Free Republic

Brutal. That's the way to sum up the Daily Beast description of wealthy Democrat candidate for president, Tom Steyer. The purpose of their Saturday article by David De La Fuente was to shame the Democrats into including "candidates of color' at their next presidential debate but a big take away from the story was that it basically described Steyer as a scam artist. Not only were Democrats in general shamed in "Democrats Must Not Have an All-White Debate—and the White Candidates Should Say So" but what really stood out was the brutal slamming of Tom Steyer. Before we look at why De La...

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey on Tuesday proposed investing $100 billion in historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions, a broad proposal in a Democratic field that has offered varying plans to prop up this longstanding yet struggling arm of the educational system. Many H.B.C.U.s, as historically black colleges and universities are commonly known, have faced widespread financial woes recently, with some schools losing accreditation and facing plummeting enrollment. Mr. Booker’s proposal comes at a precarious time for his presidential campaign: Despite crossing the 200,000 individual-donor threshold last month, he is still short four qualifying polls for...

RUSH: I give you… Here’s another example of how the Drive-By Media — and not just the Drive-Bys. Everybody. So Hillary Clinton gets interviewed yesterday, and it’s all anybody in the media’s talking about because they’re fascinated with Hillary Clinton. “Is Hillary Clinton gonna run? Oh, my God! Hillary Clinton’s gonna get back in! Oh! Oh!” Nobody cares. Let me tell you something. I’ll give you two reasons, two names, two words why Hillary Clinton is not gonna get the Democrat nomination. Jeffrey. Epstein. This guy’s about to bring down the British monarchy. She thinks that she’s gonna survive that?...

On the campaign trail for the Democratic presidential nomination, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg tries to portray himself as a moderate politician. By running ads against implementing a single-payer health system, Buttigieg would have voters believe he rejects the radical leftism of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. Don’t you believe it. Buttigieg recently released an aging and retirement plan that proposed massive amounts of new entitlement spending, including a program that the Obama administration couldn’t implement in a fiscally sound manner, with very little in the way of specifics to pay for all his ideas. It’s but the latest example of...

What are the Democrats going to do about all these racist…ummm…Democrats???? – Kamala Harris became the latest of the 6,000 or so Democrat presidential candidates to drop out of the race on Tuesday, and naturally the Democrat/Media propaganda complex ran with the “America is a racist nation” narrative in response. Let’s examine that notion for a moment and take it to its logical conclusion. Kamala Harris ended her campaign for one reason and one reason only, and that is because registered Democrat voters told liberal pollsters that they don’t plan to vote for the California Democrat Senator in the Democrat...

...A democratic socialist—Bernie Sanders—is among the top contenders to be the next Democratic nominee for U.S. President. His rival and fellow Senator, Elizabeth Warren, is also among the top tier of candidates, declaring herself a capitalist who wishes to transform American capitalism as we know it, with a wealth tax, a Green New Deal and the elimination of private health insurance. A more centrist candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., illustrated the shifting winds when he recently declared that “neo-liberalism is the political–economic consensus that has governed the last 40 years of policy in the U.S. and U.K....

The Washington Post reports that a Bernie Sanders rally held in the gym of a black church in North Charleston, South Carolina drew more than 1,600 people. Fewer than 40 were black. Sanders has a problem with black voters, especially in the South. As one South Carolina Democratic leader, a Sanders supporter, said: It’s not just that he’s a Yankee. It’s not just that he’s old and that he sounds like a professor. It’s all of those things. It’s more. Sanders is uncomfortable with identity politics. He preaches socialism. I’ve seen no evidence that socialism holds any special attraction for...

One poll could be an outlier, but when two resected polls find the same outcome, it’s time to realize that, most likely, something serious is going on. Rasmussen, whose own daily tracking poll revealed that 34% of black likely voters support President Trump, was initially cautious about interpreting that result, as this response to a tweet by Dineen Borelli shows:   So when Mrs. @deneenborelli - a friend & an engaged supporter of @realDonaldTrump today presents a snapshot of our privacy-focused daily likely voter results, please remember, not all survey samples & collection techniques are equal or comparable. (Remember...

One poll could be an outlier, but when two resected polls find the same outcome, it’s time to realize that, most likely, something serious is going on. Rasmussen, whose own daily tracking poll revealed that 34% of black likely voters support President Trump, was initially cautious about interpreting that result, as this response to a tweet by Dineen Borelli shows:

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has 154 endorsements from current or former black or Hispanic elected officials. Senator Kamala Harris has 93. Senator Bernie Sanders has 91. Senator Cory Booker has 50. Senator Elizabeth Warren has 43. Mayor Pete Buttigieg has six. The South Bend, Ind., mayor has surged to first place in some Iowa polls and has built a big-money fund-raising operation that is the strongest in the Democratic presidential field.

Pete Buttigieg, whose popularity has surged in recent days, found himself the sudden target of attacks at Wednesday night's fifth Democratic primary debate but sought to stay on the offensive and make an appeal to the country's political middle with a blunt rebuke of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders' "Medicare-for-all" plan. He was joined by several other candidates on stage in going after the health care overhaul, putting the party's far-left candidates on their heels over what Buttigieg called their "divisive" and unrealistic approach. Reflecting the ever-shifting dynamic in the race, meanwhile, Joe Biden had a mixed performance -- projecting...

Pete Buttigieg came into Wednesday night’s debate bracing for an onslaught that never came. Yes, Amy Klobuchar and Tulsi Gabbard questioned his experience. Cory Booker dinged the young mayor’s résumé, pointed out that he himself is the “other Rhodes scholar mayor on the stage” and warned voters against picking a Democratic nominee with an “inauthentic” connection to African American voters — a bloc that has largely ignored Buttigieg’s campaign so far.

... This year, American workers and their employers owe a combined 12.4 percent on Social Security payroll taxes for income up to $132,900 (rising to $137,700 in 2020). They owe nothing on earnings above that level. Some Democrats in the thick of the presidential race and on Capitol Hill now seek to change or eliminate that cap — potentially placing a new double-digit tax on high earners, with several plans focusing on earnings above $250,000. ... The result would be a large tax increase on high earners, even before other changes a Democratic administration might contemplate, such as increasing income...

Cory Booker is optimistic about his future with his girlfriend, actress Rosario Dawson. The 50-year-old New Jersey senator and presidential hopeful discussed the possibility of marriage with Dawson during Monday's episode of The Wendy Williams Show. "Look, I have hope. I have hope!" Booker said. "This is something really special. She's challenged me in ways that I needed to be challenged." Booker promised host Wendy Williams he will buy a tasteful engagement ring for Dawson, should he propose. "She is this righteous activist," he said of Dawson. "She has a fashion line in Africa about empowering women, so whatever I...

**SNIP** Although none of the Democratic candidates explicitly rebuked Mr Obama's comments, Mr Sanders mounted the strongest defence of his policy platform. Answering questions on a forum aired by Univision , a Spanish-language TV network, he was asked whether Mr Obama was "right" to say voters didn't want systemic change. Mr Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist and progressive, laughed and said: "Well, it depends on what you mean by tear down the system." "The agenda that we have is an agenda supported by the vast majority of working people," he said. "When I talk about raising the...

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is failing to garner significant support for his longshot presidential bid nationally, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week shows. Bloomberg, who signaled his intention to jump into the crowded Democrat primary field this week by filing paperwork to appear on the ballot in Arkansas’ March 3 presidential primary, is failing to see any sort of significant support nationally, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll, which surveyed 2,235 adults between November 12–14, 2019, showed only three percent of Democrats and independents supporting the former New York City mayor. Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and Sen....

The latest Quinnipiac poll of New Hampshire shows Joe Biden with a narrow lead in a close four-way race: Biden 20 Warren 16 Buttigieg 15 Sanders 14 The RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls similarly shows a tight race: Biden and Warren are tied at 19.7 percent, Sanders is at 19.0 percent, and Buttigieg is at 11.3 percent. As for the bottom-tier, Quinnipiac finds Kamala Harris posting her worst polling result of 2019 in New Hampshire a couple weeks after the California senator fired her campaign staff and closed campaign offices in the state in order to redirect her diminishing...

On Friday, six Democratic presidential candidates spoke to a handful of people at the first-ever "Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice," held at South Carolina State University. More people probably would have attended the event if they knew what "environmental justice" means. According to a press release from the event organizers, the forum gave "candidates an opportunity to share their policies and visions for the country through an environmental justice lens, and moreover, connect and learn from voters of color whose issues are frequently overlooked. The forum will center the voices of marginalized communities to learn how presidential hopefuls intend to...

Michael Bloomberg’s official 2020 website unveiled the new campaign’s logo Friday night, but the near universal ridicule it received online was almost perfectly described by Bloomberg’s own tagline: “Owning It Together!”