Free Republic

In the latest sign that Texas can no longer be counted a reliably red state, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont are running neck-and-neck with President Donald Trump in trial 2020 presidential matchups in the state, according to results of a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and two other Democrats who have announced their candidacies for president — U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — lag a little behind Trump in the very early test...

The president of the Houston Police Officers' Union isn't mincing words after four officers were shot and one was injured while serving a narcotics warrant on the city's southeast side. During a press conference early Monday evening outside Memorial Hermann Hospital, Joe Gamaldi put anyone caught stirring anti-law enforcement rhetoric in the community on notice. "We are sick and tired of having targets on our back," Gamaldi said. "We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we're trying to do is protect this community and protect our families."

FOR THOSE IN ARIZONA: I invite you to come out on January 14-16 to the filming of 15 live "lessons" in U.S. history as I teach "A Patriot's History of the United States" from Columbus to Reconstruction for the March launch of my new website, "The Wild World of History." We need 8-10 "students" in each "class." Each session will last about 1 hour. You are welcome to attend one, or all with your children/students, or just for fun. The sessions will begin about 8:30 a.m, then about 9:30, 10:30, break for lunch, 1:00 and 2:00. We do not have...

Following the death of George H.W. Bush, who passed away on Friday at the age of 94, many politicians and his children shared heartfelt tributes to the late 41st president of the United States. “I already miss the greatest human being that I will ever know,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wrote on Twitter Saturday morning. “Love you Dad!” Mere moments after his father’s death was announced, former President George W. Bush also shared a heartwarming tribute to his father and to his parents’ love on Instagram....

When President Donald Trump didn’t attend Barbara Bush’s funeral earlier this year, it stoked chatter about a rivalry between the two powerful families who have a history of sniping at each other. The former first lady criticized Trump during the 2016 campaign for saying “terrible things” about women and the military, and was long displeased with Trump’s insults toward her husband and sons. But many of the family’s confidants said Saturday former President George H.W. Bush wished to put that all aside when it came to Trump attending his funeral. “If anybody at anytime knew anything about the 41st president...

He says he's Lyin’ Ted no more. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declared on Saturday night that the ignominious nickname bestowed on him by President Trump during the 2016 campaign season has been relegated to the annals of history -- as has the feud between Cruz and Trump. "This was also a breakthrough year in which my presidential sobriquet went from 'Lyin’ Ted' to 'Beautiful Ted,'" Cruz joked during a speech at the Gridiron Club. Cruz was joking, in the spirit of the roast. He also quipped: “I gotta say, that new pet name felt like it really hit the mark....

Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke doesn’t seem too keen on the tough-guy shtick adopted by some of his fellow Democrats. In an interview with New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, O’Rourke took at shot at celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, arguing that the attorney, who regularly battles President Donald Trump on Twitter, “does not represent” Democrats. Avenatti is one among a chorus of Democrats who have twisted Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, we go high” credo from the 2016 election in an effort to appear tougher against Trump and the GOP this time around. Avenatti’s version: “When they go low,...

The race for U.S. Senator from Texas is getting nastier by the day as early voting ends with election day just four days away. Republican Senator Ted Cruz this morning tweeted questioning whether O’Rourke’s campaign is illegally using campaign funds to fund the Honduran caravan headed for the border. "Two basic Qs every reporter should ask Beto today: (1) should the 'caravan' be allowed to cross illegally into Texas? (Beto refuses to answer.) And (2) did your campaign dollars illegally fund their doing so?" the senator tweeted.” Cruz maintains O’Rourke hasn’t answered either of those questions. In response, the O’Rourke...

President Donald Trump let bygones be bygones Monday with his former rival presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, praising the Texas Republican before heading to Houston to rally for him. When the two men were duking it out for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Trump famously hurled insults at Cruz, christening him with one of Trump's signature monikers: "Lyin' Ted." Trump also went after Cruz's family, suggesting Cruz's father was involved in the John F. Kennedy assassination and targeting Cruz's wife Heidi for her appearance. But the president made a reversal of his past insults as he prepared for his highly...

Supporters are lining up for President Trump's big rally in Texas, one whole day before the event will take place. With his 2020 campaign boasting "100,000+" people being interested in attending, lines of people outside the venue, shown across multiple blocks in photos tweeted by CNN's Betsy Klein, further indicate high enthusiasm for the event. The rally, set for Monday evening at the Toyota Center in Houston, is poised to be the most powerful boost yet for Sen. Ted Cruz, who will share the stage with the man he once opposed for the presidency. The Republican incumbent faces a surprisingly...

Small-dollar donors are playing an increasingly prominent role in bankrolling campaigns. Right now, Democratic candidates running for seats in the House and Senate appear to be reaping the biggest rewards from low-dollar donations. For example, In the race for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, 43 percent of the individual contributions brought in by Democrat Randy Bryce between July 26 and Sept. 30 came from donations of $200 or less, his most recent FEC filings show. Meanwhile, only 17 percent of the individual contributions to his Republican opponent, Bryan Steil, were from small donors. More than 70 Democratic challengers in some of...

Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke said at a CNN town hall Thursday night that he would still vote to impeach President Donald Trump. The El Paso congressman challenging Sen. Ted Cruz said that his position on impeachment hadn't changed, even as Cruz has used the issue to galvanize conservative voters against O'Rourke's campaign. Asked by CNN's Dana Bash if he had changed his mind after saying he'd vote to impeach Trump this summer, O'Rourke said, "I haven't." He pointed to the ongoing probe into whether Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. "There may be an open question as to...

HIDALGO — The Homeland Security Department's decision last week to speed construction of a border wall in the lower Rio Grande Valley has inflamed local residents just as the midterm election is in sight. Politically, it cuts both ways. As Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke stokes voter interest by reminding them about President Donald Trump's plans, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz also is using the issue to excite his base. At the border, where miles of gaps separate segments of wall constructed a decade ago — hardly any of it as imposing as the barrier Trump envisions — some residents are angry...

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said in a recent interview that he hopes somebody runs against President Trump in the 2020 election, and that Trump supporters' continued chants of "lock her up" — typically in reference to Hillary Clinton — are "disturbing." In his retirement interview with C-SPAN, Flake said the chants, which were sparked by Trump's campaign and have continued throughout his presidency, are more concerning than the controversial things Trump says. "The disturbing thing isn’t so much what [Trump] says anymore, it’s the cheers from people behind him and the chants of, 'Lock her up!' for example that’s just...

More than 4,300 donations from North Texans have been made to President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign to date, totaling about $800,000. American City Business Journals, Dallas Business Journal's parent company, compiled the data from the Federal Election Commission on all contributions to Donald J. Trump For President Inc. made between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018. Those donations include gifts from some notable leaders and executives in the Dallas-Fort Worth community. Steve Winn, who is the CEO of Richardson public company RealPage Inc., has given $5,400 between primary and general election campaigns. Kirk Dinkins, who is the owner of...

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is playing the Nazi card. In a mail ad sent to his constituents, Price juxtaposed pictures of Adolf Hitler and President Donald Trump, comparing the two point by point. The ad, which features Price’s smiling face on the back and a list of polling places, calls on people to vote for Democrats in the Nov. 6 election. Dallas County Republican Party chairwoman Missy Shorey, who is married to a Jewish man, called the mailer "pathetic and disgusting" and called on Price to apologize. "I'm trying not to throw up in my mouth," she said....

Bill and Hillary Clinton are going on tour. The Clintons announced on Monday that they would headline a series of live events together -- billed "An Evening with The Clintons" -- across the country in the final weeks of 2018 and into 2019. The tour will provide the Democratic stalwarts with a notable platform weeks after the consequential 2018 midterm elections and deep into 2019, when a number of Democrats will be jockeying for positions in the fight to be the party's standard bearer against President Donald Trump in 2020. The events, which are being produced by tour promoter Live...

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- Senate-hopeful Beto O'Rourke used his free time from the postponed debate Sunday to reach voters on Facebook Live. His campaign billed his interactive effort as a live television ad in response to the spate of recent negative ads against him. During the Facebook Live broadcast, he mentioned the timing of his campaign, especially given the contentious testimony during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Rather than point out the emotional nature of the proceedings, O'Rourke offered his gratitude to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused the Supreme...

Rest assured that if there’s a rumor that, in third grade, young Brett Kavanaugh yanked on the ponytails of the girl in the second row (war on women!), The New York Times, NBC News and phalanxes of their journalistic colleagues will be all over it. Meanwhile, Rep. Beto O’Rourke had a pair of felony arrests in his mid-to-late 20s, including a reckless drunk-driving incident in which he crashed into a car and allegedly tried to flee from the scene. The cases appear to have mysteriously disappeared without serious prosecution, notwithstanding that O’Rourke continues to deny basic facts outlined in at...

Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas took a verbal swing at his Republican rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, and his ties with President Donald Trump, during a debate on Friday, in the final weeks of a heated and closely watched midterm election in the state. Speaking at an auditorium at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, O'Rourke contrasted Cruz's recent conciliatory statements about Trump, and the harsh criticism Cruz had for Trump when they were both candidates in the 2016 Republican primary....