Free Republic

Here’s the original thread. It unfortunately did not stimulate discussion as I had hoped, but c’est la vie on FR. Reminder: The GOP needs a net gain of only 17 seats to retire Nancy Pelosi as speaker.There are 30 Dem House representatives in districts Trump won. I keep hearing that the Dems are not only going to hold the House, but expand their majority. I find that hard to believe based on the below numbers. GOP advantages are the numbers shown below (30 Trump-district Dem seats to defend vs. 3 Clinton-district GOP seats), as well as having Trump on the...

I didn't see this event listed yesterday. President Trump will be in Rochester, Minnesota on Friday evening. Jason Lewis for Senate, Michelle Fischbach for MN-07 and Tyler Kistner for MN-02 must be thrilled!Event Details: Fri, October 30, 2020 05:00 pm (CDT) Doors Open: 02:00 pm Rochester International Airport 7600 Helgerson Dr. SW Rochester, MN, 55902Link

...Why do we think the Trump campaign is seizing on this opportunity to grab Virginia’s 13 Electoral College votes? First, the polls are tightening. The most recent Judy Ford Watson Center for Public Policy (Christopher Newport University) poll has Biden with only a five-point lead on Trump among likely Virginia voters. It is a significant change from the double-digit lead Biden held in the spring and over the summer. Second, the Trump campaign’s ground game and voter outreach is outclassing Biden’s. The Virginia Trump Victory effort has already been in contact with over 2.1 million voters via phone banking and...

I posted this thread to focus on a mostly ignored state so far in the presidential/Senate/House race discussions. The Rocky Mountain State. No Trump rallies have come through here recently, which is curious to me given Sen. Cory Gardner's vulnerability and the fact that Trump only lost CO by <3 points four years ago. Plus AZ and NM border CO. So why the silence? Ground game: (Jul 2020 excerpt) The ground operation of the combined Republican campaign in Colorado — which goes by the team name "Silver Bullet Brigade" — dwarfs the GOP's field organization in previous cycles, with 46...

...in seeking to fill the Senate seat that Republican Pete Domenici held for 36 years, more should be required. There is too much party intransigence on both sides in Washington. Ronchetti says he would work to end it; Luján, as the consummate party insider, is steeped in it. The last time New Mexico had bipartisan representation from its senators was when Domenici and Sen. Jeff Bingaman held the seats. They often disagreed, but they worked together on behalf of their home state. The election of Ronchetti is a chance to bring back that bipartisan team. And Ronchetti, who exudes energy,...

Democratic U.S. Senator Tina Smith is now in a dogfight to keep her Senate seat after her once double-digt lead dwindled to a one-point lead in our latest KSTP/SurveyUSA poll. Smith leads Republican challenger Jason Lewis 43% to 42%, with 12% undecided. Another three percent favor other candidates...

For those who may be interested in two previous, related posts:State of the 2020 electionState of the 2020 U.S. House ElectionsThere are 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, two per state. Washington D.C. has no senators, nor do the U.S. territories. As of today the U.S. Senate is comprised of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents (Bernie Sanders of VT, Angus King of ME) that caucus with the Dems. So numerically it’s a 53-47 GOP advantage, while recognizing that certain unnamed Republicans are reliably problematic when push comes to shove. So the GOP majority is functionally a bit tenuous....

There are 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. As of today the House make-up consists of 232 Democrats, 197 Republicans, 1 traitor Libertarian (Amash), and 5 vacancies (Republicans: Graves, GA-14; Meadows, NC-11; Ratcliffe, TX-04; Hunter, CA-50; Democrat Lewis, GA-05). LetÂ’s assume all the vacant seats remain with their respective parties, and Amash votes with the Democrats. ThatÂ’s 234 Ds to 201 Rs. The GOP needs a net gain of 17 seats to retire Nancy Pelosi as speaker. All 435 seats are up for re-election every two years, on even years. But only a small percentage are considered competitive....

It’s been many years since I’ve publicly posted on Free Republic (I briefly posted under another screen name in late 2008). Once in a blue moon (usually around elections) I have remained in touch with certain folks via FReepmail. What used to be a site filled with interesting information and analysis is now sadly overrun with people who most often can’t even be bothered to read an article before making well-informed [cough] posts on how so-and-so can’t possibly win a certain state, or Person X should sue Person Y (when an article’s second sentence clearly spells out such litigation). But...

Democrat Jim Webb has surged ahead of Republican George Allen in the last poll of the campaign, conducted for News-7 by SurveyUSA. The survey shows Webb with 52% of the likely voters, with 44% going to Allen. In five previous SurveyUSA tracking polls, the race was a virtual tie with Allen slightly ahead. Other late polls show the race much closer. A Mason-Dixon poll released over the weekend had Webb ahead by a point, and a Gallup poll released today has Allen up by three. The SurveyUSA poll also shows 42% support for the Marriage Amendment, but with 22% still...

HELENA - Republican Sen. Conrad Burns may be facing the political fight of his life, but calm GOP operatives believe they have a secret weapon that will push him over the top in Tuesday's vote. For the first time, Republicans in Montana are putting into place the national party's vaunted 72-Hour Task Force for the final three days of the campaign, state GOP executive director Chuck Denowh said. It may be the party's ace in the hole. The highly sophisticated targeting, voter identification and get-out-the-vote program, or GOTV, was developed in the wake of the extremely tight 2000 presidential race....

DUBLIN, Georgia (Reuters) - Retired school teacher Martha Bobbitt thinks President George W. Bush is a good Christian with the right values. If he's gone wrong in Iraq, it won't change her vote. Opinion polls suggest Bush's Republican Party may lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the Senate in national elections on Tuesday, dragged down by the unpopularity of the war in Iraq. But for millions of Americans, support for Bush runs deeper than the debate over the direction of the war on terrorism and can be summed up by what his backers view as old-fashioned...

JOHN WHITE, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS IN THE THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF MARYLAND RECEIVES LATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM GOP Annapolis, MD, November 1, 2006 -- John White, Candidate for Congress in MD's Third Congressional District today announced his campaign has just received a significant cash infusion from the GOP. In thanking MD GOP Chairman John Kane, Governor Robert Ehrlich, and RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, Mr. White stated, "Our campaign has gained significant momentum in the last few weeks. Wal-Mart's announcement for the new $4 prescription program in MD, and the Common Causes's CNN story on special interest money in our...

Indianapolis - For the first time in a decade, Congresswoman Julia Carson is in a tough race for re-election. Her campaign started running a batch of positive image ads on the same day National Democrats go after her Republican opponent with the gloves off. Her yard signs sell love, but there is no love in fliers hitting some 7th District mail boxes attacking Congresswoman Julia Carson's opponent. "I'm absolutely shocked and appalled," says Republic Eric Dickerson. The ads were done by the National Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington and not by Congresswoman Carson. Carson told Eyewitness News "I'm outraged...

The question of whether Rep. John Murtha is a crook or not is now definitive. Congressman John Murtha’s full 54-minute ABSCAM meeting is out. An article in today’s American Spectator, based on the 54-minute video and scores of sworn testimony given by Murtha under oath, reveals a congressman anxious to cut a deal on his terms. The article includes a link to the full 54-minute video online. Here Everyone would expect a congressman who had a near-fatal brush with the ABSCAM scandal to steer as far away from further controversy and ethical questions as possible. This has not been the...

... John Murtha did his own version of Bill Clinton's recent tear on Fox News. Mr. Murtha's reaction was misdirected; the reporter represented Reuters, which is not known for vast right-wing conspiracy bona fides. The reporter: "...[y]our position paper calls for a pullout of all combat troops by 2008. Do you folks have a plan to prevent Iraq from becoming a failed state that could prove a breeding ground for more terrorism that could directly threaten the United States?" Mr. Murtha: "Where have you been? ...[i]t's cost over $400 billion today. Let me tell you they said that they would...

<p>Sept. 26, 2006... Local Johnstown, PA station WJAC-TV announced during their 11PM news cast that former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry will be speaking at the Murtha anti-war counter rally this Saturday. Murtha's counter rally is organized by former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia. Former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark is also expected to speak.</p>

Labor Day has always been considered the traditional start of the campaign season in an election year......contribute to the polarization that has been gripping this country for too long. People don't debate, they toss partisan-party and special-interest talking points back and forth. ...[b]ut we will print letters that arise from a writer's impassioned thoughts about the issues that surface during the elections... More insidious in the campaign process are the 527 groups... The groups are exempt from taxes under the [IRS] code if they collect funds to influence or attempt to influence "the selection, nomination, election or appointment of an...