Free Republic

While he was early voting on Friday, a Douglasville, Georgia man says he was asked to remove a hat he wears everywhere, one that reads “NRA Instructor,” because poll workers said it was too closely associated with the Republican party.Bundy Cobb, who is certified by the National Rifle Association in firearms training, wears the hat in part to promote his business, True Aim Defense. But poll workers apparently saw it as something different.“I went by the first two ladies, and they didn’t say anything. And then the next lady, she said ‘sir, you’re going to have to take off your...

Things appear to be tightening in Maryland, where a poll leaked to The Daily Caller shows the gubernatorial race is “extremely close — only 2 points, 46 to 44, separate Democratic Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown and Republican small businessman Larry Hogan.” ....How could this be possible? I mean, what has happened in the last week? For one thing, President Obama — not welcome on the trail in red states — campaigned for Brown in Maryland, where crowds began streaming out during his speech, leaving empty bleachers behind.

Election Day 2014 is just eight days away, but control of the Senate may not be known for two more months. Observers and pundits on both sides expect Louisiana's Senate race to go to a December runoff between Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. However, less attention is being paid to Amanda Swafford, the Georgia Libertarian who could deny Senate candidates in her state a required 50-percent majority on Election Day. Georgia's runoff wouldn't occur until Jan. 6, the day after the new Congress is set to meet. Could these Southern states block the one thing every...

With days to go until the midterms, and with polls pointing to the prospect that Republicans could take control of the Senate, the stakes are high not just for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, but for the United States. The consequences of Republican control of both the House and Senate could be catastrophic for the environment, workers, women and minorities. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has promised a gathering of donors hosted by the Koch brothers that "we're not going to be debating all these gosh darn proposals … things like raising the minimum wage … extending unemployment...

A Ukrainian man who legally changed his name to Darth Vader and is running for a seat in the country's parliament was turned away from a Kiev polling station Sunday for refusing to take off his mask to be identified.

A new CNN/ORC Poll is the latest in a long line of polls to show Democrat Michelle Nunn leading David Perdue in the Georgia Senate race. More importantly, the CNN poll shows that Nunn would win a runoff between the two candidates. CNN reported, “Democrat Michelle Nunn has a slight 47%-44% edge over Republican David Perdue in the Georgia race for an open Senate seat, according to a new CNN/ORC International survey released Friday…Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford is pulling 5% of the vote in Georgia, keeping Nunn and Perdue from reaching the 50% threshold….In a hypothetical runoff, Nunn still holds...

Republicans Bondi, Putnam, Atwater Lead Down Ballot Races 46% Floridians Concerned About Contracting Ebola The Florida governor’s election between former Gov. Charlie Crist and incumbent Gov. Rick Scott is statistically tied, according to a new poll from the Saint Leo University Polling Institute. With less than two weeks before the election, Crist leads, 43-40 percent, with Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie pulling 8 percent, and 9 percent of likely voters saying they are undecided. Crist’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error, and the race can be described as a statistical tie.

....In the poll, Peters leads Republican candidate Terri Lynn Land 53 percent to 39 percent among registered voters. That spread is roughly in line with the findings from other recent polls....

Is it possible that pollsters are underestimating the size and composition of Colorado's electorate in the upcoming Nov. 4 -- given that the state now mails ballots to its voters? Democrats...certainly hope that's the case. And now they have data backing it up, according to a new poll....

The IRS may have inadvertently figured out how to win its legal battles against aggrieved tea party groups: Give them what they wanted in the first place — tax-exempt status. That was a major reason a Republican-appointed federal judge on Thursday threw out two lawsuits brought by more than 40 conservative groups seeking remedies for being singled out in the tea party targeting scandal, a victory for the IRS.

Full Title: Fox News host and former Victoria's Secret model claims 'hot' young women are usually ignorant and should NOT vote or be allowed on juries because 'they don't get it'

Early voting in Illinois got off to a rocky start Monday, as votes being cast for Republican candidates were transformed into votes for Democrats. Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library. “I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote for my opponent,” Moynihan said. “You could imagine my surprise as the same thing happened with a number of races when I tried to vote for a Republican and the machine registered a vote for a Democrat.”

June 9, 2014: For years, President Obama and black civil rights leaders have been telling the nation that voter ID laws are being pushed by racist Republicans who want to disenfranchise blacks. "The right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the Voting Rights Act was passed in to law nearly five decades ago," Mr. Obama told a conference hosted by Al Sharpton earlier this year. Dismissing the notion that voter ID laws could have anything to do with ballot integrity, the president said that "the real voter fraud is people trying to...

The Democrat mantra that voting fraud is rare takes another blow today with the stunning story of a GOP candidate unable to vote for himself in Cook County Illinois. The Illinois Political Review reports: Admitting his confidence in Cook County ballot integrity is shaken, State Representative Candidate Jim Moynihan (R-56), was shocked today when he tried to cast a vote for himself and the voting machine cast it for his opponent instead. “While early voting at the Schaumburg Public Library today, I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote for my opponent,” said Moynihan....

... Though it’s a bedrock American principle that citizens can steer their own government by electing new officials, Glennon suggests that in practice, much of our government no longer works that way. In a new book, “National Security and Double Government,” he catalogs the ways that the defense and national security apparatus is effectively self-governing, with virtually no accountability, transparency, or checks and balances of any kind. He uses the term “double government”: There’s the one we elect, and then there’s the one behind it, steering huge swaths of policy almost unchecked. Elected officials end up serving as mere cover...

FULL TITLE: Abortion CEO committed to ‘keeping Tiller’s legacy alive’ endorses Greg Orman for U.S. Senate in Kansas A longtime associate of abortionist George Tiller, who is now the CEO of her own Wichita abortion facility, has thrown her support behind Greg Orman in his bid to defeat Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas. “As CEO of South Wind Women’s Center, an organization that provides reproductive health care to Kansas women, I am disheartened that, once again, the lives of women are up for debate,” Julie Burkhart wrote in The Wichita Eagle. “We live in a time when...

In response to fears of Ebola spreading within the U.S., the Pentagon is forming a “quick strike team” consisting of 30 people. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Sunday that the medical support team will feature 20 critical care nurses, five doctors and five trainers who specialize in infectious disease protocols. The team is composed of civilian health care providers though no names have been released at this point. The team was created in response.....

The principles of conservatism – personal empowerment, less government intrusion into private lives, a strong national defense, greater individual freedom & liberty, fiscal responsibility from our elected officials – make sense and work for all people, regardless of race or ethnicity. The chasm between black (and brown) and conservative America is unhealthy for both sides, and at B&C.com we are dedicated to helping bridge that gap. Our deepest desire is to aid in bringing both sides to a place of mutual understanding and respect. Black America, we have got to change the way we operate. Automatically running to one political...

There is a “moral bankruptcy” that’s settled into leadership of America in the White House and throughout Washington, D.C., Dr. Alveda King—the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.—said in an interview Friday morning. “All of our leaders—or many of our leaders—are just morally bankrupt right now,” King said when asked if President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have helped or hurt the black community in America. “They’re not calling on God. We still stay ‘In God We Trust’ and ‘One Nation Under God’ but we’re not practicing that. We need to call on God. There’s a moral bankruptcy in...

After being stuck in the same range all year, Florida's unemployment rate finally broke through in September to fall to a fresh, multiyear, post-recession low. At 6.1 percent, Florida's jobless rate is now at its lowest point since June 2008.... Florida added 13,400 jobs over the month with trade, transportation and utilities, a broad category that includes retail jobs, leading the way.... In a news release, Gov. Rick Scott emphasized the addition of 12,800 private-sector jobs last month... "Together since December 2010, Florida job creators have created 651,300 private-sector jobs," Scott said in a statement. "Our policies are working in...