Free Republic

For the record, I do not know the Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus. I'm told he's a nice person, and I understand shares membership in a collegiate fraternity. But nice guys with lots of experience as president of a student body or as an aide to some state legislator or even as a lawyer for the national GOP -- all of which he has accomplished, just won't cut it anymore. The RNC and its many "affiliated groups" gave up on GOP nominee for governor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. They likely relied on the same old bunch of...

One of the Democratic Party’s most accomplished operatives and ally of Hillary Clinton beat conservative Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia, ushering in two new post-election certainties. First, we will hear from Democrats how this means the repudiation of the anti-Obamacare efforts by Republicans and the endorsement of the President’s “stay the course” message. Second, the victory of Democrat Terry McAuliffe means that Republicans had better nominate candidates far more moderate in the 2014 election season, now begun. To be more specific. We conservatives – and this writer is certainly one – made two major mistakes and we had better learn our...

If we’re going to burn Christie in RINO effigy, we might as well have lots of gasoline for the fire. In the interview, Mr. Christie said intelligent voices were being drowned out in Washington, and described the effort led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to cut off funding for President Obama’s health care program as “a monumental failure.”… In the interview, Mr. Christie said he would be appearing frequently in “places like Ohio and Michigan and Florida,” all states with incumbent Republican governors up for re-election next year. He has also told South Carolina Republicans that he wants to...

I apologize in advance because I am not overly educated nor well spoken. I do NOT understand the national fixation with political families and cronies. The Bushes, the Clintons, the Kennedys, etc., and their "inner circle" friends. Can someone educate me? Is there a reason we keep electing the same political class, in election after election? Both parties do it, and the people jump at the chance to vote for them. I will never vote for another Bush, or Clinton, or Kennedy. I will never vote for their campaign henchmen either. Am I just dumb? I want NEW people with...

Reading the political news every day can get quite depressing as one continually sees an insane lack of common sense from the Republican establishment. In a perfect world, every elected member of the Republican party (and the inner bosses) would adhere to Constitutional principles and stand united against the anti-American forces of progressive liberalism. Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world and this is reflected in the Republican establishment hell-bent on destroying the Tea Party. This is utter political suicide as that, without the fiscally conservative Tea Party base, Republicans will not likely be able to gain seats in...

It took a tea party insurrection that disabled the federal government and wrecked the Republican brand, but after months of handwringing, establishment Republicans are preparing to attack ultra-conservative ideologues across red America. From Alabama to Alaska, the center-right, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party is gearing up for a series of skirmishes that it hopes can prevent the 2014 mid-term election from turning into another missed opportunity. But this will not be a coordinated operation. It will be messy, ugly, and prone to backfiring. And if the comeback succeeds, it will be in fits and starts, most likely culminating in...

Okay, guys. Today was a bad day for us. No getting around the facts. It was the biggest gutting since the Kenyan scored a second term. In New Jersey, a senate seat that looked possible went to Corey Booker by about 10 points. Regards to Steve Lonegan. Excellent man who did better than he had any right to. He worked tirelessly against all the odds. Props too to Levin, Palin, and Rand Paul for campaigning on his behalf. Krispy was absent yet again. This loss is hugely overshadowed by the complete collapse of the GOP in Washington. It was a...

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is no fan of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. The New York congressman made it clear on Monday’s "Morning Joe" that he will work to stop Cruz and his allies in their tracks. “I’ve been speaking out against Ted Cruz and this whole crazy movement since it started,” King told MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski. King also said he thought that “there’s no doubt that the Democrats are winning,” and that President Obama needed to play “a more aggressive role” in the negotiations to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling. King also warned that Cruz and...

Since 2008, the idea of third parties started to gain more popularity across America.  Principled conservatives and libertarians united against both the Democrat and Republican establishment started to explore methods of opposing Washington elites and the status quo. The Tea Party had some success – and has continued most successfully – with primary campaigns which put principled people like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul in races as the Republican candidate.  Once they won the GOP nomination, winning the general election was often pretty straightforward. Yet many liberty activists have become disenchanted by the two party system and are turning to other options....

It behooves all Americans to stand up for what they believe in, and this intestinal fortitude is expected from our elected officials. Alas though, many of those lack any backbone at all and are quite happy to "go along to get along." Normally, we pick some clinically insane progressive liberal to be our Jerk of the Week, but to be fair, we should pick out all those, no matter where they claim to lie on the political spectrum, who are willing to let our rights and liberties be eroded over time. Our choice for Jerk of the Week honors is...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- From county chairmen to national party luminaries, veteran Republicans across the country are accusing tea party lawmakers of staining the GOP with their refusal to bend in the budget impasse in Washington.

A sharp reader caught a statistical problem with that much-cited NBC/WSJ poll that shows Republicans are getting whooped in the shutdown: Tampa @S1CT @texasbryanp In today's NBC/WSJ poll, 1 in 5 respondents work for govt.  Only 8% of pop works for govt.  See last page. 8:12 - 10 Oct 2013 It’s true. Here is the complete poll with the sample, the questions, etc. On the very last page we get the breakdown of where the 800 respondents work. The wording of the question is broad enough to sweep in spouses of government workers and other situations in which the respondent...

From county chairmen to national party luminaries, veteran Republicans across the country are accusing tea party lawmakers of staining the GOP with their refusal to bend in the budget impasse in Washington. The Republican establishment also is signaling a willingness to strike back at the tea party in next fall's elections.

The Republican party has seen its favorability sink to 28 percent in this month’s Gallup poll, the lowest favorability rating measured for either party since the organization began polling on their approval in 1992. The poll, conducted October 3 through October 6, finds that the GOP has dropped ten points in favorability from September. In addition, it’s viewed unfavorably by 62 percent of Americans. Independents also view the Democrats more favorably, 32 to 27 percent. However, self-identified Republicans are more than twice as likely to see their own party unfavorably (27 percent) than Democrats (13 percent). Gallup says the results...

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin blasted the Republican establishment's contempt for and destructive behavior toward the Tea Party during the current budget showdown with the Obama administration. Palin told Breitbart News that these establishment financiers cannot relate to the average American worker and are throwing a "fit" because Wall Street knows they are in a whole new ballgame where their influence is diminishing. Palin was responding to an article by David Freilander in Thursday's Daily Beast in which prominent Republican establishment financiers showed disdain for the conservative grassroots while being unable to identify...

The national Republican Party has a serious brand problem. Too many Establishment Elephants are too often Diet Democrats - taking positions just slightly less Large Government than the Donkey Party. That is - when they’re not agreeing with them in totality. Which disheartens and drives away American grassroots Conservatives - the lifeblood of any hope for Republicans in any election. And it drives average Americans crazy, because they see too much damage being done by DC - with two Parties too often agreeing on the obviously wrong solution. Democrats are for amnesty for the 12-20 million illegal aliens currently in...

So House Republicans have passed and sent to the Senate a budget that includes no funding for the Affordable Care Act, setting up a political showdown that could result in a government shutdown. We wish the GOP luck, since we support the policy if not the strategy. [Snip] That starts with Senators Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Texas), who joined with a handful of conservative groups to force Speaker John Boehner's hand. In July they had vowed to mobilize a grass-roots "army" to support ObamaCare repeal. The legions never arrived, but the activists still insisted that any continuing resolution...

The Huffington Post inaccurately accused Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of “conceding that the [Republican] party's efforts to repeal ObamaCare aren't going anywhere in the Senate” on Thursday. This article is misleading and is meant to drive a wedge between Senate and House conservatives. First off, Cruz is not making an effort to “repeal” ObamaCare. Republicans have voted over 40 times to"repeal" the President's health care overhaul and none of those votes have amounted to any change in law. Cruz is leading a fight to defund ObamaCare. This is a markedly different approach; Congress would use its power of the purse...

Washington (CNN) – A growing chorus of high-profile tea party leaders is threatening Republican lawmakers: Defund Obamacare or get a primary challenge. Three conservative Republican senators, a handful of House members and even more tea party activists took to a stage on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building Tuesday afternoon to protest the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. But their call to action–and their anger–was directed more at the Republican leadership in the House than at President Obama. One sign in the crowd read: "Hey, GOP. The end is near for Obamacare or you. Your choice." The...

People are tired of the Republican-Democrat alliance <