Free Republic

I thought I read recently that Cornyn WILL have a primary challenger when he's up for reelection in 26. That should put him in a very bad position to win senate leader (amongst a myriad other reasons). If he does have a challenger, who is it?

With Republicans taking back control of the Senate and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell finally stepping down, three Senators have emerged as possible Majority Leaders. Two of them are RINOs—John Thune and John Cornyn—while Rick Scott may not have the support to prevent either “McConnell 2.0” from ascending. Senator Mike Lee has a plan. Well, it’s really just a theory combined with a wish, but it has a lot of conservatives wanting to sprinkle any fairy dust they can find on it so they can make it come true. The “John Adams Plan” would have Vice-President-Elect J.D. Vance ascend to the...

Gun Owners of America, a conservative firearm rights group, spoke out against Texas Sen. John Cornyn's bid to replace Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader. "The Senate deserves a conservative pro-gun leader, and John Cornyn is not that person," Gun Owners of America Federal Affairs Director Aidan Johnston said last week in a statement posted by the group on X, formerly Twitter. "Every time a gun issue comes up, he’s right there with a compromise. And that’s not leadership. That’s just capitulation to gun control." Johnston reiterated his group's opposition in comments to Fox News Digital on Saturday....

You don’t have to get all maudlin about McConnell’s supposed representation of bygone Senate traditions (I personally think he’s an amoral pursuer of power for its own sake) to marvel at his longevity at the helm of his party conference. When McConnell became leader in 2007, the party of Ronald Reagan was still in place; it had not yet been shaken by the tea-party movement or shattered by Donald Trump’s triumph over a Republican Establishment of which McConnell was an integral part. Republicans of that era were still fiercely defending George W. Bush’s “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq and...

The wringing of the hands is furious. With another election less than a month away the anxiety is fierce. And the barbs are already flying. I’m not talking about the distraction of Trump vs. DeSantis [cut] I’m referring to the election of the next Senate leader for the GOP now that “Cocaine” Mitch McConnell has lost the Senate for the second cycle in a row. Elections bring about accountability. It’s time to make a change and that change should be an advocate for America First. With the media peddling the idea of the red “trickle” most haven’t looked at the...

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) favorability has hit a record low, according to Civiqs polling released Monday. Just 7 percent of voters view McConnell favorably, while 81 percent view him unfavorably. Among the Republican party, only 18 percent of Republicans approve of McConnell. Sixty-one percent disapprove. Civiqs polling, which dates back to 2018, indicated McConnell has never sunk to a low favorability rating of 7 percent. In February 2021, McConnell’s approval rating was 8 percent, reaching 12 percent in June 2021. Since then, it has gravitated between 8 and 11 percent. During the last two years of the Trump administration, McConnell...

And, though many haven’t noticed yet, the bipartisan cooperation has been good for our politics. A standard criticism of this approach is that it elevates process over policy or, worse, that it amounts to a kind of ideological surrender by Republicans. But if you want to be a U.S. senator, you need to be at peace with imperfect outcomes. The answer to Barack Obama and the left is not to rail against one’s fellow conservatives. It may turn out that Americans on the left and right don’t want the two parties to work together in an effort to reach consensus...

In an interview with ABC News, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, predicted his party would reclaim the Democratic-controlled Senate in November, but he declined to endorse current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the party leader should there be a transfer of power in the upper chamber of Congress.. . . . .But when asked if he would endorse McConnell — currently embroiled in a tight race for his Kentucky Senate seat — as Senate majority leader, the Texas Republican said that is a decision that would be made “when the time is right.”“Well, that will be a decision for...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been hospitalized after falling ill, his office said Friday. A spokesman for Reid said the 74-year-old senator was alert and feeling better. His statement did not provide any details about Reid's illness. “Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. Tests have been conducted and everything is normal. He is alert, resting and feeling better,” said Reid’s spokesperson Adam Jentleson. “Doctors have asked that he remain in the hospital for observation so he will not be working today.” Reid worked late into...

Utah Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack, a proponent of tough drunken-driving laws whose father was killed by a drunken driver, was booked into jail Friday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence. The incident is a blow to one of the state's brightest Republican stars, who had made a rapid rise through the Senate leadership, become the public face of the GOP majority, and had been widely discussed as a potential candidate for governor. It remains to be seen if Killpack can hold onto his leadership position or his Senate seat -- or if he will even try. "There...

THIS MAN IS A U.S. SENATOR... In fact he is the Majority Leader THIS HAS GOT TO SEEN AND HEARD TO BE BELIEVED! This interview with Senator Harry Reid on the subject of taxes is incredible...and worth watching for the 4 minutes it takes... How do we elect people this stupid? Because we the people are more stupid and uneducated than people like Reid.

In an abrupt political reversal, Democratic state Senate leader Don Perata said Wednesday he is ending his campaign to recall a Republican senator. How much good Perata's sudden announcement will do is unclear. The recall against Sen. Jeff Denham of Merced already is on the June 3 ballot and pamphlets have been sent to voters. In a statement, Perata said he was ending the recall campaign "in the spirit of putting politics aside to solve problems." Perata had orchestrated the recall because Denham had angered him during last year's budget stalemate, which lasted roughly seven weeks after the start of...

HARTFORD, Conn. - A legislative leader was arrested Friday on charges that he tried to have a businessman at the center of a federal racketeering probe arrange to rough up someone the senator believed was abusing a relative. State and federal authorities said Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca in 2005 sought help from James Galante, a Danbury trash hauler currently awaiting trial on 72 counts of tax fraud, racketeering, threatening and extortion. "When you approach someone who is alleged to be a member of organized crime or affiliated with organized crime and you ask for this help, and you slip...

by Mark Finkelstein September 3, 2006 - 14:13 The general rule of thumb among political consultants is that a disapproval rating of 40% spells a candidate's near-certain defeat. Virtually no one who disapproves of a candidate will vote for him, while approving of someone is no guarantee of a vote. Hillary Clinton's disapproval rating of 44% in a recent Time magazine poll thus bodes very ill for her presidential prospects. Yet the Sunday Times of London has managed to put a rosy gloss on what would have most politicians looking for another line of work. Says the Times of the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have to move quickly if they want to put together a multibillion dollar plan this year to pay for transportation, flood control and other public works projects, the Senate leader said Monday. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said support for a deal could dry up or splinter into promotions for individual lawmakers' pet projects if an agreement isn't reached in the next few weeks. "We've got to go like hell; we've got to treat it like a 100-yard dash," the Oakland Democrat said in a conference call with reporters. He...

<p>December 13, 2002 -- PRESIDENT Bush made Trent Lott's peril clear yesterday: "Any suggestion that a segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive, and it is wrong. Recent comments by Sen. Lott do not reflect the spirit of our country. He has apologized and rightly so. Every day our nation was segregated was a day that America was unfaithful to our founding ideals." After a week and three "apologies," Lott has been unable to make so strong a statement.</p>

December 13, 2002, 10:00 a.m. Lott Should Go A bad Majority Leader gets worse. By NR Editors Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott "has proven himself better suited to the back bench, where he is at least a generally reliable conservative vote. And there is an alternative in Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles . . . Conservatives should encourage Nickles to make the — admittedly risky — challenge against Lott." Thus wrote National Review in November 1998 after the GOP midterm disaster that year. We have long considered Lott a clumsy and ineffective Republican leader, and his controversial Strom Thurmond birthday remarks...

Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) yesterday offered an unusually pointed critique of President Bush for his handling of the economy and other domestic concerns and accused him of being perhaps the most political chief executive in history. "Almost on every one of the issues involving domestic policy, he has been a source of great disappointment," Daschle said yesterday during a lunch with Washington Post reporters and editors. "I think his record on the economy is a disaster. I think his record on fiscal policy is a disaster. I think his position on education has fallen far short of...