Free Republic

I have observed that the polls and the news readers have taken to reminding us that Sarah Palin's nomination spells certain defeat for the GOP in 2012. Let's examine the question of Sarah Palin's prowess as a candidate, measured against the current field: It has been noted that former Senator Rick Santorum won his Senate seat in a big GOP year (1994) and lost it big in a Democrat year (2006), sweeping in with one tide and out with another. This is evidence of weakness as a candidate. Let's examine the rest of this field, using 2006 as the barometer....

I have been a casual observer of polls for over three decades, since early 1979 (about the same time in the 1980 election cycle as we find ourselves in the 2012 cycle) when Jimmy Carter was posting a 57-35 lead over Ronald Reagan in the respected Gallup poll. Carter maintained double digits leads over Reagan throughout 1979 and even into the spring of 1980, as the March 31, 1980 edition of time observed. ("National opinion polls continue to show Carter leading Reagan by an apparently comfortable margin of about 25%.") Early polls of general election contests (19 months out) are...

Political campaigns bear a striking resemblance to military campaigns. Both involve strategy, an awareness of the environment (a "grasp of the ground" in military parlance) and the concentration of forces and resources at the crucial point where the enemy is weak. Armies that are well led tend to win, while those who are poorly led tend to lose. Since we entered the sesquicentennial of the Civil War on April 12, 2011, I was reflecting on some of the peculiar abilities and gifts of the great military leaders of the American Civil War compared to those so far displayed by Governor...

To get some idea of the scope of the shellacking delivered to the Democrats in the 2010 midterms, it is worth noting that the new 112th Congress which convenes in January will be unprecedented in the lifetimes of most who are reading this now. No. It is not the first time the GOP has held the Majority. But it is the first time that the Democrats have failed to field a House caucus of over 200 members. Their 63 seat drubbing will leave them with 193, the first time they have fallen below the 200 member threshold since 1946. However,...

Whenever Sarah Palin's name is mentioned in the same sentence as Ronald Reagan's, there is a screech of indignation, which generally comes from people who only glommed themselves onto Reagan AFTER he became President. These people used Reagan to advance their own careers, but now set themselves up as experts on all things Reagan and arbiters of who can, and who cannot, be fairly compared to the Gipper. [For example, you never hear such criticisms voiced by those who actually campaigned for Reagan in 1976 like Mark Levin or the "St. Paul of the Conservative Movement", Rush Limbaugh who came...

I have watched Sean Hannity for a number of years and listened to his radio show. (I will admit at the outset that my tastes run more in the direction of Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh, and I know the three of them are good friends.) To be blunt, the continued appearance of Karl Rove on his show is an affront to anyone who is serious about creating a new and permanent conservative majority. When I see Rove appear, I change the channel. I certainly have no problem with frankly liberal guests like Juan Williams, Bob Beckel and Ed Rendell...

I hate to admit it but, as big as the victory in 2010 was, it could have been bigger. As Mark Levin put it the other night, "When it comes to liberty, I am greedy". It would have been wonderful to see Sharron Angle (who lost by 5), Ken Buck (who lost by 1), and probably Joe Miller (who stands to lose by about 3) in the Senate, and each of these races was within reach. A number of factors unique to each race played a role in the candidate's loss, but I think a salient (and likely decisive) factor...