Free Republic

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.” The RNC's first black chairman will “surprise everyone” when updating the party's image using the Internet and advertisements on radio, on television and in print, he told The Washington Times. Having been elected to the job that the Bush White House and its political guru, Karl Rove, once denied him, Mr. Steele is running the show his way. To those who claimed he can't make the...

I'm so sick of this guy. He needs to get out of Washington and see what ILLLEGAL, not legal, immigrations is doing to our country. I wish Fox would get rid of this jerk who's spent all most his whole life in DC. Every week he's complaining about the "anti-immigrant" faction of the Republican party. Hey Fred, live in CA for a while, visit the schools, visit the emergency rooms, and don't go to a posh rich area, go to a middle class area, and you'll see why we're all so mad.

"Sometimes the leak is so bad that even a plumber can't fix it." This was the concise summation of a cable political strategist the other day, after the third and final presidential debate. That sounds about right, and yet the race in its final days retains a feeling of dynamism. I think it is going to burst open or tighten, not just mosey along. (snip) But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for,...

McCain's Right ArmBy John Batchelor. posted on September 12, 2008 at 10:05 PM September 1968 After a year of starving and abusing 32 year old John McCain, no medical attention, abandonment and isolation in a windowless cell at the North Vietnamese Potemkin Village of a prison called the Plantation, the sadistic boss of the camp, Major Bai, called "Cat" by the POWs, ordered that the torturers break the admiral's son and force him to sign a confession. It was September, 1968. John McCain's father, John S. McCain, had become admiral of the Pacific Fleet the summer before, and the son's...

In a recent interview in The Observer's special "gay edition" of Music Monthly Magazine, musician Sir Elton John told the UK newspaper that religion should be outlawed because it lacks compassion and promotes hatred of homosexuals. In the Sunday, November 12, 2006 issue, John said, "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays." Is he talking about brands of radical Islam that oppose homosexuality? No, it seems like he's directing his fire at Christianity, or what's left of it, in Britain and other decadent Western societies. Later in...

Senate Robert Novak: GOP -2 Mary Matalin: GOP -3 Election Projection: GOP -3 to -4 Republican Pollster Richard Wirthlin: GOP -4 John Tabin: GOP -4 Fred Barnes: GOP -4 Republican Pollster Steve Lombardo: GOP -4 Cook Political Report: GOP -4 to -6 Stuart Rothenberg: GOP -4 to -7 Tucker Carlson: GOP -5 Paul Weyrich: GOP -5 John Hawkins: GOP -5 John Miller: GOP -5 Larry Sabato: GOP -6 William Kristol: GOP -7 House Election Projection: GOP -11 to -18 Mary Matalin: GOP -14 Robert Novak: GOP -19 Cook Political Report: GOP -20 to -35 John Tabin: GOP -21 Republican Pollster...

TALLAHASSEE -- Republican Tom Gallagher is betting his political life on an appeal to Christian and social conservatives. And at least one of his supporters in those groups say their own future is at stake in Gallagher's quest to be governor. Gallagher has earned the endorsement of Florida Right to Life, as well as vocal support of most social conservative leaders in the state. His goal: Win the hearts of Republicans most likely to get out and vote on Sept. 5.

Onscreen king of kvetch Larry David just couldn't contain himself at a Martha's Vineyard parking lot last weekend when an errant shopping cart scratched his beloved BMW 530. According to Page Six, the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld" creator and his wife were outside a Vineyard Haven supermarket when a runaway cart made what one eyewitness said was "a little dent" in David's $75,000 car. David proceeded to call the cops and started, says the witness, "in a golf shirt and shorts, flapping away with his arms. It was just like an episode on his show." Vineyard cops confimed that...

Never mind that movie ticket sales are picking up and that "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" could become the biggest hit in motion picture history. As studios slash jobs and restructure to boost profits, Hollywood's creative and executive ranks are having a collective anxiety attack. Walt Disney Co.'s move this week to lay off about 650 employees and revamp its Burbank studio to make fewer films only confirms what many in the entertainment industry have been stressing over for months: The movie business is shrinking. ADVERTISEMENT Disney's firings, which started at the top with the studio's production chief,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Moderate Republicans are off and running in the summer horse racing town of Saratoga Springs and other upstate New York cities, struggling to save their jobs and a dying political breed. In a party dominated by conservatives, the last of the Northeast GOP moderates face several daunting election-year trends, including a strong top of the Democratic ticket in statewide races and growing discontent with President Bush, the Iraq war and the Republican-controlled Congress. New York has always preferred its Republicans in the mold of the late Gov. Nelson Rockefeller - socially liberal and fiscally conservative. "We...

What the president's immigration speech and "The DaVinci Code" have in common. What was missing in the president's approach the other night was the expression, or suggestion, of context. The context was a crisis that had gone unanswered as it has built, the perceived detachment of the political elite from people on the ground, and a new distance between the president and his traditional supporters. The president would have done well to signal that he knew he was coming late to the party, as it were; that he'd come to rethink his previous stand, or lack of a stand, and...

ROVE: 'WE'RE IN A SOUR TIME. I READILY ADMIT IT.' THU May 15 2006 12:29:11 ET Ater speaking at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. on Monday Morning Karl Rove took questions: QUESTION: It's clear that the position that the administration's in now is not where it would have liked to have been with a few months to go before the mid-term elections. I wonder if you could just say what has gone wrong and how do you turn things around before November. ROVE: Look, we're in a sour time. I readily admit it. I mean, being in the...

John Kerry Roughing it with Butler Responding to criticism that he had a laundry list of demands when he stayed in luxury hotels on the campaign trail, Sen. John Kerry said yesterday that he recently took a trip where he slept every night in his truck - accompanied only by his motorcycle, a friend and his butler, "Marvin." Asked about the trip by radio host Don Imus, Kerry explained: "Marvin and Teddy [and myself] . . . We had the best damned time, I'll tell you." "It was wonderful," the top Democrat declared. "We didn't stay anywhere. We actually drove...

Tourism boycott of South Dakota urged Proposed abortion law sparks furor State flooded with calls — pro and con Mar. 20, 2006. 01:00 AM CHET BROKAW ASSOCIATED PRESS PIERRE, S.D.—The superintendent of Mount Rushmore was surprised at first when people from all over the country started calling to express their opinion about South Dakota's ban on nearly all abortions. Some callers said they were so upset they would never visit Mount Rushmore, South Dakota's No. 1 tourist attraction. Others said they were so thrilled they would make a point of coming to see the chiselled faces of four U.S. presidents...

... a recent MSNBC.com/Zogby International poll show that movie fans believe Hollywood's values are not in line with the rest of America. When asked if they thought Hollywood values were at odds with those of most of America, 60 percent agreed. When asked if they thought the success of such gay-themed films such as Brokeback Mountain, Transamerica and Capote reflected Hollywood's values or the growing acceptance of alternative lifestyles, respondents were fairly evenly split. ... when asked if they would go to see a movie that had been critically praised which had a message or values they did not agree...

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Leading the world's wealthiest and probably most famous university sounds like the plummiest job in academe -- with a staff, a house, and a half-million dollar salary among the many perks. But running Harvard isn't easy. Neil Rudenstine, school president from 1991 to 2001, was forced to take leave of absence for exhaustion in 1994. His successor, Lawrence Summers, announced Tuesday he would resign June 30 after a tumultuous five years, his ambitious agenda to get Harvard's territorial undergraduate and professional schools on same page done in by faculty revolts and brusque management style. Harvard-watchers inside...

This year's Best Picture nominees for the Academy Award are: "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Munich." How many have you seen? None 1 2 3 4 All 5

Canadian Anglicans Becoming Extinct By AFA Journal February 7, 2006 (AgapePress) - A new, independent report on the state of the Anglican Church of Canada shows a staggering decline in membership over the last 40 years. Between 1961 and 2001 the Anglican Church of Canada, the Canadian branch of the worldwide Anglican community, lost 53 percent of its members, from 1.36 million to 642,000. However, the report also ominously stated that the decline is accelerating. While membership dropped 13 percent between 1981 and 1991, it fell 20 percent between 1991 and 2001. According to The Church of England Newspaper, the...

As was reported yesteday on NewsBusters, Democratic Senator John Kerry wasn't challenged on the Today show after he claimed that 53% of Americans don't graduate from high school. Well on this morning's Early Show, New Orleans Democratic Mayor Ray Nagin made an equally silly claim, "50% of all residents in the United States live along the Gulf Coast." I listened to the soundbite several times to ensure I heard him correctly. The claim came during an interview with Harry Smith about President Bush's State of the Union Address and the challenges in rebuilding New Orleans, but was Harry Smith even...

QUEBEC (CP) - Andre Boisclair is the new leader of the Parti Quebecois. Boisclair has become the head of the Quebec sovereignty movement with a first-ballot victory after a leadership vote by PQ members. Boisclair received 53.7 per cent of first-round choices, while Marois had 30.6 per cent and Richard Legendre 7.5 per cent. Boisclair will likely have to wait until 2007 before getting a crack at defeating the governing Liberals, although Premier Jean Charest can wait until the spring of 2008 before calling the election. The PQ leadership race was launched after Bernard Landry quit suddenly in June following...