pour millions of dollars into...

At a July fundraising event in Chicago, Mrs. Michelle Obama remarked, "So, yeah, there's too much money in politics. There's (sic) special interests that have too much influence." Sen. John McCain has been complaining for years that "there is too much money washing around political campaigns today." According to a 2012 Reuters poll, "Seventy-five percent of Americans feel there is too much money in politics." Let's think about money in politics, but first a few facts. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama raised a little over $1 billion, while Mitt Romney raised a little under $1 billion. Congressional candidates...

Just about everyone noticed Hillary Clinton's scathing comments on President Obama's foreign policy in her interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. But almost no one has noticed where Clinton hasn't been seen. That's on the campaign trail or at fundraisers for Democrats running for the Senate. Obama hasn't been on the campaign trail much either, for the very good reason that he has low approval ratings in the seven states carried by 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney where Democrats are defending Senate seats. But at least Obama's been busy raising money; up in Martha's Vineyard, seemingly the heartland of...

Answer: MORE insane, racist, and corrupt than JZ Knight, apparently. For those of you who don’t know, JZ Knight is the cult leader best-known for channeling “Ramtha,” an enlightened soul who lived 35,000 years ago on the now-sunken continent of Lemuria. She has run a number of scams over the decades (above and beyond the ongoing scam of her Ramtha School of Enlightenment, which has been bilking gullible, desperate hipsters and Hollywood hacks of their hard-earned Hollywood-hipster-hack money for decades). In addition to her other snake-oil endeavors, she is also a big political contributor, and was recently described as “one...

People complain about negative advertising, but campaigns do it because it works. Well -- at least it works when it's done well. Here are five examples where negative ads backfired. 1 In the current Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary, Rob McCord recently released an ad attacking the frontrunner, Tom Wolf, for his support of former York Mayor Charlie Robertson. last decade, Robertson was charged (and acquitted) for his role in York's 1969 race riots, during which Robertson had been a policeman. Since the ad came out, Wolf's numbers have actually spiked and he's considered the easy favorite to win next Tuesday. [WATCH...

Many years ago, as a college Republican, I spent one summer in Austin working for a candidate in a special election for the Texas senate. My hometown was a liberal enclave with many college students -- unwashed, longhaired, pot-smoking students, it seemed to me -- who were predominantly Democrats. The more students who came out to vote the less likely our candidate was to win. But our campaign strategists came up with a plan. They sent mailings to all the registered voters in precincts near the campus. Many cards came back because the addressee had moved, as college students...

This was an interesting set of graphics to collect. I didn't get every Republican candidate who ever ran, I just grabbed the posters that got my attention. This goes all the way up to 1984.To the best of my knowledge these are in chronological order. This one made me cringe...A LOT...

What kind of rules should govern our lives? I'd argue that the best rules are those that we'd be satisfied with if our very worst enemy were in charge of decision-making. The foundation for such rules was laid out by my mother. Let's look at it. My mother worked as a domestic servant. That meant that my younger sister and I often lunched at home by ourselves during our preteen years. Being bigger and stronger than my sister, I seldom divided the food evenly, especially the desserts. After a tiring day at work, Mom would be greeted by sob stories...

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials excercise authority over them. Mat. 20:25 Conservatives continue to lose battle after battle at the ballot box because they are using a broken formula. They are under the impression if they will get their conservative base to vote for them while chasing the Democrats they will turn up enough votes in the box to win. You will never convince a Dem to vote for a Repub just as you are never going to get an Auburn fan to...

If conservative principles are the problem, then why are so many Republicans in office who campaigned on them? In the wake of the 2012 elections, Republicans are being warned once again that they need to compromise their principles to win at the ballot box. That the only way to win the center is to move to the center. If this were true, Barack Obama would not be president today—and I would not be governor of Wisconsin. When I was first elected as Milwaukee County Executive in 2002, pundits said it was a fluke—a Republican elected in a heavily Democratic district...

MADISON – On Wednesday, The Senate Elections and Urban Affairs Committee approved the nominations of four members to the Government Accountability Board. This came after a public hearing on Tuesday in review of the nominations. During the hearing, the committee reviewed the nominations of two existing board members: Judges Gerald C. Nichol and Timothy Vocke along with two new members: Judges Harold Froehlich and Elsa Lamelas. Judge Timothy Vocke, who currently serves as the Board’s Chairperson, was approved on an unanimous 5-0 vote on Wednesday. Vocke, resides in Rhinelander and is a retired Vilas County Circuit Court Judge. He holds...

We now know that millions of people will lose their existing health-insurance policies thanks to Obamacare. Already hundreds of thousands of people have gotten letters from their insurance companies letting them know they’ll lose their coverage. Millions more are bound to get similar letters, particularly when the small-business mandate kicks in. They should also get another letter, however. And that letter should come from the GOP, either from Reince Priebus or, better, from their local GOP representative, senator, governor or whichever local politician makes the most sense. And that letter should, without stridency, hyperbole or annoying appeals for money, explain...

There’s Danger in the streets . . . Carlos Danger! Serial sexter and mayor wannabe Anthony Weiner appeared to be embracing his embarrassing online pseudonym and encouraged crowds that chanted, “Carlos!” and “Carlos Danger!” while marching in the Ecuadorean pride parade yesterday. Sporting bright blue pants, a bullhorn and an Ecuadorean flag, Weiner repeatedly shouted, “Que viva Ecuador!” to the crowd as he energetically ran down Northern Boulevard in Queens with his loyal interns following.

What's the outlook for the 2014 Senate elections? The Republicans once again have a chance to overturn the Democrats' majority, as they did in 2010 and 2012. Much attention has been focused on whether Republicans this time will nominate candidates capable of winning key races, as they failed to do in those two elections. But another interesting question is how Democrats will try to hold onto seats in Republican-leaning states even as Barack Obama maintains his strong tilt to the political left. The lineup is certainly favorable to Republicans. Assuming the New Jersey seat now held by Republican appointee Jeff...

WASHINGTON - The White House decision to delay the implementation of Obamacare's business mandate for one year sent shock waves through political circles here. The Obama administration tried to cloak its decision in soothing rhetoric about giving small businesses more time to provide health insurance benefits for employees who work more than 30 hours a week that was set to begin next January. "We believe we need to give employers more time to comply with the new rules," Obama's senior White House political fixer Valerie Jarrett wrote in her blog on Tuesday night. "This allows employers time to ...make any...

Big hearted Chelsea Clinton plans to adopt a baby from Africa, the Enquirer has learned exclusively.

We always knew that Obama has a glass jaw, that he can’t take a punch. But it’s a little surprising that he’s started staggering around the ring so soon after November, his approval numbers bleeding away, desperately counting the seconds until the bell rings at election time in 2014 to save him from further pummeling. It’s also hilarious. On paper he’s a bruiser. This is a guy who won a knockout reelection bout even though the economy was in the toilet. He hit the GOP with an uppercut over the Fiscal Cliff. He’s got an awestruck media in his corner...

Infighting continued amongst conservatives and Republicans this week. Karl Rove angered Tea Partiers by implying they don’t know how to pick candidates. Majority Leader Eric Cantor told anyone who would listen Republicans need to learn to craft their message better for a broader audience. Every conservative group and politician is scrambling to find a way to appeal to various groups of Americans in a way that will “work” to win them votes. It reeks of desperation…and it’s nothing new. After every election loss by Republicans in the last 20 years, the media has declared them dead, particularly the conservative wing...

The new conventional wisdom in the aftermath of the 2012 elections is that Republicans face two challenges: first, that the United States is no longer a center-right nation, but a center-left one; second, that the country’s demographic shift away from whites will make it tougher for Republicans to win votes. The proposed solution is that Republicans must compromise on the party’s core policies, from immigration to taxation to social issues. The conventional wisdom is wrong. I once worked in South Africa for a centrist party, the Democratic Alliance, which faced the same challenges as Republicans do, only far more extreme....

If President Obama had the time for some introspection on the campaign trail, he might take offense at all the media speculation (and in many cases wishful thinking gussied up as speculation) that his response to Hurricane Sandy will give him the edge going into Election Day. In effect, people are saying: "Obama is doing the minimum requirements of his job, what a game-changer!" Now, one could quibble about whether he's really doing what a president should. He's handing out a bunch of checks, which is warranted, but he has staff to do that. Moreover, presidential photo ops at disaster...