Free Republic

On March 1, the Colorado Republican party prepared for 60,000 voters to arrive at nearly 3,000 precinct-caucus sites across the state. Those voters would select men and women to attend the party’s county assemblies and congressional district conventions, in the first step of a multi-part process that determined 34 of Colorado’s 37 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. To hear Donald Trump and his fans tell it, those tens of thousands of Republicans never arrived, never made their choices, and never had the chance to play a role in selecting the party’s delegates. Matt Drudge, the populist Right’s...

Breathe easy, America. Before you judge Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban too harshly, consider this: It will not apply to Muslims who are, A. Donald Trump's friends, and B. rich. Feel better? The Republican presidential candidate, with a totally straight face, told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Wednesday that he has "a lot of friends that are Muslim," many of whom are "rich" and would get special treatment to let them in the country....

You can’t win if you’re this disliked. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is pretty sanguine about the Democratic Party’s chances in a general election should Donald Trump become the Republican Party’s nominee. Unlike the labor wing of the party, which worries about Trump’s appeal to working-class white voters, and operatives who fear a scorched-earth campaign, Weiner says the real estate tycoon’s inherent flaws will ultimately doom his candidacy. Put simply, Trump’s campaign reminds Weiner of his own race for mayor of New York City in 2013. “Donald Trump, if he’s the nominee, with 65 percent negatives, is not going to...

By this time, everyone with a television, a smart phone or a computer has already seen the MSNBC town hall exchange between Chris Matthews and Donald Trump where the abortion question came up. (Even if you lack all three of those modern devices, you may have caught wind of it via the screams of horror emanating from the windows of your neighbors, both Democrat and Republican.) But on the odd chance that you were in a coma for the past sixteen hours and happened to turn to Hot Air before doing anything else this morning, here’s the short but brutal...

Jimmy Kimmel’s show aired a “death threat” against Donald Trump made by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Trump staffer charged on CNN today. Jimmy Kimmel To Ted Cruz: “If he wasn’t Ted Cruz, he probably would be reported and investigated by the Secret Service,” Karen Giorno, identified by CNN as Trump campaign southeast regional director, told Jake Tapper. “It should offend every American. This is a presidential race,” said the staffer of a GOP candidate who, two months earlier, boasted at a rally, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”...

Real estate mogul Donald Trump continues to reveal his true leftist colors, smearing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) for being too conservative. After Walker endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Trump unleashed a barrage of leftist talking points against Walker. "There’s a $2.2 billion deficit and the schools were going begging and everything was going begging because he didn’t want to raise taxes ’cause he was going to run for president," Trump said. "So instead of raising taxes, he cut back on schools, he cut back on highways, he cut back on a lot of things." Townhall's Guy Benson points out that...

Ted Cruz was on with Jeff Kuhner this morning and answered some tough questions about why he supports the TPA/TPP agreements. One of the questions was specifically about what Jeff Sessions has been saying about the trade deal and Cruz blatantly said that what Sessions has been saying is not accurate. In short, he said that the US is not ceding any sovereignty to any transnational commission, that it has no power to bind the US with any law or agreement. The interview is 24 minutes long and I urge you to listen to the whole thing. But if you...

At Thursday night’s Republican debate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Kasich, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) all parroted talking points about trade that do not seem to match their prior legislative records and statements on the critical issue. While Donald Trump has articulated his vociferous opposition to President Barack Obama’s trade agenda in practically every GOP debate, tonight marked the first debate in which all of the other candidates were asked about their previous support for trade globalism. ... Jake Tapper then asked Cruz: “You were a supporter of the Pacific trade deal [TPP], but after taking some heat from...

Instead, he asked Rubio to protect the national security of the United States. He asked Rubio, don't give amnesty to sex offenders. Don't give amnesty to child molesters. Don't give amnesty to gang members. And Rubio said, oh, sure, Chris. I'll take care of all that. And instead, what did Rubio do? He left in amnesty for the most dangerous aliens in the United States of America. What can you say about a person that treats law enforcement in that way, who misleads law enforcement in that way, and who does so in an effort to put a bill on...

Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, late of Sen. Jeff Sessions' staff, went on with Breitbart News Saturday Stephen K. Bannon, as reported here (including audio). Breitbart emphasized Miller's "epic" case against Marco Rubio, but Miller's opening remarks about Ted Cruz were to me more illuminating, especially in the context of the "post-constitutional" election series I've been writing. In the course of this series, I've examined Ted Cruz's branding as the "consistent conservative," also the constitutional conservative, and found it wanting on several levels. For one thing, Cruz has flip-flopped in the space of the primary cycle on vital immigration...

Senator Cruz entirely understands the widespread suspicion of the President. Nobody has been more vocal in pointing out the President’s lawlessness or more passionate about fighting his usurpation of congressional authority. Senator Cruz would not and will not give President Obama one more inch of unrestricted power. There have been a lot of questions and concerns about the ongoing Pacific trade negotiations. Many of those concerns, fueled by the media, stem from confusion about Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Let’s unpack the issues one by one. What are TPA and TPP? TPA stands for Trade...

In a very important time – This is must listen audio from Steven Miller for anyone concerned about Trans-Pacific Trade (TPP) or Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), or the comprehensive immigration reform platform as it relates to Globalism -vs- Nationalism.

In honor of my friend @realDonaldTrump and good-hearted #Maniacs everywhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NjbGr2nk2c …

Shortly after Ted Cruz told GOP power brokers that Trump lacked the "judgement" to be president, Kellyanne Conway-- who runs Cruz's Keep the Promise I super PAC– defended RNC plans to strip Trump of the nomination at a brokered convention-- even if he wins the majority of votes and plurality of delegates... KC: No, it's not cheating. ... Chris Matthews: The candidate who gets the plurality of votes-- the most votes...should be the nominee? KC: No, I'd have to look at the math.

Mark interviews Ted Cruz on TPP, AP, other issues.

As a general matter, I agree (as did Ronald Reagan) that free trade is good for America; when we open up foreign markets, it helps American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers. But TPA in this Congress has become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom deal-making, along with serious concerns that it would open up the potential for sweeping changes in our laws that trade agreements typically do not include. Since the Senate first voted on TPA, there have been two material changes. First, WikiLeaks subsequently revealed new troubling information regarding the Trade in Services Agreement, or TiSA, one of the trade deals...