Free Republic

The Mac is back. After nearly two grueling years on the presidential campaign trail, Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.) is quietly returning to his old job in the Senate today during a week-long lame duck session.

President-elect Barack Obama says he and Republican Sen. John McCain plan to work together to "fix up the country." The two former rivals met in Obama's transition office Monday in Chicago. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, participated in the meeting, as did McCain's close friend, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

(CNN) – Two members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus have called for Joe Lieberman to lose his committee chairmanship. On Sunday, North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan didn’t go that far — but did say the Connecticut senator’s actions during the campaign were “not acceptable,” as Republican Sen. Jon Kyl said the GOP would “welcome [Lieberman] with open arms.”

President-elect Barack Obama met Friday with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in Chicago, Democratic sources said, who is under consideration to be Secretary of State in the Obama administration. News of the meeting comes after a similar face-to-face meeting Thursday between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) sparked a day-long frenzy of speculation about the possibility that she could be Secretary of State.

WASHINGTON — John McCain’s close friend and ally from South Carolina, fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, will be on hand in Chicago Monday as McCain meets with his former rival, President-elect Barack Obama. Also attending will be Obama’s new chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. In an interview Friday, Graham said Emanuel asked for the meeting about a week ago. “We were talking about some things that we could work together on,” Graham said.

He is an American hero. He has a history of putting country first. On balance, there is no doubt that he is a man of honor. But he has tarnished that honor, unnecessarily, in recent times. The McCain campaign for President was so burdened with contradiction as to appear to be almost bipolar. To the degree that a campaign is a reflection of the candidate, it is little wonder that McCain could not win out over his much more inspirational and charismatic opponent. More importantly, it is the inside operation of his campaign as a manifestation of the man wherein...

I know that many of you were as disappointed in the last election as I was. But why was the election lost by the GOP? There were a number of factors contributing to this, and early on with the Northern states allowing open primaries for Democrats and Moderates to "cross-over" and vote for "their" candidate of McCain. Taking nothing away of the man's military service, these early primaries ensured that all we got as a candidate was a Democrat-Light who made a name for himself of "reaching out and across the aisle." And he then went so far as to...

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (CNN) – South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint on Friday became one of the first high-profile Republicans to publicly criticize John McCain following his electoral defeat, blaming the Arizona senator for betraying conservative principles in his quest for the White House.

The Republican Party will file federal lawsuits Thursday seeking to overthrow the McCain-Feingold federal campaign finance regulations, Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan revealed Wednesday night at a private dinner with the nation's Republican governors. The move is considered a slap in the face of the Republican Party's failed 2008 presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was dramatically outspent by Democrat Barack Obama, and of President Bush, who signed McCain-Feingold into law in 2002. "We will bring two federal suits tomorrow to strengthen the Republican Party," Mr. Duncan told The Washington Times. Mr. Duncan said one...

It's standard fare for a president to make a bipartisan gesture by including one member of the opposing party in his cabinet - just as it's always the case (lest we forget) that every president-elect vows to change the tone in Washington and reach out magnanimously to his vanquished opponents. But John Podesta, the former Bill Clinton former chief of staff who's spearheading the transition for the 44th president, said today that there would be independents and Republicans in Barack Obama's cabinet and "not just at a token level".

(CNN) -- The questions now being asked are: Where to go from here and who's to blame for the downfall of the Republican Party? Too bad the concern for the future of the Republican Party had not been seriously addressed in the year 2000 when the Republicans gained control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency. Now, in light of the election, many are asking: What is the future of the Republican Party? But that is the wrong question. The proper question should be: Where is our country heading? There's no doubt that a large majority of Americans believe we're...

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) took a whack at the Bush administration on Wednesday for failing to disclose all of the financial institutions that are getting emergency loans under the $700 billion bailout. Boehner said the Treasury and Federal Reserve should comply with a Freedom of Information Act request into who is receiving taxpayer money, and “they must begin providing lawmakers and taxpayers all information about how they are using federal tax dollars.” Boehner said the bipartisan negotiations behind the financial bailout package stressed the need for meaningful oversight of how the money was being spent.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- For all Americans, this election represents another glass ceiling broken, and in the words of my 16-year-old, "That's very cool." The election of the first black president is an inspiring and transformational moment for our country. I am happy for President-elect Barack Obama, and for many who supported him. They and, in many cases, their ancestors fought for this day for centuries as they experienced first-hand the unthinkable wrong of segregation. As an American, I wish him every success. Beyond the presidential race, it goes without saying the Republican Party took a shellacking nationally. Some...

Tuesday’s massive Democratic landslide cannot be seen as anything but a repudiation of the Republican Party’s tenure in power. Combined with the equally large Democratic victory in 2006, Republicans have now lost the presidency, more than 50 House seats, and at least a dozen seats in the Senate in just two years. Pundits on both left and right are saying that this represents a final verdict on the Bush administration’s eight years in office. But, how far beyond the Bush presidency does the voters’ desire for change go? If voters have clearly rejected Republicans, have they also turned against the...

Now what? The Republican Party -- nationally and in Pennsylvania -- lies in tatters. Having lost the White House to Barack Obama, suffered historic losses in congressional elections, been almost shut out in statewide races and experienced further erosion in the state House, there is no doubt the GOP has hit rock bottom. It is, most significantly, a loss for so-called moderate Republicanism. Party moderates have opined time and again that a more middle-of-the-road presidential candidate could win Pennsylvania. McCain was touted as that candidate. It was a double-digit trouncing.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday the GOP lost the White House because the party was tainted by corruption, overspending and "sometimes came across as a bunch of grumpy old men." . . . . . "All we have to do is go back to the basics of fiscal conservatism, with a smile and come up with new ways to communicate with the younger voter," said Graham, who captured 58 percent of the vote in winning re-election against a little-known opponent.

Republicans are consoling themselves by telling anyone who will listen that we still live in a "center-right country." They're right. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've lost the center. According to exit polls, Barack Obama won moderates by a whopping 21 points on Tuesday, 60-39 percent. That more than doubled John Kerry's nine-point margin over George W. Bush among moderates in 2004. The ideological composition of the electorate was remarkably unchanged from 2004. The percentage of self-identified conservatives and moderates -- the center-right -- held steady. Conservatives were 34 percent of voters and moderates 44 percent,...

Phoenix Office: 5353 North 16th Street Suite 105 Phoenix, AZ 85016 Main: 602-952-2410 Fax: 602-952-8702 Tempe Office: 4703 South Lakeshore Drive Suite 1 Tempe, AZ 85282 Main: 480-897-6289 Fax: 480-897-8389 Tucson Office: 407 West Congress Street Suite 103 Tucson, AZ 85701 Main: 520-670-6334 Fax: 520-670-6637 Washington Office: 241 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Main: 202-224-2235 Fax: 202-228-2862 I call on Captain John S. McCain, USN (ret.), Republican, Senior Senator from Arizona, to put a stop to the public smearing of your erstwhile running mate, Governor Sarah L. Palin, Republican from Alaska. Governor Palin committed herself and her...

Ned Lamont, the Greenwich Democrat who challenged U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman two years ago, believes his former opponent will soon join the Republican minority in Congress. Lamont declined to say Thursday whether the junior senator from Connecticut and self-described "independent Democrat" should be punished for backing U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. "My sense is he's psychologically moving into the Republican column," Lamont said. "I think he'll probably jump."

Weeks before Barack Obama won the presidency, he met privately in Washington with his former Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and Latino political leaders who had fervently backed her bid. The cards were laid upon the table, according to one of the participants. The Hispanic leaders said they expected at least two Latinos to be named to an Obama Cabinet — meeting the standard set by President-elect Bill Clinton in 1992 — but preferred three. Of course, they also wanted sub-Cabinet-level posts. In return, Obama needed assurances that Hispanics — who had overwhelmingly voted for Clinton...