Free Republic

Imagine if you will you were crafting the perfect presidential candidate. It's likely the following would not be on your list: two-time divorcee with multiple bankruptcies; bombastic reality television star who has appeared on professional wrestling shows; loud-mouth uncensored ego maniac with questionable hair. In other words, Donald Trump. But among the 2016 GOP presidential nominees, it's Trump that's taking the headlines. It's Trump who has people talking. And, most tellingly, it's Trump who is surging in the polls, with the latest numbers showing him with almost twice the support of his closest rival. Why? There a several reasons. First,...

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie says the new videos showing Planned Parenthood officials arranging for the sale of body parts of aborted babies is another reason why the abortion business should not receive taxpayer funding. As LifeNews reported, a second shocking video in as many weeks has been released showing a top Planned Parenthood official discussing and arranging the sale of body parts of aborted babies. The first video shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted unborn children and admitting she uses partial-birth...

Education remains separate and unequal nearly everywhere in the United States, but Confederate-flag-waving Southerners aren’t responsible for the most racially divided schools. That title goes to New York, where 64 percent of black students attend schools with few, if any, white students, according to a recent report by the Civil Rights Project. In fact, the Northeast is the only region where the percentage of black students in extremely segregated schools — those where at least 90 percent of students are minorities — is higher than it was in the 1960s. Schools in the South, on the other hand, saw the...

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker joined the crowded field of Republican contenders vying for the White House in 2016 on Monday, and immediately stands out for having one of the poorest records on environmental and climate issues, according to green groups and political experts. Since taking office in 2010, Walker has dismantled several longstanding policies protecting wetlands and waterways, fast-tracked mining projects, fought climate action, slashed funding for dozens of state scientists and environmental education positions, and impeded development of wind energy in Wisconsin. "He's one of the worst," said Heather Taylor-Miesle, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Action Fund,...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Bernie Sanders told veterans in Iowa Friday that unlike some other politicians, he doesn't pay lip service to their concerns. "It is very easy to raise the flag at a troop deployment, it is very easy for a politician to give a moving speech on Veterans Day," Sanders said. "But it is very hard to go down that long road with the men and women who served and make sure that they continue to get all the benefits, all the healthcare, that they are entitled to for the rest of their lives." The Vermont senator told...

Insiders say Donald Trump is a candidate who is as uncompromising as Cruz on hot-button issues like immigration — and can deliver the message with even more fiery rhetoric.Donald Trump’s turn in the national spotlight is mainly taking a toll on Ted Cruz, the Texas firebrand running as an uncompromising, anti-establishment conservative. That’s the assessment of this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our weekly survey of the leading strategists, activists and political operatives in Iowa and New Hampshire. Roughly a third of Iowa and New Hampshire Republican insiders pointed to Cruz as the candidate who is damaged the most in their states...

There’s an elephant in the Republicans’ room that just won’t budge. Ted Cruz is trying to befriend it. Rick Perry is kicking at its shins. Chris Christie wants to pay it no attention without being offensive. The elephant, of course, is Donald Trump. The image may not be quite apt—Trump’s Republican bona fides are suspect, indeed, and he’s hardly being ignored by the voters, media, and other candidates. Truth is, many would argue an ornery monkey jumping about the room, throwing things, and performing tricks for the onlookers, would be a better comparison. Republicans, who have made a concerted effort...

If you had to vote in your state primary/caucus today, knowing what you know now about the various declared and probable candidates, who would you vote for? Why? Who would you like to see as the running mate for your preferred candidate? If you could help staff your candidates cabinet and other top appointments, who would you choose? If you could recommend different congressional leaders than we have now, who would they be? And who would you like to see on the Supreme Court and why? And finally, feel free to donate to Free Republic.

The latest Monmouth University Poll of Republican voters nationwide found significant bumps, both in the vote choice question and candidate favorability, for Jeb Bush and Donald Trump since they threw their hats into the rings. Bobby Jindal has made no headway since he entered the race, and Chris Christie may actually be losing ground since his announcement. Despite Trump’s surge, the poll also found that many GOP voters are not taking his candidacy seriously. When Republicans are asked who they would support for the GOP nomination for president, Jeb Bush nominally leads the pack with 15%, followed by Donald Trump...

The latest Monmouth University Poll of Republican voters nationwide found significant bumps, both in the vote choice question and candidate favorability, for Jeb Bush and Donald Trump since they threw their hats into the rings. Bobby Jindal has made no headway since he entered the race, and Chris Christie may actually be losing ground since his announcement. Despite Trump’s surge, the poll also found that many GOP voters are not taking his candidacy seriously. When Republicans are asked who they would support for the GOP nomination for president, Jeb Bush nominally leads the pack with 15%, followed by Donald Trump...

As I have noted, I never bet more than a six-pack on politics. That keeps it at a level that is fun but not serious. In that regard, I made a bet last spring with state Senator Mike Doherty over whether Chris Christie would formally enter the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. I said yes. Mike said no. Frankly I was a bit surprised. Mike is a conservative Republican from Warren County who has been quite outspoken in his assessment of Christie's overbearing ego and ambition. I thought he of all people would predict that Christie would make...

The right's in-your-face obnoxiousness and need to portray Democrats as weak is classic phony bravado. Paging Freud.Chris Christie roared onto the presidential campaign stage calling out his onetime pal, President Obama, for being “weak.” He labeled the economy as “weak,” U.S. foreign policy as “weak,” and the president’s style of governance as a “handwringing” incompetence. Christie’s theme is not just his, though; it seems to dominate the Republican candidates’ critique of any Democratic leader whose approach to the larger world refrains from their over-the-top bluster. The real question, though, is what makes the Republicans think theirs is the party of...

Marshal Pétain came to power to make peace with Nazi Germany. Somewhere along the way, he no doubt resigned himself to Nazi occupation and muttered “we can now move on to the important things.”He has a kindred spirit in John Feehery, who has spent his career in Washington climbing the ladder. He started with Bob Michel, the man who never met a surrender he didn’t want to make love to. Feehery then moved to Tom DeLay before winding up with alleged kid-diddler Denny Hastert. After Hastert’s first fall from grace, Feehery went into the private sector where, for a price,...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Tuesday that fellow candidate Chris Christie’s “oppo research guys” got their facts wrong when the New Jersey governor attacked Cruz during a Fox News appearance. Christie, addressing comments Cruz made about not believing in “Republican-on Republican violence,” said on Fox News Monday that he didn’t “need to be lectured by Ted Cruz.” Cruz made those comments when asked to comment on Donald Trump’s controversial remarks on Mexican immigrants. “I find it ironic that Ted Cruz is giving lectures on Republican-on-Republican violence,” the New Jersey governor said on Fox News Monday. “The guy who put...

Not a very good Fourth for The Donald. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), a candidate for president in 2016, stated it plainly: "He's running to be president of all of us. It takes a level of maturity and thoughtfulness and demeanor that's not being exhibited here." But this episode might be seen in hindsight as a definitive and serendipitous moment in the American chronicles. Because Donald Trump angered former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. And Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, has become a commanding voice of moral leadership in the Republican Party. "I think he made a severe error in...

I have to give a hat tip to Politico for coming up with the right title for this story: New Jersey Democrats troll Chris Christie. When it comes to completely frivolous legislation, New Jersey may be taking the cake. The Democrats there, apparently unhappy that Chris Christie is running for president (or just generally unhappy that he exists), are hoping to pass legislation making it illegal for him to do so and force him to resign. A pair of Democratic lawmakers, state Sens. Raymond Lesniak and Loretta Weinberg, are likely to cosponsor legislation that would require Christie and future...

Mitt Romney's backing helped several candidates emerge from a crowded primary field and be successful in the 2014 midterm elections. He's aiming to do the same for presidential candidates in 2016. Many observers expected Mitt Romney to slink away from politics after his defeat in the 2012 presidential election, but the former Massachusetts governor has instead embraced a new role as an elder statesman and kingmaker within the Republican Party. While he has shied away from open campaigning, Mr. Romney has taken to tacitly supporting the more moderate, establishment-friendly candidates in a packed and ideologically tangled field. “Romney, who flirted...

CNN's Ana Navarro and Fox News' Karl Rove, two commentators deeply involved in Republican politics, are convinced that GOP presidential candidates who make it onto the first primary debate stage will have to confront Donald Trump and his controversial comments on immigration. "He won't last long," Navarro said of Trump in an email to the Washington Examiner media desk. "Let's hope he doesn't do lasting damage." Even so, she wrote in a column for CNN.com on Sunday that Trump is a factor in the race for the White House and it will serve the candidates to rebut controversial comments Trump...

TRENTON — Last week, we asked NJ.com users to rank the crowded field of candidates vying for the 2016 Republican nomination for president in an informal straw poll — and they placed their own governor last. Gov. Chris Christie fell at the bottom of the 14 contenders who have officially declared their candidacy. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush finished first. See the full chart below. If you rank the candidates by up votes, Christie would be No. 6. But he received the most down votes by far of any candidate, dropping him to the bottom. This poll is unscientific, but...

TRENTON — A defiant Gov. Chris Christie appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to defend his badly listing New Jersey job approval polls as the effect of incessant media attacks, rather than his true record. Asked why his job approval dropped from 70 plus percentage ratings to the current 36 percent low, Christie answered, "How 'bout nightly specials on this network, for like, five months, calling me Attila the Hun? How 'bout relentless attacks from the New York Times and the media?" However, he also acknowledged the negative effect that his decision to seek the GOP 2016 nomination was taking. "Then,"...