Free Republic

At least some Democrats are resisting Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s purge of the liberal intelligentsia. This week Ms. Warren succeeded in forcing the resignation of respected scholar Robert Litan from the Brookings Institution after he revealed that a new Labor Department regulation could cost investors billions. Now five Democratic economists have authored a letter to protest Warren’s bullying. Robert Lawrence of Harvard’s Kennedy School and Bowman Cutter of the Roosevelt Institute are among those writing “to express our concern over our colleague Bob Litan’s treatment at the hands of the Brookings Institution and Senator Elizabeth Warren.” Also signing the letter are...

The Fox News report that the Teamsters have decided not to endorse Hillary Clinton’s candidacy at this time, shortly after her pronouncement of her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, does not surprise and shows the peril of trying to be all things to all constituencies. On the one hand, there is a need to placate environmentalists and climate change true believers who oppose the pipeline from Canada. Among them is billionaire Tom Steyer, an eco-zealot who has pledged his fortune in support of Democratic candidates who want to repeal the Industrial Revolution who want us to rely on solar...

Vice President Joe Biden enjoys swimming without a bathing suit, a new book claims.Biden, who’s flirting with a run for president in 2016, gives Secret Service agents an eyeful both at his Delaware home and at the vice president’s official residence in Washington, D.C., according to “The First Family Detail” by Ronald Kessler.The book relies on named and unnamed sources to describe life guarding prominent politicians including Biden, former President Ronald Reagan, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. “Agents say that, whether at the vice president’s residence or at his home in Delaware, Biden has a...

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump is holding his ground- at least compared to where he was in the state six weeks ago. Trump leads with 26% to 21% for Ben Carson, 12% for Carly Fiorina, 10% for Marco Rubio, 9% for Ted Cruz, 6% for Mike Huckabee, 5% for Jeb Bush, 4% for John Kasich, and 2% for Chris Christie. Rounding out the field are Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal at 1%, and Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Rand Paul all at less than 1%. Trump's 26% is almost identical to his 24% standing...

More Americans say they see Vice President Joe Biden in a favorable light than those who view him unfavorably, a new Morning Consult survey finds, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to lead the Democratic field. Biden is viewed favorably by 49 percent of voters, while 40 percent see him unfavorably. If he decides to run for president, it would make him one of just a small handful of candidates who have net-favorable ratings at a time when most voters see anyone with political experience in a negative light. Snip While real estate mogul Donald Trump continues to...

CNN announced its debate criteria on Monday, making clear that Vice President Joe Biden will have the chance to make it onto the first debate stage on Oct. 13, should he declare. In order to qualify for the debate stage, candidates must have achieved an average of 1 percent in three polls, recognized by CNN, released between Aug. 1 and Oct. 10. Candidates must also declare by Oct. 14, CNN said, meaning that Biden could announce his candidacy the day of the debate and still qualify.

Has the political punditry class lost its collective mind? In a year in which every other supposed front-runner and establishment candidate has collapsed to single digits or has already withdrawn from the race — yes, I am talking about you, Jeb Bush, and you, Scott Walker — Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to lead the Democratic field with more than 40% of the vote. Can Bernie Sanders, who is 15 points behind her in recent polling, represent a real threat to her nomination? No. Hell no. Not a chance. But pundits keep asking the question without pointing out the obvious answer....

Actor George Clooney, a major Obama fundraiser, said he is seriously considering backing Joe Biden over Hillary Clinton in 2016. According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources in the entertainment industry hub say Clooney is genuinely thinking about supporting the vice president if he jumps into the 2016 race for the Democratic nomination. Clooney, who held a fundraiser for President Obama at his home in 2012 that netted $15 million for his reelection campaign, has spoken negatively about Hillary Clinton in the past. The actor reportedly labeled Clinton “the most polarizing figure in American politics” in 2006. Clooney ultimately endorsed Obama...

Boehner seems mentally unstable, or is that just stating the obvious already?

One day after #BlackLivesMatter activists called attention to “nooses” found on the University of Delaware, the university informed students that they were actually just wire hangers for paper lanterns.

Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton's lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has grown -- and if Vice President Joe Biden decides to stay out of the race, her numbers would rise even higher, a new CNN/ORC poll shows. Clinton is backed by 42% of Democratic primary voters nationally, compared to 24% for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 22% for Biden and 1% for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. That's a marked improvement over an early September CNN/ORC poll that found Clinton leading Sanders, 37% to 27%, with Biden at 20%. And Biden's support comes almost entirely from Clinton's camp. Without the vice...

The talk in Democratic Party circles is that Barack Obama has told Joe Biden that he is prepared to endorse him for president if, in return, Biden promises to let Obama have a final say in the choice of his vice presidential running mate. According to these Democratic sources, Biden is mulling over the president’s conditional offer of support. In addition, there is speculation among top Democratic sources that Obama has another quid pro quo for his endorsement: he wants Biden to choose an African American as his vice presidential running mate. In this scenario, which Obama has not yet...

The surging popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders has done little to alleviate the chief concern that Democrats have about his presidential bid: Namely, that he's simply unelectable on a national stage. The Vermont Independent has quickly closed the gap on frontrunner Hillary Clinton in national polls, while overtaking the former State secretary in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Supporters say his rising momentum and populist message will carry him to the White House. But Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has spent a career operating largely from the left-most fringes of the Democratic Party with which he...

Contrary to reports suggesting Vice President Joe Biden's wife remains an obstacle to his potential presidential run, sources tell NBC News that Jill Biden is fully behind him for another bid. Jill Biden, sources tell NBC's Chuck Todd, is 100 percent on-board with a presidential run, despite reports indicating her hesitation is part of what's keeping Biden from jumping into the race. And that looks more likely by the day, as sources have indicated Biden's been meeting with Democratic leaders during his travels around the nation over the past week to tell them he wants to do it and thinks...

Following the circus that unfolded in real-time on CNN at the Reagan Library last Wednesday, and considering that your choices on the Democratic ticket are essentially limited to an entrenched member of America’s political aristocracy who’s facing an FBI investigation and a radical socialist who wants to implement the largest peacetime increase in government spending in modern history, you’d be forgiven for suggesting that, as bad as things are now in Washington, they may get far worse starting January 1, 2017. Over the past three months, we’ve documented the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, noting that their shockingly...

Former Bay State congressman Barney Frank had harsh words for Joe Biden yesterday, saying the vice president isn’t suited for the Oval Office and should stay out of the 2016 White House sweepstakes. “There’s something about him that doesn’t look presidential,” Frank told the Herald when asked if the veep should jump in the race. “It would be a mistake for him to do that.” Frank’s comments come as a top Biden backer was reportedly overheard this week saying, “I am 100 percent that Joe is in.” Frank also blasted Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, saying the self-described socialist doesn’t...

<p>Vice President Biden offered a glimpse earlier this week into how the White House, deeply frustrated by the gridlocked and bitter state of American politics, has come to view Pope Francis’s visit to the United States.</p> <p>“The most popular man in the world is about to come to the United States of America,” Biden told a group of Hispanic Americans who had gathered at his residence. “The single most popular man in the world.”</p>

Three-term Delaware Rep. John Carney has filed paperwork to run for governor. In a statement Wednesday, Carney said he had planned to back the state’s late attorney general, Beau Biden, for governor and stay in the House. But after Biden passed away in May from brain cancer, Carney reconsidered. “Beau knew there are big challenges facing our state — and he would have been the man to meet them. Like so many across our state, I wish he’d had that chance,” Carney said. “Yet, a season after Beau’s passing, we’re confronted with the fact that those same challenges Beau was...

When Josh Alcorn joined the Draft Biden super PAC, MSNBC headlined its story on the move “Draft Biden just got real.” Alcorn had been finance director and senior adviser to the late Beau Biden, the vice president’s son, and had worked as finance director for Harry Reid as well. Judging from phone conversations Alcorn had on an Amtrak train from New York to Wilmington yesterday, the Biden campaign is about to get still more real. Another passenger said that Alcorn was being loud enough in the café car to make it hard to work. He said that Alcorn had...

Three-term Delaware Rep. John Carney has filed paperwork to run for governor. In a statement Wednesday, Carney said he had planned to back the state’s late attorney general, Beau Biden, for governor and stay in the House. But after Biden passed away in May from brain cancer, Carney reconsidered. “Beau knew there are big challenges facing our state — and he would have been the man to meet them. Like so many across our state, I wish he’d had that chance,” Carney said. “Yet, a season after Beau’s passing, we’re confronted with the fact that those same challenges Beau was...