Free Republic

NASHVILLE — Democratic leaders are putting on a brave face about their dwindling numbers in the Tennessee Statehouse, claiming the political landscape presents an opportunity to regroup and emerge stronger. But the party’s recent electoral record — and an internal Democratic memorandum obtained by The Associated Press — present a bleaker picture. The last time Democrats gained ground in the Legislature was in 2006, when they defeated a state senator who had switched parties to become a Republican. Since then, they have lost 19 seats in the House and three seats in the Senate, placing them firmly in the minority...

There has been much chatter about who now speaks for the Republican Party and whether the GOP has a message or agenda to combat President Obama's popularity. Those questions are important to the party's future, but the most serious problem remains the deeper demographic and political forces at work in the country. For the past few months, political analysts and demographers have been poring over the results of the 2008 election and comparing them with presidential results from the last two decades. From whatever angle of their approach -- age, race, economic status, geography -- they have come to a...

Republicans were accustomed to cutting deals to pass their agenda during the dozen years that they ran Congress but have made few concessions this session as the minority party. "Our members went home happier than they have in the 11 years I've been here," said House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. "Our members went home happier than they have in the 11 years I've been here," said House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. "Our members felt like we've taken the weak hand you're dealt in the minority ... and got the maximum impact." Democrats conceded to the Republicans'...

The two major parties and special interest groups spent many millions of dollars in one state Senate district this year, and the net result was a virtual tie. Republican Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher eked out a 13-vote victory over Democrat Lou Correa in Orange County's 34th Senate District on Election Day, with hundreds of absentee votes still to be counted, and by Thursday, her margin had climbed to 138 votes. Regardless of who winds up with the seat, it's a fairly meaningless contest. Partisan competition for the Legislature was all but eliminated five years ago, when leaders of both major parties...

Democrat voters low on enthusiasm By Ralph Z. Hallow THE WASHINGTON TIMES February 23, 2006 Democrats, after 11 years as the minority party in Congress, still can't get it right with their own voters, a poll shows. By objecting to virtually every initiative and proposal of the Bush administration and congressional Republican majority, Democrats are undermining their party's chances of regaining the majority this fall, the John Zogby poll of 1,039 likely voters suggests. While House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other visible Democrats in Washington pick fights with Republicans, the...

While listening to the news this evening I had a sobering personal question that had me stunned, and set back, 'about political backstabing. Tom Delay is being accused of taking a trip on Lobby money, "yes we know". But, what we know is not what I am looking for. What truely concerns me is, If a lobby group member "Single Member sponsoring (A) lobby group" knowingly violates the law by tossing in their CC to pay for a trip for a said member of the Government through A lobby group. Without said Government official's knowledge, Can't thee lobby group be...

From Social Security, to intervention in the sad case of Terri Schiavo, to the appointment of conservative federal judges, every major debate positions the parties in the same way: Republicans are on offense, Democrats on defense. The debate on the federal budget isn't about whether to raise taxes to reduce the deficit, it's over how much more to cut taxes. Washington isn't examining how to expand coverage for those without health insurance, but whether to cut the Medicaid program that provides the central strand in our society's safety net. Democrats are furiously laboring to prevent Bush from carving out private...