Free Republic

In some ways, it was the turn of events that Democratic voters had dreamed of and some of the party’s lawmakers had long demanded: After years of telling lies, shattering norms, inciting a riot at the Capitol and being impeached twice, Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former president to face criminal charges. But as the gravity of the moment sank in, Democratic voters, party officials and activists across the country absorbed the news of Trump’s extraordinary indictment with a more complex set of reactions. Their feelings ranged from jubilation and vindication to anxieties about the substance of the...

For much of the midterm campaign, Democrats have grappled with how to define their message, weighing slogans like “Democrats deliver” and “Build back better,” and issuing warnings against “ultra-MAGA” Republicans. Now, a coalition of progressive organizations has settled on what its leaders hope will be a unified pitch from the left. This November, they plan to argue, Americans must vote to protect the fundamental freedoms that “Trump Republicans” are trying to take away. ... The move is the latest evidence that Democrats....are increasingly seeking to reclaim language about freedom and personal liberty from Republicans. It is a dynamic that grew...

... All across America, Democrats are using abortion as a powerful cudgel in their 2022 television campaigns, paying for an onslaught of ads in House, Senate and governor’s races that show how swiftly abortion politics have shifted since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June. With national protections for abortion rights suddenly gone and bans going into effect in many states, senior White House officials and top Democratic strategists believe the issue has radically reshaped the 2022 landscape in their favor. They say it has not only reawakened the party’s progressive base, but also provided a wedge...

Clifford Wagner, an 80-year-old Republican in Tucson, Ariz., never cared for President Trump. He supported Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential primary race and cast a protest vote in the general election for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee. An Air Force veteran, Mr. Wagner described the Trump presidency as a mortifying experience: His friends in Europe and Japan tell him the United States has become “the laughingstock of the world.” This year, Mr. Wagner said he would register his opposition to Mr. Trump more emphatically than he did in 2016. He plans to vote for Joseph R. Biden Jr., the...

Republican elites are begrudgingly embracing Ted Cruz—and hanging Marco Rubio out to dry. Panicked at Donald Trump's dominance and dismayed by Rubio's continued inability to do anything about it, some top Republican power brokers are turning to Cruz, putting aside their policy and personal misgivings to back the candidate they now openly label as their best hope to stop Trump's GOP takeover. "He seems to be the only guy who's got some momentum, and is probably the best situated if there is anybody out there to beat Trump," said Austin Barbour, a prominent Mississippi-based GOP operative. "That's why there are...

In the swing states that matter most in the presidential race, Donald Trump doesn’t have a prayer against Hillary Clinton in the general election. That's according to top operatives, strategists and activists in 10 battleground states who participated in this week's POLITICO Caucus. Nearly 90 percent of them said Clinton would defeat Trump in their home states in a November match-up. Republicans are only slightly more bullish on Trump’s prospects than Democrats: More than three-quarters of GOP insiders expect Clinton to best the Republican front-runner in a general-election contest in their respective states. Among Democrats, the belief is nearly universal:...

PETERBOROUGH, N.H.-Ted Cruz on Sunday said he opposes requiring women to register for a potential draft, breaking with Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, all of whom indicated support for opening up the Selective Service to women during Saturday night's debate. "I have to admit, as I was sitting there listening to that conversation, my reaction was, 'Are you guys nuts?'" Cruz said Sunday, speaking at a town hall here. "Listen, we have had enough with political correctness, especially in the military. Political correctness is dangerous. And the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them...

Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio joined forces Thursday night to accuse their colleague, Ted Cruz, of being willing to "do or say anything" out of political expediency. "This is the lie Ted's campaign is built on, and Rand touched upon it," Rubio said during the debate. "That he is the most conservative guy and everybody else is a RINO. The truth is, Ted, throughout this campaign, you've been willing to do or say anything in order to get votes." Rubio and Paul argued that Cruz has been inconsistent in his approach to immigration reform. Cruz, who put forth an...

Rand Paul’s on the departure list too, insiders predict. Bobby Jindal and George Pataki are the next two quitters in the Republican field. That’s the assessment of Republicans in the POLITICO Caucus, our weekly bipartisan survey of the top activists, operatives and strategists in Iowa and New Hampshire. . A quarter of Iowa Republicans say it’s Jindal, a frequent visitor to their state, who is on his way out. "He's become desperate," an Iowa Republican said. "He's taken to attacking Trump (we know how that worked out for Perry and Walker) and has nothing going on here in Iowa." Added...

The Texas senator's campaign is beginning to see returns after months of methodically courting evangelical leaders.Ted Cruz increasingly looks like the man to beat in Iowa. He's rising in the polls, building on an already extensive field organization and locking down critical conservative endorsements.Among the biggest yet came Thursday, when Bob Vander Plaats, the head of the conservative group Family Leader, came out for Cruz, citing what he sees as electability in Iowa and nationally. "This is a guy that's been very consistent in principles, in communications, and his campaign has shown ability to slowly gain ground and build momentum,...

POLITICO found itself in the crosshairs of Donald Trump on Wednesday, as the perennial media critic and presidential candidate railed against the Rosslyn-based political news outlet. Trump dashed off a two-tweet attack that called POLITICO journalists “clowns” who are “totally dishonest.” Katie Glueck, a politics reporter at POLITICO, asked Trump for specifics, but he didn’t elaborate.

Campaigns at last month’s 'kiddie table' debate believe the RNC took actions that made them look like losers.Two weeks after the first Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, several candidates scraping the bottom of primary polls are still seething about their treatment — and ripping party leadership for what they describe as, at best careless, and at worst intentional, decisions that embarrassed them on national TV. POLITICO reached out to the seven campaigns who faced off in an Aug. 6 undercard debate on Fox News, and several vented about the Republican National Committee — which has adopted a more assertive role...

Ted Cruz dominated, Rick Santorum flopped and Bobby Jindal found his niche. At the latest GOP cattle call, about a dozen presidential contenders rolled through a Washington, D.C. ballroom over a three-day period to tout their socially conservative bona fides at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference. Most of the 2016 hopefuls managed to impress evangelical and other conservative Christian voters by championing religious freedom, highlighting support for traditional marriage and stressing the importance of family and family values.

On the eve of Bush’s official campaign launch, Republicans are confident he can defeat the Democratic front-runner. But New Hampshire is dicey for him and Iowa is looking like a lost cause.Despite a spell of rough headlines and a recent campaign shake-up, 70 percent of early-state Republicans think Jeb Bush could win their state in a general election contest against Hillary Clinton. But they’re not confident he‘ll make it out of the primary. That’s the assessment of this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our bipartisan survey of top operatives, activists and elected officials in Iowa and New Hampshire. On the eve of...

this forum is becoming a mouthpiece for cruz.

Early-state Democrats are evenly divided over whether Hillary Clinton’s campaign should be worried about recent polls showing her highest unfavorability ratings in years. Exactly 50 percent say there’s cause for concern while the other 50 percent saw no reason for alarm. [Snip] “Twenty-plus Republicans beating her up, Elizabeth Warren talking about the working man issues that terrify her, a couple of candidates like Bernie [Sanders] and Martin [O’Malley] to fill in her policy blanks and a media that feels stiffed by her lack of access, so all we can focus on is emails and the notorious Clinton Foundation and newly...

Ready for Warren? Run Liz Run? Run Warren Run? Draft Warren? Progressive activists haven’t agreed on what to call the movement urging Elizabeth Warren to run for president, but they largely concur on this: with every recent anti-establishment move the Massachusetts senator grows more attractive as a 2016 candidate, both in her own right and as a progressive foil for Hillary Clinton. Such sentiments were on vivid display this week at RootsCamp, a gathering of some 2,000 progressive activists held in Washington, D.C. The event was held as Warren and others on the left have been denouncing the “cromnibus” spending...

The Rev. Al Sharpton says Rand Paul’s efforts to engage black voters could present a strategic challenge for Democrats: If the Republican senator runs for president, fewer African Americans may be motivated to show up and vote against him. The civil rights activist and TV host had breakfast with the Kentucky senator last week, and the pair discussed the need for criminal justice reform before disagreeing over how to deal with the immigration system.

Former Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican, is making the case for a “live and let live” approach to same-sex marriage in a new television ad buy targeting Western states, just as a federal appeals court in Denver prepares to take up the issue later this week. “Whether you’re gay or lesbian or straight, if you love someone and you want to marry them, marry them,” Simpson, of Wyoming, says in the spot. The six-figure buy, sponsored by the pro-gay marriage group Freedom to Marry, is slated to start airing on Tuesday on national cable channels, as well as locally in...

In a fiery speech to social conservatives Friday, Virginia lieutenant governor candidate E.W. Jackson blasted the media for questioning his positions on social issues. Jackson, a bishop, said that when he first got into the race he was asked by reporters about controversial statements he has made concerning Planned Parenthood (which he once compared to the Ku Klux Klan) and gay marriage. “Well, I want to go on record here,” Jackson said, speaking at the Values Voter Summit. “I didn’t apologize then, I don’t apologize now and I will never apologize for standing up for the truth.”