Free Republic

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve probably heard it a hundred times – in politics, perception is reality. In the age of Obama, that is more true than ever. Facts don’t always matter so much in politics. It’s more about image. “Peter Perfect” is a reality show my family watches from time to time. The star of the show, Peter Ishkans, goes into struggling small businesses and helps them create a new look and a new marketing strategy to hopefully set them on the track to success. Ishkans sums up the philosophy behind his approach at the beginning of each...

Immediately following September 11, many liberals reflexively and preemptively accused those on the right of questioning their patriotism, before anyone had even had a chance to do so. For a honeymoon period of about six months, as President Bush’s poll numbers skyrocketed in response to his successful handling of the aftermath of the attacks, most liberals held their tongues. As those poll numbers eroded as a result of difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions on Afghanistan and particularly Iraq, opponents of the President became more vocal in their criticism.  When public opinion turned against the President and the mission in Iraq,...

They Only Win If We Let Them When things get rough there are those who whine and moan and assume the fetal position on the bathroom floor, and there are those who roll up their sleeves, get busy and fight until ten minutes after the clock runs out. Which camp are you going to find yourself in from now until Election Day? I can assure you I will be in the latter camp. I have been optimistic about the election in spite of all the doom and gloom I have heard over the past year. Until the Foley scandal broke,...

For a couple of years now, Democrats have licked their chops at the prospect of taking back the House and Senate in the 2006 midterm elections. For much of that time it seemed the Democrats were well positioned to pull off the feat. Democrats have made some huge mistakes, though, and according to polls released this week, it appears they are paying for them. There are several issues that are playing prominently in the upcoming elections. Iraq, national security, immigration, and gas prices are a few of those ranking as top concerns of voters. On those and other issues, instead...

This month, the president finally began to fight back against the Democrats’ claims that he lied about pre-war intelligence and misled the country into war in Iraq. The issues that the president has addressed--the accusation that he lied about pre-war intelligence and that Democrats lied when they accused him of lying--needed to be dealt with, and his excellent performance already appears to be showing some good results. There is a related issue, though, that is screaming to be addressed, and it needs to be done before the next election. The administration and Republicans at all levels next need to explain...