Free Republic

Below the fold on the front page of the October 15 edition of the Washington Post was a rather fascinating story out of Ferguson, Missouri, about how young black voters in the St. Louis suburb are considering casting at least one vote on the ballot this November for a Republican. Post staff writer Sandhya Somashekhar delivered the scoop you are very unlikely to find noted on race-obsessed MSNBC. Here's a relevant excerpt (emphasis mine): FERGUSON, Mo. — Darren Seals experienced waves of disbelief and anger after Michael Brown’s death, but two months later, he has found a way to channel...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce may want the GOP to change its tune on immigration policy, but that isn’t stopping the powerful business lobby from pouring more than $15 million into efforts to re-elect nearly two dozen Republicans who disagree with them. In fact, in four Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, and Kentucky that could determine control of the Senate, the Chamber has spent nearly $7.8 million propping up Republicans against providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Earlier this year the Chamber made clear that it would not base its support for candidates solely on their...

CONWAY, Ark. - Former President Bill Clinton urged voters in his home state Monday not to use the midterm election as a protest against the White House, as he toured the state to help Democrats' efforts to prevent a GOP takeover in Arkansas. Clinton kicked off a series of rallies in Arkansas on Monday, praising Democratic candidates in close races for U.S. Senate, House and governor as people willing to work with both parties for the good of the state. He also criticized Republicans' efforts to tie Democrats to President Barack Obama, who lost Arkansas in the 2008 and 2012...

Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson said Sunday that the 2016 presidential election might not happen due to anarchy. His remarks on “Fox News Sunday” followed an interview two days earlier on Fox News Radio, during which he speculated that there may be no election because “there may be so much anarchy going on.” “I hope that that’s not going to be the case, but certainly, there is the potential,” Carson said Sunday, prompted by host Chris Wallace. “Because you have to recognize that we have a rapidly increasing national debt, a very unstable financial foundation and you have all these...

Big, busy Morning Jolt to close out the week — an appalling failure of immigration law enforcement, an indictment in that long-forgotten GSA conference scandal, another trip down memory lane for a beloved prematurely-canceled television show, and then this glaring change in our national politics: Funeral Services for the Anti-War Movement Will Be Held Next Week Howard Kurtz writes the obituary of the anti-war movement. Born in 2003, the movement experienced sudden difficulties in January 2009, struggled and limped along for the past few years, and finally collapsed in the street in front of the White House least week: Medea...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin knows how it feels to be targeted by the mainstream media and reload in the face of it. She told social conservatives at Friday's Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. that that is why she has always had their backs as fiercely as they have had hers. "You're the Americans that the media loves to hate," Palin said, calling the room "the most joyful room in Washington" of happy warriors. "I'm speaking to the most slandered group in America today. Join me in telling the lamestream media that we wear your scorn with pride." Palin,...

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is back in the spotlight for the Republican party as she attempts to help rescue struggling campaigns. This follows a less than stellar appearance by the Palin clan at a party in Alaska a few weeks ago. On Thursday, Palin was in Kansas to throw her support behind U.S. Senator Pat Roberts. The former Alaskan Governor stood next to the 78-year-old Republican Senator, flipping pancakes at a public appearance in front of 250 people at the Independence Historical Museum and Art Center. The appearance was intent on helping bolster the Republican Senator’s numbers and supporters...

Many GOPers continue the self-deception—she’s not running. Here’s a whiff of reality from a Republican. She’s running, and she’s formidable.Over the last two years I have engaged in countless discussions with Republican friends and colleagues about whether Hillary Clinton would run for president in 2016. What I discovered were two distinct schools of thought: Republicans who were hopeful that she would not run, and Republicans who were confident that she would not run. Both camps believed that Clinton would bow out or not win her party’s nomination for one or more of the following reasons: She has secret health problems....

Former Florida governor's likely candidacy reveals how desperate GOP establishment has become to avoid Rand Paul. A dozen years after he ran his last political campaign, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is gearing up for a 2016 presidential bid – a campaign that would open up a new front in the Republican Party’s ongoing civil war. Mike Allen reports in today’s Politico Playbook that according to Bush’s friends, he’s “leaning more yes than no” on launching a run. He’s campaigning for Republican candidates in Senate battlegrounds like North Carolina and Kansas, and Allen reports, “has headlined several fundraisers where the...

George P. Bush, Jeb Bush's son and Republican candidate for Texas land commissioner, said that in-state tuition for illegal immigrants is just a "nominal" cost to taxpayers. Speaking at The Texas Tribune Festival on Friday evening, Bush said that until someone can present a "sensible alternative" to the Texas's version of DREAM Act, he would support the the law that Texas Governor Rick Perry signed in 2001. Bush said in-state tuition for illegal immigrants is just "a nominal cost from an economic perspective" for the state of Texas. Bush also suggested that in-state tuition for illegal immigrants should be indexed....

Unlike many of his Democratic colleagues running in competitive Senate races, Michigan Rep. Gary Peters has touted his support for environmentalist policies on the campaign trail, including speaking about global warming at the left-wing “Netroots Nation” conference and boasting on his website about his vote for a cap-and-trade bill. The move is certainly helping in one respect, as liberal billionaire Tom Steyer and top green groups spent millions on television ads attacking his Republican opponent, former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, on environmental topics. But Peters' investments in the energy sector are coming under increasing scrutiny, especially after...

Downey City Councilman Mario A. Guerra is running well ahead of former Assemblyman Tony Mendoza in the race for the 32nd State Senate District here in California, according to a poll obtained by Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper on Monday. Guerra, a popular member of the Downey City Council and a successful business owner is facing former termed out California State Assemblyman Tony Mendoza. If the election were held today, with voters informed on all aspects of each candidate, the outcome would result in a 37 percent lead in favor of a Guerra victory. The poll was conducted by Moore Information...

The former vice president believes the politics of global warming are changing.Al Gore says Republicans seeking the White House in 2016 are in a bind on climate change. Asked if it would hurt the GOP nominee to be a climate skeptic or advocate against taking action on global warming, Gore replied: "Oh, yes. Definitely." "In a general election? At the national level, where moderate voters hold the balance? It would be extremely harmful to a Republican candidate," Gore told National Journal in an interview Wednesday. But Gore doubts that a "pro-climate" Republican can get the GOP nod, because "carbon polluters...

Montgomery County, Maryland, is one of the wealthiest and most liberal counties in America. If there’s a dumb progressive idea that didn’t start there, it will get there sooner or later. Along those lines, the powers that be in Montgomery County are very concerned about low voter turnout. So concerned, in fact, the all Democrat County Council formed a “Right to Vote” Task Force to come up with ways to encourage more people to vote. The task force produced a 76-page report with more than a few suggestions that could raise a few eyebrows. Recommendations 1-3 are: 1. The Task...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Democratic nominee for Governor Wendy Davis has come a long way since the heights of her pink-sneakered glory days back in June 2013, when she captured the national attention of abortion advocates for her eleven hour filibuster against Texas’ abortion bill. Today, less than two months before the general election, it seems that her party is reduced to hiring roles that should be filled by basic volunteers to keep operations going. Davis’ attempts to rebrand herself as a defender of second amendment rights flopped, her book is not exactly tearing up the charts but did get her...

Two Orange County candidates – facing off in a key state Senate race – pushed their platforms to win votes and encourage voter turnout in November during a forum Wednesday. County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a Garden Grove Republican, and former state Assemblyman Jose Solorio, a Santa Ana Democrat, took part in a 34th Senate District candidate forum moderated by former television news anchor Ed Arnold at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. A political who’s who from the county, cities and special-interest groups attended. The event was sponsored by the Orange County Public Affairs Association. Both candidates emphasized the importance...

Michigan's primary elections were last month and for a young progressive who loves all things political, it was Christmas in August for me. As a member of LaunchProgress PAC's Candidate Advisory Board, I was excited to support our Michigan candidates Jon Hoadley, Stephanie Chang, and Kristy Pagan who won big on August 5, and Rebecca Thompson, a strong LaunchProgress candidate who was just 500 votes shy of winning her election. But still, I'm haunted by the text message I received the afternoon of the primary, "Today are elections? Wasn't Obama just re-elected?" Sadly this is the reality our country lives...

Four days before Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking nearly two weeks of protests, the black community there lost the most racially divisive election in recent memory. On August 5, Democrats in St. Louis County headed to the polls to choose their nominee in November’s county executive race. On the primary ballot was 10-year incumbent Charlie Dooley, who is black, and his challenger, white county Councilman Steve Stenger. When the votes were tallied, Stenger had won overwhelmingly, ousting the black incumbent by nearly the same margin (66 percent...

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein Unbelievably, the drumbeat has begun for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to run for president a third time. The man who lost twice for president is now being encouraged by many party leaders to give it another try. Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, recently told MSNBC, “I think he’s proven right on a lot of stuff. I happen to be in the camp that thinks he’s actually going to run, and I think he will be the next president of the United States.”...

A perfect storm is brewing in Michigan that may propel a Republican into the U.S. Senate seat Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), a Democrat, has held since 1979. Terri Lynn Land, Michigan’s ex-Secretary of State and a Republican National Committeewoman, is running her U.S. Senate campaign on an aggressive conservative populist message that seems more fit for red state Republicans than a Republican running in a bluish-purple state like Michigan. A national mood against President Barack Obama is hurting Democrats, especially those who don’t have the luxury of incumbency like Land’s opponent Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI). Package all that together with...