Free Republic

Oh, how the tables have turned.Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.Now, with most states under their control and comfortable majorities in Congress, Democrats must protect far more seats than Republicans: 19 governors' mansions, 17 Senate seats and as many as 60 House districts in moderate-to-conservative regions and swing-voting areas.At this point, Democrats must do it in a more troubling political environment than in 2006 and...

Where is the loyalty of the RINOs?  Arlen Specter joins the Democrats.  Colin Powell endorses the Democrat.  Dierdre Scozzafava endorses the Democrat.  I'm not opposed to the Democratic Party out of some sense of style or family history.  I'm opposed to the Democrats because I think they are wrong.  I think the Democrats are wrong in their basic view on the role of government and my place in society as a citizen.  The government isn't there to solve all my problems. I changed my political affiliation to independent ten years ago.  Not because the Republican Party was too far to...

Now we know what the mainstream media mean by “moderate Republican.” A moderate Republican supports gay marriage, which would savage the family – the foundation of society. This puts him at odds with an overwhelming majority of voters. On Tuesday, Maine became the 31st state to reject marriage substitutes via the ballot. On marriage referenda, the score is 31-0 for the home team. A moderate Republican is so dogmatically pro-abortion that she gets awards from Planned Parenthood. As a state legislator, a moderate Republican votes to raise taxes more than the average Democrat. A moderate Republican supports Card Check, which...

Isn't it funny how quickly politicians abandon their original positions after being on the wrong side of an issue is used against them? Charlie Crist is the latest culprit of the phenomenon, revisionist history. During an appearance yesterday on CNN, Crist had this to say about the president's stimulus package: "I didn't endorse it. I didn't even have a vote on the darn thing. But I understood that it was gonna pass and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians." Are you sure you didn't support the stimulus Governor Crist? Because if...

November 05, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Republican Civil War?Our experts respond. An NRO Symposium The NY-23 race has political commentators abuzz: Is there a Republican civil war going on? If so, who started it, and can there be a truce? If not, why is everyone saying there is one? National Review Online asked a few close observers of the Right to report in on these rumors of war. KEN BLACKWELLDede Scozzafava’s record in the New York State legislature was pro-tax, pro-abortion, and anti-marriage. She even accepted the endorsement of ACORN. But she got the local party elders’ support, based on...

After pumping more than $1 million into an upstate New York House race to elect the Conservative Party’s Doug Hoffman, the Club for Growth is on the hunt again. Chris Chocola, president of the conservative political action committee, made it clear the PAC is looking for more GOP targets who don’t embrace the Club’s limited-government approach. Priority No. 1 is likely to be the Senate contest in Florida, where Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who embraced President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, is being challenged by former State House Speaker Marco Rubio. . . . . . Beyond Florida, other establishment Republicans...

WASHINGTON – It was a big election night for Republicans overall. But their lone disappointment – the loss of a New York congressional seat in a crossfire between moderates and conservatives – could portend struggles next year for GOP leaders. Channeling the Tea Party-inspired energy is a particular headache for Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, whose costly effort to keep the New York seat was a casualty of the civil war. "There's a huge revolt going on in the country against the political establishment," said former Virginia congressman Tom Davis, who once held the challenging political job that Sessions now has...

A day after Tim Pawlenty took a few shots at Olympia Snowe, RNC Chairman Michael Steele came to her defense. Asked on Morning Joe whether there was room for the Maine centrist in the GOP, Steele responded "absolutely." Welcome! Welcome! Because--you know why that's important? Because every footprint of this party is different from region to region, from county to county. I can't win in the northeast with someone who'd be a better candidate suited in the south....So the reality of it is I'm looking to find my candidates where they are. And I want to lift them up because...

From a New York political observer: The biggest defeat for RINOs in New York wasn't the pre-election collapse of Dede Scozzafava in the 23rd CD. It was tonight's stunning victory by conservative Republican Rob Astorino in the race for County Executive of Westchester County—the affluent and heavily taxed suburb just north of NYC, which has been solidly Democratic for more than a decade. Astorino's victory is a stinging rebuke to the brand of New York Republicanism personified by Assemblywoman Scozzafava, former Gov. (and Westchester native son) George Pataki, and Westchester's famously liberal former state Sen. Nicky Spano of Yonkers, who...

There is a fight going on for the soul of the Republican Party, and the Tea Party protestors are its face. We are not going to be swayed by pleas not to rock tthe boat. We are not going to stop until the Republican leadership embraces candidates who will fight for smaller government, less regulation and a balanced budget. As I said in an earlier post, we may lose some battles, but we are out to win the war. Our tent is big enough to accomodate those with different social views, but when a competent conservative is running in a...

In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010. Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others. But their success in Tuesday’s upstate New York special election, where grass-roots efforts pushed GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava to drop out of the race and...

RUSH: I'd like to share with you what I think, my friends, are -- and it was tough to limit this to ten -- the Top Ten Republican Moderate Moments. Number ten: Newt Gingrich does a PSA on global warming with Nancy Pelosi in 2008. Number nine moderate moment in GOP history: Bush-Quayle '92. The number eight moderate moment GOP history: Dole-Kemp '96. The number seven most moderate moment in Republican history: Ford-Dole '76. Do you see a pattern here? Top ten moderate moments in Republican history number six: Jumpin' Jim Jeffords jumps from the Republican Party. Top ten moderate...

Earlier this month, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stirred up a tempest when they announced that they could overcome their political differences and agree on the critical need for a national policy that addresses the threat of climate change and moves the United States toward energy independence. Since the publication of their opinion piece, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)” in the New York Times, pundits and policy experts alike have declared the Senators’ announcement a “game-changer” and possible tipping point that could lead to the passage of a bipartisan climate change bill — maybe even...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: How about Dede Scozzafava? You know what? Dede Scozzafava has just screwed every RINO in the country by showing everybody who they are. It's what I say about radio, people say, "Rush, does it matter AM, FM?" No, no. Content, content, content, content. Content determines what people will listen to, and in politics, principle, principle, principle. Moderates by definition have no principles. They're wishy washy. A typical moderate is Lindsey Grahamnesty. A typical moderate. They're all over the place. They go with the flow. They think of themselves first. They are not guided by principle at all,...

Following a Monday night look at Tuesday's special election to fill New York's 23rd congressional district seat in which Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out after falling behind the Democrat and the Conservative Party nominee, ABC anchor Charles Gibson -- instead of wondering why the GOP establishment failed to pick a candidate who upholds basic Republican principles -- delivered the usual liberal media upset over the GOP's lack of a “big tent,” a phrase you never hear when Democrats pick left-wing candidates: A liberal Republican gets forced out of the race by a more conservative guy who was actually not a...

It is being reported today that Dede Scozzafava is endorsing Democrat Bill Owens. In one fell swoop she proved her detractors right. Her actions also speak to the Republicans that made excuses for her such as Newt Gingrich; they were dead wrong. When Dede withdrew from the race on Saturday, many (including me) thought she was doing the right thing for Northern New York, and the Republican Party. Instead we have been presented with the quintessential example of what the label RINO means. "Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. The move was expected...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- There is a "political rebellion" going on in America that the Republican Party is hoping to speak for, the U.S. House minority leader says. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, speaking Sunday on CNN's "State of Union," said an incident in which a GOP-endorsed New York congressional candidate withdrew from an election under pressure from Republican conservatives showed that "we're in the middle of a political rebellion going on in America." Boehner said, "This rebellion are by people who really have not been actively involved in the political process. And they don't really care whether you're...

NOVEMBER 2, 2009 GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill By GREG HITT WASHINGTON -- Republicans are preparing an alternative health-care bill to Democratic legislation, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, marking a shift in strategy as the full House is set to begin debate on the issue this week. Mr. Boehner said Sunday the Republican bill would extend health-insurance coverage to "millions" of Americans but wouldn't try to match the scope of the House Democratic bill unveiled last week. The Democratic legislation, if passed, is estimated to expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans now without insurance....

ALBANY, N.Y. – In a Republican Party struggling to find its identity, the surprise withdrawal of the chosen GOP candidate for a New York congressional race amid a rising conservative upstart renews a lingering national debate: Are moderates welcome in today's Grand Old Party? The question became even more relevant Sunday when the ex-candidate, state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, threw her support behind the Democrat in the race rather than the Conservative Party candidate favored by fellow Republicans. The GOP leadership insisted on Sunday political TV talk shows the party is strong and inclusive while Democrats described a Republican party out...

"Republican Dede Scozzafava today endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, her former opponent, in Tuesday's election to fill the North Country congressional seat formerly held by John McHugh. Scozzafava suspended her campaign for the 23rd District seat Saturday, citing weak poll numbers and inadequate campaign funds. In a statement released this afternoon, she called Owens ''an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York.''"

Check this out:Watertown, NY paper: Scozzafava urging supporters to vote for the Democrat During the day Saturday, she [Scozzafava] began to quietly and thoughtfully encourage her supporters to vote for Democrat William L. Owens. - Watertown Daily Times

With Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman running neck and neck with the Democrat in Tuesday’s special election in New York, some other disaffected Republicans are seeing the third-party route as more viable. And it could hurt the Republicans in those races. In Virginia’s 5th district, state Sen. Robert Hurt’s entry into the GOP primary has spurred little-known candidate Bradley Rees to switch to the Virginia Conservative Party. And in Ohio, another GOP primary contender said this week that he’ll run as a Constitution Party candidate. Both will go at the GOP nominees from their right flanks and try to expose...

The events of the last 24 hours have pretty much clinched it: NY-23 is now officially a two-man race between the Democratic nominee Bill Owens and the Conservative Party upstart Doug Hoffman. From NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions to former Gov. George Pataki to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (through his operative, Jake Menges), Republicans are quickly abandoning their nominee, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, and backing Hoffman in a last-ditch effort to keep former Rep. John McHugh's seat in GOP hands and, perhaps more importantly, deny the Obama administration a much-needed political victory. "I think it’s now to a point where we’ve got...

Conservatives are sick and tired of being taken for granted, misrepresented, and talked down to by the same "elite" Republicans in Washington who hopelessly screwed everything up during the Bush years.         Everybody knows exactly whom we're talking about here.  The same snobby, elitist, stuffed shirt, squishy, poll-obsessed Country Club Republicans who went to D.C., forgot who put them there, wasted the incredible opportunity they had to change this country for the better, and are now pointing the finger at everyone except themselves for their mistakes.         Here are five messages for those people:         We're not going back to the Bush years:...

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama introduced former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel and former Oklahoma Sen. David Boren as co-chairmen of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. The goal of the board, Hagel said Wednesday, is to provide "thoughtful, informed and independent advice" to the president regarding America's intelligence-gathering agencies and how they can best work effectively to collect and share information to make critical decisions. In a phone interview from his Georgetown University office, he said intelligence directs America's security efforts, informs policy and ultimately protects the country from not only terrorist and militaristic threats, but also energy and economic crises....

If vindication means anything its name is spelled George Bush. As former U.S. president George W. Bush spoke to a Saskatoon audience, I stood in the wings, sneaking a peek through the curtains at the spectators beyond the footlights. The crowd was friendly to be sure. But more than that, the relationship was like a musical virtuoso carrying the audience through every nuance, crescendo and dynamic of a composition. With every pause, smile, laugh and down stroke of seriousness, Bush had the crowd in his hand. Before the show, a friend who recently dined with the former Texas governor and...

Pretty good ad.I think just about any voter will understand THIS.LOL! The name "Scozzafava" (RINO), is not even brought up!!

A team of conservative bloggers with 73Wire.com arrived in upstate New York's 23rd District this morning and visited the headquarters of liberal Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava: Not only is the NRCC pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into the media campaign of Dede Scozzafava, they're also organizing and coordinating teams of GOTV volunteers in the district. And they're picking up the tab. Our team just finished meeting with a NRCC volunteer named "James" who works out of the Watertown office for the Scozzafava campaign. James informed us that he was sent to Watertown, NY from Washington D.C. as a volunteer...

Conservatives are sick and tired of being taken for granted, misrepresented, and talked down to by the same "elite" Republicans in Washington who hopelessly screwed everything up during the Bush years. Everybody knows exactly whom we're talking about here. The same snobby, elitist, stuffed shirt, squishy, poll-obsessed Country Club Republicans who went to D.C., forgot who put them there, wasted the incredible opportunity they had to change this country for the better, and are now pointing the finger at everyone except themselves for their mistakes. Here are five messages for those people: We're not going back to the Bush years:...

Hot Air's AllahPundit recycles a tired argument about conservatives sitting down and shutting up when the RNC sticks the goobers in the sticks with a liberal weenie candidate. It's all about being on the winning team, donchaknow? A variation of "My tired Republican hack can beat up your tired Democrat hack!" There's no debating these types: a philosophical difference of opinion spells doom for the Republican Party. But make no mistake: this debate must be held and now's as good a time as any. We agree with AllahP. more than we disagree. But that doesn't mean that it's not...

Former Los Angeles Mayor and state Education Secretary Richard Riordan has endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, adding to her collection of high-profile endorsements such as from former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. In the Whitman news release sent out this morning, Riordan says, "Meg believes the future of our state and the strength of our nation depend on Californians rededicating ourselves to education. Her commitment to returning control of our schools back to parents and teachers and demanding accountability makes Meg the best candidate." Whitman repeated the education theme in her quotes in...

HOUSE RACE: Maine senator attends rally to support Scozzafava. BY MARTHA ELLEN CANTON — More than 50 supporters of Republican Dierdre K. Scozzafava's campaign for the 23rd Congressional District turned out Saturday at Phoebe's Restaurant to hear U.S. Sen. Susan K. Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., tell them she was the best candidate.

With polling now showing NY-23 has come down to a two man race between Hoffman and Owens, the Democrat, momentum is clearly in Hoffman’s favor. Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota is now adding to the momentum becoming the first sitting Republican Governor to endorse Hoffman. This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin’s endorsement from last week. What makes this stand out even more than the Palin endorsement is that Pawlenty has not been seen as diverging with the Republican establishment. He’s not seen as the maverick that Palin is. But Pawlenty has a huge amount of stature inside the...

s Doug Hoffman continues to surge in the NY-23 congressional race, the liberal establishment Republicans are continuing to peddle disingenuous defenses of their support for ACORN Republican Dede Scozzafava. The clowns at the NRCC are now comparing Doug Hoffman's candidacy to Chris Daggett's spoiler run for governor in New Jersey, which might cost Republican Chris Christie the election. They claim that just as conservatives are playing spoiler for Christie by running on ideological purism versus electoral realism, they are similarly deluding themselves in supporting Hoffman over Scozzafava. This argument is so preposterous and is false on every premise. Lets look...

Departments: The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)'s departments can be reached below: General Email website@nrcc.org Executive Phone: 202-479-7000 Administration Phone: 202-479-7000 Political Phone: 202-479-7000 Finance Phone: 202-479-7000 Communications Phone: 202-479-7070 eCampaign Phone: 202-479-7000

One candidate in next year's gubernatorial race contributed thousands of dollars to Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry. Another wrote $21,000 in checks to Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore and the Democratic National Committee in 2000. A third was a registered Democrat in the early 1970s and has acknowledged supporting George McGovern as the party's presidential candidate in 1972. All three – Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell – are vying to become California's next governor, but not as Democrats. They constitute the entire GOP gubernatorial field, a fact that has some Republicans wondering where their candidates' loyalties...

WASHINGTON — The National Republican Congressional Committee Friday bashed the "failed" federal economic stimulus that its own candidate for the 23rd Congressional District, Dierdre K. Scozzafava, has openly supported. In a press release, the NRCC attacked Democratic candidate William L. Owens for supporting the stimulus bill as part of President Barack Obama's "big government agenda."

The feeble pulse of moderation in the Republican Party is in danger of flat-lining in the Nov. 3 Congressional election in upstate New York. Luminaries like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have taken opposing sides over whether the party dare tolerate the official Republican candidate in the 23rd district — Dede Scozzafava, a six-term assemblywoman whose record includes refreshing tinges of centrism. Ms. Scozzafava was nominated by local party leaders as eminently electable despite — or because of — her defense of women’s abortion rights and her tolerant views on same-sex marriage. She is already shunned by many more ideologically...

So I got yet another solicitation from the RNC in the mail today. And then I remembered how Michael Steele and the RNC/NRCC establishment is backing the infamous DIABLO Scozzabama. And then I remembered how Lindsey Graham is helping John F'in Kerry on cap-and-tax. That's when I got mad. And then I remembered how Lindsey Graham went in front of La Raza and said: "We're going to shut those bigots up!" That's when I got REALLY mad. It's unfortunate that the stupid RINOs can't get a very plain and simple message: NO MORE DAMN RINOS! And with that, I am...

The National Republican Congressional Committee remains committed to embattled GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava in the upstate New York House special election, even as many of the party's top names throw their support to Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman. Two party officials tell POLITICO that the NRCC will continue to air TV ads propping up Scozzafava in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 contest and plans to keep up a near relentless barrage of press releases slamming Hoffman.

Registered Independents: did you know in most states the primaries are NOT open. You can't help get a conservative elected because the rinos in the republican party will vote for the liberal candidate. IF you really want to get a conservative in office get yourself re-registered as a Republican for the primary election in 2010 to get this job done. I know your are upset with the rinos that have been elected by the republican party, but we probably can't change the demographics unless you come back. In 2010 let's kick the crap out of RINOs! Info on open primaries-http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1801

Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R-N.Y.) brought two female GOP lawmakers with her on the campaign trail today after a week in which several national Republicans endorsed Conservative Party challenger Doug Hoffman. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) joined Scozzafava today at a campaign event. Ex-Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), arguably the Republican Party's most visible woman, endorsed Hoffman this week. Most conservatives have shied away from Scozzafava or endorsed Hoffman, arguing that she holds too many liberal positions.

Top Republicans jump ship in NY-23Andy Barr – Fri Oct 23, 7:12 pm ET Some of the most prominent names in national Republican Party politics are lining up against the GOP nominee in a key upstate New York House special election, the latest being former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who weighed in Friday. In endorsing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in the Nov. 3 contest, Santorum joined former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, all of whom announced their backing for...

Two stories are unfolding out in the 23rd Congressional District of New York. In the foreground, we have the three-way contest between hapless Republican Dede Scozzafava, upstart Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, and some generic Democrat whose name no one can remember. This race is a microcosm of our strange politics, which have become like a speeding car with jammed door locks, cut brake lines, a dead steering wheel, and air vents that pump nitrous oxide. Everyone is dimly aware the country is heading for the edge of a cliff, but no one can muster the energy to search for...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is defending his decision to endorse a liberal Republican candidate in the special election for New York's 23rd Congressional District even though she is a Margaret Sanger Award winner and supporter of same-sex "marriage." New York Republican congressional candidate DeDe Scozzafava not only has the backing of Planned Parenthood and The Daily Kos, but her campaign has also received financial endorsements from the Republican National Committee and Republican leaders such as House Minority Leader John Boehner, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich recently said Scozzafava's election could be the...

Two House Republicans side with Dems to raise state income tax [Scumbag Traitor RINO Alert!] link only: http://www.ohio.com/news/65368782.html

I’ve taken some heat for posts I’ve written on Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava versus conservative Doug Hoffman in NY-23. My posts have been misinterpreted as supportive of Scozzafava, which they truly were not. Blame that on me, as the posts weren’t clear enough about the thought process going on behind the scenes. But that’s less important than the issue at hand. My conservative credentials are intact. But how conservatives win the current civil war within the GOP is important to me. We must build the party up and become strong, not simply tear things down because we disagree with them. Scozzafava...

Doug Hoffman didn’t have a chance to make his case to Republican voters in a primary in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. That’s because the local GOP establishment chose its candidate behind closed doors, in a formerly smoke-filled room. The Republican grass roots never had a chance to choose among qualified candidates. And the National Republican Congressional Committee compounded this error by jumping into the contest with both left feet. That matters. Hoffman is a genuine Reagan conservative in a district that generally votes in that direction. Now, some smart people argue that in some districts, only a moderate Republican...

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain said on Wednesday his party needed a positive agenda to better attract those Americans who are disenchanted with Democratic policies. McCain said he sensed "a lot of anger and a lot of frustration" among Americans over taxpayer-backed bailouts of banks and auto companies while they cope with a persistently high U.S. jobless rate of 9.8 percent and see bank executives get "obscene" bonuses. McCain, who was his party's presidential nominee and lost the 2008 election to Democrat Barack Obama, spoke to a Reuters Summit in a roundtable interview with journalists.

The Family Research Council is blasting House Republican leaders who have endorsed a GOP congressional candidate in New York who supports abortion, same-sex "marriage," and President Obama's economic "stimulus" program. Dede Scozzafava (R-New York)The November 3 special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District features Republican abortion and same-sex marriage advocate Dede Scozzafava, Democrat Bill Owens, and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. Hoffman has won endorsements from former Republican presidential candidates Gary Bauer and Fred Thompson, as well as from conservative groups like the Club for Growth, Concerned Women for America, and the Family Research Council. Meanwhile, The Hill reports...