Free Republic

The CNN Republican primary debate on Sept. 16 will be divided into two parts featuring two different sets of candidates: those who rank in the top 10 according to public polling, and the remaining candidates who meet a minimum threshold of one percent in public polilng, the On Media blog has learned. The debate critera is more inclusive than the first Repbulican primary debate hosted by Fox News on August 6. That debate will only feature candidates who finish in the top 10 in an average of the five most recent national polls. The remaining candidates will get airtime on...

YouGov conducted a nearly but not quite identical poll (more on that a minute) on this topic last October. I made a big deal about it and have had liberal friends ever since telling me that it’s a fluke result, that most Democrats don’t really support banning hate speech, and that I’m generally being alarmist. Well, here’s YouGov’s sequel. I’m done entertaining doubts that this is a real problem.Don’t start hissing at the left yet, though. I hate to say it but it ain’t their party that’s growing in support for making hate speech a crime.The question YouGov asked...

Last fall, RCP Election Analyst David Byler and I put together an index of party strength. While most journalists look at presidential performance as a measure of party strength (see the ubiquitous “Republicans have lost the popular vote in five of the last six elections”), we take a broader view of party strength. Rather than look simply at presidential performance, we look at party dominance at the federal, congressional, and state levels. One need only look at fights over voter identification laws, redistricting, food stamp benefits, Obamacare expansion, and a multitude of other battles from the last few years alone...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/19/ted-cruz-livingston-county-gop/27598145/

Is there anything, anything at all that is genuine about John Kerry? When it comes to John Kerry it’s hard to decide which is more revolting, his hypocrisy or that he believes he is fooling us. From his days as a “scruffy” vet just trying to get someone to surrender in Vietnam, to his gigolo marriages, to his hypocritical claims to be a practicing Catholic, Lurch rings as true as a wooden bell. The duplicitous qualities that make him so offensive are excellent traits for membership in Barack Obama’s cabinet. As Secretary of State Kerry has a perfect record of...

The official Republican debate calendar is here, and I don’t mean to scare you, but you have less than three months before this whole thing goes to eleven. Or I should say at least eleven, because the Republican National Committee seems to be moving toward capping the early debates at 12 candidates. Even that is much higher than the number included in the scrums of 2012, and it has party leaders concerned that it might make for a big mess on TV. And they’re probably right – except for the bit about changing the channel. Who doesn’t love to watch...

Republican Party chiefs are concerned that the sprawling size of the 2016 GOP field could compromise its chances to win the presidency. "We're in a danger zone," Doug Gross, a top Republican establishment figure in Iowa, told The Washington Post. "When the party poobahs put this process together, they thought they could telescope this to get us a nominee who could appeal to a broad cross-section of people. "What we've got instead is a confederation of a lot of candidates who aren't standing out — and in order to stand out, you need to scream the loudest." Former Florida Gov....

Sign up here to learn how you can attend the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, in Oklahoma City, where Senator Ted Cruz is giving the keynote address and where participants will be voting in an important straw poll.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is running for president. His candidacy should not be overlooked. Many are not familiar with him, which is not surprising because for most of Iowa it is still very early in the caucus process. But the senator has attributes that may distinguish him from an unusually crowded field of GOP contenders. First, he went to Harvard. No, I am not writing about Ted Kennedy, I am saying this fellow actually went to not just Harvard, but the Harvard Law School after doing his undergraduate work at Princeton University. He is well educated and very intelligent....

Last month marked the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, a moment vividly encapsulated by the frenzied scene of South Vietnamese desperately trying to reach the last helicopter on the roof of the American embassy. April was also the 150th anniversary of the surrender at Appomattox, when Robert E. Lee capitulated to Ulysses S. Grant, bringing the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War to an end.The two episodes seemingly have little to do with each other. But each, in its way, illustrates one of the bleakly recurring themes of US military history: When America's armed forces prematurely abandon the...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The road to the White House goes through downtown Oklahoma City this week as hopefuls in the crowded Republican field audition on a stage ideally suited for their messages about military power, religious liberty and energy independence. Eleven Republicans with presidential aspirations — including some who have not officially declared their candidacy — will speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which begins at the Cox Convention Center on Thursday and ends Saturday with the release of a straw poll. “This is a huge event for Oklahoma City,” said Gov. Mary Fallin, who will address the conference and introduce some...

It’s clear that Jeb isn’t a conservative, but it’s mightily kind of him to be honest about it. He could also do what the Mitch McConnells of this world like to do: lie about it until they get elected after which they ‘suddenly’ become as progressive as Nancy Pelosi. That’s what Senator Ted Cruz recently said on Megyn Kelly’s show on Fox News. Well, OK, I admit I added the last part about Mitch McConnell myself, but I’m sure you get my drift. "I’m a fan of Jeb Bush. I’ll give him credit for candor and consistency. He is running...

... A new survey from Public Policy Polling finds that one-third of Republicans believe the Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theory that “the government is trying to take over Texas,” and another 28 percent of GOP voters haven’t made up their minds yet about the matter ...

The 2016 clown car can't get much longer -- but the Republican National Committee can't be bothered.The Republican Party has a bit of mess on its hands heading into the 2016 election season. Simply put, too many Republicans want to be president. The field of declared and potential candidates is large and in flux, and this will leave the Republican National Committee with some tough choices to make when debate season starts up. How do they decide who makes the cut for debate invitations? Do they go by polling numbers and risk letting a clown like Donald Trump through while...

The Democrats may be headed for a coronation with Hillary Clinton as the heavy favorite to win that party’s nomination in 2016. But the Republicans most definitely are not in a similar situation. We never expected Jeb Bush to lead wire-to-wire, and sure enough he’s in a slump that has pushed him down to No. 2. Here are our current rankings: 10. Rick Santorum: He’s barely on the list; Lindsey Graham or Rick Perry might be better picks for our Top Ten. But Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, is an under-rated campaigner and could replicate his 2012 success in the...

Senate Republicans are offering the president a path in the annual defense policy bill to make good on a campaign promise and close Guantanamo Bay before leaving office. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed the $612 billion bill with a bipartisan 22-4 vote on Thursday. Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and chairman of the committee, said the bill includes reforms of acquisition, retirement and personnel issues as well as a proposal to close the military prison in Cuba. The bill would require the administration to provide Congress a comprehensive plan on how to close Guantanamo Bay that would need to...

Everyone knows that Congress has exempted itself from Obamacare so lawmakers and their staff can continue to receive employer-based subsides that Americans in a similar position would not be allowed to receive. But there's a new twist here that you need to know about. To secure its Obamacare exemption, the U.S. Senate had to submit documents stating that it was a small business with less than 50 employees. This is, of course, completely false. The Senate is a massive arm of the Federal government that is completely funded with tax dollars and that employs thousands of people across the country....

Ask around and you’ll hear a consistent theme from political strategists in the Republican party: The 2016 primary is wide open. “It is by far the most interesting presidential year since I’ve been involved [in Republican politics],” says Steve Munisteri, a senior adviser to Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.). How interesting? Top-tier presidential campaigns are preparing for the still-unlikely scenario that the nomination fight goes all the way to the 2016 Republican National Convention. There hasn’t been a brokered convention since 1976, but the strength of the GOP field, when coupled with the proliferation of super PACs, increases the chances...

Amidst revelations that ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos was an undisclosed contributor to the Clinton Foundation slush fund at the same time he was defending it on the air, some GOPers are finally putting their foot down. Conn Carroll, formally the White House correspondent for Townhall and currently communications director for Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) had this to say on Twitter: "I'm not letting my boss go on ABC until GStephanopoulos recuses himself from all 2016 coverage." And Rand Paul is the First Republican presidential candidate to say George Stephanopoulos shouldn’t moderate the 2016 debates. “It’s impossible to divorce yourself from...

“Is he really the sole arbiter of what is right and just?” Referencing Barack Obama’s remarks at a recent forum aimed at addressing poverty, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough took exception to the president’s public indictment of a rival cable news network. Obama stated that Fox News Channel offers a “constant menu” of programming demonizing the poor as lazy “sponges” and “leeches.” Scarborough eviscerated Obama not only for his comments, but for the forum in which he decided to make them. “At a bipartisan summit, you decide to attack a cable news channel as the problem,” he said, “saying that [FNC...