Free Republic

The fast approaching date for the Delaware Republican primary is Tuesday September, 14th. The choice before the voters could not be more stark. Nor could it be more momentous. On this day, the choice of a senate nominee will be made between a dynamic, young committed conservative and a cynical old liberal career politician. This little noticed primary has implications far beyond the borders of the First State. Who shall represent us? What qualifies one to be senator? Unlike her liberal Republican opponent, Christine O’Donnell is not a career politician. In contrast to Mike Castle, she has not spent the...

Senate Democrats who think they can use a lame-duck session to force the country into a final, decisive lurch to the left may be in for a big surprise: newly elected senators ready to take their seats and derail major policy changes before the new Congress convenes. There are now six unelected members of the U.S. Senate; they represent Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New York, and West Virginia. The rules governing the seating of senators elected to replace appointed senators are left to the states in the 17th amendment....... Two states are clearly opportunities for the GOP to pick up...

More and more people in Delaware are beginning say “Anybody But Castle.” However, this is actually a positive development for Republicans. Mike Castle, you will remember, is a forty-year career far Left liberal Republican member of congress. He voted for Cap and Trade, TARP, the auto and banking industry takeovers. More recently he co sponsored the infamous “Disclose Act” designed to muzzle the first amendment rights of his detractors, and he supported the “Banking Reform Act” which rewards the very banks who have so heavily supported him. He is consistently pro abortion and has earned an F- rating from the...

...As O’Donnell criticizes Castle for supporting the bank bailouts, cap and trade and abortion rights, she appears to have caught DeMint’s attention. The two met recently and a spokesman for the senator’s political action committee said DeMint was “extremely impressed.” “She’s a principled conservative who has been overlooked by the Washington establishment. The senator has not made an endorsement in this race but he's watching it closely to see if O'Donnell can get within striking distance,” Matt Hoskins said. Alluding to a recent Rasmussen survey showing O’Donnell leading in a general election and Castle’s advantage over Democrat Chris Coons narrowing,...

There is a case for Republicans in Delaware to support career liberal politician Mike Castle in the upcoming Republican senate primary. It is a weak and cynical case, and it denies the political realities of 2010. But nevertheless, there is a case. What, you might ask, could induce a conservative who believes in The First Amendment to vote for a politician who co-sponsored the recently passed “Disclose Act,” an act designed to stifle free speech and gag opposition to establishment politicians? What would cause a Second Amendment supporter to vote for a politician who has earned an F- grade from...

...There's one missing piece to Christine's campaign resurgence and that is the voice of the Delaware voters. What do the voters think of Christine? Preliminary polling results from the educational non-profit group Founders Values suggests that conservative T.E.A. party candidate Christine O'Donnell out polls Congressman Mike Castle among likely Republican voters in Delaware by more than 3 to 1. In a survey of likely Republican voters the results give O'Donnell the edge 65%-18% in the race for the Republican to square off against Democrat Chris Coons in the November general election...

This is my first vanity post in ten years on FR. I received an email today from the medical staff coordinator at a hospital in which I am on staff. I would have posted the email but the confidentiality statement at the bottom threatens me with criminal action should I distribute it to non-authorized third parties. The email was to promote a "CME" conference. This is a meeting at which continuing education credits are awarded. Physicians must earn these credits in order to remain licensed. Instead of discussing say, something related to patient care, this conference is by Mike Rock,...

The Delaware Senate seat, departed by Vice President Joe Biden, has left the Republicans a chance to get a win. The race for the Republican contender is between two very distinct sides of the Republican Party. The Conservative wing, which is represented by a broad coalition of conservative Republicans and most in the Tea Party Movement, and the center or RINO wing of the Republican Party (we could name names but you all know who they are). Christine O’Donnell is the Conservative in the race and has earned our endorsement. Running against a career politician, Mike Castle, who has one...

The concept of principle before power is one that is foreign to the majority of career politicians. The secret to longevity in politics is the ability to shift positions and make deals. This requires either an absence of or an abandonment of principles. Witness the long career of Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania. Another politician of this stripe is Representative Mike Castle (R?) DE. Mr. Castle has made his living by spending taxpayer money for over forty years. Throughout his tenure as a congressmen, Mr. Castle, who calls himself a Republican, has voted with The Democrats more often than he has...

Last night, to kick off the Memorial Day weekend, Prism Beer Company in Pennsylvania debuted it’s Tea Party Unfiltered Pale Ale. Why didn’t someone think of this before? Every serious political movement should have its own beer! (As far as we know, no one has created a beer for Organizing for America.) Fan Tom Sytsma enjoys the Ale with Brewer Rob DeMaria (left).

In 2008 Joe Biden won two elections; he was elected Vice President and he was also re elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware. Opposing him in that election was conservative Republican Christine O’Donnell. It is both an obstacle and an opportunity for Ms. O’Donnell that many of those who voted for her in 2008 still do not know her. The votes she garnered then were mainly from those who were not buying the “hope & change” scam being peddled by Obama and Biden. At that time, not many voters had woken up to the fact that liberal Republicans were...

here are a number of things the GOP will need to launch investigations over once it takes back power. As is usually the case, the party opposite that of the White House will make inquiries into a host of items once in control of Congress. With today’s health care vote coming, it is time to begin considering what investigations there will be. Here is my initial list: The bribes to get health care passed. What did the Democrats know and when did they know it about Eric Massa. ACORN Kevin Jennings’ appointment The Sestak promises The Andrew Romanoff promises Barack...

How the GOP Can Take Back the Youth VotePosted By Justin Higgins On November 30, 2008 The Republican Party hasn’t captured a majority of the 18-25 demographic for decades now, and with President-elect Obama renewing the debate about youth in politics, it’s about time we ask ourselves, “How can the GOP capture its fair share of the youth vote?” As a rare member of that demographic who votes Republican (Obama won the youth vote 66-32), I have a few answers — and they all have to do with some fundamental differences in mindsets and rhetoric. The disconnect is more about...

Delaware, “The First State,” has been reliably blue since Governor Dale E. Wolf left office in 1993. The state of Delaware consists of three counties. Northernmost New Castle County includes the City of Wilmington as well as the wealthy and exclusive western suburbs where Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s compound is located. Sussex County, in the South, is largely rural with an increasingly significant retired and “alternative lifestyle” population in the beach communities. In the center is Kent County which has a mixed rural and suburban population. Here is located the state capitol of Dover as well as the large Dover...

Whatever the final results of Tuesday’s New Hampshire Primary, the Republican Party endured four damaging days in the run-up to that climactic confrontation. The two debates over the weekend (Saturday night on ABC TV, then Sunday evening on Fox News) showed our candidates at their worst..... The problem wasn’t the performance of one candidate, but the negative and niggling tone of all of them – especially in contrast to their Democratic rivals. A few more weeks of this nit-picking, negative nonsense and we will turn a difficult general election campaign into an impossible one...... LOOK TO THE FUTURE, NOT THE...

What can you, an average citizen, do to help defend America against terrorists sworn to our destruction? How about not investing in them? A campaign to cut off such investments is gaining momentum. The Center for Security Policy, a Washington think tank, has organized a “Divest Terrorism Initiative” (www.DivestTerror.org) -- a campaign to persuade pension funds, college endowments, 401(k) plans, retirement account managers and individual investors to make sure their money is not used to support regimes that underwrite terrorism. Highest on the priority list: Iran, Sudan, Syria and North Korea. “These countries have been sanctioned by the United States...

How could a loving god allow one crazed maniac to kill in such horrible fashion so many innocent people at Virginia Tech University last Tuesday? How could he allow one person filled with such loathing of those around him to take away life from so many people who had worked so long to make such a difference for good in the world? People at VTU whose minds and hearts are reeling, spinning madly while they try to orient themselves and catch their mental balance, are incessantly finding their minds going back to ask "Why?" WHY? And the question is even...

This week, the White House sent around a memo titled: “Senator Harry Reid, Then & Now.” It quoted Reid back in November saying: "We're not going to do anything to limit funding or cut off funds" for Iraq. It then quoted Reid a few days ago saying he would co-sponsor a bill to cut off exactly such funding. The White House’s evident goal here was to highlight Reid’s inconsistency and perhaps even suggest he has broken a solemn promise. But that misses the more salient point: Why has Reid, now Senate majority leader, shifted positions on this key issue? The...

Teheran (AsiaNews) – Iran’s secret police have conducted raids against some Christian communities in the lead-up to Christmas. On Sunday, 10 December officials arrested 15 Christians in different areas of the country: Karaj, Teheran, Rasht and Bandar-i Anzali. Only two have been released, according to the Compass Direct agency that broke the news on 14 December. Compass initially reported 10 arrests but yesterday more details became available. The site persecution.org said that in fact 15 Christians had been arrested. They belong to a movement of local house churches. The group describes itself as a Christian community of “liberal evangelicals”. However...

The liberal media bias has been successful at undermining American efforts in Iraq in an effort to destroy the presidency of George W. Bush. The net effect has been to place the citizens of the United States in great jeopardy. The objectivity that journalists once advocated has in recent years been discarded in exchange for promoting those stories that support their liberal agenda. While any death is always tragic, people die in wars. That is why presidents and governments avoid going to war at all costs. That was true of President Bush as it relates to the war in Iraq....