Free Republic

Democratic leaders are increasingly frustrated by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failure to put to rest questions about her State Department email practices and ease growing doubts among voters about her honesty and trustworthiness. On top of that, many say, her repeated jokes and dismissive remarks on the email controversy suggest that she is not treating it seriously enough. Interviews with more than 75 Democratic governors, lawmakers, candidates and party members have laid bare a widespread bewilderment that Mrs. Clinton has allowed a cloud to settle over her candidacy — by using a private email server in the first place, since it...

To many in Washington, there's little question that the 2016 presidential election should feature a dynasty rematch between the Clinton and Bush families. To most outside of Washington, that's the last match-up they want to see. The difference could perhaps be described as a tale of two Americas. The past 15 years have been a great time for political insiders, as the city of Washington, D.C., has become a boomtown. In fact, our nation's capital is now the nation's wealthiest metro market. Fueling the economic growth in our nation's capital has been an explosion of federal spending during the Barack...

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s presidential campaign has had a tough time getting traction so far, and a new Quinnipiac University poll keeps him in the conversation about who might be the first of the 17 Republican presidential candidates to fold. But do his low poll numbers suggest the end is near? The poll released Thursday showed nothing new: The South Carolina Republican has been unable to differentiate himself from other candidates in any way. But the national poll — which says that 13 percent of Republican or leans-Republican voters said they’d never vote for him and zero percent said they would...

Among a very long list of harms inflicted upon the United States by Barack Obama and his party, perhaps the worst was Caesarism. Obama relished the worship of millions in 2008. From his star turn at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he was treated not as a political candidate, but as a savior. Progressives fell into a swoon, typified by Newsweek editor Evan Thomas' 2008 comment, "I mean in a way Obama's standing above the country, above -- above the world; he's sort of God." Now, a similar kind of unreasoning adulation is greeting (improbably enough) Donald Trump. Fred Barnes...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Democratic National Committee barely has more cash than it does IOUs, and it is being outraised month after month by its Republican competitor.

Businesswoman turned politician Carly Fiorina is angry with CNN. The reason? The network is likely to leave her out of its prime time debate because she’s supposedly not polling in the top 10. The only problem with that? She clearly is. As Howie Kurtz explained on Fox News, CNN, however, is using older polls — from before the first Fox News debate — to assemble its “top 10″ of candidates. It’s clear that this is extremely bad for Fiorina, since she barely had name recognition before that debate. After it, however, she quickly surged in the polls and suddenly become...

In a shift sure to impact American politics, a new study of the growing orthodox Jewish population shows that they are in virtual lockstep with the nation's conservative evangelical Christians, with 57 percent identifying with the Republican Party. A new Pew Research Center survey published in the Jewish journal Forward found that orthodox Jews mirror evangelical Protestants and Catholics in their devotion to God, their politics and even how often they attend services. "Orthodox Jews vote, believe, worship, act and raise their children more like white evangelical Protestants than like their fellow Jews," said the Forward. "If the Orthodox grow...

We should be absolutely clear about what Delaney is arguing here: He is a) agreeing with Jefferson that “laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind,” b) contending that “progress” suggests that the individual right to keep and bear arms is now counterproductive, and c) concluding that it is time therefore to make a “change in law and constitution” — in other words, to repeal the Second Amendment. This, it is true, is not a mainstream position on the American Left — at least, it is not one that is argued openly. But...

MADISON, Wis. – In January, testifying before the Legislature, Government Accountability Board director Kevin Kennedy called his agency a “Wisconsin success story.” “The Legislature should be proud of the Board, not only for its nonpartisan nature, but for its accomplishments and performance over the first seven years existence,” Kennedy said in defending the campaign finance, elections, and ethics regulator against a growing list of critics concerned that the agency was alarmingly partisan and less than accountable. SAVE MARY: An email obtained by Wisconsin Watchdog shows former GAB legal counsel Shane Falk worrying about what a prosecutor’s statement might mean for...

I imagine Trump is kicking himself now for sliding into the crowded Republican race instead of the Democratic race. But who knew a few months ago that Hillary would implode leaving the Democratic race with NOBODY as a possible? Sure Trump is enjoying a double digit percentage lead in the Repub polls, but imagine his ratings (75%? 85%?) if he ran basically unopposed as a Democrat?

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (D) declared, “shame on the left” for “exploiting misery and tragedy for a — to pursue a political agenda” on Thursday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel. Clarke said, “Well, shame on the left, shame on the Democrats for once again exploiting misery and tragedy for a — to pursue a political agenda. Shame on the president of the United States to invoke terrorism into this horrific incident that happened in Virginia.”

Join Ted Cruz In New Hampshire! Sunday, August 30House Party at the Home of Lydia & The Honorable David Scott 9:00 AM Doors open at 8:00 AM 220 Back Road Dover, NH 03280SOLD OUTMeet & Greet at Brown’s Lobster Pound 1:30 PM 407 New Hampshire 286 Seabrook, NH 03874RSVP HERENew Boston Town Hall 3:30 PM 15 Central School Road New Boston, NH 03070RSVP HEREHouse Party at the Home of Mar-Mar & Mike Rogers 6:00 PM Doors open at 5:00 PM 76 Dow Road Hollis, NH 03049RSVP HEREMonday, August 31Veterans & Military Town Hall 9:00 AM Doors open at 8:00 AM...

Rejected GOP leader Eric Cantor will endorse Jeb Bush and become the co-chair of Bush’s presidential campaign in Virginia, according to Politico.

Two years ago, Trump met with immigration activists who told them their stories and asked for his support on immigration. "You convinced me" Trump said as the meeting ended. Donald Trump with Antonia Tijerino, Estuardo Rodriguez, and DREAMer activists at his office in 2013. Courtesy Estuardo Rodriguez On an August day two years ago, Donald Trump was in a much different place: He was just a billionaire with the simple goal of connecting his beauty pageant business with the upcoming Hispanic Heritage Awards. So at his New York penthouse office atop Trump Tower, he convened a meeting. Trump ushered in...

Join Ted Cruz in South Carolina! Friday, August 28Townhall Meeting Hosted by the Greenville County Republican Party 6:30 PM Cannon Centre 204 Cannon St Greer, SC 2965 The Townhall is free to attendRSVP HERESaturday, August 29thFiling for Office Press Conference with Chairman Matt Moore 9:00 AM South Carolina Republican Party HQ 1913 Marion St. Columbia, SC 29201 This event is free to attendRSVP HEREWe Stand with God Pro-Family Rally 11:00 am South Carolina State Capitol 1100 Gervais St Columbia, SC 29201 This event is free to attendParking Information

As the controversies pile up, Trump’s favorability soars. At this point, Carney said, those that have been fuming at Trump ought to have realized that their outrage has little bearing on Republican primary voters. “If the Washington elite wants to hurt Donald Trump, they should endorse him.”

There are a few existential questions which man has struggled but failed to answer conclusively, despite Sisyphean efforts, such as: Why are we here? What happens when we die? And why do kids go ape for "Frozen"? To these we may add another, which will go down as one of the great enigmas of modern American history: Why Trump? His rise -- and, more inexplicably, his durability -- has baffled even the most open-minded of us. But when man can't explain something, he settles for the next best thing: deciding who's to blame for it. To me, it's obvious. Trump...

So who's Hillary's enforcer? Last week we asked "who got to Donny Deutsch?" when he suddenly became supportive of Hillary whereas just the week before he had been very critical of her. Now the same thing has happened with Ed Rendell. Just yesterday, the former DNC Chairman and Pennsylvania governor was quoted in the New York Times saying Hillary has handled the email scandal "poorly, maybe atrociously, certainly horribly." But on today's Morning Joe, Ed was suddenly singing a different tune, claiming Hillary is doing everything right and plaintively suggesting that there is no problem. That led Mark Halperin to...

The Donald might not notice him and even Jeb Bush may barely acknowledge his existence, but Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is still causing absolute apoplexy on the part of his state’s university professors. Governor Walker waves as he arrives to speak at the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference ‘Tenure no longer exists in Wisconsin,” Chuck Rybak avers on his blog. “We have entered the era of pretendure.” “ The only moral thing to do, right now, is abolish the tenure file.” Rybak is an Associate Professor of English and Humanistic Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay. “As someone...

On Tuesday Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a press conference during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa. During the press conference Trump was heckled and interrupted by Univision reporter, Jorge Ramos Jorge Ramos refused to wait his turn and refused to quit talking. Trump had Ramos escorted from the room for his outburst. Now we know that Ramos had been stalking Trump for weeks. He even spoke about “hunting” Trump in an earlier interview.