Free Republic

Renowned political pollster and consultant Doug Schoen unveiled his thoughts on former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while describing his 40-year career on Fox Nation's "Tucker Carlson Today." "My sense of Obama was just a great speechwriter, a great author who had a persona that was far more substantial than the...leader he proved to be," Schoen told host Tucker Carlson. "I had no problems with him as a person. My problems were that I don't think he was a particularly successful president." During the episode of "Tucker Carlson Today," Schoen detailed stories and lessons from...

The Trump administration's efforts to stop the use of H-1B workers by IT contractors suffered a major setback in court. This week, a federal judge ruled that the government exceeded the law. Trump administration has been denying H-1B work visa applications for IT contractors through stringent regulation interpretations. The IT contractors sued, claiming the administration's governance was too rigid. This week, the contractors won a significant court victory. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington, said the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) "exceeded the law" and went too far in its interpretations of H-1B work visa rules. Her...

The Department of Defense granted Dmitri Alperovitch, the co-founder of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, the status of a special government employee in 2013, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to The Epoch Times. Alperovitch held the status for one year starting on Nov. 23, 2013. “He was an unpaid consultant limited to 60 total days in a year and has not provided any consulting services since that time,” Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon press spokesperson, wrote in an email. “In his role as a special government employee, Alpervotich provided services in cybersecurity, forensic cyber analysis, and post-incident remediation.” In 2013 and 2014,...

State school board members are looking to an outsider to lead Alabama public schools, naming the former Massachusetts education secretary as the next school superintendent over candidates who have worked extensively in state classrooms.

"Scott Walker just dropped off my list of acceptable candidates. I like a lot about Governor Walker but people are policy. And his decision to hire Brad Dayspring, an unprincipled political operative who combines viciousness and incompetence in equal measures tells us a lot."

This phone number has called my home repeatedly for the past week. I have an unlisted phone number and am on the national do not call list, yet the calling continues. They called again right at 9 o’clock this morning to my unlisted, “do not call” number. The “do not call” part apparently does not apply to political and charitable calls. The caller ID says “Tea Party” and calls from (202) 750-2399. I figured I’d answer and see what was going on. A lady announces that she is calling on behalf of the tea party effort to support Sen. Rand...

NBC’s “Meet the Press” has fallen to such ratings lows that network brass ordered psychological research of the host David Gregory and his family, in a bid to make him more likable. Friends of Gregory and even his wife were interviewed by a psychologist commissioned by NBC to find out how the host of the flagship Sunday morning show might relate to audiences better. The Washington Post reported, “Last year, the network undertook an unusual assessment of the 43-year-old journalist, commissioning a psychological consultant to interview his friends and even his wife. “The idea, according to a network spokeswoman, Meghan...

NBC has been so alarmed at Meet the Press's decline, the network hired a "psychological consultant" to assess the host, David Gregory. The Washington Post reports: Last year, the network undertook an unusual assessment of the 43-year-old journalist, commissioning a psychological consultant to interview his friends and even his wife. The idea, according to a network spokeswoman, Meghan Pianta, was “to get perspective and insight from people who know him best.”

If you ever doubted that money outweighs principles in contemporary politics, then the case of Richmond campaign consultant Boyd Marcus should permanently erase such ambiguity in your mind. Marcus, a prominent figure in Virginia politics for two decades, made headlines in August when he abandoned a lifetime of supporting Republicans to endorse Democrat Terry McAuliffe for governor. McAuliffe’s team and Marcus trumpeted the conversion as an important political sign that mainstream Republicans were rejecting the tea party conservatism espoused by GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli II. Instead, we learned Thursday, the primary motive was entirely mercenary. An e-mail was made public...

Sarah Palin jumped into the “defund Obamacare” fray this week with a full defense of Ted Cruz‘s efforts to defund the health care law by any means necessary. On Hardball Monday, former McCain 2008 campaign strategist Steve Schmidt said that Republicans need to wash themselves of this “asininity.” “We need Republicans, whether they’re running for president, whether they’re the leadership of the Congress, to stand up against a lot of this asininity.” He declared that moderates need to take “conservatism’s good name back from the freakshow that’s been running wild for four years,”

We are used to Democrats who use campaigns and government jobs as their private piggy banks. A Republican campaign would be the last place you would expect to see wild spending on questionable projects. Yet in the Romney campaign that seems to have happened and this might have cost him the election. What is going on?

If you spend your time watching politics and haven’t been hiding in a deep depression since Tuesday, you’ve probably been hearing a lot about “ORCA.” According to the Washington Post, ORCA “was designed as a first-of-its-kind tool to employ smartphones to mobilize voters, allowing them to microtarget which of their supporters had gone to the polls.” There is now widespread condemnation of the program as being sloppy and poorly deployed.

I want to start a defense contracting company. I have expertise in education and training, in addition, I am a former US Marine and a former magazine editor. I want to help the armed forces produce high quality curriculums for both officers and enlisted. I have a few questions about going about this. A) Do I need security clearance just to place a bid to do contract work with the military? B) Some companies check out your finances to get a picture of your competence as a potential business manager. I know that they check your finances for the security...

EHealth Ontario paid a consultant who submitted an invoice for eight hours of work in which she said she consulted herself, then followed up with questions for herself.

CHICAGO – A partner in a prominent, Washington-based political consulting firm is among those secretly recorded discussing ways Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich can cash in on President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. Frederick S. Yang, a top executive at Peter D. Hart Research Group Associates, is identified by prosecutors in the Blagojevich criminal complaint as "Advisor B," ... The Hart firm has represented dozens of Democratic governors and members of Congress. The revelation that a key executive at the company was captured on FBI wiretaps working with the governor could embroil one of the nation's most respected and influential polling...

ELECTION 2004Republican leads local Dean campaign 'My motivation may be different than yours, but our goal is the same' Posted: January 28, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com A Republican lawyer and supporter of President Bush who infiltrated a meeting of Howard Dean supporters has been nominated to lead a local campaign for the Democratic presidential candidate. "I'm basically now head of Central Mississippians for Dean," J. Kevin Broughton told John McCaslin, whose "Inside the Beltway" column is published by the Washington Times. Broughton said he informed the Jackson, Miss., gathering he was a Republican who wanted to see Dean win the...

The administrative office in Fulmore Middle School is probably the last place anybody would expect to see a tiny crystal hanging from the ceiling. But the spinning object isn't just for show at the Central Austin school: It's good feng shui. Stacy Davenport, a feng shui consultant, has spent the past two months bringing the basics of the ancient Chinese philosophy to the campus grounds, offices and classrooms. Feng shui emphasizes using space and colors as a way to achieve harmony with the environment. The crystal on the office ceiling is meant to deflect energy. The back wall is painted...

Hillary Clinton has hired an "evangelical consultant” to help woo Christian conservatives in her likely 2008 presidential campaign. The move comes after a similar political operative successfully aided Democratic candidates in several states in the midterm elections. More than one-quarter of the nation’s voters identify themselves as evangelical — a voter bloc that has long been courted by Republicans. Clinton’s new hire is Burns Strider, an evangelical Christian who directs religious outreach for House Democrats and is the lead staffer for the Democrats’ Faith Working Group, headed by incoming Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina. Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

Jefferson hires crisis-seasoned PR aideCongressman target in corruption probe Friday, July 07, 2006 By Bruce Alpert Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., points to a map as he talks with Congressman William Jefferson at a presentation during a briefing on the levee system in Southern Louisiana in New Orleans, Thursday, July 6, 2006. The briefing covered the state of current levee reconstruction and what actions need to be implemented in the future to ensure South Louisiana residents are safe from the flooding associated with hurricanes. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, the target of a high-profile public corruption probe,...

Someone at TIME Magazine has finally figured out why Democrats lose elections. Joe Klein blames the losing record of the Democrats on their dependence on consultants and focus groups. Limbaugh has been saying this for years -- I don't know why it's taken so long for a smart man like Klein to figure this one out. When it comes to politics, the Democrats are still at "Ned in the First Reader."Of course, the other reason that Democrats lose elections is that they're wrong on the issues, but Klein hasn't figured that one out yet and probably won't.Klein talks of Gore...