Free Republic

President Biden is a successful president who has built a historically impressive record during his first term, and if — or when — he runs for a second term, he will benefit from the support of an extraordinarily impressive group of Democratic governors, who possess a dose of political magic. One of the great untold stories of politics in 2023, which we can begin to remedy here, is the truly exceptional quality of many Democratic governors serving today, a significant number of whom govern with Democratic state legislatures.

If you’re counting on Joe Manchin to save the Republic… – Well, you might want to think again. For all his bluster and fake media coverage about being some sort of “moderate” Democrat, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has always been nothing but a reliable, down-the-line leftwinger who operates in what I like to call the Lloyd Bentsen mode of being a senator. You might remember Lloyd Bentsen, the long-time Texas senator who ran for the vice presidency in 1988 as Michael Dukakis’s running mate. During his 22 years in the senate from 1971 through 1993, Bentsen was the quintessential...

In a quip destined to be one of the most memorable of Thursday night's vice presidential debate, Joe Biden jabbed Paul Ryan for seemingly comparing his political chops to those of the late President John F. Kennedy. Ryan was in the process of arguing that it's possible to cut tax rates while keeping in place tax preferences for middle class Americans and growing the economy — something he said has been done before — when Biden cut him off. "You can cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve these important preferences for middle class taxpayers," said Ryan, who was...

In 1942, Seaman Calvin Graham was decorated for valor in battle. Then his mother learned where he'd been and revealed his secret to the Navy. With powerful engines, extensive firepower and heavy armor, the newly christened battleship USS South Dakota steamed out of Philadelphia in August of 1942 spoiling for a fight. The crew was made up of “green boys”—new recruits who enlisted after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor—who had no qualms about either their destination or the action they were likely to see. Brash and confident, the crew couldn’t get through the Panama Canal fast enough, and their...

I was only 11, so I was wondering who was the preferred candidate of those of us who were old enough to vote back then. Of course H.W. Bush won the nomination. I remember Bob Dole, Pat Robertson, Peter DuPont, and I think Jack Kemp running. Did Bush have trouble convincing conservatives to vote for him, or did everyone just figure that if he was good enough to be Reagan's Vice President, he was good enough for the nomination?

With the recent defeat of Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu — which leaves three Democratic Southern U.S. Senators — the common wisdom is that Democrats should bid farewell to the South. Even with favorable changing national demographics that benefit Democrats, an abandonment of the South and, on a larger scale, a viable moderate wing would be a mistake. Recently, writer Michael Tomasky argued that the South, a “reactionary, prejudice-infested” region, should be left to Republicans to create a “free market Jesus paradise.” Few sentiments better show what is wrong with Democrats today and why ironic Republican arguments that it is the...

Months ago, the isolationism of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was so extreme that I said he might as well be President Bashar Assad's man in Washington, referring to the Syrian dictator and murderer at a time when Rand Paul was following the policy of Ron Paul of extreme non-intervention. Times have changed, or shall I say Rand Paul's calculations have changed, so his positions have changed. Now Sen. Paul mocks President Obama over the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and vows to be a super-hawk going after ISIS. I guess when it's time to raise campaign money for...

HOUSTON — Dozens of dignitaries were expected to join hundreds of mourners in remembering former Treasury Secretary and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen at a memorial service. Former President Clinton was to deliver the eulogy at the Tuesday service at First Presbyterian Church, to be held after a private graveside service for Bentsen's family. Bentsen, who represented Texas in Congress for 28 years, died at his Houston home May 23 at age 85. He had been under a doctor's care and in a wheelchair since suffering two strokes in 1998. Among the current and former lawmakers expected to attend the service were...

Just breaking on Fox News.

Former Senator and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, a courtly Texan who as the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 1988 famously told rival Dan Quayle he was "no Jack Kennedy," died Tuesday. He was 85.

I Loves Me Some Microsoft Forger Microsoft Forger promises to take all the tedium and confusion out of drafting first-class political hoaxes. Why Did the Forger Incorrectly Believe Lt. Col. Staudt Was Still Serving in 1973? Distributed Intelligence May Tell Fresh Air comes up with a terrific catch. I will now post it and take all the credit and glory. "Interesting article I located. It appears the Boston Globe mistakenly said Staudt retired in 1975 during a story about the 1988 presidential race, in which Lloyd Bentsen's son was accused of using his connections to get into the TANG." --Fresh...

Two Who Made a Difference Paul Craig Roberts Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003 America lost two tax-cutting heroes last week – former Wall Street Journal editor Robert L. Bartley and former Republican senator from Delaware, William Roth. I knew both men well, having worked with Roth and his staff in creating the Kemp-Roth bill and having served on Bartley's editorial page. Both men did much for America: Roth cut tax rates, gave us the Roth IRA and championed the taxpayer against IRS abuse; Bartley acquainted influential people with an alternative policy to Keynesian demand management, which had mired the economy in...