Free Republic

Republican primary voters have high interest in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a potential 2024 presidential nominee and view him more favorably than they do former President Donald Trump, a new Wall Street Journal poll shows. In a hypothetical contest between the two, Mr. DeSantis beats Mr. Trump, 52% to 38%, among likely GOP primary voters contemplating a race in which the first nomination votes will be cast in just over a year. The poll found that Mr. DeSantis is both well-known and well-liked among Republicans who say they are likely to vote in a party primary or nominating contest,...

Barack Obama said on Tuesday the world should resist cynicism over the rise of strongmen, in an apparent reference to populist leaders who hold power in a number of countries. […] “Just as people spoke about the triumph of democracy in the 90s, people now are talking about the triumph of tribalism and the strong man. But we need to resist that cynicism,” Obama said in a speech in Johannesburg to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. Some of Obama’s language echoed that of Trump’s critics. “Too much of politics today seems to reject the very...

Say goodbye to the 10-point lead Republicans enjoyed in last week's Gallup poll of generic congressional preferences. Gallup's weekly tracking poll of the generic ballot, a key predictor of voters' actions in elections, showed Democrats and Republicans tied at 46 percent -- down from the 10-point lead the GOP held just a week ago. The shift, the polling group noted, marked the first time in five weeks where Republicans didn't hold some sort of advantage over Democrats. Last week's 51-41 percent lead was heralded as "unprecedented" for Republicans. The survey, which tracks voters' preference in a matchup of a generic...

THE US will commit $US2 billion ($2.27 billion) over the next three years for a new international fund to promote clean energy technologies and fight climate change, President George W. Bush will tell Congress today in his annual State of the Union speech.