Free Republic

TED CRUZ: So let me make things real simple: Even if Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he shouldn't be using the girls' restroom. By the way I apologize for that image, it is going to haunt you at night... Donald in a bright blue pants-suit. But let me just say to Jimmy Fallon and the Tonight Show. Please...

On paper, the alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich – whereby Kasich will skip the May 3 Indiana primary to help Cruz against frontrunner Donald Trump, while Cruz will skip Oregon (May 17) and New Mexico (June 7) to help Kasich – makes a lot of sense. After all, when you add up the Cruz-Kasich percentages in recent polls, that number beats Trump’s percentage. The alliance is also necessary, given that the three public polls out of Indiana now show Trump ahead – and if Trump wins the Hoosier State, it’s game over for Cruz and Kasich. But we...

Bill Kristol, son of Irving, names Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 79% , Mitt Romney, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) 79% , and others on his hypothetical shortlist of third-party candidates that he could run if Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee. The “Weekly Standard” editor and self-styled neoconservative power broker is back to talking about a third party, declaring that a Trump victory in Indiana would force him to re-focus on his so-called “Latter-Day Republicans” independent ticket. A third party could help to split the vote on the Right and elect Hillary Clinton president, which would allow Kristol to stave off...

Once again the act of Twitter Shadow-Banning has surfaced, only this time it is against U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump. Breitbart has the story HEREHere’s the video message Twitter is blocking:As you digest the reality of a social media platform controlling the dissemination of political speech, you might want to remember this picture from an earlier discussion:

Cruz campaign announces they're focusing on Indiana and clearing a path for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.

Welcome to the Free Republic CaucusPlease read the rules, and participate according to the guidelines provided.  Thank you. REMEMBER:  To find the Free Republic Caucus thread for the day, search by title, "caucus". The New England Primaries (172) take place tomorrow. Only vote on this thread on: 04/25/2016  another thread will pop up moments before: 04/26/2016Wait to vote until 12:00 midnight EST, and don't vote after 12:00 midnight EST at the at the end of the day.  Look for the new thread. Votes outside the 24 hour period, will not be counted.  Give it three minutes or so on each end,...

A retired middle school principal was so moved by Donald Trump that he switched his Democratic Party registration so he can vote for him in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary. So did the daughter of a steelworker, who twice voted for President Barack Obama but says she is “over” the Democrats’ political correctness. And a husband-wife team of Trump volunteers — she’s a laid-off airport worker, he’s a laid-off truck driver — were Democrats for 30 years, until recently. “We always voted Democrat,” said Laurie McGinnis, as her husband, Ricky, hung a Trump banner outside their South Greensburg home. “But not...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The slayings of eight family members in rural southern Ohio "was a pre-planned execution" and the investigation will be lengthy, the state's attorney general told reporters Sunday... Authorities said it was clear that the Rhoden family was targeted, and Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said he's told relatives to be armed. Reader said he did not believe there was a safety issue for other residents. But "If you are fearful, arm yourself," he said. Authorities have been scrambling to determine who targeted the clan and why. Investigators have interviewed between 50 and 60 people in hopes...

VIENNA (AFP) - Austria's government was licking its wounds Monday after a historic debacle that saw the opposition anti-immigrant far-right triumph in a presidential ballot two years before the next scheduled general election. According to preliminary results, Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party (FPOe) came a clear first with 36 percent of the vote, while candidates from the two governing parties failed to even make it into a runoff on May 22. The result means that for the first time since 1945, Austria will not have a president backed by either Chancellor Werner Faymann's Social Democrats (SPOe) or their centre-right...

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump surged Sunday toward another round of pivotal presidential primaries as their party leaders faced new questions about internal divisions that could complicate their nominees’ general election chances. With less than 48 hours before voting began across five Northeastern states, GOP front-runner Donald Trump looked ahead to Tuesday’s contests in five states where he’s poised to do well and to a foreign policy speech later in the week. Republican challenger Ted Cruz, meanwhile, abandoned the Tuesday states and instead campaigned in Indiana, which votes May 3. On the Democratic side, underdog Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, rallied thousands...

Donald Trump Jr. said that the only way Texas Sen. Ted Cruz can convince delegates to support him over his father is with bribery. "Ted Cruz has no chance of winning this without bribing the delegates. That's his game at this point," the son of the real estate mogul told CNN's Jake Tapper in a CNN "State of the Union" interview that aired Sunday. Trump Jr. said if his father wanted to bribe delegates he could -- and do it very well. "He could send his private plane and send them down to Doral, they could play golf for a...

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hold double-digit leads in the April 26 primary contest of Pennsylvania, according to results from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll. In the Republican race, Trump gets support from 45 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the state — followed by Ted Cruz at 27 percent and John Kasich at 24 percent. Trump performs the best among those who strongly support a candidate (getting support from 57 percent from that group), men (52 percent), those without a college degree (52 percent) and those in the Northeast part of the state (52 percent). He...

Donald Trump heads into Tuesday's slate of primaries maintaining his large lead in Pennsylvania, and has a lead in Indiana, which holds its primary the following week. Together this would keep Trump on a path to securing the nomination: If he does manage to win the bulk of delegates in Tuesday's round of primaries, and follows that up by a solid showing in Indiana -- which has been touted as the better chance for Cruz and Kasich to try to stop him -- then Trump would remain on pace to eventually clear the majority of 1,237 delegates later in June....

Welcome to the Free Republic CaucusPlease read the rules, and participate according to the guidelines provided.  Thank you. REMEMBER:  To find the Free Republic Caucus thread for the day, search by title, "caucus". The New England Primaries (172) take place in two days. Only vote on this thread on: 04/24/2016  another thread will pop up moments before: 04/25/2016Wait to vote until 12:00 midnight EST, and don't vote after 12:00 midnight EST at the at the end of the day.  Look for the new thread. Votes outside the 24 hour period, will not be counted.  Give it three minutes or so on...

(ARIZONA Op-Ed) If you are in Arizona, mark April 30th on your calendar and plan to attend because Arizona GOP elite says Trump voters don’t matter. This is why the Arizona Cruz supporters and the GOP establishment elite have entered into an unholy alliance to “stack the deck to steal the national delegates” from Mr. Trump at the Arizona GOP State Convention scheduled for April 30 in Mesa. A delegation of 1,251 state delegates elected from 40 Arizona Legislative and County Caucuses will descend on Mesa on April 30. Unfortunately, many of these state delegates are Cruz supporters led by...

Supporters cheer for republican presidential candidates Donald Trump Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee. Curly Haugland, a longstanding RNC official and an unbound delegate from North Dakota who will be on the convention rules committee in July, told CNBC that attaining 1,237 during the primaries does not secure the nomination. "Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday they favored sealing a U.S.-European free trade agreement as it would fuel growth on both sides of the Atlantic. Merkel is expected to discuss the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with Obama when he visits a trade show in Hanover on Sunday and Monday. Support for TTIP has plunged in both their countries, however. Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Hanover on Saturday to express their opposition to the deal. Police said 35,000 people took part in the demonstration, while organizers said more than double that...

Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe restoring voting rights for roughly 200,000 convicted felons is part of a lauded, national effort to reverse sentencing laws that most affect African Americans. But Republicans are suggesting McAuliffe, a long-time Clinton supporter, went too far by including violent criminals and that his move is a “transparent effort to win votes.” The governor’s executive order allows Virginia felons, includes convicted murders and rapists, who by Friday had completed their sentence and finished supervised release, parole or probation requirements to vote in the swing state in the November presidential elections.

Putin’s Attack Helicopters and Mercenaries Are Winning the War for Assad Taking advantage of a ceasefire, the Russian strongman is doubling down in Syria — not withdrawing. BY JAMES MILLER MARCH 30, 2016 “The notion that somehow Russia is in a stronger position now, in Syria or in Ukraine, than they were before they invaded Ukraine or before he had to deploy military forces to Syria is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of power in foreign affairs or in the world generally. Real power means you can get what you want without having to exert violence,” the U.S. president said....

Welcome to the Free Republic CaucusPlease read the rules, and participate according to the guidelines provided.  Thank you. REMEMBER:  To find the Caucus thread for the day, Search "Caucus" The New England Primaries (172) take place in three days. Only vote on this thread on: 04/23/2016  another thread will pop up moments before: 04/24/2016Wait to vote until 12:00 midnight EST, and don't vote after 12:00 midnight EST at the at the end of the day.  Look for the new thread. Votes outside the 24 hour period, will not be counted.  Give it three minutes or so on each end, so you...