Free Republic

Newsweek recently had a big story about how Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are openly talking about their religious faith. This is new territory for Democrats, according to the story, but a longstanding practice for Republicans. So what? Does it matter that Mitt Romney is a Mormon or that Barack Obama is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago? My answer is that it doesn't matter, and here's why. Martin Luther, more than 400 years ago, said that he would rather be governed by a competent Muslim than by an incompetent...

Democratic presidential candidates are confirmed to participate next month in the first-ever presidential forum on issues concerning the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Hosted by MTV's homosexual cable network, Logo, and sponsored by the nation's largest homosexual activist organization, the Human Rights Campaign, the one-hour event on Aug. 9 will feature Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who will engage in conversation on marriage, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other issues. '“We’re honored to give the presidential candidates a historic opportunity to share their views directly with the LGBT audience,” said Brian Graden, president of Logo, in a released statement. Conservatives...

REFORMING retirement security in America is the greatest political opportunity -- and responsibility -- of our generation. Yet the topic of Social Security and Medicare is shockingly absent from Presidential hustings. Simply ignoring the problem does not mean it is going away. Thomas Saving, a trustee of the Social Security and Medicare programs, estimates a breathtaking $83.6 trillion unfunded liability in the two entitlements, which is a tremendous gap between promised obligations and what the government will actually collect in payroll taxes. Serious reforms of these broken government programs based on personal ownership have fallen victim to Republicans who don't...

For the past 15 years, our politics has been a civil war between two halves of the baby boom generation (generally taken to include those born between 1946 and 1964). We have had two presidents who were born in 1946 and graduated from high school in the class of 1964, which had the highest test scores in history. Both those presidents happened to have personal characteristics that people on the opposite sides of the culture war absolutely loathe. We first saw the acrimony of the boomer civil war in the 1992 vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle (born 1947) and...

Every five to seven years Congress grapples with sweeping legislation that is commonly called "the farm bill." But that simple name belies the complexity of the bill, which is broken into 10 sections that extend well beyond mere subsidies for farmers—the most controversial and perennially debated initiative in the bill. These categories, or "titles," also include energy, trade, conservation, nutrition and rural development, in addition to agricultural commodities. With so much covered in the farm bill, a variety and multitude of interests are flocking to Capitol Hill to make sure they receive a bite of the money allocated for the...

NEW YORK, July 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -The National Review has failed to give its readership the truth about Mitt Romney and his "constitutional bungling" over same-sex "marriage" say twenty-two conservative activists in a now public letter to the conservative magazine. "What they have done from Goodridge on, in regards to Goodridge and gay 'marriage' is journalistic malpractice of the worst kind," John Haskins of the Parents' Rights Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com. "It is evidence of gross incompetence on matters of law and constitutions and of an underlying cynicism in much of National Review's work." In the letter, Haskins and 21 other...

It's no surprise to see presidential candidates pandering to contributors. But what is disappointing is how far some of them will go to take care of those who take care of them.Imagine being so eager to please the money crowd that you'll try to destroy a reform measure that is reasonable and helpful, especially when the help is going to the same folks you claim to represent. That's what happened recently when the major Democratic presidential candidates made a pilgrimage to the annual convention of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union with 3.2 million members, and --...

Some Republicans are upset that the White House has nominated only 25 people to fill the 47 vacancies now on the federal judiciary. Not to worry. If history is any guide, President Bush can nominate as many people as he wants, but most of them will not don the black robes anytime soon. As we head into the administration's final 18 months, it appears that, with the Democrats running the Senate, Bush, who has put 278 district and appeals court judges on the bench, has virtually no chance of besting Bill Clinton's370 appointments to those courts -- about 43 percent...

IN the old Shel Silverstein cartoon, two inmates stand side by side, spread-eagled and shackled hand and foot to the wall of a windowless and impossibly tall prison cell. One turns his head and says to the other, hopefully: “Now here’s my plan.” Liberals talking about the Supreme Court in recent days are a bit like those cellmates — both in the dire nature of their plight, now that the conservative victory at the court has revealed itself in full dimension, and in their belief that there must be something they can do about it. Political activists within the liberal...

No sooner had immigration reform died in the Senate than dire warnings went out from its defeated supporters: Republican opponents risk political oblivion if they alienate Latinos, the nation's fastest-growing demographic, by continuing to take a hard line on illegal immigration. As usual, the warnings included references to the immigration battle in California in 1994. In that year's general election, voters approved a ballot initiative, Proposition 187, to prohibit the expenditure of state tax money to provide services to illegal immigrants. The most high-profile supporter of Proposition 187 was Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. He had long pressed the federal government...

The chairman of the Kansas Republican Party predicted Friday that immigration will be the defining domestic issue of the 2008 presidential campaign and said it could hurt early front-runners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in the Republican primaries. Kris Kobach, a former chief immigration adviser in the U.S. Justice Department, said the comprehensive immigration reform bill killed in the Senate this week died because it was light on border enforcement and heavy on amnesty for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country. He called it primarily an amnesty bill "with a couple enforcement ornaments hanging on it."...

A large nationwide poll of Republican voters shows that an increasing number consider themselves conservative, that about half favor universal healthcare and allowing gays in the military, and that the vast majority say spreading democracy shouldn’t be the United States’ top foreign policy goal. The poll, conducted by GOP consultant Tony Fabrizio 10 years after he conducted a similar study, also casts some doubts on the conventional wisdom about moral-issues voters, thought to be the key constituency for President Bush in 2004. It showed that the group hasn’t grown significantly in recent years and is surprisingly willing to vote for...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two of the top Republican presidential candidates are split on the Supreme Court decision in favor of a pro-life group that wanted to run issue advertising days before an election. The high court ruled yesterday that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law unfairly hurt pro-life and other citizens groups. Under the federal law, groups can't air ads mentioning the names of candidates running for federal office within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election. Prohibited ads could include something asking people to contact members of Congress on pro-life issues.Wisconsin Right to Life...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks. The former New York mayor criticized Democrats, accusing them of weakness and naivete in dealing with terrorism. Giuliani made the comments to about 650 business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University, the conservative Christian college founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson. "Islamic terrorists killed more than 500 Americans before Sept. 11. Many people think the first attack on America was on Sept. 11, 2001. It was not....

WASHINGTON – Though the next U.S. president will probably command soldiers in two separate wars, few of those hoping to win the job can say they've ever seen combat or even taken abuse from a drill sergeant. Of the 18 announced Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, only Republicans John McCain and Duncan Hunter have served on the front lines. Three others served in noncombat roles and another two served in the reserves. AdvertisementVoters aren't likely to care very much, experts say. “I just don't think we expect that obligation, and that's because we don't expect it of ourselves either,” said...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Though the next president will probably command soldiers in two separate wars, few of those hoping to win the job can say they've ever seen combat or even taken abuse from a drill sergeant. Of the 18 announced Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, only Republicans John McCain and Duncan Hunter have served on the front lines. Three others served in noncombat roles and another two served in the reserves. Voters aren't likely to care very much, experts say. "I just don't think we expect that obligation, and that's because we don't expect it of ourselves either," said...

Terrorism Fears Surpass Global Warming in U.S.Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research June 21, 2007 (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States believe political violence is more menacing than climate change, according to a poll by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News. 52 per cent of respondents think global terrorism poses a more serious threat to the world than global warming. Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The issue of abortion is seen as a top issue in the 2008 presidential election by 40 percent of Americans, indicating the contentious subject still plays a prominent role in how people case their ballot for president. Previous polls have shown that the pro-life position gives presidential candidates an edge. The new figure comes from a survey the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted. It found that abortion is important for 38 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans and with Republicans tending to be more pro-life than Democrats that translates...

WASHINGTON - What matters most in a presidential candidate: “electability” or ideology? In other words, can a candidate’s perceived ability to win sometimes transcend ideological heterodoxy? Or are a candidate’s positions on the issues always ascendant? These are the questions — always a crucial part of the voting calculus — that stand at the very heart of the dilemma facing social conservatives as they consider the candidacy of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Opinion polls suggest a sizeable number of social conservatives would support Giuliani because, while he stands diametrically opposed to them on their most important issues, principally...

You hear a lot about how the polls are awful for Republicans these days. Don’t believe it. Just look at the new survey in which NBC News and The Wall Street Journal asked Americans about their impressions of a number of institutions and people. ****Snip***** Anyway, as far as the big picture is concerned, it appears the public is pretty much down on everything. Just 19 percent of those surveyed by NBC and the Journal believe the U.S. is headed in the right direction. That’s lower than the 22 percent who felt that way in April, the 25 percent who...