Free Republic

Democrats have a 1 percent chance of winning back the House By Chris Cillizza April 21 at 3:40 pm Ask any Democratic elected official about the party's chances of winning back the House this November and he/she will tell you that it's possible but not likely. That's true(ish) but requires a decidedly broad definition of the word "possible", according to the latest House election model by John Sides at the Monkey Cage Blog. Writes Sides: "The prognosis for Democrats isn’t any better: the median estimate is a small seat loss (to 196 seats). The chance of their regaining the House...

A new op-ed prompted by his interview with ABC over the weekend, which generated headlines like, “Rand Paul: Don’t dismiss containment option for nuclear Iran.”He’s not for containment, he now says, but nor is he irrevocably against it. What he’s for is strategic ambiguity, not telegraphing your intentions towards a bad actor lest you inadvertently limit your options later. Does America have any recent experience with that? I am not for containment in Iran. Let me repeat that, since no one seems to be listening closely: I am unequivocally not for containing Iran.I am also not for announcing that the...

Endorsments can be overrated but in a conservative primary with a lot of noise and mud, could a high-profile name give a candidate the edge? Congressional District 19 candidate Lizbeth Benacquisto recently got the backing of Sarah Palin, who held a fundraiser and sang the candidate's praises on Fox News. Yesterday, Curt Clawson scored the endorsement of Sen. Rand Paul, among the first tea party backed candidates to make it big. "Washington is desperate for outside leadership," Paul said. "Curt Clawson is an outsider who will bring refreshing ideas to the halls of Congress. Today, I proudly stand with Curt...

Election '12: As Mitt Romney's loss in Iowa to Rick Santorum shatters the "historic" mantra, Rick Perry withdraws to endorse the former House speaker. The fat lady has not yet sung. What a difference 24 hours can make in the political arena. One minute Romney looks to be sailing toward the GOP nomination with a third straight win in South Carolina's primary. Now it may only be one of three. We may never really know who won the Iowa caucuses, but we do know that Romney's "historic" wins in both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary deserve an...

The 2,500-seat Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts sold out March 31 for an appearance by Jon Huntsman as part of the Philadelphia Speaker Series. Two days later, Huntsman filled Boston Symphony Hall. Another Huntsman appearance at UCLA later this month is sold out. Without the benefit of incessant media attention some early 2016 prospects have been receiving, Huntsman’s visions and his authentic, inspiring way of conveying them has been attracting, and resonating with, capacity audiences. At the Kimmel Center, Huntsman drew laughs in lowering his hand slowly to the floor, a metaphor for the impact on his 2012 primary...

North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) leads a crowded Republican field for the right to face Sen. Kay Hagan (D) in November, according to a new survey conducted for a super PAC backing his campaign. Tillis scored 27 percent of the vote, compared with 16 percent for physician Greg Brannon and 10 percent for state Baptist Convention President Mark Harris. A handful of other candidates received only single-digit support.

Republicans, I come in peace.Until very recently, Rand Paul’s project of insinuating himself comfortably within the Republican Party, and positioning himself as a plausible presidential nominee, had gone along with remarkable ease. Yes, the author of his campaign book turned out to be an unreconstructed neo-Confederate. That was a speed bump. (Who among us has not entrusted the explication of his worldview to a man who has cheered on the assassination of President Lincoln?) Paul had staged a masterful piece of political theater with his marathon Senate speech denouncing the Obama administration’s drone policy. He has assembled a top-tier campaign...

Two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie do not have to hand over documents to a legislative committee investigating the traffic jam scandal engulfing the governor, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday. Former Christie loyalists Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien had been fighting subpoenas calling for them to turn over documents regarding the plot to create traffic jams in Fort Lee to retaliate against the town’s Democratic mayor. The legislative panel asked for the court’s help in getting the two to comply with the subpoenas. Calling the decision one involving “complicated and untested jurisdictional issues,” Judge Mary Jacobson expressed reservations...

Our friend Matthew Boyle of Breitbart has an enlightening article posted about the Republican establishment’s latest game to stay in power, and the losers in the game are the people of Tennessee, you the American taxpayer, and your children and grandchildren. The way the game works is that if you are Lamar Alexander, an establishment Republican Senator who regularly votes with President Obama (certainly more than any other Senator from the South) and are facing a tough challenge from limited government constitutional conservative state Rep. Joe Carr you recruit a third “spoiler” candidate to split the anti-Alexander vote and help...

In Louisville, Kentucky today, Freedomworks hosted #FreePAC, a gathering of right and center right grassroots activists. The keynote speaker was Glenn Beck, who had strong words for Mitch McConnell and other republican party leaders. [video at link] "I told you at the very beginning what this administration tries to do you and what the progressives on the right, let me tell you something, Mitch McConnell is as big of a danger to this country as Barack Obama is. The progressive disease is in both parties. Big government is a philosophy in both parties, period. It is antithetical to the American...

Fox is on the Bush push this weekend! Read MY LIPS! I will note vote for anyone with the last name Bush for President. PERIOD! Jeb Bush don't waste our time! You will not win.

With eyes increasingly on him, Jeb Bush signaled on Sunday the kind of campaign he would mount if he ran for president: one arguing against ideological purity tests while challenging party orthodoxy on issues like immigration and education. Even as he sharply criticized President Obama for his handling of foreign affairs and health care, Mr. Bush made clear that he would run against the style of politics that has characterized recent Republican nominating contests. He said he would decide by the end of the year, in part on whether he thought that with a “hopeful” message, he could avoid “the...

Lead story on Drudge The uniparty at work!

April 2, 2014 After attending pro-cockfighting rally, Senate candidate Matt Bevin says it's a state issue BY SAM YOUNGMAN Matt Bevin, left, is challenging incumbent Mitch McConnell in therace to be the GOP's nominee in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin believes the legality of cockfighting should be decided by states and not the federal government, his spokeswoman said Wednesday following a news report that Bevin attended a pro-cockfighting rally over the weekend."Matt doesn't believe this is a federal issue, and the state government can handle it," said Rachel Semmel, Bevin's spokeswoman.The News Journal in Corbin...

Watching congressional Democrats and Republicans wrestle over the budget is a little like watching Thelma and Louise. Democrats want to stomp on the gas pedal and race to the edge of the cliff at top speed, while Republicans want merely to set the cruise control. Neither approach addresses the fiscal realities of the situation. America has a debt of $17 trillion. That’s more than $54,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. It is unsustainable and has to stop. Failure to do so will leave generations of Americans strapped with a crushing load of debt that jeopardizes...

March 29, 2014 4:00 AM Which Side Are You On? If you don’t care whether Republicans win, care that Democrats lose. By Kevin D. Williamson For conservatives, the story of the Obama years has been the depressing spectacle of Republicans fighting a rearguard action covering their retreat from a Democratic agenda backed by superior numbers. Republicans began the Obama administration with effectively no leverage: Barack Obama in the White House, Nancy Pelosi in the speaker’s chair, and Harry Reid running the Senate. The outcome of that was the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the worst domestic defeat for the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: After the president met with Pope Francis, Il Papa, he then went over to the Villa Madama, the headquarters of the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. They had a joint press conference that was interrupted. The cable nets actually cut away from this for news about Governor Christie. I kid you not. Here is what we got of Obama's joint presser (not all of it, but some of it) with the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. OBAMA: My day started with the great honor of meeting His Holiness, Pope Francis. I've been incredibly moved by his compassion,...

Erick Erickson reported that Republicans John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and 25 other Congress members will fly to Amelia Island next weekend to meet with a group dedicated to defeating conservatives in Congress. “Main Street Advocacy” is hosting the event at the Ritz Carlton – only the best for these sorts. Steve LaTourette, liberal Republican and former congressman, is the face of the group and a good friend of Boehner’s.

It’s really very, very simple for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. New Jersey’s absurd citizen control fetish doesn’t play well in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona, or Michigan. These state comprise the first two months of the 2016 Presidential primary season, and the majority of Republican voters in these states are either very pro-gun to begin with, or are trending towards passing much more Second Amendment-friendly laws. Any candidate that doesn’t do well in these early primaries can kiss their Presidential aspirations goodbye, and one of the fastest ways to sink...

The Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University — whose polls on the 2013 race for governor and special election for U.S. Senate were far off the mark — today released a study it commissioned to find out why its surveys were so wrong. ...According to the report, written by Langer Research Associates of New York, Rutgers-Eagleton flubbed by asking respondents a series of questions about the candidates before finally asking who they would vote for. In effect, that “primed” respondents to think more positively about candidates, and made them more likely to choose them when they finally...