Free Republic

Barely a year after the historic election of President Obama, Republicans are talking up 2010 as the "change" election. In blue-leaning California, the dangers for Democrats are becoming evident as the GOP works to fire up voters with issues like budget deficits, health care reform and the costs of curbing global warming. "California is ground zero for many of these debates because the problems are bigger and more outside than just about anywhere else," says Andrew Moylan, director of government affairs for the National Taxpayers Union in Washington, which plans to underscore the conservative message on issues like health care,...

Students at the University of Colorado are being told by campus police that their planned game of "Humans vs. Zombies" must be canceled because of a campus ban on toys that look like guns. The planned game would divide participants into "humans" and "zombies" with the human team defending themselves with NERF guns. Campus police "[fear] they could be painted to look like a real weapon and someone could become alarmed and notify authorities, who would have to respond." "If we have people playing a game and someone happens to be walking and sees someone crouched down with something that...

"Bruce Walker recently wrote a piece in American Thinker with the memorable title 'Of RINOs, Moderate Democrats, and Men.' In it, he argues the G.O.P. should target red-state RINOs, while giving blue-state RINOs a pass. His premise is familiar--in a blue state, a RINO is the best we can do. And as always, this premise is dead wrong. The danger to Walker's line of thinking--if we apply no pressure from the right, our RINOs will only feel pressure from the left. And we simply can't afford to cede our people to the left, no matter how liberal their constituents are...

Thought you might want to see the red/blue divide in New Jersey, comparing the 2008 and 2009 elections. Red/Blue NJ, 2008 presidential Red/Blue NJ, 2009 gubernatorial

For the past decade a large coterie of pundits, prognosticators and their media camp followers have insisted that growth in America would be concentrated in places hip and cool, largely the bluish regions of the country. Since the onset of the recession, which has hit many once-thriving Sun Belt hot spots, this chorus has grown bolder. The Wall Street Journal, for example, recently identified the "Next Youth-Magnet Cities" as drawn from the old "hip and cool" collection of yore: Seattle, Portland, Washington, New York and Austin, Texas. It's not just the young who will flock to the blue meccas, but...

Jaycee Lee Dugard: Inside the secret world where she was kept captive for 18 years For 18 years, this was the chilling secret world where Jaycee Lee Dugard was held captive and gave birth to two daughters - fathered by her abductor. Philip Sherwell 29 Aug 2009 Chilling message hung on a tree Photo: NICK STERN / [Pic in URL] But the ramshackle sheds and tents dotted around the compound behind the home of Phillip and Nancy Garrido in the middle of a working-class Californian district are now yielding their squalid secrets. Extraordinary pictures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph allow...

The sustainable city of the future will rest on the revival of traditional institutions that have faded in many of today’s cities. Ellen Moncure and Joe Wong first met in school and then fell in love while living in the same dorm at the College of William and Mary. After graduation, they got married and, in 1999, moved to Washington, D.C., where they worked amid a large community of single and childless people. Like many in their late 20s, the couple began to seek something other than exciting careers and late-night outings with friends. “D.C. was terrific,” Moncure recalled over...

Millions once moved to California for its boundless promise, but time has not been kind to the Golden State. Twenty-five years ago, along with another young journalist, I coauthored a book called California, Inc. about our adopted home state. The book described “California’s rise to economic, political, and cultural ascendancy.” As relative newcomers at the time, we saw California as a place of limitless possibility. And over most of the next two decades, my coauthor, Paul Grabowicz, and I could feel comfortable that we were indeed predicting the future. But much has changed in recent years. And today our Golden...

This should be the moment the Blue Man basks in glory. An urbane president sits in the White House and a San Francisco liberal runs the House. But blue states are undergoing a meltdown. On the surface this should be the moment the Blue Man basks in glory. The most urbane president since John Kennedy sits in the White House. A San Francisco liberal runs the House of Representatives while the key committees are controlled by representatives of Boston, Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Bay Area—bastions of the gentry. Despite his famous no-blue-states-no-red-states-just-the-United-States statement, more than 90 percent of the...

Here’s a quick and dirty guess: Upper-middle-class families in blue states–those President Obama calls “the rich”–will soon be paying 20% more a year in state and federal taxes. If you pay $100,000 off of a $300,000 income now, look for $120,000 in a couple of years. Federal income taxes are going up, and deductions are going down. That much we know. What we don’t know yet–but I would bet money on it–is if the 7.65% Social Security and Medicare tax ceiling will be lifted from $102,000 to $150,000 or so. Taxes are headed up at the state and local level...

Well, it's done. The American people have elected, selected and stolen an election. The full force of socialism and Marxist dogma will now become part of every day American life.No need to remain in a state that has been going downhill for the past ten or twelve years. No need to listen to the liberal hate spewed by so many in Columbus. No need to continue to pay taxes to support the low-lifes who supported racist, Marxist and possibly a foreigner for President.I'm looking to move to real America. Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, here I come.And to George Bush, thank...

I just voted straight Republican ticket, including John McCain and Sarah Palin, in one of the bluest States in the Union. Some of you may be saying, "Why bother?" The fact of the matter is that my vote matters in this election more than other races in the past. Here is why: Imagine if John McCain wins the electoral college, but loses the popular vote. The ramifications of that happening, which is very possible, would be devastating. There really would be riots in the streets. People and the media would think McCain was an illegitimate President. That is why my...

Amazon.com has found a way to capitalize on one of the most interesting presidential elections in U.S. history. The Seattle-based retailer introduced an interactive map of the U.S. showing which states are "red" or "blue" based on their online book purchases. Although it's not meant to predict the next president, it suggests that the right's slant on the Obama-McCain matchup is more widely read than the left's. For now, 36 states are pink or red. Six are blue. And eight, including Washington and Oregon, are purple, meaning residents are virtually split in their political book purchases between Republican and Democratic...

What 'culture war'? At the conventions, they'll try to stir up red-blue divisions. But most Americans hold un-partisan views. By Dick Meyer August 27, 2008 As the nation's attention reluctantly turns to the political parties' conventions, with their scripted suspense and stage-managed sentiment, it is important to keep in mind that these are phony representations of American political life. But the slick video profiles, the teary appearance of a beloved party elder -- these are not what is most phony about the conventions. This gathering of America's civic tribes -- and the reporters who love them -- in separate cities...

An East Boston sicko is facing up to 25 years in state prison for stomping a neighborhood cat to death, lighting its carcass on fire and nearly burning down an apartment building into which he threw the torched tabby. Luigi Epifania, 25, will be sentenced Monday for last year’s death of “Nunu,” in what Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley called “a cruel and cowardly act.” A Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Epifania yesterday of arson and killing a domestic animal, but that’s just the beginning of his troubles. He still faces trial on a separate charge of attempted murder for...

Without a doubt, all politically alert Americans are aware of the Red State, Blue State color scheme that's used to describe the voting patterns of various constituancies in the U.S. In it, Red states are conservative Republican, Blue States are liberal Democrat. There are some marginal states, which have become known as Purple States. But, on Free Republic, I've noticed some Freepers complain about the colors that are applied. I personally never felt strongly about it, but others seem to, and they have a point. The term became fixed into our conciousness on election night in 2000. The networks chose...

Has Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine's chances of landing the coveted spot as Obama's Veep risen? According to stories at both The Politico and the Washington Post Kaine has risen to the level of serious contender, along with Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden. The WaPo story has close Kaine associates acknowledging that Kaine has told them that he has had "very serious" conversations with Obama about joining the ticket.

The Sen. Barack Obama campaign held a conference call this morning on one of the key battleground states in this race: Pennsylvania. Team O, led by Gov. Ed Rendell, stressed the importance of registering and winning over the one-million-plus, un-registered voters spread out over the Keystone State.

It's complicated. Pennsylvania is a "purple" state that must go Democrat blue instead of Republican red for Barack Obama to win the November election. John McCain does not need Pennsylvania to win the White House, but Obama sure does.

Just before and just after California's Feb. 5 presidential primary election, polls of voters indicated that Sen. John McCain would have a fighting chance to recapture a state that Republican presidential candidates had owned for decades after World War II, only to see it taken away by Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992. McCain trailed Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton by single digits in the January and February polls. As he locked down the GOP nomination, he visited the state frequently, both for fundraising and public appearances, and vowed to mount a full-fledged campaign here. "There are 53...