Free Republic

Donald Trump is running riot in the GOP china shop and gleefully tearing the place up. Consider the strength of Trump’s position: If he wins South Carolina by a big margin, he goes into Nevada with momentum, and the latest poll there has him leading by 26 points and pushing 50 percent. If he enters Super Tuesday a week later having won three out of the past three states — and with Cruz diminished by a South Carolina loss and Rubio having won nowhere — he could easily win, say, 10 contests that day. It might still be possible to...

Pointing to the effects of "horrible" super-PACs, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday said America needs to come up with a solution to keep big money out of politics. "Well, I think you need it, because I think PACs are a horrible thing," Trump said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked if he would pursue campaign finance reform. The billionaire businessman, who said he is self-financing his campaign, said the wall separating super-PACs and candidates running for public office is illusory. "First of all, everyone's dealing with their PAC. You know, it's supposed to be like this...

Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump late Wednesday declined to attack Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the wake of news that the Texas senator misreported campaign finances, but did acknowledge that it was a "very big thing." "Well, I heard it's a big thing. I know nothing about it. But I hear it's a very big thing," Trump said in an interview on Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect." "I hope he solves it. I think he's a nice guy, and I hope he gets it solved." Trump has previously attacked GOP primary rivals for being bought by big donors, flouting his...

Ted Cruz, now locked in a struggle to the political death with reigning campaign champion Donald Trump, faces a make-or-break night at the GOP debate Thursday night. Proving his mettle as a candidate worthy of his post-season position, Cruz has ruggedly endured a sustained week of media battering over Trump’s birtherism blitz, losing little ground. Trump’s all-out offensive raising questions about Cruz’s eligibility because of his birth in Canada – widely held to be a non-issue by constitutional experts — has arrested Cruz’s upward momentum but not caused a collapse. But while Cruz has barely dropped in the polls as...

...So what is Mr. Cruz's "one big problem"? It turns out to be that he's for honest money, ideally a dollar defined in terms of gold. That is, he's got the same problem that dogged those notorious losers like, to name but a few, Geo. Washington, John Adams, Thos. Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Wm. McKinley, Thos. Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.This is a bizarre argument that puts the Huffington Post - the dispatch is by its senior political economy reporter, Zach Carter - in the company of, say, Richard Nixon. It was Nixon...

When U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz withdrew from a fundraiser in Texas, his wife Heidi stepped in to charm donors. A major backer uses her whenever she needs to close a deal. Another is planning a women's only event featuring Mrs. Cruz. Heidi Cruz, a Harvard Business School graduate and former Bush administration official, has emerged as a central figure in her husband's campaign, charming on-the-fence donors while acting as a bridge to the Republican establishment. The effort to broaden Ted Cruz's appeal is crucial as he soars in the polls. He has long had a strong base of support...