Free Republic

Middleburg, Va. Republicans have few built-in advantages in politics. But they do have one that’s already a factor in the 2016 presidential campaign. That advantage is ideas, especially ones affecting middle-income Americans. GOP presidential candidates were among the first to notice. Florida senator Marco Rubio, who announced for president last week, met several times with a group of conservative intellectuals last year. Now his agenda, notably on taxes, echoes their ideas. So does his new book, American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone. When Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, came to Washington in February, he made a point of...

Once upon a time, presidential candidates were expected to have more than passing experience in government, as well as the maturity and wisdom that sometimes come with age. But that has changed, apparently. Barack Obama was in the United States Senate for only two years before he began his bid for the presidency and had only four years of service in Congress when he was sworn in as president. He was just 47 years old at the time. This year, the trend toward youth and/or inexperience has continued. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 44 and with all of two years in...

Although the Republican Party Platform opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is backing and promoting through its "Young Guns" program two congressional candidates who are homosexual, and who support same-sex marriage and abortion. Richard Tisei, who is “married” to his male partner Bernie Starr, in Edgartown, Mass., is running for a congressional seat in the 6th District in the Bay State. Carl DeMaio is running for a congressional seat out of San Diego, Calif. DeMaio, who is openly gay, supports abortion and same-sex marriage.

Twenty-One Republican Candidates Take Steps Toward ‘Young Gun' Status Washington- The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) today announced its newest round of ‘On the Radar' candidates. By reaching the second step of the four-step ‘Young Guns' program, these Republican candidates have reached the fundamental benchmarks to place them on the road to victory. Now, these 21 candidates are ready to take on the Democrat establishment and return fiscal sanity to Washington. "These candidates have worked hard to meet the benchmarks that have been laid out before them and are determined to hold Washington Democrats accountable this November," said NRCC Chairman...

A senior advisor to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is leaving his federal post to open a "super PAC" that can raise unlimited amounts from individuals and corporations to back conservative Republican candidates and causes. The move by John Murray, who served as Cantor's deputy chief of staff, is another indication that congressional leaders are looking to raise fund through super PACs, new, technically independent political organizations that were spawned as a result of a controversial Supreme Court decision in 2010. In an interview Wednesday, Murray confirmed that the new super PAC fundraising is intended to support efforts such as...

The House of Representatives won't undergo merely a partisan change when the new Congress convenes on Wednesday. It will, in many ways, undergo a generational change as well... the influx of 87 new Republican House members who will be sworn in Wednesday will lower the average age of House Republicans to 54.9 from 56.5 in the last Congress... By contrast, Democrats in the House are moving in the opposite direction on the age scale. The 2010 election swept from office some of the party's younger members from moderate swing districts, and the result is a Democratic caucus that is both...

GOP Young Gun: 'Reagan Revolution' is over By Michael O'Brien - 12/10/10 10:47 AM ET The "Reagan Revolution" that spurred a GOP renaissance in Washington is dead, one of the party's new faces said Friday. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee and one of the Republican "Young Guns," said that the movement sparked by President Reagan's election in 1980 fizzled out with Democrats' wins in the congressional elections of 2006. "The Reagan Revolution ended in 2006 when Pelosi took the gavel — definitely in 2008," Ryan said in a video interview with The Wall...

It’s no secret that she’s a Ryan fan for starters, but as far as I know, this is the first time she’s explicitly endorsed his roadmap as her preferred blueprint for entitlement reform. Which, I think, is a big deal: Ryan’s problem all along has been that, for all the positive press he gets, he can’t get the Republican leadership to talk seriously about entitlements for fear that doing so will scare off seniors and other prized constituencies. (That’s why I was surprised by his no vote on the Deficit Commission; it would have been a good way to keep...

The Eurozone has also continued its financial crumble due to an apparent governmentally viraled inability to grasp sound economic policy. The growing economic quagmire that is the Eurozone is not actually being correctly reported by the overall media, much as in the US, with failed Keynesian economic policies being outed in a train wreck spectacle of abject failure. Ireland is now, most likely, in the process of being bailed out with both Spain and Portugal coming up in the not too distant future. And when Spain is bailed out, there will be no more Eurozone funds left for further bailouts--as...

But as Bay Area commuters populated — and liberalized — the district’s new suburbs, Mr. McNerney appeared to be a symbol of its new complexion: moderate, mild-mannered and more concerned with local issues than national battles. That, however, was then. Today, many of those new suburbs sit in a region with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Since 2006, the district has lost more than 30,000 residents. And while unemployment statewide is more than 12 percent, the rate is more than twice that in several towns in the 11th. All of which is obvious to Mr. McNerney....

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced today that Randy Demmer (MN-01) has reached 'Young Gun' status, the premiere level of its three-tiered Young Guns program. Founded in the 2007-2008 election cycle by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Young Guns program is a member-driven organization dedicated to electing open-seat and challenger candidates nationwide. “I am honored to receive this recognition as an acknowledgement of the support that we have received from voters across Southern Minnesota,” Demmer said. “Throughout my campaign I have heard nothing but frustration with Tim Walz. His active support for...

CANTOR WON'T Public Policy Polling might be a Democratic-centric firm, but that doesn't mean that Republicans can't use the data for their own interests. That's why staffers and outside supporters for Reps. Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, who have a new book coming out shortly that criticizes past and current GOP leadership, were over the Labor Day holiday weekend sharing PPP's Ohio poll, which showed that only 28% of John Boehner's home-state voters supported a promotion for him to Speaker of the House should the GOP win a majority later this year. "Change doesn't have to be limited to tossing...

Calling themselves the Young Guns, three members of America's House of Representatives are about to publish a template for new era of Republican domination in Congress. With the economy failing to live up to President Barack Obama's hopes for a strong recovery - unemployment remains just below ten percent - Republicans are poised for major gains on Nov 2, when all of the House and a third of Senate seats is contested in midterm elections.

Tran on national GOP radar in his bid to unseat Sanchez July 29th, 2009 Washington Bureau Chief Van Tran is officially “On the Radar,’’ of the National Republican Congressional Committee in his bid to unseat Rep. Loretta Sanchez next year. The state Assemblyman – who was recruited by the NRCC to challenge the 12-year incumbent Democrat - is one of 13 GOP contenders who the campaign committee said today has reached the On the Radar level of their Young Guns recruiting program. Tran, who had $250,000 in his campaign account as of June 30, has reached the first of three...

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, has tapped California Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy as his top deputy, cementing an already fruitful partnership between two rising stars in the party. The selection gives Cantor a politically astute ally at the leadership table as he seeks to translate six years of potential into a real power base within the House GOP. The move, which will be announced Monday, also solidifies McCarthy as the next Eric Cantor. Many view this pair as the next face of the GOP in the House. They combined last year to help raise...

Though the Republican Party took a beating in the recent election, there are rays of hope for the future. Some of the brightest are the Young Guns of conservatism, a group of rising political stars who have the opportunity to pick up the pieces of the GOP and provide the leadership needed to return the party to its Reagan roots. Here are eleven of the most prominent conservative Young Guns: Sarah Palin (44) - Alaska's Governor has made it though the initiation phase of national politics thanks to having been named John McCain's running mate. Though her star doesn't shine...

Friend Killed On Dare After Bullet Pierces Protective Vest POSTED: 4:06 pm EST December 15, 2004 OROFINO, Idaho -- A man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting his friend through a protective vest on an apparent dare, police said. Alexander Joseph Swandic, 20, died of a gunshot wound to the heart Monday after donning a protective vest and asking David John Hueth, 30, to shoot him, police said. Hueth initially told police that Swandic's wound was self-inflicted, but later admitted to the shooting. The two had apparently tested the vest by propping it against a dirt bank...