Free Republic

The best evidence of Obama’s readiness to lead the nation is displayed through his ability to run for president. After all, what is more difficult, complicated, or challenging than getting elected president? What other life experience better illustrates one’s qualification to hold the office than a manifest skill in seeking it? For anyone who has ever been elected president, the race that sent them to the White House was the single most important event in their lives and dwarfs any other experience they might have had before running. As we have watched Obama surmount the hurdles that lay in his...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton called rival Barack Obama a risky choice to lead U.S. foreign policy even as Obama gained ground on her in the battleground U.S. state of Ohio on Monday. In a foreign policy speech, Clinton said Obama had veered between pledging to meet leaders of hostile nations like Iran and Cuba if elected in November to warning of U.S. military action against al Qaeda targets in Pakistan. "He wavers from seeming to believe that mediation and meetings without preconditions can solve the world's intractable problems, to advocating rash, unilateral military action without cooperation...

Hillary Clinton - Proposed $10 billion for universal preschool. More money for special education. Opposes performance-based merit pay for teachers, favors incentives for teachers who work in places and on subjects where shortages exist. Supported No Child Left Behind accountability law but says it has not been properly financed or run, and should be replaced. $10,000 higher education scholarships for all who engage in national service full-time for a year. Raise value of tuition tax credit to a maximum $3,500 from $1,650.Obama - Encourage but not require universal pre-kindergarten programs, expand teacher mentoring programs and reward teachers with higher pay...

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - John McCain said Monday that to win the White House he must convince a war-weary country that U.S. policy in Iraq is succeeding. If he can't, "then I lose. I lose," the Republican said. He quickly backed off that remark. "Let me not put it that stark," the likely GOP nominee told reporters on his campaign bus. "Let me just put it this way: Americans will judge my candidacy first and foremost on how they believe I can lead the county both from our economy and for national security. Obviously, Iraq will play a role in...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama's refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism. Now Obama's wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she's really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen....

Under George W. Bush, the United States has not lived up to its historic role as a leader in the Western Hemisphere. As president, I will restore that leadership by working to advance the common prosperity and security of all of the people of the Americas. That work must begin with a renewed strategic partnership with Mexico. /snip/ Starting my first year in office, I will convene annual meetings with Mr. Calderon and the prime minister of Canada. Unlike similar summits under President Bush, these will be conducted with a level of transparency that represents the close ties among our...

Senator John McCain essentially took the no-new-taxes pledge on the Stephanopoulos show Sunday morning. He also emphasized his corporate-tax-cut plan, which would drop the rate from 35 to 25 percent, and reiterated his pledge to keep the Bush tax rates in place. Incidentally, an interesting story in USA Today by Dan Nowicki of the Arizona Republic says that Sen. McCain has often talked about getting top U.S. business leaders into his administration. Several times on the campaign trail, McCain has mentioned Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, Cisco’s John Chambers, and FedEx CEO Fred Smith as possible cabinet members.

What do you think is more dangerous? Terrorists getting their hands on a biological weapon that can be smuggled into the country or another hurricane like Katrina? Which is the smarter way to keep Social Security solvent? Raise the retirement age or raise taxes? How can the current economic crisis be averted? Give Americans cash to spend or slash mortgage interest rates to restart the housing market? As millions of Americans gather to vote for presidential candidates in tomorrow's Democratic and Republican primaries, what they are really being asked to do is make a number of policy choices. The problem...

McCain Touts Stance on Israel News Analysis By Marc Perelman Wed. Feb 13, 2008 John Mc Cain prides himself on being a straight shooter, a political maverick who speaks his mind even when it riles his own camp or alarms voters. He supported President Bush’s troop surge in Iraq even though pundits called it political suicide. He once told a questioner that it “would be fine with me” if America kept a military presence there for 100 years. Asked last year about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, he jokingly sang the words “Bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran” to the tune of...

The combination of scrupulous proportionality of elected delegates and the generous profusion of super-delegates sets the party on a collision course.

Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever. He is so pro-abortion that he refused as an Illinois state senator to support legislation to protect babies who survived late-term abortions because he did not want to concede -- as he explained in a cold-blooded speech on the Illinois Senate floor -- that these babies, fully outside their mothers' wombs, with their hearts beating and lungs heaving, were in fact "persons." "Persons," of course, are guaranteed equal protection of the law under the 14th Amendment. In 2004, U.S. Senate-candidate Obama mischaracterized his opposition to this legislation. Now, as a presidential...

Obama's Dangerous IgnoranceFebruary 12, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I'm sitting here reading this Obama interview, and I am in stunned disbelief. Nobody can be this ignorant. Scary ignorant. From high atop the EIB Building in Midtown Manhattan, one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in all of Manhattan, I am Rush Limbaugh, behind the Golden EIB Microphone. Great to have you with us. Here's the phone number, 800-282-2882, and the e-mail address is ElRushbo@eibnet.com. It's a Q&A with Barack Obama December 20th in the Boston Globe, Charlie Savage wrote the story. Try this one. This is number five. "Does...

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has given an exclusive interview to the homosexual-issues magazine, The Blade. In the interview, published online yesterday and wedged in between ads depicting hunky homosexual couples promoting adult "hookup" services, and other ads for foreign lesbian brides, Hillary enthusiastically re-pledges her support for sodomy, and takes Obama to task for not being as enthusiastic about homosexuality as she is. Hillary responded to claims made by Obama's supporters that she has not addressed homosexual issues frequently enough. "I talk about gay issues frequently," Hillary retorted. "I've been a longtime friend...

I would have posted an article, but I can't recall any that I've seen. Our policy toward Israel seems to have always been an issue in presidential debates in the past. But this year it seems to be a topic seldom if ever discussed. I certainly haven't watched every debate, listened to every stump speech, or read every position paper. Maybe others are more up on this subject than I am.

This from J.D. Pendry ... a retired Army Sgt. that you should have as a regular contributor to your e-mail.

I have the utmost respect for Senator John McCain's service to our country as a career officer in the United States Navy, however, because of positions he has taken as a United States Senator, I can never vote for or support him for any public office, especially for the office of President of the United States. While acknowledging and appreciating Senator McCain's support for the sanctity of human life, his positions in regard to illegal immigration and trade make it impossible for me to support his candidacy for President of the United States, even if he does receive the nomination...

While Republican John McCain is urging his conservative critics to rally around his presidential campaign, there is a lot of water under that bridge.Here are the top 10 reasons some conservatives dislike the Arizona senator: 1. Campaign finance reform. McCain tried to limit the role of money in politics with measures that, critics say, stomp on the constitutional right to free speech. 2. Immigration. McCain has been a vocal supporter of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, although he now says he understands the border between the U.S. and Mexico must be sealed first. 3. Tax cuts. McCain twice...

Mitt Romney suspended his presidential campaign yesterday, after his poor showing on Super Tuesday made a victory over John McCain all but mathematically impossible. As much as McCain and Mike Huckabee loathe Mitt, it's been easy to imagine them conspiring to deliver the killing stroke. Conventional wisdom says Huckabee won five southern states outright and helped turn others, such as Missouri, to McCain by taking conservative votes away from Romney. But Romney probably wasn't going to earn those ballots anyway. Southern states have GOP primary electorates dominated by evangelical Christians, specifically by Southern Baptists. And many of those Southern Baptists...

Now that Amnesty John appears to have the Republican nomination sewn up, the pro-McCain commentariat is seeking to rewrite the lessons of last summer’s epic battle over immigration in the Senate. That unprecedented outpouring of popular outrage, which stopped cold the combined force of all of America’s elite institutions, clearly demonstrated the arrival of immigration as a potent political issue. With the recent primary victories of Ted Kennedy’s amnesty co-conspirator, supporters of the McCain approach are crowing that last summer’s humiliating defeat was just a flash in the pan, driven by noisy troublemakers who can now safely be ignored. Jennifer...

Tell Senator McCain WE want Secured Borders.Alert: Word of the appointment, made in November, spread across the Internet last night, sparking reaction from secure-border activists who charge Juan Hernandez's position in the campaign belies the Republican candidate's attempt to position himself as an advocate of border security.McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers emphasized that Hernandez is "a non-paid volunteer to the campaign, and he does not play a policy role.""Juan works with us to reach out to the Hispanic community to meet with the folks in the various states," Rogers said.Asked if the McCain campaign has repudiated Hernandez's "Mexico first" declarations,...