Free Republic

The GOP Should Dump Its Litmus Test By Michael Reagan FrontPageMagazine.com | February 16, 2007 The philosopher Diogenes is said to have wandered around ancient Greece holding a lantern and seeking to find an honest man. My fellow Republicans, sans lanterns, are now wandering around the political landscape seeking to find the perfect Republican presidential candidate. I don’t know if Diogenes ever found that honest man, but I do know that those Republicans are never going to find the perfect candidate, simply because he does not exist. Some Republicans insist that the only perfect candidate would be a clone of...

Not since Teddy Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall a century ago has a New York politician closely linked to urban reform looked like presidential timber. But today ex–New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near the top of virtually every poll of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Already, Giuliani’s popularity has set off a “stop Rudy” movement among cultural conservatives, who object to his three marriages and his support for abortion rights, gay unions, and curbs on gun ownership. Some social conservatives even dismiss his achievement in reviving New York before 9/11. An August story on the website Right Wing...

If you've ever wondered whether God laughs, think back to 1980, when the Rev. Robert Drinan was ordered by Pope John Paul II to get out of politics and leave Congress. The Jesuit priest, who died on Sunday, was finishing his fifth term representing a suburban Boston district that included Cambridge and Brookline. The pope had been hearing from rankled conservative American Catholics--the Pat Buchanan, William F. Buckley Jr., William Bennett wing of the church -- that Father Drinan, a purebred Democrat, was a dangerous liberal. His voting record on abortion was seen as too pro-choice. Father Drinan's presence in...

Update: The Hotline says "All the signs are there for a 'yes' on IL SEN from ex-Gov. Jim Edgar: The dinner with NRSC folks at Da' Ditka's (mmmm, Ditka's), Rove will keynote a 5/2 event for IL GOP donors; and Edgar, himself, contending that not just any GOPer could win. So at this point, wouldn't it be an embarrassment to Bush if he turned it down? Just as importantly, Edgar's candidacy does more than potentially keep a GOP seat in play, it puts a critical 'Blue' state for WH Dems into the 'Gray' swing area."

Gray Extremism By George Neumayr Published 4/26/02 12:02:00 AM An extremist exists in the California governor's race. But it is not Bill Simon. Unlike the low-key businessman and philanthropist, Gray Davis is a high-strung ideologue, pursuing an agenda straight out of the pages of the Nation magazine. Consider Davis's bout of extreme liberalism this week. Appearing with the racial huckster Jesse Jackson at a San Jose shake-down conference, Davis spoke about possibly extending reparations to minorities in California. "Clearly, we want to right any wrongs and do justice to people who were taken advantage of," said Davis. Playing up his...