Free Republic

Rudy Giuliani runs for President, if he runs, from the same place where George Bush still tries to run his war in Iraq - from the rubble and ashes of Sept. 11. Giuliani doesn't run from any city he still governs, or any state, or even from the U.S. Senate. He runs from a place called Sept. 11, and you would, too. Giuliani runs, if he runs, from a job to which he was never elected, just appointed. Or perhaps anointed. It's the job of America's Mayor, and it is the best job he is ever going to have, one...

Contemplating the current field of Republican presidential candidates, Rush Limbaugh sounded like a man with malaise. "To be honest with you, there's nobody out there that revs me up," he confessed to his audience of several million conservative sympathizers on his radio show last week, "so why should I pretend there is?" What for much of the past year has been an undercurrent of grumbling on the right about the top tier of Republican contenders -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani -- is lately on the rise in...

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - John McCain is the top presidential contender for Republican Party sympathizers in the United States, according to a poll by SRBI Public Affairs released by Time. 30 per cent of respondents would support the Arizona senator in a 2008 primary. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is second with 26 per cent, followed by former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich with 14 per cent, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with five per cent. Support is lower for Kansas senator Sam Brownback, former New York governor George Pataki, Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo, Nebraska...

Libertarians often attack the war on drugs as a waste of tax dollars and an infringement on personal liberties. That is misguided thinking that comes from trying to apply unworkable theoretical concepts in the real world. For example, you often hear advocates of drug legalization say that we're never going to win the war on drugs and that it would free up space in our prisons if we simply legalized drugs. While it's true that we may not ever win the war against drugs -- i.e. never entirely eradicate the use of illegal drugs -- we're not ever going to...

The 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade is a good time for us to pause and reflect. Our nationwide policy of abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy was neither voted for by our people nor enacted by our legislators-- not a single state had such unrestricted abortion before the Supreme Court decreed it to be national policy in 1973. But the consequences of this judicial decision are now obvious: since 1973, more than 15 million unborn children have had their lives snuffed out by legalized abortions. That is over ten times the number of...

The recent tributes to the late Gerald Ford were filled with pomp and ceremony. The media even recalled the former Republican president fondly. Gone was the firestorm over the Nixon pardon. Gone the relentless effort to portray this natural athlete as a helpless klutz. In fact, once Ford retired he was extremely popular with the press, because retirement is where they wanted him all along. And that, Mr. President, is where they want you. Already, the major media outlets are running cover stories featuring the hopefuls they hope will replace you. They’re counting the days until the next Inauguration. Sir,...

More than 20,000 people are expected tomorrow to come to the District to mark the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court's abortion ruling in the Roe v. Wade case. Rallies are scheduled to begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by a March for Life procession and a youth Mass at the Verizon Center in Northwest. The march is expected to begin at 1 p.m. and last more than three hours -- starting on the Mall, between Fourth and Seventh streets Northwest, then moving east across Pennsylvania Avenue, past the U.S. Capitol and ending at East Capitol and Second streets Northeast, outside...

It's the first week of 2007. And that means, of course, that it is time to break down the races for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Yes, everyone is tired of politics. But in the post-election, pre-Democratic-Congress glow of the holidays, we mustn't forget about the coming political onslaught. If you thought 2006 was a nasty year in politics, just wait. The problem for Republicans in 2007 will be finding a nominee who is conservative enough to govern, but well-known enough to win in 2008. No Republican presidential nominee without significant name recognition going into his primary run has...

More than the ascension of Nancy Pelosi & Co. was disturbing congressional Republicans last week. They worried that George W. Bush may proceed down the same path that made his father a one-term president. Thus, they ask this question: Will the current President Bush embrace a tax increase that would produce potential economic disaster and guaranteed political catastrophe? Henry M. Paulson Jr. is a shark on Wall Street but a rookie on Pennsylvania Avenue. As Bush's third secretary of the Treasury, he has engaged in secret bipartisan talks discussing an increase in the current $97,500 limit on personal income subject...

Whenever a president in crisis or near crisis goes on television or stands before Congress to deliver a State of the Union address that is destined to be all but forgotten in a matter of days or weeks, commentators almost reflexively and usually inaccurately describe the pending performance as “the most important of his presidency.” Well, they’re describing this week’s George W. Bush speech that way, and this time they’re dead right. The future of his presidency and his ability to take the steps he believes essential to fulfilling his obligation to protect and defend the people who have twice...

There is a good reason that politicos call the run-up to an election "the silly season." Americans tend to lose their perspective and give in to emotionalism and irrationality when campaigns are in full swing. Rumor and innuendo trump records and character. Emotionalism reigns making Americans susceptible to scare tactics and the politics of personal destruction. America will face some serious and complex problems in the next administration: social security, Medicare, health care, sustainable energy, the continuing war on terrorists, advancing and supporting democracy in the Middle East, and a host of other foreseen and unforeseen issues. We need a...

There are times I am so frustrated I want to scream. Such was the case this past week. I was in a gathering of around 20 well-educated and informed conservatives. The topic turned to the Presidential election. Mind you, I had written months ago that we had best find a candidate who agreed with us and then back him to the hilt. If we did so we might be able to move that candidate to the top tier. It has not happened. Moreover, exactly what I predicted would happen has taken place. Some of our group is in every camp....

With the 2008 presidential campaign looming just on the horizon, speculation about political fortunes abounds. On the Democrat side, Lady Hillary is waiting in the wings, and the media's profilers have found their fair-haired boy in Barack Obama. On the Republican side, the picture is murkier. Often the Vice-president would be the logical choice to carry the incumbent party's torch, but Dick Cheney won't be running and, even if he did, he wouldn't win. Of course, Arizona Senator John McCain is still around, but he arouses suspicion among conservatives. Seeming worn, tired, erratic and untrustworthy, many think the old soldier...

Dobson says he couldn't support senator 'under any circumstances' A prominent Christian leader whose radio and magazine outreaches are solidly in support of biblically-based marriages – and keep in touch with millions of constituents daily – says he cannot consider Arizona Sen. John McCain a viable candidate for president. "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents. Dobson, who always...

Paved with good intentions, California's proposed road to Universal Health Coverage will lead straight to chaos. The Governor's January 8th, 2007 proposal aims to provide relief for Californians suffering under a healthcare system in desperate need of repair. It does not lack noble goals. What it lacks is common sense. Achieving a workable solution first requires that we understand the problem. For 4.8 million uninsured Californians, no further explanation is necessary (the often-cited figure of 6.5 million refers to those uninsured "at some point" during the prior year, including many who are currently covered). But for the rest of us,...

This is the ninth in an occasional series of exclusive articles in which leading conservatives who worked for Ronald Reagan explain how they believe the principles of Reagan conservatism ought to be applied today and in the coming years. This week, David Keene, who served as Southern regional political director for the 1976 Reagan campaign, addresses the GOP’s need to regain the votes of the Reagan Democrats. Political analysts have been pawing through the results of the November elections to find out just why the Republicans lost and, just as importantly, whom they lost. Conservative leaders had been warning the...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off his first full term in office this week by announcing during his state-of-the-state address that he intends to implement a state health insurance plan to cover all residents, including illegal aliens. But before riding the universal health care train too far, Gov. Schwarzenegger might want to make a stop in Nashville to see exactly how such a plan has actually worked for Tennessee, where that state's abysmal TennCare program has forced dozens of hospitals out of business, pushed thousands of doctors and other health care professionals out of the state, destroyed any semblance of...

The complicated business of understanding how Ronald Reagan led the Free World to victory in the Cold War has just become much easier. Run to your nearest bookstore and buy a copy of The Crusader. In one beautifully-written volume, Grove City College Professor Paul Kengor's got the whole story - completely, accurately, and with more fascinating and never-before-reported details about how Ronald Reagan succeeded -- than any other Cold War historian, including "official biographer" Edmund Morris. While the details in The Crusader are eye-opening - Kengor somehow got his hands on more secret documents than the KGB - it's the...

Today's deepest division is between those political observers who believe that Rudy Giuliani is a credible contender for the Republican presidential nomination and those who think that his chances are no better than those of California Rep. Duncan Hunter. ~snip~ Giuliani's strong showing in GOP polling reflects his celebrity status and the reputation he earned after the terrorist attacks. But if and when he becomes a candidate, that will change. He will be evaluated on the basis of different things, including his past and current positions and behavior, and he'll be attacked by critics and opponents. A Giuliani nomination would...