Free Republic

The news that an Iowa Republican State Senator has dropped out of the Republican Party is indeed significant. I, like many others across the country, have done the same thing. The “bold” move by Senator David Johnson whose district is described as “heavily Republican” came as what I initially thought might be good news, “Finally they are beginning to understand our frustration with them and responding accordingly,” I thought; but I was wrong. I had hoped that Johnson left the Republican Party because of Paul Ryan’s childish grandstanding or his lies about ending Obamacare. “Maybe Ryan’s insistence upon helping Barack...

Officials from Ted Cruz's defunct presidential campaign are talking up the possibility of a coup at next month's Republican convention in Cleveland. Bob Vander Plaats, a former national co-chair of Ted Cruz's presidential campaign, told NBC that "everything's got to be on the table" when it comes to exempting delegates from supporting Donald Trump at the convention.... Whether the anger and chatter about a coup among Cruz's ardent supporters materializes at the convention remains to be seen, but it appears to have gained steam following the fallout of Trump's racial invective directed at the presiding federal judge in a lawsuit...

A top Republican National Committee (RNC) official sought to soothe business leaders worried about Donald Trump's influence on the party, saying at a private meeting on Tuesday that its presumptive presidential nominee would not dictate the party's platform. Ben Key, the RNC platform committee"s executive director, offered the assurance during a meeting at the organization's headquarters on Capitol Hill, according to two sources in the room.... The source said several of those attending the meeting offered knowing smiles in response to the comment. "And then he added... that the platform would not include some of the more controversial positions that...

Trump says he'll rebuild the U.S. military and our missile defense in particular, but avoid committing U.S. forces overseas. The neo-conservatives never will forgive him for this. It means that they are out of a job, and when they say that Trump means "the end of the Republican Party," they mean the end of the Republican Party that used to employ them. Robert Kagan and Max Boot have gone to the Clinton camp. A Trump presidency almost certainly means that Chinese and Russian influence will grow faster and with fewer obstacles than it might have otherwise. That is not entirely...

Divided we fall I suggested on Wednesday, when the departure of Ted Cruz and John Kasich from the race made Donald Trump the presumptive nominee, that people who were disappointed in the results take a deep breath and think rationally about the right step to take in light of the challenge that lies ahead - which is to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House. No, it was not a huge surprise that many people didn’t listen. It seems par for the course in this insane presidential season. At a time when the Republican Party should be coming together...

“What the hell is “conservative” about uncontrolled immigration and corporate trade pacts?” Donald Trump’s electoral rampage through the Northeastern states and then his stunning Indiana victory – taking all but five counties statewide and walking away with 57 delegates – did a lot more than drive Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the race. It has driven a stake in the heart of the post-1988 Republican Party. It’s dead.

Watching the Sunday news shows, I realize America is finished if we have to rely on the Republican party. I just watched Senator Flake (R Ariz.) smugly go on that we will lose the war on terror because of Trump having a "religious test" for admission to our country. Also he says that's why we will lose the election not because Senator Flake isn't supporting Trump. We are facing Hillary Clinton and these republicans are everywhere saying Trump has to come to each of them and explain himself. Then he has to change to agree with them. These republicans don't...

The Republican Party is now more hated than it's been in 24 years, new research shows - and it might be the fault of Donald Trump. In October, 37 percent of people polled had a favorable view of the Republican Party and 58 percent viewed it negatively. Now those numbers are 33 percent in favor and 62 percent against, according to data released by the Pew Research Center Thursday. That puts the party at its lowest point since 1992 - the latest point in a drop that has coincided with the rise of Trump.

Fear is a great motivator. Fear will make us do things we never thought we were capable of and drive us to success in sometimes impossible situations. Fear is a very effective agent for overcoming complacency. Fear has driven Donald Trump’s supporters to the polls in numbers not seen before. And fear will generate a tsunami of votes that will crush Hillary Clinton next November. We are afraid of many things but mostly another four years of gangsters running our lives from Washington. We fear that Hillary Clinton would govern just like Barack Obama and maybe worse in some cases....

Former Colorado state Republican party chairman Ryan Call talked to Laura Ingraham today to explain the delegation-selection process works and how it "cuts out any semblance of democracy or the popular will." Call said the statewide convention that chooses the delegates reinforces all the worst stereotypes of the party. "The very time we should be opening up our doors and being more open and transparent, and welcoming people into our Party, we’ve essentially made the decision to close it off and make it more cumbersome and more difficult. And, to prevent the ability of people to have their voice heard...

Kevin Jackson, a Black conservative talk show host and writer, has a strong opinion about why Donald Trump is succeeding. He believes Trump is engendering such fear and hatred among those who recognize the threat he presents to their monopoly on power that they are unable to clearly see why he is where he is at this late stage of the primary cycle. Clearly even those who hate Trump the most see that he resonates with many Americans; but what they don’t get is why. They KNOW he is a racist so how can he be appealing to as much...

After the disgraceful conduct of the Republican establishment over the past few weeks, it is clear that Ted Cruz has become a pawn in their scheme to hold on to power. The feckless manner in which Willard Romney first endorsed Marco Rubio, then John Kasich and finally Ted Cruz shows that he and his co-conspirators have no core principles except gaining and holding onto power. The “little people” believe this bunch of quislings actually care about winning elections, when in fact they don’t. After all, they have already said they would vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. The endorsement...

It would be amusing, were it not so pathetic—as the cliché goes—to watch the pundit class attempt to explain the rise of Donald Trump. No doubt, Trump is populist, but these analysts fail to recognize one very basic fact: Trump is a pissed-off rich guy financing his own populist campaign, and, as such, there has never been anyone like him in American history. Comparisons to Hitler, even acknowledging the dictator's initial (and very short-lived) populist approach, conveniently omit that it was the Nazis who violently broke up demonstrations—just as the anti-Trump forces are doing today. Full marks if you recognize...

Unfortunately, the sad, but disturbing, truth is that many in the Republican Party leadership would much prefer President Hillary Clinton to President Donald Trump The hysteria coming from GOP conservative purists and party insiders about Donald Trump is reaching ridiculous proportions. Talk show host Glenn Beck has compared the Republican frontrunner to Hitler, while Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has thundered that he will never support Trump if he is the nominee. The problem for these Trump haters is that he has garnered an impressive 7.5 million votes to date, along with 679 delegates. In the process, he has won 19...

The last Super Tuesday in March turned out to be the death knell for Marco Rubio‘s bid for the presidency and another triumphant night for Donald Trump. Trump won at least three contests while denying his biggest threat, Ted Cruz, a single outright victory.

Missouri is a winner take all State that has 52 Delegates up for grab, and it's likely to go to Trump. If Trump wins it, then he will have won 213 Delegates yesterday alone. Don't forget that Trump won 9 Delegates from the Northern Mariana islands in case my Delegate count is off by 9. At this point I don't understand why Kasich is still even in the running? Winning your home State is nothing to brag about. That should be an automatic for any Presidential Candidate. For the good of the party Kasich should step down. The Candidates need...

McCarthyism is the political practice of publicly accusing someone of disloyalty or subversion with no real proof or evidence. In the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade took root and rose to legendary ferocity. During the McCarthy period, suspicion and accusations were enough to convict the accused even with inconclusive or questionable evidence. As a result of the public charges, many had their careers and reputations destroyed; some even went to prison over the mere suggestion they were a Communist. Today we have a new McCarthyism. It’s called racism. Though in a different wrapper, accusations of racism also involve trial...

The old conventional wisdom was that Ted Cruz was too disliked by official Washington, too hard-lined conservative, to get the support of the Republican establishment. The new conventional wisdom has the Republican Party movers and shakers turning to Cruz and saying, in effect, “Help us, Senator Ted Cruz. You’re our only hope.”

Only a year ago, Republicans were congratulating themselves on having the strongest field of presidential candidates in a generation — diverse, highly credentialed conservatives who might be the salvation of a party that had lost the popular vote in five of the past six elections. But now, the question is how close the Grand Old Party will come to annihilating itself and what it stands for.

Over the past number of years we rank and file conservatives have learned a number of hard lessons. We have learned that the liberals were far more greedy and self-absorbed with “White guilt” than we could ever have imagined. We learned that Democrats really will stop at nothing to get and keep power. While both of these lessons could have been predicted, a far more profound lesson about the insidious nature of politicians has been shoved down our throats by the very people we trusted to help us fix the damage caused by Democrat governance: The “conservatives” in Washington. They...