Free Republic

Tuesday’s elections swept Republicans across America into office, but what do freshly elected Republicans need to do next? 1) Realize They’ve Not Sold the American People Victorious Republicans should enjoy their election victory, but they should also understand it does not mean that the American people have bought wholesale into conservative political philosophy, as is so tempting to believe after a big election. After George W. Bush’s victory in 2004, Hugh Hewitt wrote Painting the Map Red. After 2008, James Carville wrote 40 More Years: How Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation. Both books turned out to be overly optimistic...

Dear Friend, I wanted, first of all, to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your massive support and the outpouring of funds and interest to back up my efforts on behalf of Super PAC for America. We have succeeded amazingly. As background, I divided my efforts into two categories: there were races where I was personally involved advising the campaigns and working to help them raise money. There were others in which Super PAC was involved in independent efforts. I had no personal involvement in those races and was, therefore, able to raise funds for Super PAC...

Reuters) - A chastened President Barack Obama on Wednesday pledged to seek compromise with Republicans who won big in congressional elections and admitted he had lost touch with voters who delivered a "shellacking" to him and his Democrats. But on issue after issue, Obama gave little ground on his positions as the two sides gear up for negotiations over how to tackle the sluggish economy, the main reason the electorate has soured on his leadership

PALM BEACH, Fla. – Radio giant Rush Limbaugh is calling last night's sweeping GOP victories a "wipeout," saying the tidal wave of Republicans coming into office at all levels will change the mindset of Democrats still in power or seeking office in 2012. "The Democrats know Obama's poison," he said. "Obama has lost his momentum. There is going to be a power struggle in the Democratic Party. ... Blood is in the water, there are Democrats who think they can be a better president than Obama." The top-rated host said Americans had collectively given President Obama and the Democratic Party...

Although attention has focused on GOP gains in Congress and Governor's mansions, the worst part of the night for Democrats probably came in state legislative seats. The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates that Democrats had the worst night in state legislative seats since 1928. With races outstanding in New York, Washington and Oregon, Republicans have flipped at least 14 chambers, and have unified control of 25 state legislatures. They have picked up over five hundred state legislative seats, including over 100 in New Hampshire alone. This hurts Democrats in two ways. First, it wipes out the prospective farm team...

WASHINGTON — After winning control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday's midterm elections, Republicans will take over the chamber's powerful committees when the new Congress convenes in January. Committee chairs, working with party leaders, set agendas and take the lead in drafting laws in their jurisdictions — from defense and education to farming and banking. They can also call investigative hearings on a variety of matters — including federal programs, suspected corporate wrongdoing or White House actions — and seek subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify. Here is a look at some of the likely new chairs: House appropriations...

Japanese news today over here (newspapers above the fold, magazines, non-stop TV networks) are filled to the brim with news of Mr. Obama's humiliating defeat at the hands of the Republicans.Many of this is bringing Japanese up to speed as to how unpopular Mr. Obama really is, as for the last two years by and large they perpetuated the image of him being successful and popular (mostly in order to sell books and English instruction tapes using his speeches). What a rude awakening.Well, my favorite title is from this morning's Hokkaido Shimbun: Essentially: "Obama Agenda For "Change" Delivered Strong...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who saw her powerful position taken from her in Tuesday’s landslide election, was adamant the day after Democrats lost 60 seats in the House that the results were not a rejection of the agenda pursued by President Obama and herself. “Let’s understand the message,” Pelosi told ABC’s Diane Sawyer. “The message was not, ‘I reject the course that you are on.’ The message is it didn’t go fast enough to produce jobs.” Pelosi, who would not comment on whether she will retire from Congress rather than go back to the minority, also predicted that Obama will...

Just announced on channel 3 (CBS affiliate)

Republicans are on their way to controlling nearly 300 seats in New Hampshire's House of Representatives, according to preliminary vote counts. The latest tally shows 296 seats firmly in Republican hands, with three seats yet to be decided. GOP sources say two of those will likely go their way and leave Democrats with 102 seats. In the Senate, the final split is 19-5, according to figures at the Secretary of State's office. That represents a pickup of nine seats for the Republicans, who were the minority in a 14-10 Senate for the past four years. [SNIP] Secretary of State William...

If you believe that the cable news landscape is symptomatic of our two-party political system, then you also probably, and predictably, saw a different tone in last nights election results. Fox News presented its coverage with a patina of celebration, while MSNBC’s took a more gloom and doom approach. But there was one important distinction between the two outlets: Fox News offered a far more balanced set of analysts for the election coverage than did MSNBC. Almost all of the results from yesterday’s midterm elections are in, and there is little question that the GOP has good reason to celebrate...

The top three Senate Democrats said the onus was on the newly-strengthened GOP conference to cooperate on legislation next year. Republicans picked up six Senate seats Tuesday night, not enough to take control of the chamber but the new numbers will make it harder for Democrats to get the necessary 60 votes to proceed on controversial legislation. Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.), in a conference call with reporters Wednesday, pledged to work with the Republicans but also emphasized the GOP’s responsibility to not block legislation. Reid, especially,...

In another boon for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, write-in ballots cast for Republican candidate Joe Miller won’t count toward his total vote count. Alaska’s Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, who oversees elections, told the Associated Press that write-in ballots for Miller will be tossed out.

(1) Obama still does not get the fact that he is a Socialist / Marxist / Statist and the vast majority of American People do not support his agenda of moving America into the Socialist column. (2) Obama still thinks it is government that creates jobs. The only way government creates jobs is to get out of the way of business.... (3) Obama is still committed to Government Healthcare which the American people and business soundly reject. It is the Free Enterprise System that creates competition and economic delivery of services. (4) Obama still believes that the American people elected...

Republicans made huge gains across the country Tuesday — no more so than in the industrial Midwest. In the region they picked up four Senate seats, 19-20 House seats and at least four governorships, with Illinois and Minnesota still undecided. That should give a big lift to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as they gear up for possible presidential runs. Making significant Rust Belt inroads will be critical to Republican hopes of retaking the White House in 2012. Daniels and Pawlenty offer the best chance to do just that.

Don’t Stop Fighting Dear Friends, I’m writing to thank you for all of your hard work over the past year. This was a difficult election to be sure, but thanks to you we helped send Reps. Jim Moran and Bobby Scott back to Congress, it looks like Rep. Gerry Connolly will be headed back as well, and we put up a great fight on behalf of Rick Boucher, Tom Perriello, Glenn Nye and the rest of our congressional ticket. Reps. Boucher, Perriello and Nye deserve our thanks for their honorable service to this Commonwealth. They did the best they could...

Most of the candidates Sarah Palin endorsed chalked up victories Tuesday. And that scorecard leaves pundits wondering whether she'll now train her sights directly on the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. As CBS News Correspondent Jeff Glor reports, the former GOP vice presidential nominee backed 43 candidates for the House. Thirty of them won, with races involving nine others still undecided. Her record in Senate races was closer: She endorsed 12 candidates. Seven won. (snip) And on "The early Show" Wednesday, DeMint was asked if he could see a Palin-DeMint or DeMint-Palin ticket in 2012. "I agree with her," DeMint...

Somehow, some of us believed that at least Fiorina could pull it off, because, as a resident of this crazy state, it didn't appear that there was a lot of love for Boxer. And I even thought Meg Whitman could surprise the pundits and possibly squeak out a win. After all, Jerry Brown, a career polititian, is like a joke who has done just about nothing right. So how did Boxer and Brown do it? Yes, I've seen what I think is voter fraud before, but I don't think it's enough to add up to a big win. Yes, there...

Buchanan County Clerk Kelley Stahlin confirmed on Wednesday morning she has fired election winner Mary Baack-Garvey from the clerk’s office. Citing tensions that she said had existed for years, Ms. Stahlin said she let go of Ms. Baack-Garvey to quell any drama until the latter takes office on Jan. 1. “With all of the insubordination and the blatant disregard ... I just felt it best with us going forward that there wasn’t room for both of us in here,” she said. Claiming she doesn’t think she will suffer any repercussions for the decision, Ms. Stahlin said she had no regrets...

These results are way out of all the predicted models. In the last two weeks 95% of the polls had Angle winning .5 to 3.5%. Reid is up by 5. Looks like we could have ballot stuffin, machine riggin, vote fraud by the unions and the corrupt Reid machine. We need to look closely at Nevada and call Reid's "win" into question. We may be able to reverse the results and/or delegitamize him so much that we can at least force him out of as "Pseudo-Majority" Leader and force a fight with in the Rat party