Free Republic

You can get agreement from almost all points on the political spectrum that the worst aspect of our political system is the presidential nomination process. It is perhaps no coincidence that it is the one part of the system not treated in the Constitution. That’s because the Founding Fathers abhorred political parties and hoped that presidents would be selected by something like an elite consensus. But we have political parties, the oldest and third-oldest in the world, and they are not going away. Surely a better system is possible. The current system of primaries, caucuses, and national conventions is the...

Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today a measure that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in party primary elections if they turn 18 before or on the date of that year’s general election. The Democratic governor signed the bill at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, where civic faculty and students pushed the legislation. Quinn said Illinois joins at least 20 states that set younger age limit for primary voters, citing a national voting advocacy group. Sponsoring Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, said in a statement that the measure was “only fair” since 18-year-olds “are already voting for candidates...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has the most influence among conservative voters in Republican primaries, told Breitbart News on Tuesday that Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) should be primaried for their support of the Senate's immigration bill. “Conservatives are getting ready for the 2014 and 2016 primaries. We have long memories, and there will be consequences for those who break campaign promises and vote for this amnesty bill," Palin told Breitbart News. "Competition makes everyone work harder, be better, and be held accountable. This applies to politics, too. No one is ‘entitled’ to anything." She continued,...

In a dark room somewhere, Hillary Clinton continues to self-medicate her depression with as much alcohol as she can afford. Martin O’Malley is looking distressingly at his empty calendar trying to stay relevant. Andrew Cuomo scours the stores to claim as many bottles of slick hair gel he can. And Joe Biden, lol, poor Joe still thinks he’s got a shot despite most of his party voting base not having a clue of who the hell he is other than the guy that came in with Obama. They’ve all been usurped this week by the events that unfolded in Massachusetts...

Right blasts RNC 'autopsy' as power grab By: Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman March 18, 2013 12:21 PM EDT The GOP’s prescription to cure the ills that helped bring on yet another disastrous presidential cycle would revamp its presidential nominating rules in ways to benefit well-funded candidates and hamper insurgents - a move that quickly heated up the already smoldering feud between the Republican establishment and the tea party-inspired base. Tucked in near the end of the 97-page report, formally known as The Growth and Opportunity Project, are less than four pages that amount to a political bombshell: the five-member...

'...the system of Tammany Hall and the Chicago machine' Weighing-in on PAC-man Karl Rove's semi-declared war on constitutional conservatives, former House Speaker Gingrich made clear in a Human Events column what the discredited RINO-pumper is attempting to do with his so-called 'Conservative Victory Project': basically crush the TEA Party wing and centralize Republican Party power in favor of 'Rockefeller Republican', Big Government RINOs- an effort Newt described as 'repungnant' and alien to GOP principles: _______________________________________________________________________________ It is appalling how little some Republican consultants have learned from the 2012 defeat. It is even more disturbing how arrogant their plans for the future...

When Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced Friday that he wouldn’t seek a third term in 2014, a race that already was likely to feature a contested Republican primary exploded into a free-for-all. Several Republicans, including several congressmen, are eyeing the seat. The more crowded the field, the more likely the GOP race will pit mainstream conservatives against the hardliners who had grown disenchanted with Chambliss for working with Democrats to find common ground on budget and tax issues. Democrats, meanwhile, hope for exactly that kind of Republican fracas. They view the 69-year-old Chambliss’ decision as an opportunity to reverse the...

Official Washington hailed the deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff as a significant bipartisan accomplishment. However, voters around the country viewed the deal in very partisan terms: Seven out of 10 Democrats approved of it, while seven...of 10 Republicans disapproved. Just a few days after reaching that agreement, an inside-the-Beltway publication reported another area of bipartisan agreement...while Washington Democrats have always viewed GOP voters as a problem, Washington Republicans "in many a post-election soul-searching session" have come to agree. More precisely, the article said the party's Election 2012 failures have "brought forth one principal conclusion from establishment Republicans: They...

The disastrous 2012 election and embarrassing fiscal cliff standoff has brought forth one principal conclusion from establishment Republicans: They have a primary problem. The intra-party contests, or threat thereof, have become the original sin that explains many of the party’s woes in the minds of GOP leaders. It’s the primaries that push their presidential nominees far to the right (see “self-deportation” and “47 percent”); produce lackluster Senate candidates (Todd Akin has almost become a one-word shorthand); and, as seen most vividly in the last two weeks, dissuade scores of gerrymandered House members from face-saving compromise while politically emasculating their speaker....

In the beginning, [Club for Growth] targeted liberal Republicans ..., but it now extends to politicians like Lugar, Capito, Saxby Chambliss and even ... Speaker Boehner, who [normally] would be considered conservative. The Club and its allies see themselves as “insurgents” against a Republican “establishment” ... Republicans, Ramesh Ponnuru wrote in National Review, have to [be] “the party of middle-class economic interests.” “It won’t kill the country if we raise taxes on millionaires a little bit,”... Bill Kristol opined. But the Club and its network blame the Republicans’ and Romney’s defeat on their not being conservative enough. “The first lesson”...

It is never too early to think ahead about the Presidential Election of 2016, and as pundits start debating and arguing about potential candidacies for President, it turns out that several states could witness a battle for the nomination among their own office holders, as witness the following: New York–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand–all Democrats Florida—Former Governor Jeb Bush, Governor Rick Scott, and Senator Marco Rubio–all Republicans. Virginia—Governor Bob McDonnell, Republican, and Senator Mark Warner, Democrat. Massachusetts—Governor Deval Patrick and Senator Elizabeth Warren–both Democrats. New Jersey—Governor Chris Christie, Republican, and Newark Mayor Cory...

Rain is forecast for many parts of Israel Sunday, and this has supporters of Binyamin Netanyahu worried. They believe that a downpour would favor Netanyahu's nemesis within Likud, Moshe Feiglin, in Sunday's Likud primaries, and endanger the political future of Likud "prince" Dan Meridor. Feiglin's supporters within Likud are considered to be a highly organized and dedicated group, in comparison with the average Likud member. Common political wisdom says that when a vote is held in unfavorable weather, it is the more dedicated and organized group that benefits. Netanyahu's people are concerned that Feiglin will attain a position on the...

In October 2011, the Republican Party of Virginia's State Central Committee voted to nominate its 2013 statewide ticket in a primary. Tuesday's Times-Dispatch reported that the committee might change the rules and opt to nominate candidates in a convention instead. The appropriate response runs to three words: Don't do it. The Times-Dispatch long has considered primaries the preferred vehicles for nominations — for both parties. Although primaries can compel campaigns to spend more money, they tend to leave less blood on the floor. Caucuses and conventions often turn personal; they open wounds. They also attract activists, ideologues, partisans and crackpots...

Don’t look now, but President Obama could actually lose his party’s nomination contest in this week’s Democratic primary contest in Texas. Probably not to any one of the three candidates opposing him, but he could still get less than 50% of the Democrat votes in the Texas Democratic primary. That would be pretty embarrassing. Kind of a spontaneous “no confidence” vote among Democrats.

Imagine that in one 2004 Republican primary, an opponent running to George Bush's left got 40% of the vote, and in another primary, more than 4-in-10 Republicans voted for "uncommitted" rather than support the incumbent president. Now imagine the doom the MSM would have found that to portend for Bush. But when a candidate running to the right of Barack Obama garners 40% of the vote in the Arkansas Dem primary, and "uncommitted" amasses an astounding 42% in Kentucky . . . crickets. On Morning Joe today, Politico's Patrick Gavin proclaimed that PBO's embarrassing performance "doesn't matter." View the video...

President Obama headed toward wins in both primaries Tuesday in Arkansas and Kentucky, but suffered losses of about 40 percent of the vote in each contest against token opposition. Over four in 10 Democratic voters in Kentucky's primary on Tuesday chose the "uncommitted" option versus President Barack Obama, who won the state's primary. And perennial candidate John Wolfe, Jr. took just about 40 percent of the primary vote versus Obama in Arkansas, according to early returns tabulated by the Associated Press. (Wolfe won't be awarded any delegates, either.) Advertise | AdChoices The president's performance in both contests carries no substantive...

Barack Obama had no national primary challengers in his second nomination race in most states, including Kentucky. Who knew it would still be a tough choice for voters? Kentucky voters in the Democratic primary preferred the empty slot to the empty suit, apparently: About two out of every five Democratic voters in Tuesday's presidential primary in Kentucky chose "uncommitted" instead of voting for President Barack Obama. "I'm at a victory celebration for 'uncommitted' who performed admirably" said [state GOP chair Steve] Robertson. "I've never met the guy but know that he highly embarrassed Obama."Robertson contended that the Democrats who vote...

Perhaps the prison inmate and the president could switch places? Wall Street Journal: ____________________________ Democrats-those are members of the president's party-voting in the West Virginia presidential primary gave 40% of their votes to a man whom the Associated Press identified as a federal prison inmate. Keith Judd is serving time at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999, the AP reported. With 90% of precincts reported, he had 40.3% of the vote to Mr. Obama's 59.7% Mr. Judd was leading or had won in at least five of the...

Instead of letting the establishment act like everybody is happy with Mitt Romney, how about if everybody in the remaining primaries votes for Ron Paul in protest? What is the worst that could happen? At least Ron Paul is pro-life and wants to get rid of the vile, evil, Marxist income tax. Mitt Romney is saying a lot of the right things, but talk is cheap for politicians at election time. It should be ALARMING for conservatives to see how many of Romney's people have been advising the Obama administration!! If you look at their history, instead of their promises,...

The results and turnout in tomorrow’s Primary Day voting in North Carolina will be an important indication of Barack Obama’s chances for holding the Tar Heel State in his column next November. Aside from the usual array of primary candidates from both Parties voters will be able to cast a ballot for or against Amendment One which will protect traditional marriage by banning same sex “marriage.” Already plagued by a Gay sexual harassment scandal hanging over the head of the outgoing Democrat State Chairman, the decision of its Democrat governor not to run for reelection and the specter of a...