Free Republic

Next year will be the most consequential presidential election in two generations. Given how difficult it is to hold the White House for three straight terms, and given President Obama's shaky approval numbers, Republicans will have a good chance to win. On the other hand, Democrats had a good chance to win in 1988, taking on an uninspiring successor to a twice-victorious incumbent. Indeed, the Democratic nominee was ahead in the polls into the summer of 1988. But that nominee was Michael Dukakis. Are we sure the GOP isn't on course to nominating their very own Dukakis? Are we confident...

MOBILE, Ala. — It was the most audacious Donald Trump spectacle yet in a summer full of them, as the Republican presidential front-runner, in his Boeing 757, thundered over a football stadium here Friday night and gave a raucous speech to one of the largest crowds of the 2016 campaign. But Trump’s flashy performance was about more than showmanship. His visit to Alabama was coolly strategic, touching down in the heart of red America and an increasingly important early battleground in the Republican nominating contest. The Manhattan developer, who strode onstage to “Sweet Home Alabama,” is trying to show that...

Given the "failures" of the Obama election, Republicans can only lose in 2016 if "they out-extreme the far-left" On “The O’Reilly Factor” Thursday night, host and new favorite Coulter punching bag Bill O’Reilly expounded on the difference between “Trumpians” and Democrats, and warned Republicans that the real estate mogul’s brand of undisciplined extremism could hurt the party whose nomination he currently seeks. After rattling off the predictable litany of Republican complaints about Obama’s economic and foreign policies — the suggestion being that Democratic party is weak on both fronts because of the president’s reckless, ignorant actions — O’Reilly claimed that...

Who is he? Ted Cruz, 44, junior US Senator from Texas Do you know him? If you're a resident of the Lone Star State, or you pay attention to politics, or you've had any interest in the white-shirted [expletive] that is the Republican primary, then yes. Cruz, with his cartoon-villain face and general air of someone who has just smelled something very bad, has been loud and proud in opposing everything President Barack Obama and the Democrats have tried to do since he took office, highlighted by that time he shut down the entire government just so he could talk...

Trump is a deeply ridiculous individual and his presidency would be the stuff of nightmares. But it’s important to understand that he’s offering more than just violations of political correctness.The punditry’s reaction to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has come in three phases. The first was annoyed indifference, accompanied by invocations of the Manny Ramirez Defense that this was “just Trump being Trump.” Most assumed the mouthy magnate was looking for a boutique issue to exploit so he could make a brief publicity splash and get out of the race, like he did with President Obama’s birth certificate in 2011. Responses...

Scott Walker just can’t make up his mind on birthright citizenship. “I’m not taking a position one way or the other,” Walker said in an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood. “I’m saying that until you secure the border and enforce the laws, any discussion about anything else is really looking past the very things we have to do.” Harwood then observed that Walker seemed threatened by Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration, and was adjusting his rhetoric accordingly. On Sunday, Trump announced a $166 billion immigration plan that includes a nearly 2,000-mile wall across the U.S.-Mexico border, the deportation of...

Vivianna Rodriguez cannot wait for Donald Trump's speech Friday night in Mobile, Alabama. "I was shocked when I heard that he was coming to Mobile. But I was very excited [as well]. Not because he was speaking, but because we're going to do something about it," she said. Vivianna is a 24 year-old senior at the University of South Alabama —whose football stadium will host Trump on Friday— and she is an American-born daughter of a single-parent undocumented Mexican immigrant. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has referred to those with her background as "anchor babies." It's those types of comments...

A year ago, political insiders expected Rand Paul to dominate in Nevada and Iowa, the first two states to hold presidential nominating caucuses. Now, as campaign season ramps up in earnest and he continues to slide in national polls, Paul’s propensity to skip important GOP events has left Republican voters wondering whether he is willing to put in the work to seize his natural advantages in these two early states. In 2012, supporters of Ron Paul’s presidential campaign took over the state Republican parties in both Iowa and Nevada. The elder Paul finished third in the 2012 Nevada caucuses with...

Help Wanted: Desperate U.S. political party looking for benevolent dictator. Need outsider who can break some China (so to speak.) Dedication to conservative principles or loyalty to party is unimportant. Opposition to unaffordable spending, unsustainable entitlements or expansions of federal muscle are no longer required. We will give you all the power you need to make America great again. Donald Trump does not make mistakes, as he is unafraid to tell you: "Every time they say I make a mistake, my poll numbers go up," he told reporters in Iowa. Trump informs us he does not ask God for forgiveness....

Making political predictions rarely turns out well, but here’s one: Donald Trump will not be a candidate for president in 2016. What? Yes, I know, he’s already announced. In my view, though, he won’t take this all the way to the ballot in Iowa, New Hampshire, or any of the Republican caucus or primary elections. Why? Because he’s Donald Trump and everything we know about him tells us he won’t do it. Let’s step back from the Trump frenzy and consider the realities of a possible Trump run. First is the essential question: Will Donald Trump be the next president...

As we’ve seen in all of the post-debate polls, Donald Trump is safely in the lead -- though there is still some question as to how big Trump’s margin really is. Neil Stevens of RedState looks at the polls and says they present a lot of questions. “We have three polls since the debate and the Gathering. Two are registered voter polls by Fox and CNN. The third is a likely voter poll by Rasmussen Reports. They don’t agree with each other, except that name recognition is very important: The candidates who are far ahead in name recognition are doing...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)CAP-HAITIEN, HAITI — Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul says it's only a matter of time until the country wakes up to Donald Trump's insincere message, but he's worried that some Americans are blinded by his "celebrity." In a series of interviews between performing pro-bono eye surgeries in Haiti with the University of Utah's Moran Eye Center, the Kentucky senator was relaxed in scrubs, dismissive of Trump and critical of the media's role in Trump's rise. "How do you out-Trump the irrational?" he asked. It's a question he and the other Republican candidates are puzzling over. Paul said the reason "people...

The independent Democratic candidate has repeatedly upheld his socialist views throughout his presidential campaign.When a New York Times reporter asked President Obama whether his domestic policies suggested that he was a socialist in 2009, the president responded with a laugh: “The answer would be no.” After the interview, Mr. Obama called the reporter back to elaborate on his answer, saying, “It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question.” “That socialist question” has taken on a new form these days, revolving around the only self-described socialist in the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination: Bernie...

While short of an official endorsement, Sarah Palin was effusive in her praise for GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, claiming the celebrity billionaire is in touch with working class "Joe Six Pack" values. "I am so happy that he is running," she said. Appearing on Fox's On The Record with Greta Van Susteren Tuesday, Palin was asked if she was endorsing the candidate and billionaire business leader: "Here's the deal Greta, he's the best thing to happen to the permanent political class since the beauty of the Tea Party genuine movement rose up and shined light on crony capitalism, and then...

The bottom line is this: As long as Republican politics demands extremism, some candidates are going to adopt highly controversial positions that rally conservative support while potentially driving away voters in general elections. “Would you support a change in the 14th amendment if necessary to achieve that?” Trump cited his rival’s views on immigration, Iraq and the Common Core education standards. So, I see what Mr. Trump is talking about right there. “Our country is going to hell”. Trump announced in his proposal for his policy for immigration that was released this past Sunday that he wants to put an...

Businessman Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz donÂ’t have much in common, but theyÂ’re shaping up to be great partners in the political poker game that is the 2016 Republican primary. Seventeen political players currently sit around the green felt table of GOP politics waiting to check, bet, raise or fold every news cycle. On the table lie polling points, caucus vote and donor dollars. Despite their vast ideological differences -- Ted Cruz is arguably the most conservative politician in America while Donald Trump often has trouble explaining why heÂ’s a Republican at all -- theyÂ’re looking across the...

The attention-grabbing candidacy of Donald Trump is again bringing out differences between the two White House hopefuls from Texas. The bombastic billionaire put the GOP field on the spot Sunday with the release of a plan to deal with illegal immigration that calls for an end to birthright citizenship. In effect, that would require changing the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to those born in the United States even if their parents are in the country illegally. Where exactly former Gov. Rick Perry stands on Trump's birthright citizenship position was unclear Wednesday. But over the past few days, Perry has...

We've gone far enough now with the Trump political phenomenon to know that it is no mere or momentary matter of name recognition which has placed him as the top contender for the Republican nomination, as bizarre an eventuality as that might appear. He now leads all national polls and all polls in the key early primary and caucus states - and by significant margins. We've also witnessed key GOP stakeholder Fox News try to derail Trump's campaign and fail miserably at it. Lots of top Republicans jumped on that bum-rush Trump bandwagon only to be damaged in turn when...

This is becoming something of an almost comfortable ritual at this point. Another week goes by, Donald Trump does or says something to generate a new round of headlines, everyone predicts that heÂ’s on the way out, and the next poll shows The Donald further ahead than ever. Then the veteran analysts are left staring at their laptops forlornly, stuck with the unenviable task of writing something to explain why. Once the first set of numbers came out which showed that not only was Trump on top of the GOP heap but was within striking distance of Hillary in the...

Actually the games have been going on for some time as they do every four years when the mega rich essentially elect our president through their super packs and media outlets. The “game” part of the process is how it is done causing the people to believe that they choose their president when they do not. I have told my students for years that the quickest way to understand our political system is to watch the movie “The Hunger Games.” The strategy is to herd all voters into their two camps called Republicans and Democrats excluding all other political parties,...