Free Republic

I have an old friend who attended the Donald Trump rally in Biloxi, Mississippi this weekend. He dressed up in his crispest red button-down, overalls, and white #MakeAmericaGreatAgain hat. He cheered, he waved, he tweeted and posted to Facebook about his excitement for the rally and Trump’s slogan of change. -snip- There’s just one problem. My friend is a Democrat. And polls show he’s not alone. Not only is Trump supported by mostly liberal and moderate Republicans, he also attracts a fair amount of Democratic support.-snip- But my good friend isn’t supporting Trump’s campaign because a great leader has convinced...

".....Of course,Trump doesn't drink. Neither did W. The want-to-have-a-beer-with metric is metaphorical in nature.It's more a measure of the voter's own id and imagination than of the candidate's likely behavior if thrown into a prolonged,casual social interaction with an unknown citizen.(A 2005 story in the Onion was titled "Long-Awaited Beer With Bush Really Awkward,Voter Reports."Noting the poll numbers on the beer question,the story envisions W. tippling an O'Doul's with a blue-collar Pennsylvanian and failing to connect on any level.)Still,knocking one back with a candidate appears to be an activity voters like to ponder.Consider this January message thread on the conservative...

The Iowa caucuses have solidified Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders as two of the leading candidates in this cycle: Sanders is the democratic socialist channeling liberal disenchantment with the Goldman Sachs wing of the party, while Trump represents the frustration of Republican blue-collar, white, middle-class voters with global competition and immigration. Both of them are leading a revolt against their respective party elites. The similarities don't end there. You might think the two candidates have wildly different views on the signature domestic issue of the last six years: health care reform. But you'd be wrong. Sanders' plan, to the extent...

Five days from the New Hampshire primary, Ben Carson has yet to set foot in this state since his fourth-place finish in Iowa. His detour to Florida for a fresh set of clothes has become a running joke online. The candidate is, by all indications, consumed by what he calls the "dirty tricks" of Ted Cruz's campaign. "Dr. Carson feels absolutely robbed, violated," said Armstrong Williams, a Carson confidant, in a phone interview. "He realizes, the Democrats are not his enemies trying to malign him. It's people who smile in his face, shake his hand, go out to dinner with...

There's a reason why Donald Trump is taking his loss in Iowa so hard - it's been devastating to his national standing. His standing in the polls might already be falling like a rock, and now it appears that the rolling concert tour that was his national campaign might be coming to an end. Now comes pretty convincing evidence that his crowds are shrinking, and he's trying to hide it (poorly). Trump was in Little Rock last night, and he tweeted a picture that seemed to show a typical Trump full house, and that specifically claimed that the crowd was...

If the New Hampshire office of the pro-Ben Carson super PAC 2016 Committee felt a little empty Monday, that’s because everybody quit—and joined Ted Cruz’s campaign.WMUR reported Monday that all five paid New Hampshire staffers for the pro-Carson super PAC resigned Sunday to become volunteers for Cruz, the Texas senator, who they feel is the most electable conservative.“We hold Dr. Carson in the highest regard,” the group’s spokesperson, Jerry Sickles, told WMUR. “This is a man we revere, but we think it is important that our party nominate a conservative and get behind a single conservative who can win, and...