Free Republic

Top Democrats and former Republicans met at a Washington, D.C. think tank in early June 2023 to discuss election interference strategies to block former President Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House, according to a report in the Washington Post. The meeting is said to have included recent Biden White House chief of staff Ron Klain, Democratic National Committee senior advisor Cedric L. Richmond, as well as Stephanie Cutter, a former campaign adviser to Barack Obama who has also worked with Biden. “They were joined by former senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), along...

On Wednesday there was an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by William Galston titled: "The Clear and Present Danger of Trump.” A bold insert said: His weekend Twitter outburst calls into question his ability to discharge his powers. The article starts off: In business, it is said, the customer is always right. Politics is more complicated, because citizens are called upon to be more than consumers. “The people commonly intend the public good,” Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 71, “but their good sense would despise the adulator who should pretend that they always reason right about the means...

Donald Trump continues to bring comic relief and mean-spirited bombast to the Republican campaign trail. But while Trump is a continuing spectacle, he also makes (a tiny bit) more sense than his rivals when he indicts U.S. trade policies or scorns the influence of big money that turns politicians into puppets. Nevertheless Trump, despite his current lead in the polls, isn’t likely to be the Republican presidential nominee. William Galston, the Wall Street Journal’s designated Democratic pundit, last week suggested that there were five “plausible” Republican candidates — Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.), Govs. Scott Walker (Wis.)...

A number of readers have taken me to task over my contention ...that most poor people are impoverished by choice. To be clear, I don't mean that one day a person gets up and decides to live in poverty. I believe a person winds up poor because he or she chooses not to succeed. Truth is, staying above the poverty line is relatively simple. Basically, all that's required is to finish high school, wait until at least age 20 to get married and not have a child out of wedlock. Now how hard is that? Not very, which is why...

TO: SEN. BARACK OBAMA FROM: WILLIAM GALSTON SUBJ: ADJUST OR LOSE DATE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 I'll get right to the point: You are in danger of squandering an election most of us thought was unlosable. The reason is simple: on the electorate’s most important concern – the economy -- you have no clear message, and John McCain has filled the void with his own. This is more than my opinion. The Democracy Corps survey released yesterday proves the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Backed by a wealth of persuasive detail, here is the nub of their conclusion: In the absence...