Free Republic

There are many pleasant actions that can be taken that won't do any good. There are others that might at least begin to do some good. These won't do much good beyond diverting attention from our problems and maybe providing a good feeling. Feeling good is comforting, and that's it. 1. Hit your thumb again and again with a big hammer. That will focus attention away from the November 6th debacle. Still mad about November 6th? Then 2. Get drunk. Still thinking about November 6th? Then 3. Sign petitions to:♦ Impeach President Obama for . . . anything you feel...

(snip) to discuss plans to start a“Non-Democrat/Non-Republican Campaign” for the upcoming general election that will be conducted on Tuesday November 6th. Senator Reverend Diaz stated: “We deserve representation! Both parties have failed us, and both parties have taken us for granted. Enough is enough. The purpose of this campaign is to ask our communities to vote in the Conservative Line, as a protest for what both parties have done to our communities.”

He isn’t coming in cold, with an enormous backlog of unrealistic ambitions to ram through. Instead, the Tories have a solid idea of what they want to accomplish over the next four years. Having already elected him twice previously, Canadians won’t be looking for sudden miracles. Far from it: such is the level of exhaustion with politics that most Canadians will be delighted if the government just stays out of their face for the majority of the mandate. Harper, in effect, has four years to shepherd through legislation that should come as little surprise to anyone, and he has the...

Ten days ago, the opposition parties in Canada forced a new election through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in an attempt to gain more seats and more leverage over the Conservative plurality. The election will be held in four weeks, but already it seems that the Liberal Party has miscalculated. In the latest polling, Conservatives led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper have picked up support and may win enough votes to gain a majority government on their own: The Conservatives widened its lead against the opposition Liberals in an opinion poll released on Monday.The Nanos Research tracking poll of results...

[...] I’ve since been told the case hasn’t yet been decided, and won’t be until after Nov. 2. Instead, the judge declined to give the WFP the injunction it sought. The party is considering an appeal. This is almost of bad as a loss, since the current policy is detrimental to the minor parties. As things stand, voters who select the same candidate on two different lines on the paper ballots used by the new voting machine system will see their vote counted for the first party that appears on the ballot. That is, of course, very bad for the...

Note: Photo included. SNIPPET: "The photo was sent by email late Thursday to Mexico's major newspapers without any information about its source, but there is a likeness between the blindfolded man in the picture and Fernandez de Cevallos, 69. The newspaper El Universal reported that family members had confirmed the photo's authenticity, while the newspaper Reforma said the exact opposite." SNIPPET: "Fernandez de Cevallos, who disappeared last week, ran for president in 1994 representing the ruling conservative National Action Party (PAN). His vehicle was found at his ranch near the town of Queretaro bearing "signs of violence," the prosecutor's office...

A day after being rejected by his own party’s chairman, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio secured the all-important backing Saturday from State Conservative Party leaders. The Conservative Party Executive Committee met Saturday in Brooklyn, where it recommended the former Long Island congressman as the party’s candidate for governor. The Lazio endorsement still needs to be ratified at the Conservative Party convention this spring, said Michael R. Long, State Conservative Party chairman. “He’s got a lot of support among the leaders of the party,” Long said by phone after the meeting. “He’s been friends of the party for a long time,...

Doug Hoffman just told Glenn Beck they are 2000 votes behind in NY 23with 10,000 absentee votes left to count. This is NOT over.

FR can't post threads from the Lower Hudson newspaper. Some more good news. I just wanted to let everyone know that a Republican and Pro-Life Catholic who is the station manager and program director of The Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, Rob Astorino, won the election for County Executive for Westchester County, a liberal democrat bastion outside of NYC. He was attacked by the non-religious, pro-abortion left for being anti-femal and pro life. And still won!

Hoffman's supporters stage big rallyDouglas L. Hoffman's first congressional campaign stop in Watertown had more campaign staff — three — than attendees. Three months later, the Conservative Party candidate in the 23rd Congressional District race was a bigger draw here than the vice president of the United States. Mr. Hoffman's raucous rally Monday at the Jefferson County Agricultural Society Exhibition Hall drew more than 300 and featured speeches by former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson and a soundtrack by country music star John Rich. Mr. Thompson, revered in conservative circles, wasted no time reminding the crowd of what was at stake...

Doug Hoffman, the third-party upstart now backed by the Republican Party, has pulled ahead in Tuesday's special House election in upstate New York, according to two polls conducted over the weekend. A Siena College poll conducted Nov. 1 concluded that Hoffman now leads Democrat Bill Owens 41 percent to 36 percent, after the two were essentially tied in a Siena poll released Saturday morning. That poll's margin of error is 4 percent... --snip-- A survey by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling pegs Hoffman's lead at 51 percent to 34 percent, with a margin of error of 2.3 percent. The PPP poll...

All politics are NOT JUST LOCAL,but all levels of government is becoming more interconected to each other. Also a reflection of the growing ANGER out there in the American nation. All politics, are no longer local. With the coming of the information age, broadband internet and online credit card processing, we’ve entered into the blood sport of manipulating United States House and Senate races in far-away states and districts of which we have never been, nor will likely visit in the future. Is this a good thing? Whether going national is a valid technique to win local elections is not...

Under pressure from conservative forces within her own party, Dede Scozzafava, the regular Republican nominee in the interim House race for New York's 23d District, suddenly withdrew from the race today. Though endorsed by the Republican National Committee and big GOP establishment names like ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Scozzafava had fallen to third place in polls of the upstate longtime Republican district next to the Canadian border. Her retreat came in the face of a vigorous campaign by Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who was backed by Sarah Palin, Dick Armey and Fred Thompson, among others. Her surprise move sets...

SYRACUSE, New York, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A conservative uprising against the GOP's selection of a staunchly pro-abortion, pro-gay "marriage" nominee has transformed the battle for New York's 23rd congressional district into a tight three-way race that has the strong possibility of a dark horse Conservative Party candidate pulling an upset victory - or sending a strong message to the GOP that they alienate social and fiscal conservatives at their peril.New York's 23rd Congressional District covers much of the northern areas of upstate New York just north of Syracuse, bordering Canada, and encompassing most of the Adirondacks. While conservative...

THE WEEKLY STANDARD just received a statement from Sarah Palin endorsing conservative Doug Hoffman for Congress: The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now. The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it's important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York's 23rd...

The three-way race makes for a number of possible scenarios, including ones that have Scozzafava finishing first, second or even third. She is in real trouble. A lack of campaign resources and a classic political squeeze from the left and the right have severely damaged the prospects of Republican Dede Scozzafava, a six-term state Assemblywoman from Watertown. While initial polling showed Scozzafava leading Democratic attorney Bill Owens and Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, Owens has caught Scozzafava in recent private polling, and Hoffman continues to gain strength, making him a considerable factor in the contest and a growing problem for...

Michael Long, chairman of the Conservative Party of New York, is urging fellow conservatives not to contribute to the National Republican Congressional Committee. His complaint: The NRCC is supporting the Republican candidate in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, who he says is out of step with GOP values. The Republicans have nominated centrist State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava as their candidate in the special election to be held on Nov. 3. In response, the Conservative Party nominated its own candidate, local accountant Doug Hoffman. Hoffman has been getting some traction, winning endorsements from several conservative groups and garnering 16% support in...

None of the three candidates for congress has more than 30 percent of the electorate's vote, according to a new poll. The poll of 300 likely voters was conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman. The poll showed Republican Dede Scozzafava with 30% of the vote, Democrat Bill Owens with 20% and Hoffman with 19%. Thirty-one per cent of those polled were undecided. Pollster John McLaughlin said the poll shows that Hoffman "has an excellent chance of winning this election." "This race is shaping up to be a clear choice among a liberal Republican, a liberal...

Could Sarah's move mean the beginning of a Conservative third party?

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republican voters say Alaska Governor Sarah Palin helped John McCain’s bid for the presidency, even as news reports surface that some McCain staffers think she was a liability. Only 20% of GOP voters say Palin hurt the party’s ticket, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Six percent (6%) say she had no impact, and five percent (5%) are undecided. Ninety-one percent (91%) of Republicans have a favorable view of Palin, including 65% who say their view is Very Favorable. Only eight percent (8%) have an unfavorable view of her, including three percent (3%)...

'Compassionate' Conservatism Was a Mistake By DICK ARMEY The liberal pundits who embraced the candidacy of Barack Obama are also eager to issue a death certificate for free market capitalism. They're wrong, and they remind me of what the great Willie Nelson once said: "I'm ragged but I'm right." To be sure, the American people have handed power over to the Democrats. But today there is a categorical difference between what Republicans stand for and the principles of individual freedom. Parties are all about getting people elected to political office; and the practice of politics too often takes the form...

The Conservative candidate for B.C.'s Skeena-Bulkley Valley insists naked photos taken of her in her office are not an issue for the party.Sharon Smith, the mayor of Houston, B.C., grabbed worldwide attention five years ago when pictures of her wearing nothing more than a smile and her mayor's robes were widely circulated on the Internet.

Return of the Atlanticists by: Jeff Waldmann, August 13, 2008 With the British Conservative Party poised for a thunderous victory in the next general election, the future appears bright for increased cooperation between the United States and Great Britain in the War on Terror, according to a July 29 Heritage Foundation panel. “Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s personal ratings are among the worst for a British leader in modern history, with 70% of Britons dissatisfied and just 17% approving,” said Niles Gardner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. So what can the United States expect...

John McCain is expected to have New York's Conservative Party line in the November presidential election, which could provide him with symbolic value nationally but not enough votes to win in a Democratic-leaning state where recent polls show Barack Obama with a comfortable lead. New York Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long said in an interview today that the expected September endorsement of McCain would be "a plus" for the Arizona senator among conservative voters around the country because New York is the only place with a statewide ballot line for the Conservative Party. McCain has clear conservative credentials - leadership...

David Cameron declared yesterday that some people who are poor, fat or addicted to alcohol or drugs have only themselves to blame. He said that society had been too sensitive in failing to judge the behaviour of others as good or bad, right or wrong, and that it was time for him to speak out against "moral neutrality"... "We talk about people being 'at risk of obesity' instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise," he said. "We talk about people being at risk of poverty, or social exclusion: it's as if these things...

MONTREAL, March 30 (UPI) -- A poll in Quebec is bad news for both the nationalist Bloc Quebecois and the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party, now the governing group in Canada, has gained at the expense of the other two, CTV reported. Support for the Bloc has dropped to 30 percent, the CROP poll found, while the Conservatives are now at 29 percent. Liberals are down to 20 percent, and the New Democratic Party is at 15 percent. Among Francophones, about 85 percent of the population of Quebec, support for the Bloc is at 35 percent, for the Conservatives at...

Alexander J. Madison – January 29, 2008 Fellow citizens, I was holding out hope that we could save the Republican Party from it’s slow, deliberate and painful march towards irrelevance. But with the only Reaganite in the primary election, Duncan Hunter, dropping out this past weekend, and Tom Tancredo long gone after being pilloried by the GOP cheerleaders on ‘conservative’ talk radio, and Fred Thompson, the only other reasonably traditional conservative, unable to get the necessary traction for a competitive race against the moderates, it is time to cut our losses and let the collapse take its natural course. The...

Sorry, Rudy: In an interview to air this Sunday, state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long tells WNBC's Gabe Pressman the party is likely to give an early nod to Fred Thompson if he manages to "break through" in South Carolina. "As a Conservative, as the chairman of the New York state Conservative Party, my favorite candidate, naturally, is Fred Thompson," Long said. "He did very well this week in the debate. Certainly, I think in South Carolina. If he does well there, if he breaks through in South Carolina, he changes the face of this Republican race again. He becomes...

Saskatchewan’s new government is receiving a warm reception from Conservative governments in both Edmonton and Ottawa. The morning after the Saskatchewan general election – where the Sask. Party took 38 of 58 seats – was a bright one for Lloyd Snelgrove, Alberta MLA and cabinet minister. “With the new premier and the new attitude in government, I think the future for the prairies – for Western Canada – has never been brighter than it is this morning,” said Snelgrove, MLA for Lloydminster-Vermilion and President of the Treasury. With the Sask. Party generally seen as the more right-wing party in the...

Canadians often grumble about the outsized influence of Quebec in national politics. The province doesn’t even make up a quarter of the country’s population anymore, and yet it seems able to determine the limits of what governments in Ottawa can do on everything, from taxes and spending, to Canadian involvement in Afghanistan, and even Canada’s position on global warming. Americans frequently are told that Canada cannot be more helpful on a particular issue, “…because of Quebec." The Conservative minority government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper made several direct appeals to Quebec voters in its Throne Speech that officially opened a...

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson swipes at GOP rival Rudy Giuliani in a speech he plans to give Monday night on the former New York mayor's home turf. "Some think the way to beat the Democrats in November is to be more like them. I could not disagree more," the one-time Tennessee senator says in remarks he is to deliver before the Conservative Party of New York. "I believe that conservatives beat liberals only when we challenge their outdated positions, not embrace them. This is not a time for philosophical flexibility, it is a time to stand up...

The state Conservative Party has invited Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson to be the featured speaker at its fall bash - a snub to local GOP favorite Rudy Giuliani. Conservative Mike Long said Giuliani is not his party's favorite son. "Is Thompson looked at by conservatives as someone they're comfortable with? That's a fair estimation," Long said of the ex-Tennessee senator and actor. "Thompson has a lion's share of support at the moment among New York Conservatives," Long said. "We're very honored and pleased he will speak."

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York conservatives have invited Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson to speak at a fall celebration -- not native son and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. State Conservative Party officials said it's not meant to be a slap at anyone, merely what they wanted to do. Giuliani has supported abortion rights, gun control and has been divorced twice, all issues that make him less popular among Conservatives than other candidates. The Conservative Party is the fourth largest in New York and can often be influential on the Republican side in elections. The party has...

The Marijuana Policy Project (www.mpp.org) reports that 55% of polled enrolled members of New York State's Conservative Party support medical marijuana with 35% oppose. See New York Conservatives Favor Medical Marijuana Bill, Poll Shows ... However, the leadership of the Conservative Party is adamantly opposed to medical marijuana. It is not really suprising to those who actually know many New York Conservatives that they support medical marijuana. It is a little reported fact that the Christian Coalition has endorsed medical marijuana. There is both a philosophical and self-interest component to these unexpected positions.... Just as many black Americans diverge from...

Possible GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson had two meetings on Rudolph Giuliani's home turf today. Thompson met with Michael Long, head of the state conservative party and with Steve Cassidy, president of the firefighters union. Yesterday, the International Association of Fire Fighters released a video, criticizing Giuliani's handling of 9/11. When asked about the controversy, the former Tennessee senator, a Republican, refused to weigh in and would not comment on Giuliani's record on 9/11. "I have the greatest respect for Steve and his organization and what they're doing,” said Thompson. “I've read about it but I don't have enough knowledge...

The Conservative Party long ago decided that too much talk of the British way of life, like too much loud opposition to immigration, made them sound crypto-racist. That left the patriotism card for Labor to play. Indeed, as the Conservative Party has moved rapidly to the left, whole swathes of policy have been left open for Labor. Cameron is greener-than-thou, positively enthusiastic about public spending and skeptical of George W. Bush.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier in his career developed a powerhouse international influence in action films and body building, now appears to be exporting a new Arnold product: a signature blend of California conservatism that has growing appeal to political leaders in other countries. The governor's distinct political recipe -- melding bipartisanship, business sensibilities and a strong environmental message -- is one reason he has been invited to address the 2007 conference of the British Conservative Party. The gathering of 10,000 in late September in Blackpool will be headed by Tory leader David Cameron, the dynamic...

The subject of community cohesion, for understandable reasons, has become prominent in our national conversation over the past few years. But it is a challenge we have faced before: the question of how we live together is as old as humanity itself. Throughout history, there have been periods when Britain has not been entirely comfortable with itself or individual communities within it. Who would now question the contribution made by Jewish people to British society - or even talk about there being a conflict between being British and Jewish? And yet, only 50 years ago, this was exactly the debate...

Excerpt - The House of Commons has overwhelmingly passed a motion recognizing Québécois as a nation within Canada. Conservatives, most Liberal MPs, the NDP and the Bloc voted 266 to 16 in support of the controversial motion, which earlier in the day had prompted the resignation of Michael Chong as intergovernmental affairs minister. Fifteen Liberal MPs voted against the motion, along with Independant MP Garth Turner. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had introduced the surprise motion on Nov. 22, raising the ante on a Bloc Québécois motion that sought to declare Quebecers a nation without reference to Canada. The motion states:...

Stephen : We hardly know you Harper was supposed to be a boring technocrat as PM ... what happened?By LORRIE GOLDSTEINBy now it's apparent that we conservatives got much more than we bargained for in Stephen Harper. Then again, so did the Liberals, Bloc, NDP and the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Conservatives thought we were getting a technocrat as prime minister who would gradually shrink the federal government down to its core responsibilities of finance, defence, foreign affairs, justice, immigration, transportation and communications. We thought his view of the world was pretty much limited to Alberta. Boy, were we wrong. In...

TORONTO -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper stunned Parliament on Wednesday by introducing a motion recognizing the French-speaking province of Quebec as a nation within Canada — a moved aimed at pre-empting Quebec's separatist party which intends to do the same. The Bloc Quebecois said it intends to introduce a motion Thursday that states Quebec is a nation. But the wording of that motion apparently does not include the words "within Canada," leaving federalists to worry it could be misinterpreted. The flap has reignited passions over whether the French-speaking province should be given independence. Quebecers have twice voted down referendums seeking...

When things get bad in the United States it is reassuring to turn to Canada, a country with a high standard of living, a small military and a national healthcare plan. Canada always seemed to be, if a bit duller than America, also a bit saner. But this is changing. The new Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, inspired by the neocons to the south, appears determined to visit the worst excesses of George Bush's Presidency on his own country. He plans to pull Canada out of the Kyoto Protocol and expand military spending. He defended Israel's massive bombing of southern...

Saturday, November 11, 2006 'Truth' organization wants GOP 'gays' to come out Critics says presence undermining values Republicans say they support Posted: November 11, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern ? 2006 WorldNetDaily.com The president of Americans for Truth says it's time for the homosexuals in the Republican Party to come out of the closet. "In recent weeks, homosexual activists have sought to 'out' various high-level GOP staffers and leaders as homosexuals, to highlight their hypocrisy in working for a socially conservative party," said Peter LaBarbera. "Now we in the pro-family movement are calling for full disclosure for a different reason: because...

Saddam verdict timing 'suspect' Former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind has accused the US of delaying the verdict in Saddam Hussein's trial to coincide with the mid-term polls. He told BBC One's Question Time he had no evidence but the timing of the verdict was "deeply suspect". The former president of Iraq was this week sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity. The White House has dismissed similar accusations as "preposterous" and said the Iraqi judges determined the timing. Tory MP Sir Malcolm said he believed the US told the Iraqi court to hold off until just before the...

One of the most significant phenomena in current Canadian politics – i.e. the growing shift of Canada's Jewish community from the Liberal to the Conservative Party – took a major stride last week when the top contender for the Liberal leadership accused Israel of committing a war crime. Michael Ignatieff, a longtime Harvard authority on human rights and international law who came back to Canada two years ago to seek the Liberal leadership, seemed to stumble into the accusation. In an interview with the Toronto Star last August, he was asked about the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese town of...

Canada's Harper government delightfully surprised both its friends and its foes last week. It leaked the fact that it may bring in a "Defence of Religions Act" to protect critics of homosexual practice from prosecution under human rights codes, and to prohibit the firing of marriage commissioners who refuse on the grounds of their religion to "marry" homosexual couples. Social conservative allies were surprised because opposition to gay marriage, which had begun to seem a lost cause, was being revived. Government foes are equally delighted, because they assume that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has finally made a blunder that will...

He headed them off at the pass. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a western Canadian from Alberta where cowboy hats and boots are still proudly worn, played the sheriff well at the 53-nation Francophone summit in Bucharest last week when he stopped a last-minute publication of an anti-Israel amendment on the conference’s last day. Harper, the leader of Canada’s ruling Conservative party, shot down the amendment, sponsored by Egypt, because it “deplored” the effects of the recent war in Lebanon without recognizing Israeli suffering. “The amendment wants to recognize and deplore the war and recognize the victims of Lebanon. We...

The three federally funded agencies most responsible for turning Canada from a stolid conservative backwater into a raving feminist-gay backwater were cut off at the knees this week in a budget brought down by the Harper government. Reducing federal spending for the first time in nine years, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also reported a $13-billion surplus in last year's operations. The surplus, he said, would be directed to debt reduction. Liberal governments had been increasing spending by an average 8.2 percent annually, peaking in their final year with a whopping 14.4-percent increase. That had been done in a desperate attempt...

In a move to keep a State Senate seat in the Republican Party’s hands, Robert J. Helbock, the Conservative candidate in a three-way race, announced yesterday that he was withdrawing from the battle to succeed longtime Senator John J. Marchi of Staten Island. Mr. Marchi, a Republican who has held his seat for 50 years, announced earlier this year that he would not run for re-election. Earlier this month, Mr. Helbock, who was a longtime counsel to the retiring senator, was narrowly defeated in the Republican primary for the Senate seat by City Councilman Andrew J. Lanza. Mr. Helbock decided...

Canada's new Conservative government, elected on the short-term promise of repairing some of the more grievous deficiencies of its Liberal predecessor, will have to develop a long-term vision for the nation before it can hope to win a majority, says an observant academic writing last week in the National Post. The historical record shows, he says, that only leaders with an inspiring perspective of the future win majorities in Canada. The writer is Adam Chapnick, and he teaches history to the Canadian Forces College, the equivalent of an Annapolis and a West Point combined. In his prognosis, Chapnick sees what...