Free Republic

--snip-- President Bush's broad re-election victory and Republican gains across the country reflect the fact that through a structural realignment, the GOP has now become the majority party in the country. Noted political scientist Walter Dean Burnham, the nation's leading theorist on realignment, says the 2004 election "consolidates" what began in 1994 when Republicans shattered the 40-year Democratic grip on Congress and statehouses. Since then, the GOP has held its gains, adding to them in 2002 and 2004. --snip-- Republicans are also riding the crest of a "big tent" movement that threatens to leave an increasingly ossified Democratic Party behind....

<p>BATON ROUGE - Gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal and Gov. Mike Foster backed off criticisms of pollster Verne Kennedy on Friday after first charging that it was rigged by "push questions."</p> <p>Foster had branded it a "bogus poll" and suggested that it was a negative attack on Jindal, his handpicked candidate for his successor. Jindal's campaign issued a statement that charged, in effect, that Kennedy's poll was not objective.</p>

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Republican nominee Bill Simon asked national GOP leaders for help Friday in his bid against Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and sought to dissolve qualms about his campaign's effectiveness.</p> <p>"I assure you that we have the plan, the team and the message in place to lead us to victory. I am asking you humbly for your all-out support to make that happen," Simon said at the Republican National Committee's quarterly meeting.</p>