Free Republic

WASHINGTON — As Republican strategists make last-minute preparations for Election Day, checking voter lists and calling supporters, they might want to consider an unorthodox tactic: a rain dance. A new study of voter behavior confirms something political operatives have long suspected: rain hurts Democrats and helps Republicans. The study found that 1 inch of rain reduces overall turnout by slightly less than 1 percent and cuts the Democratic vote by 2.5 percentage points. “Rain does have a significant effect decreasing the Democratic vote share,” said Brad Gomez, a visiting professor of political science at the University of Georgia who co-authored...

How many of you stuck with -- and I doubt that many of you had a chance to, but how many of you stuck with the Gonzales hearings yesterday when he was finished with his testimony? The real story of what happened... Well, that's maybe going a bit far, but clearly one of the big moments of yesterday's hearings, looking into the fitness of Alberto Gonzales to be the attorney general -- and by the way, can I ask you a question? I noticed that yesterday during the hearings, all the Democrats paid homage to his "poor background," came from...

With all the votes tallied after a recount in the roller coaster race for governor, Christine O. Gregoire, the Democrat who trailed in the campaign and in a previous recount, won by 130 votes as battered Republicans demanded more vote counting and vowed to use every legal weapon to reverse the extraordinary turnaround. The Republican candidate, Dino Rossi, 45, won the Nov. 2 election in the initial count by 261 votes and a machine recount by 42 votes. But a statewide hand recount completed Thursday gave Ms. Gregoire, 57, a microscopic but notable lead out of the 2.9 million votes...