Free Republic

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Sept. 30-Oct. 2 has Barack Obama leading John McCain by seven percentage points, 49% to 42%.Obama has held a statistically significant lead over McCain for each of the past seven days, ranging from four to eight points. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.) Most of the interviewing in today's three-day rolling average was conducted before Thursday night's vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin. Saturday's tracking results will begin to show any impact the heavily watched face-off may have had on voter preferences...

After the vice presidential debate Chris Matthews criticized Sarah Palin for, of all things, looking into the camera because it made her look like a "dolt." In fact, the "Hardball," host took several stylistic shots at Palin that implied the Alaska Governor wasn't very intelligent. Audio here When guest panelist Roger Simon noted Palin looked directly into the camera, Matthews observed: You know what I think of people when they come on "Hardball," and they look at the camera, I think they're dolts. In addition to the "dolt," remark Matthews viewed Palin's performance as "so reciting," and "automatic," "like a...

A bad answer not because it’s so awkward but because she lacks the knack for spinning tough questions to her advantage in a way politicians ought to be able to. E.g., “Any decision is a bad decision, Katie, where the Court arrogates to itself the right to decide difficult questions which, in a democracy, should be left to the public.” An answer like that would have gone a long way towards countering Biden’s dopey point about the virtue of Roe v. Wade lying in its expression of consensus. Hey, Joe? Consensus is best determined at the ballot box. If Biden...

WASHINGTON -- If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream -- away from Sarah Palin. To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president -- and possibly president -- is to risk being labeled anti-woman. Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman. Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick...

It was a beautiful sight to behold. The obviously pro-Obama Campbell Brown snarling throughout an interview at the heels of former Hillary Clinton fundraiser and now McCain supporter, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, for "daring" to switch sides. After several minutes of accusing de Rothschild of everything from being an elitist to acting as a traitor to the Democrats, Campbell Brown set herself up for the grand slam dunk by Ms Rothschild using the very words of the Lightworker to turn the tables on the CNN interviewer. First we see in the transcript how Campbell Brown begins with an elitism charge...

Chicago radio station WGN-AM is again coming under attack from the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama for offering airtime to a controversial author. It is the second time in recent weeks the station has been the target of an "Obama Action Wire" alert to supporters of the Illinois Democrat. Monday night's target was David Freddoso, who the campaign said was scheduled to be on the station from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Chicago time. "The author of the latest anti-Barack hit book is appearing on WGN Radio in the Chicagoland market tonight, and your help is urgently needed to...

The left during Bush's first term questions his legitimacy and declared him not THEIR President. Well, look at the media coverage so far this election. Obama has been treated to the most adoring biased media coverage in the history of Presidential elections. No tough questions, adoring magazine covers, 5 to 1 coverage. And combine that with the VICIOUS attacks on Palin and her family the last week and the hysterical innuendo hit and run drive by coverage of the entire campaign in favor of Obama and this MUST be atleast worth 10-15 points right there if not more. All the...

WSJNBCNEWS POLL: Obama Opens With Edge on McCain... Obama's VP advisor resigns... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dems pound McCain for new Iraq quote... Kerry: McCain confused, 'unbelievably out of touch'... CLINTONS PUT DRUDGE ON ENEMIES LIST... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: Obama recruits staff to fight web smears... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGLIA: McCain reading speech is painful spectacle... DOWD: Demonizing Michelle Obama...

TAMPA, FL -- Should John McCain's big victory here in Florida vault him to the Republican nomination, it will raise serious questions about how much influence conservative activists and opinion makers actually have over the GOP electorate. Few Republicans are as reviled by elite conservatives as McCain. On a litany of issues, including immigration, campaign finance reform, judicial nominations, and taxes, McCain has angered important constituencies within the conservative movement. During the campaign, McCain has consistently ruffled the feathers of influential conservative groups. He did not sign Americans For Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, and of another important organization of...

Chris Matthews had barely finished praising his colleagues at the 10th anniversary party for his “Hardball” show Thursday night in Washington, D.C. when his remarks turned political and pointed, even suggesting that the Bush administration had "finally been caught in their criminality." In front of an audience that included such notables as Alan Greenspan, Rep. Patrick Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy, Matthews began his remarks by declaring that he wanted to "make some news" and he certainly didn't disappoint. After praising the drafters of the First Amendment for allowing him to make a living, he outlined what he said was...