Free Republic

A story published Tuesday by Politico says President George W. Bush told former aides at a staff reunion in April that he is concerned he could be the last Republican president: When it came to talk of 2016, though, the mood was grim. The Republican primary had just narrowed to essentially two choices, each anathema to these card-carrying members of the GOP establishment: Ted Cruz and, even more egregiously, Donald Trump. But few were as dark about the Republican Party’s future as former President Bush himself. In a more intimate moment during the reunion, surrounded by a smaller clutch of former aides...

Former IL Republican Party Chair Says Trump Can't Win, Hillary Better Alternative CHICAGO - Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, told Bill Cameron on "Connected to Chicago" that Donald Trump "cannot win the election." Brady, who is a Kasich delegate to the Republican National Convention, said there's still an outside chance that Trump will not receive the nomination. Brady told Cameron that Trump's solutions are not Republican solutions and that Trump's lack of organization ensures he will lose. Brady said neither Abe Lincoln or Ronald Reagan would attend this year's convention because of Trump, and that he's not surprised...

Following a new primary election poll showing that House Speaker Paul Ryan has plummeted to well below 50 percent in his home district, Ryan is out with new mailers assuring Wisconsin voters of his desire to secure the border, and urging them to support him in his contentious August 9th primary election. The new mailers touting Ryan’s support for border security is interesting given that just last year, Ryan championed a spending bill that fully funded President Obama’s open borders agenda– including funding sanctuary cities, executive amnesty, and the release of criminal aliens. The mailers also come amid new reports...

Anti-Donald Trump delegates are hoping to stir up trouble for the RNC and wreak havoc on the Republican National Convention next week, The Washington Post reports . A group of delegates opposed to their party's presumptive nominee is plotting a variety of ways to upend the convention as the nation's focus turns to Cleveland on Monday. One Louisiana delegate told the Post that some are preparing to bog down the convention with procedural maneuvers. Others hope to force a roll call vote, a move that would drag out proceedings and give a spotlight to any delegates hoping to embarrass Trump...

Call it a tipping point, a time of choosing or testing. Whatever you call it, it is clear that this election will have far-reaching consequences for both the Republican Party and our exceptional country. While he has no doubt tapped into the anxiety so prevalent in the United States today, I do not believe Donald Trump reflects the principles or inclusive legacy of the Republican Party. And I sincerely hope he doesn’t represent its future. As much as I reject Donald Trump as our party leader, he did not create the political culture of the United States on his own.

<p>Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush is carrying his crusade against Donald Trump to the doorstep of the Republican convention, saying that he is not the future of the Republican Party even as it prepares to nominate him.</p> <p>Bush, once seen as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, remains one of the most prominent anti-Trump holdouts in the GOP. In an op-ed for The Washington Post published Friday, Bush acknowledged that Trump had capitalized on legitimate frustrations with American politics.</p>

It’s black outfits today for the mourners of the passing of the #NeverTrump movement. After last night’s votes in the Rules Committee of the Republican Nartional Convention, the dream of a nominee with a name other than Trump is dead. James Arkin writs at RealClearPolitics: A long-shot, last-ditch attempt by a few Republican delegates to prevent Donald Trump from securing the GOP nomination failed by an overwhelming margin late Thursday night. Some anti-Trump delegates on the Republican National Convention Rules Committee sought a strategy to unbind convention delegates, allowing them to vote their conscience against Trump even if they were...

...she (Ingraham) responds to Jeb Bush's interview Monday on MSNBC... "I have four words for Jeb Bush, who I think did a great job as governor," Ingraham said. "Couldn't. Win. Own. State." "He couldn't win his own state and now he is trashing the Republican nominee I guess I joked yesterday on Twitter that Hillary should just make this official and pick Jeb Bush as her running mate. They obviously have a lot in common on many issues and he wants her to win."

Trump-resistant and election battling Republicans including two former Presidents, two former Republican nominees, and several former 2016 presidential hopefuls are offering up excuses for why they will not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week, notably among them a break with a history of former Presidents attending their party’s convention. Here are ten of the most prominent Republicans who say they’ll skip out on the convention and a few more who will or maybe won’t.

Republican National Committee members huddling in Cleveland on Wednesday sought to tamp down speculation about a convention floor rebellion that is being spearheaded by a group of Never Trump Republicans. When the GOP Rules Committee convenes on Thursday, Never Trump delegates will look to pass a “conscience clause” that would unbind them from the results of state primaries and caucuses and free them to vote for whomever they choose. There is intense speculation about whether Unruh will garner the required number of signatures. Some Republican National Committee (RNC) members said they believe she’ll get there. Others believe she’ll fall short....

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Republican National Committeeman from Oregon warned reporters Tuesday that 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney is attempting to foil Donald Trump’s nomination at the GOP convention next week. Solomon Yue, a member of the RNC’s Standing Rules Committee, made these remarks after the committee adjourned Tuesday afternoon. Different from the Convention Rules Committee, which holds jurisdiction over the 2016 convention rules, the standing committee found itself responding to inquiries relating to whether or not certain delegates can vote in opposition to the results of their state primary on the first ballot of the nomination process. The Convention...

The stop-Trump movement isn't dead yet -- and Ohio Gov. John Kasich could be their last hope. Republicans opposed to Donald Trump’s 2016 bid reportedly are making a fresh pitch for Kasich to step up as an alternative candidate ahead of the party’s convention in Cleveland. Former New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey asked Kasich allies Sunday to contact the former presidential candidate and urge him to offer himself as an alternative at the convention, according to Cleveland.com. "Given our shared effort in the Kasich campaign, I am sure you agree," Humphrey reportedly wrote. "But, John needs encouragement to make the...

It’s a tough position to be in if you’re the former Florida Governor staring down the barrel of a gun in the 2016 general election. After all, you’re the only member of your family to seek the Presidency with disastrous results and the “chaos candidate” who beat you handedly has basically been your sworn enemy for the last year. So when Jeb Bush was pressed by former GOP strategist Nicolle Wallace about who he would be voting, he doubled down on assertions he has previously alluded to: neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump would earn his vote.

Donald Trump is reportedly ready to announce his vice presidential pick this week, and former Alaska Governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is hoping his choice is not someone from the Republican establishment or the permanent political class.

"I’m disappointed I didn’t break through,” Jeb Bush confessed during an interview with MSNBC Monday night. “This would have been an extraordinary time to serve as President. The country is desperately looking for leadership… I think it requires someone who is not always trying to win, but to solve problems.” The former Florida governor reflected on his failed 2016 bid for the Oval Office, admitting disappointment, but also deflecting blame, saying “conservatism is temporarily dead,” and adding that “Donald Trump is barely a Republican – certainly not a conservative.”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — who along with a few other 2016 GOP presidential candidates still refuses to support Donald Trump — said he still can’t vote for either Mr. Trump or likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “I can’t vote for Hillary Clinton and I can’t vote for Donald Trump, and it breaks my heart,” Mr. Bush said in an interview that aired on MSNBC Monday evening. “This is my the first time in my adult life I’m confronted with this dilemma.” “A lot of the governors, I would have been very comfortable with,” Mr. Bush said. “John...

ATLANTA — Wanda Melton has voted for every Republican presidential nominee since Ronald Reagan in 1980, but now the Georgia grandmother plans to cross over to support Democrat Hillary Clinton. “I’m not a real fan of Hillary,” Melton says from her office in Atlanta. “But I think it would just be awful to have Donald Trump.” She adds: “I cannot in good conscience let that happen.” Melton is among a particular group of voters, whites with college degrees, who are resistant to Trump. Their skepticism comes as an ominous warning as Trump struggles to rebuild even the losing coalition that...

Andrew McCarthy: ‘FBI Rewrote the Statute’ to Give Hillary Clinton a Pass by Dan Rieh l6 Jul 2016 Washington, DC Andrew McCarthy, senior fellow at National Review and former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, spoke with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon Wednesday about FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend an indictment for Hillary Clinton. McCarthy said he was “disheartened” by Tuesday’s events, adding, “It was a spotlight on what is no longer a nation of laws, not of men.” He continued: I thought the case [Comey] laid out was...

House GOP to Promote Muslim Brotherhood, Gun Control Agenda this Week Daniel Horowitz | July 05, 2016 In case you thought congressional Republicans would be infused with a fresh sense of constitutionalism, patriotism, and moral clarity on the heels of this Independence Day weekend, think again. House Republicans will continue their dyslexic response to Orlando by validating the Left’s entire premise regarding homeland security and guns. Last week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas (A, 97%) conducted a hearing which revealed that the Department of Homeland Security, at the behest of Muslim Brotherhood organizations, is deleting critical counter-terrorism research that would have...

Despite a continuing effort and lots of noise by a band of insurgents, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are on track to defeat rebels trying to head off his nomination at this month's convention. Far from giving up, the "dump Trump" forces are seeking new supporters and spending money to run ads, hire staff and set up office space near the GOP convention site in Cleveland to try to prevent the real estate mogul from becoming the GOP presidential nominee. Here's why it will be hard for them to succeed: Numbers are stacked against the insurgents. Trump triumphed in...