Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Growing Republican dominance of Senate seats in states where George W. Bush has run best looms as the principal obstacle for Democrats hoping to retake the chamber in 2006 or beyond. With the recent struggle over judicial nominations underscoring the stakes, the battle for Senate control could attract unprecedented levels of money and energy next year. Democrats are optimistic about their chances of ousting GOP senators in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, states that voted for Democratic presidential candidates John F. Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000. But the Democrats are unlikely to regain a Senate majority...

The Republicans have had the Democrats on the defensive. They have won seven presidential victories in the last 10 elections since 1968; control of the House since 1994; and, recently, control of the Senate, both with increasing majorities. The Democrats have not broken 50 percent in any presidential election since 1976 or 48.5 percent in the six congressional elections since 1994. They have not won a majority of the white votes since 1964, and their geographic base has come to be concentrated on both coasts. You can fly over virtually the entire country without flying over states that voted Democratic....

White House political operative Karl Rove told a Republican rally in Ohio Monday that Democrats faded from national power because the GOP has claimed the "mantle of idealism" over the past 40 years. "It has been a remarkable rise," Rove said, "but it also is a cautionary tale about what can happen to a dominant political party when its thinking becomes ossified." He said the GOP was nearly dead in 1964, after Democrat Lyndon Johnson crushed Barry Goldwater. He predicted it could be on the cusp of a political realignment that will leave it in power for a generation. Rove,...

There is an undeniable fury building among Republican voters coast to coast. It has now been almost six months since that euphoric day last year -- November 2nd -- when Republicans stunned Democrats across the board. Not only did President Bush handily beat John Kerry, but the GOP did what few predicted -- it managed to pick up four seats in the Senate. John Thune's victory over Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota was extra sweet. That seems like six years ago, not six months ago. Talk to your average Republican voter today and you will find a...

It's just that simple. The GOP has been out of the channels of power since FDR's Democratic Party co-opted socialism to remake their party into the "Party of the people" at the end of Hoover's term. That was in 1934, for those keeping track. Previous to 1934 the Republican Party had long stretches of and often a choke hold on political power in Washington for most of the 74 years between the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, was elected in 1860 and Hoover's disastrous last days in office in 1934. The Democrats had to suffice with brief periods during Woodrow...

4/18/05 By Michael Barone The Hardest Numbers Congressional Republicans have some reason to feel under siege. Public opinion polls show that congressional action in the Terri Schiavo case was unpopular. George W. Bush's job ratings have dipped, and Congress's job rating is lower. Many polls show that Bush's proposal for personal retirement accounts in Social Security is unpopular, too. The Washington Post and the New York Times have been hammering away at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Despite good economic numbers, most voters feel the economy is in trouble and the nation is on the wrong track. But Republicans should...

In trying to sell his reform agenda this year, President Bush must first overcome history. As everyone inside the Beltway seems fond of repeating, parties that control the White House tend to lose seats in Congress in off-year elections. Some Republicans now fear even worse losses should they embrace Social Security reform or any other dramatic change. More than a few congressional Republicans would rather just play it safe and hold onto power. So far, Mr. Bush isn't making much headway. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas and others have already hinted that the president's Social...

In examining the current two-party system, it becomes clear that a growing majority of Americans fit into the conservative movement. It is agreed that both parties are moving further to the right and left, respectively, but it has been Republicans that have grown their base by facing issues realistically, and by spreading hope instead of despair. Republicans are gaining the support of mainstream, rational-thinking people whose party affiliation was previously tenuous.

AGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 30 - After a slow start, voters turned out in very large numbers in Baghdad today, packing polling places and creating a party atmosphere in the streets, which were closed to traffic but full of children playing soccer, and men and women, some carrying babies. American officials were showing confidence that today was going to be a big success, although they were still wary of the possibility of major attacks by insurgents. In the Karada district of central Baghdad, everyone, it seemed, was walking to the polls, where they lined up to vote 50 people deep. They...

When President Bush stands before Congress on Wednesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, it is a safe bet that he will not announce that one of his goals is the long-term enfeeblement of the Democratic Party. But a recurring theme of many items on Bush's second-term domestic agenda is that if enacted, they would weaken political and financial pillars that have propped up Democrats for years, political strategists from both parties say. Legislation putting caps on civil damage awards, for instance, would choke income to trial lawyers, among the most generous contributors to the Democratic Party....

ATLANTA - Republicans took the reins of the state House on Monday for the first time in 135 years, completing a state sweep that began two years ago when the GOP won the governor's office and state Senate. Amid whoops and a few tears, Republicans elected Rep. Glenn Richardson as House Speaker, a vote many saw as the culmination of decades of hard work by Republicans. Richardson became the first member of the GOP to hold the gavel since Reconstruction. "The gravity of this moment is overwhelming to me," said Richardson, who choked up for a moment while giving his...

The Republican Party now seems to have it all: possession of the U.S. presidency and expanded control of Congress. Ironically, however, President Bush’s victory might destroy American conservatism. The GOP and conservative movement have lost their souls. Modern American conservatism grew out of the classical liberal tradition that birthed the U.S. For years Republicans emphasized their commitment to individual liberty and limited constitution government. They believed Washington to possess only specific enumerated powers. The most important domestic issues were matters for the states. Internationally American needed to be strong but responsible: War was a tool to protect U.S. security, not...

The Republicans in the new Congress will hold 232 seats, and the Dems 203. But Bush country held sway in 254 congressional districts per my estimate, which I think has very little margin of error at this point (maybe 255), with Kerry carrying only 181 (maybe 180 depending how CD NC 13 went) congressional districts. (Bush carried 40 CD's that Dem congressmen hold, while Kerry won 18 CD's that GOP congressmen hold.) Moreover, there are 13 seats the Dems will hold in the new Congress which Bush won by 10% or more, or close to it. How many seats are...

A more Republican and more conservative Congress convenes on Tuesday, with Republicans intending to use their greater strength in the House and Senate to help President Bush pursue a second-term agenda of major changes in bedrock programs like Social Security and income taxes. "This is going to probably be the most productive two years of our Republican majority," said Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader. "It's not just Social Security and tax reform, it's tort reform, regulatory reform, restraining spending, redesigning the House, redesigning the government." Nine new senators and 41 House freshmen will be sworn in as...

Welcome to a new era in the Georgia Legislature where the focus will turn to strengthening traditional families, increasing personal responsibility, reducing government, and cutting taxes. If it sounds like a Republican agenda, there's a reason. Republicans have taken over the statehouse after 130 years of Democratic domination. When the new legislative session opens Jan. 10, Republicans will be running the show.

Imagine a country that considers itself at war and which is distinctive among advanced industrial democracies in terms of its pervasive patriotism, religiosity and entrepreneurial spirit. Assume, too, that in this imaginary country there is a political party, Party A, the central tenets of which are support for a strong national defense, free enterprise and family values. Finally, envision an opposing party, Party B, in this country that represents a mixture of anti-war pacifism, watered-down socialism and cultural permissiveness based on secular impulses. Would it be surprising that Party A won more elections in such a country than Party B?...

Following the Republican landslide victories of the 1994 midterm elections, conservatives watched in amazement as Republican “moderates” proceeded to completely squander the ground they had gained, culminating in the defeat of Bob Dole in ‘96. In the aftermath of this year’s elections, ominous signs point towards a repeat performance. Apparently, Republican Party operatives didn’t really comprehend why, in the middle of Bill Clinton’s first term, they won big. And to this day, political analysts still don’t seem to grasp the situation. Among conservatives, the conventional wisdom is that the newly realigned GOP Congressional majority had wrongly presumed too much of...

NEW YORK A new Gallup poll shows that the public values “values” less than November exit polls suggested, but another survey from the same outfit released today shows a historic surge in Republican party affiliation. In Gallup's latest poll this month, those identifying themselves as Republicans jumped to 37% of the public, with Democrats now clearly trailing with 32%. Democrats have long held more party members than Republicans. During the Clinton years, the bulge was about 5% to 6%. As recently as late-October of this year the Democratic edge was 37% to 34%. Gallup noted today: “Post-election shifts in partisanship...

Hopefully this trend will last By E&P Staff Published: December 14, 2004 5:00 PM ET NEW YORK Even as a new Gallup poll shows that the public values “values” less than November exit polls suggested, another survey from the same outfit released today showed a historic surge in Republican party affiliation. In Gallup's latest poll this month, those identifying themselves as Republicans jumped to 37% of the public, with Democrats now clearly trailing with 32%. Democrats have long held more party members than Republicans. During the Clinton years, the bulge was about 5% to 6%. As recently as late-October of...

NEW YORK Even as a new Gallup poll shows that the public values “values” less than November exit polls suggested, another survey from the same outfit released today showed a historic surge in Republican party affiliation. In Gallup's latest poll this month, those identifying themselves as Republicans jumped to 37% of the public, with Democrats now clearly trailing with 32%. Democrats have long held more party members than Republicans. During the Clinton years, the bulge was about 5% to 6%. As recently as late-October of this year the Democratic edge was 37% to 34%. Gallup noted today: “Post-election shifts in...