Free Republic

For fifty years the Republican nominating process has been the avenue through which the party chooses the nominee for the next election season. This year’s nominee is never in doubt. Whoever finished second last time simply steps up for his turn. If the second-place finisher from the last campaign decides not to run, as in ’68 and ‘00, the nominee is appointed by the party leadership and presented for ratification in the primary process. This is no historical accident, but rather a product of the institutional structure of the party. That institutional structure has broken down. Priorities and practices that...

African American staffers on Capitol Hill plan to stage a protest Thursday in solidarity with similar demonstrations nationwide.African American Congressional staffers are planning a protest on the U.S. Capitol steps Thursday afternoon, disrupting their workday to speak out against the Eric Garner and Mike Brown grand jury decisions. The protest follows large demonstrations in New York and other major cities last week, which were held to speak out about the deaths of these two African American men. “Black staffers on Capitol Hill wanted to do something in support of ongoing national and global protests against police aggression,” an organizer said,...

In a post ranking the potential Republican candidates for President, Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake put Kentucky Senator at the top of the list: 1. Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.). People used to roll their eyes when we said Paul had a real chance to be the Republican nominee in 2016. Not anymore. Paul has a unique activist and fundraising base, thanks to his father’s two runs for president, and has shown considerable savvy in his outreach to the establishment end of the party over the past few years. Paul still says odd things — his blaming of high cigarette taxes...

One of the Senate’s leading liberals is borrowing a page from the playbook of Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is pushing to strike out language from the “cromnibus” spending bill unveiled Tuesday that would roll back restrictions on “swaps” transactions included in the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul known as Dodd-Frank. Repealing the “push-out” provision would mean that certain derivatives could again be held in bank units with federal deposit insurance. Using a strategy sometimes employed by Cruz for entirely different policy reasons, Warren said that with the $1.013 trillion spending package first being considered by the...

In the wake of the Democratic Party’s second disastrous midterm election in a row, the progressive wing of the party is acknowledging that Democrats need to renew their focus on policy rather than politics. On Wednesday, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched the “Big Ideas Project,” an initiative aimed at soliciting proposals from the public. It’s not a bad idea; the president’s party needs all the help they can get. “After being diminished in Congress, wiped out in the South, and marginalized in the states Dems focus on gun control,” wrote National Review’s Charles Cooke on Wednesday. It’s true. “A...

Is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush too moderate for the Republican Party? That is all the talk. But here’s a surprise: Adam C. Smith, political editor of the liberal Tampa Bay Times, authored this piece last Friday refuting with evidence that Bush as governor was “arch-conservative” and far from a “moderate squish.” — Ed. Respected Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley told the Washington Examiner recently that Jeb Bush is the latest in a line of Bushes who oppose Reaganism. Radio host Mark Levin has dismissed Florida’s former governor as “a very good moderate Democrat,” while pioneering conservative activist Richard Viguerie...

On January 27, 2007, I wrote what remains one of the most read posts in RedState history. The title summed it up. “They All Suck”. In it, I noted that the field of Republican candidates then taking shape headed into the 2008 election were just terrible. Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Tom Tancredo, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) Heritage ActionScorecard Rep. Duncan HunterHouse Republican Average See Full Scorecard 68%, and Sam Brownback were a lightweight crew of candidates. as I noted: They all suck. Let’s just admit it. Every one of the thus far announced Republican candidates for President sucks. From the lecherous...

The Republican Party’s largest donors all seem to have the same idea. They’d like the 2016 presidential nomination race settled early on in the cycle. And, if you believe the reporting of the New York Times (and in this instance, it may be accurate), they’d like it to be one of the following three candidates: Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, or, wait for it, Mitt Romney. The conceit of the article is not crazy. If a critical mass of GOP fat cats gets together on a candidate, the odds will shift in favor of that person. But there’s a big problem...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said that Jesse Benton, the former campaign manager for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), will be part of Paul's campaign team in 2016. Benton, served as McConnell's campaign manager for much of the 2014 cycle until he resigned amid questions about the role he allegedly played in a 2012 Iowa pay-for-votes bribery scandal. Paul, in an interview with WHAS11, said that he thinks "Jesse is honest, he's good at politics and I don't think he's done anything wrong." It wasn't clear from Paul's comments if he was referring to his Senate re-election campaign or the...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called school choice the greatest civil rights issue of the 21st century.Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called school choice "the most compelling civil rights issue of the 21st century" and suggested it will be a significant focus of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and human rights when he becomes chairman in the new Congress. The potential GOP presidential contender made the remarks during a Senate hearing on community policing, scheduled in the wake of racial protests sparked by the deaths of two unarmed African-American men at the hands of white police officers....

Republicans know they can't win the popular vote. You won't believe sick schemes they've launched to get around it. Republicans have only won the popular vote for president once in the last 25 years, a steep decline in their fortunes from the period from 1972 to 1988, when they won the popular vote every time but one–1976, the aftermath of Watergate. Add to that massive policy failures and demographic trends against them, and the motivations to cheat are overwhelming. Voter suppression seemed promising at first—and it’s helpful in many downticket races—but it’s not going to be enough to secure the...

Trent Lott wasn’t always this way. He was once a conservative champion, who came to Washington to change the ruling-class narrative. But now he’s a profile in what Washington does to you if you stay too long — unless you have Winston Churchill-like courage of conviction, and few mere mortals do. Mr. Lott was originally part of a group that included former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Vin Webber, who were dubbed the “Young Turks.” They were among the chief lieutenants of the Reagan Revolution back in the day. Best known for fighting the Fraternal Order of Establishment Republicans....

The likely Democratic presidential nominee needs to duplicate, or at least come close to duplicating, Obama's performance among African-Americans. It's a tall task. Mary Landrieu lost her runoff race Saturday because President Obama isn't well-liked, national Democrats abandoned her, and, statewide, Louisiana pretty much only elects Republicans. But Democrats and their likely presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, might squirm the most over her defeat for a different reason: The longtime senator couldn't get enough support from African-Americans. Like Landrieu, Clinton (or whoever becomes the party's standard-bearer) will try to win over black voters at the same rate Obama did in both...

<p>Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential pick, is headed to Iowa in January 2015 for a conservative gathering that will showcase no fewer than nine potential 2016 presidential contenders.</p> <p>She’s one of the confirmed speakers at the inaugural Iowa Freedom Summit, an event organized by Iowa Rep. Steve King and conservative group Citizens United to “bring grassroots activists from across Iowa to hear directly from national conservative leaders,” per its website. The event is scheduled for Jan. 24.</p>

Much has been made of the fact that when losing Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) leaves office in January, Louisiana will not have a Democratic statewide elected official in office for the first time since the 1870s. The Republicans who occupy all of the Pelican State’s high offices are in good company; Republicans now control every U.S. Senate seat, legislative chamber, and governor’s mansion across the Deep South – from Texas to the Carolinas. This condition is giving some Democrats, loyal to the party for whom the term “Solid South” was coined, indigestion. The best example of this phenomenon is an...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced it will host a presentation by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL): “Immigration and the Rule of Law.” Special introduction will be given by Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Senator Sessions will discuss the impacts of illegal immigration and the impacts of President Obama’s unilateral “executive action” on illegal immigration. Senator Sessions is a well-known leader advocate for better enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.

For Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the issue of sexual assault on college campuses is personal. During his years at Princeton University, Cruz spearheaded efforts to fight date rape at the school. In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, he said his focus on the issue was in part inspired by a dark chapter in his family history. "When I was in student government in college, protecting student safety was a real priority, and no student should ever have to face the threat of sexual assault," Cruz said in an email to Business Insider. "In my own family, my aunt experienced...

In the minority, Republicans did not have responsibility for governance. However, with a few defections, as we saw in the 2013 shutdown, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) could start a rumpus, delay business, get attention and decry his fellow Republicans’ weakness when his own plots blew up. Come January, he will have a new challenge: remaining relevant. Cruz will not be the most hawkish Republican, even among the potential GOP presidential candidates. Recall that he favored changes to the National Security Agency that would have decimated the program and a “reform” in military investigations of sexual assault claims that would have...

Stand With Hillary, a group focused on getting Latino voters and working families excited about the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidential run, released a music video on YouTube last month. YouTube is basically the debutante ball where all outside groups announce they have arrived, with varied success. The music video has been online since November 16 has been viewed no less than 300,000 times. Hillary boosterism is a crowded field, as there are already Clinton 2016 groups that travel the country in a bus and sell branded Mason jars and sell many, many paintings with Hillary Clinton's face on...

Jeb Bush might or might not run for president in 2016. If he runs, he might or might not emerge as a winner. But his formulation for how to think about waging a successful presidential campaign suggests he already is ahead of some of his potential competitors — in both parties. Bush, the former governor of Florida, spoke last week at a Wall Street Journal conference in Washington. In an interview conducted by Jerry Seib, the Journal’s Washington bureau chief, he said that anyone running for president should be prepared “to lose the primary to win the general [election] without...