Free Republic

The Republican National Committee has pulled from the airways a controversial ad demeaning Senate Democratic nominee Harold Ford Jr. The RNC apparently intends to replace the ad. The Senate Republican nominee Bob Corker had asked that the ad be taken down, calling it "tacky." "We felt like it was tasteless and didn't reflect the kind of campaign we were running," said Corker spokesman Todd Womack. The ad, called "Who hasn't," began running Friday. In the ad, a man in sunglasses says of Ford, "So he took money from porn movie producers. Who hasn't?" The ad continues with a bare-shouldered blond...

During the impeachment trial of blessed memory, I had a brief conversation with Sen. Barbara Boxer. “My duty is to the Constitution,” she said gravely. “My duty is to preserve our two-party democratic system. It’s up to the Democrats to save the Republican party from itself.” Warming to her theme, the petite brunette liberal extremist noted the latest Republican poll numbers — down somewhere between Robert Mugabe and the Ebola virus — and explained, “That’s not good for our democracy. This is a tragedy for the Republicans. The GOP has become the Get Our President party. That’s not the Republican...

College Republican leaders ousted over bake sale Thursday, April 07, 2005 By Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood The Grand Rapids Press ALLENDALE -- Kyle Rausch started the day Monday as president of the Grand Valley State University College Republicans. By day's end, he had denounced the Republican party and was considering law school as an alternative to public office. "My political career is pretty much shot," said the 19-year-old political science major who spearheaded last month's controversial bake sale, sponsored by the College Republicans. Advertisement At the club's meeting Monday, Rausch, of Adrian, club vice president Paul Leitelt, and treasurer Matt Blondke were...

With the Republican National Convention's platform committee convening in New York less than three weeks from now, no draft platform exists, no subcommittees have been named, and no special lodging for committee members has been assigned. Rather than signifying sudden collapse of accustomed Republican efficiency, all this looks more like a coolly calculated plan. The suspicion has grown that President Bush's re-election strategists--Karl Rove and Karen Hughes--do not want the open debate over principles and policy that has characterized Republican platform-making for a generation. The carefully guarded Bush campaign game plan is to present delegates on the platform committee with...