Free Republic

Tuesday’s midterm elections weren’t a slam dunk for either party, not by anyone’s estimation. Democrats managed to avoid another apocalyptic election meltdown and keep their base from flipping out by flipping the House, if barely, and Republicans added slightly to their already slight majority in the Senate. We sent at least three Red State fake moderate Kavanaugh thumbs-downers packing and, even better, the GOP ‘squishy caucus’ ranks have been whittled down to Ben Sasse and his imaginary better angel. There’s still Collins and Murkowski, of course, but now President Trump’s judicial nominees aren’t depending on ‘good feelz’ from either to...

In less than two weeks, the Office of Personnel Management is expected to launch the new background investigation service to help fix the mess created by a series of incidents ranging from a lack of contractor oversight to the massive data breach affecting 21.5 million current and former federal employees. Officials promise the National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) will be a much different organization than its predecessor, the Federal Investigative Services. “It will have a politically appointed director, will be headquartered in D.C. and be a full member of the Performance Accountability Council, so it aligns with customers for increased...

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets slugged with a campaign sign — at least in Montana, where following the first U.S. Senate campaign debate this cycle, a Democratic activist hit one candidate’s wife with a rolled up sign. The debate at Buck’s T-4 in Big Sky, Mont., between Democratic incumbent Jon Tester, Republican challenger Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg and Libertarian Dan Cox reportedly focused on the election issues of the day: jobs, the economy and health care. The real fireworks, however, took place after the event when an attendee got into a physical altercation with Jan Rehberg, the...

Many Republicans doing better as Bush plummets in Rasmussen poll. Arnold Schwartzenegger has now opened up a huge (13%)lead over his most likely opponent, Democrat Phil Angelides, 49-36. He also has an 8-point lead over Democrat Steve Westley. In Montana, Republican Senator Conrad Burns now leads his most likely opponent, John Tester, by three points, 47-44. While both of these Republicans are still endangered, scoring less than 50%, they both show remarkable improvement. Meanwhile, President Bush's approval ratings have now fallen to a new all-time low. More Americans now strongly disapprove of President Bush (44%) than approve of him at...

In his bid for re-election, Republican Senator Conrad Burns currently attracts 51% of the vote and holds a double digit lead against two potential challengers--State Senate President John Tester and State Auditor John Morrison.The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2006 survey in the state finds Tester earning 38% of the vote and Morrison 39%.Against both Democrats, Burns leads by more among men than he does among women.Burns attracts more than 80% of conservative votes against both Democrats while losing more than 70% of liberal votes. Moderate voters are evenly divided. Burns is viewed favorably by 55% of Montana voters and unfavorably by...