Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Democrats plan to press for a minimum wage increase and "tough, smart" national security in their final push to wrest power from the Republicans in the November elections. House and Senate Democrats will hold a joint meeting on Thursday to discuss events planned for the 100 days leading up to midterm congressional elections and lay out their party agenda, called "A New Direction for America." It's a compilation of positions the party has staked out over the past few months on income, national security, energy, education, health care and retirement accounts. "We're going across the country to make...

ARLINGTON, Va. - Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, tapped to deliver the State of the Union response for Democrats, has sharp words for both parties in Washington: Stop being so partisan, negative and irrelevant. "There's a better way," he said Monday. Less than three weeks after taking office, Kaine is a rising star inside his party because he succeeded last November where many other Democrats have failed — in a Southern state and in the fast-growing exurbs. "I want to contrast what I consider to be an administration that is super partisan and not really able to deliver results with...