Free Republic

The GOP may be doing well in the polls, but when it comes to fundraising, Republican Senate candidates are lagging. Why is that important? Fundraising says a lot about a candidate’s organization and the enthusiasm and commitment of his supporters. It’s also a rough indicator of how a candidate is faring in the race. With less than four months to go before election day, several incumbent Democratic candidates are running rings around their Republican opponents on the fundraising circuit and threatening to bury some challengers under a mountain of cash. From Axios:It’s as if big GOP donors either don’t realize...

A senior Iranian official, Mr. Nabi Rudaki, has voiced interest in holding talks with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Republican Tom Lantos. Tehran's top MP Mohammad Nabi Rudaki, deputy head of the national security commission, has shown interest after Pelosi's controversial visit to Syria. "Parliamentary talks can discuss bilateral problems and bring US, European and Iranian nations closer. They could also consider Iran's peaceful nuclear issues," Mr. Rudaki noted.

Success against tuberculosis — a storied disease that afflicted ancient Egyptians and Romantic poets and killed gambler Doc Holliday and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt — has stalled in San Antonio and across the state. The region's proximity to Mexico is one reason, experts say. But it comes as government support to local TB programs has been cut, bond money to rebuild the state's only TB hospital — the Texas Center for Infectious Disease in San Antonio — has languished in red tape for a decade, and particularly deadly drug-resistant strains have spread through Africa, Russia and China. After falling steadily...

HARARE – Zimbabwe has run out of maize with the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB) last week being forced to shut down for days its biggest milling plant at the Aspindale depot in Harare. Sources within the GMB told ZimOnline yesterday that most silos around the country were virtually empty describing the food security situation in the southern African country as “critical.” The sources added that the GMB Aspindale milling plant was virtually shut down for the greater part of last week because there was no maize triggering fears of widespread shortages of maize-meal across the country. Maize-meal is the...

This is a 22 page report based on a comprehensive survey of American religious and other values. It is not possible to excerpt it. The Report begins by classifying values groups into: (1)Orthodox; (2)Progressive; (3) And, Independent. Orthodox represents about a third of the population. These individuals have a basic, religious outlook on life and they overwhelmingly believe in God. They wish to see government policies mirror religious values. They are strong believers in right and wrong and see most social issues in black and white terms. Progressives represent one sixth of the populationand are uniformly opposed to religious values...

Bush losing Muslim vote: CAIR survey * Forty-two percent of US-Muslims support Democrats, 17 percent Republicans WASHINGTON: American-Muslim voters, an increasing number of whom believe the “war on terror” has become a war on Islam, have ditched Republican President George W Bush in favour of the Democrats, a poll showed on Tuesday. According to a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-conducted survey, published two weeks before crucial congressional elections, American-Muslims are also becoming increasingly doubtful that the Iraq war was worthwhile and oppose the use of force to spread democracy. “It shows the Muslim community votes should not be taken for...

Rush Limbaugh announced on his show that the GOP house internal polling shows a circa 30 seat loss for 2006. It is hard for me to write much on this subject, as internal polling is secretive and not generaly available to public scrutiny. But there are some thoughts for discussion here. One, is Rush correct? I don't think Rush makes it up as he goes along. He is human, and can make errors (as can anybody talking solo for 15 hours a week). But I haven't known him to lie outright on a political matter ever. I believe Rush has...

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic senators representing the nine Western states that make up the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals signed a letter Thursday opposing a House GOP plan to break the circuit in two. The letter was sent to GOP Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who will have a lead role in finalizing a budget-cutting bill that House Republicans hope will include a provision splitting the 9th Circuit. The bill is expected to come to a vote next week. "The Senate Judiciary Committee is working diligently to address the questions regarding the...

NEWARK, N.J. -- Several Muslim football fans claim they were profiled and unfairly detained by stadium security personnel and the FBI at Giants Stadium during a game in September when they were seen praying, alarming other fans who considered their behavior suspicious.