Free Republic

National political correspondent Maggie Haberman signaled Friday that President-elect Trump likely doubled down on Pete Hegseth as his pick to lead the Pentagon after support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as an alternative fell short. “What changed was a couple of things. One was… Trump could not find a single person in his orbit, or even really outside of it, who liked this idea of making Ron DeSantis — the governor of Florida — the Defense secretary choice,” she added. DeSantis, Trump’s formal GOP primary rival who was floated as a top contender, said he was “seriously considering” the...

DeSantis is on the field, avoiding being in the booth with Trump, Thune, Johnson, Vance, Musk and Hegseth. Is DeSantis upset that he isn't SecDef pick? Is he too socially awkward to be around politically powerful people? DeSantis needs to learn how to interact with powerful people, even those he doesn't like.

Um, yeah, good luck with that. According to the latest Reuters Polling snapshot Senator Cruz has dropped another 5 points this week –LINK . This comes on the heels of several weeks of polling data outlining how Ted Cruz has a significant problem with “authenticity”. Readers will note we have discussed this several times. The more the general electorate get to see and know Ted Cruz, the more his support drops. There is a direct correlation.

He’s been called many things, our president. A socialist, a conniver, a Big Government guy, even a Kenyan. But we have to admit to reading a couple of descriptions today of President Barack Obama that brought a smile to our lips. . . .

It could be said that Newt Gingrich's campaign "problems" of late have put the White House beyond the former speaker of the House's reach. The most recent issue was the defection of Newt's campaign staffers, who believed there was a strategy difference between themselves and Gingrich on how to move forward. But not so fast. The departure of Gingrich's staffers is nothing more or less than a breath of fresh air -- after all, it is Newt himself, and not his campaign advisers, who is running for president. The fact is that Newt Gingrich has a vision on how to...