Free Republic

Unless you’re a pollster I don’t think there’s any reason to slit your wrists over the Republican cauci results.Cruz: 28%Trump: 24%Rubio: 23%  Congrats Ted, glad you won butt please clean up your act; we’re tired of smear campaigns and are looking for less, not more, politics-as-usual. And that victory speech: you earned it butt oy! Too long, let’s work on that. The Donald is the only one of the three who didn’t give a victory speech last night. At least he was gratious in his second place placement, and  while he didn’t actually say anything other than he loved Iowa and...

To many of those who tuned in, Donald Trump’s three-minute remarks after finishing second in the Iowa caucuses appeared remarkably humble. He even congratulated Ted Cruz, whom Trump had called almost every name in the book in the days before. Clearly, Trump’s strategy of attacking his rival’s character didn’t work. But Cruz’s strategy of attacking Trump on his views apparently did.

[snip] ".........Trump Nation is tired of failed transactions leaving only humiliation, disrespect, hardship, and despair. Trump Nation wants a transaction president. Donald Trump knows transactions. Donald Trump advertises that he's not only a high stakes negotiator. Trump will save the nation in the grandest transaction yet. It is that simple. Just like Trump Airlines. Recall Trump's promises in 1988 -- a lot more than a simple transaction in keeping the aging Eastern Airlines shuttle fleet flying. Trump promised luxury, convenience, style, personal touches, affinity to grandeur, and profitability. Except for convenience, Trump delivered nothing else for which customers were willing...

It was an exciting race, but the results are in: Ted Cruz has won the Iowa caucuses. The senator from Texas was my favorite going in, but the talking heads in the media and the pollsters didn't agree. According to them, Iowa was Donald Trump's for the taking. Well, not quite so. He lost big tonight. Early in the evening people thought it could be too close to call, but that was absolutely not the case. Cruz led from the get-go and stayed on top all throughout the night. What this means is simple: Cruz has rallied Iowa conservatives behind...

Donald Trump is leading the field among Iowa Republicans, according to poll results released Monday as voters there get set to select their party nominations.

I hear the words of the establishment coming out of Donald Trump supporters, just like I heard them from Mitt Romney supporters, and just like I heard them from John McCain supporters. I've even heard them from Donald,s mouth personally. "People should vote for me because I'm winning and I'm a winner," he has continually said some semblance of over and over throughout his time on the trail. He then cites a series of always national polls that show him leading in those polls that study opinion via calling people through landlines. Ask yourself how many people do you know...

So now we come to a moment of truth. Finally the tripartite first round of primary season is upon us, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Americans must make a choice. The choice, on the Republican side, is between anger and various flavors of seasoned professionalism. On the Democrat side, it is between transparent criminality and eclectic, wooly-headed socialism. So, what should the average voter do? First, like many others, I love the lessons taught by Ronald Reagan. He really was a beacon in the storm, and remains one now. By some happy accident, the "young me" worked in Ronald...

Today’s the day we’ve all been waiting for: the Hawkeye Cauci! So grab your pork tenderloin sandwich and a couple of MAID-RITEs and caucus like your life depends on it. Because it does. So here are your cauci guidelines. “I would vote for the following candidates under the following circumstances…” Even if he shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die: Even if he shot a man in Reno in self-defense: Even if he shot a man in Reno, accidentally while cleaning his gun: Even if he shot a man in Reno, while demonstrating how dangerous firearms can...

In his final speech before Iowa caucus day, Donald Trump renewed his old promise to build a lavish White House ballroom and pay for it himself. "Every time the top people come over from China ... they put up a tent at the White House," he said, during his final event Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa. "We'll have a ballroom at the White House."

The Times’ online headline, “Drop Dead? Not The Newly Relevant Daily News,” refers of course to it's rival's infamous 1975 headline: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” The Daily News also rehashed its own headline recently to attack Ted Cruz for his crack about “New York values.” You guessed it: “Drop Dead, Ted.” That passes for “relevance” among the left and the NYT. Mahler took us inside the liberal hive mind, buzzing with giddy self-congratulation over yet another puerile attack on Republicans, while the Times dutifully reprinted the controversial Daily News covers that made liberals go giddy. On a recent afternoon,...

The Republican National Committee (RNC) was not happy that Ron Paul, who had won second place in Minnesota's February of 2012 caucuses, ended up with over three-quarters of the state's delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC was not happy with Paul's delegates' large wins in other states either. The rules had allowed an outsider to win. Therefore, the insiders decided the rules needed to be changed. Well, what do you know! Because of the new rules for allotting delegates to the winner on caucus night, the insiders are now fretting that the winning of the state's delegates...

...At this very critical juncture in our history, while our nation and our liberties have been ravaged by the Obama years, and life as we know it in this nation hangs precariously by a thread, Fox News, Limbaugh, Levin, and Hannity have gambled with our future, knowing we have no collateral to back up the game. For months, these fair weather friends of conservatism have heaped slovenly, starry-eyed adoration on Donald Trump. Trump - that gilded toad, who's conservative history began at about the time he decided to run as a Republican has been shoved in our faces from the...

Quote: "Hey guys, it's time to 'remember we are not enemies, but friends.' This Afterburner needs to be heard by every Republican, so share it out!"

On January 18, Jerry Falwell, Jr. welcomed Donald Trump to Liberty University to speak in the school's chapel. As the college president who wrote the "this is not a daycare" article that received so much national attention recently, I have been asked by the media if I would be next: Will I be inviting Mr. Trump to Oklahoma Wesleyan University to speak in our chapel service? My answer has been simple and brief. No, I will not. In selecting speakers for Oklahoma Wesleyan, party affiliation and political positions do not matter. Personal conduct, public statements, theological integrity and moral consistency...

Two veterans groups said Friday they will be accept money raised by Donald Trump's campaign rally that was staged after the frontrunner decided to skip the last GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses. Other vet organizations said they were not so sure. Dick Marbes, president of the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust, said in a statement to CNBC that Trump reached out after the event. "We have been contacted and informed that a donation will be made by the Donald Trump Foundation to support our mission," Marbes said. "While we are grateful for this support, it is our sincere...

Is this a great primary season or what? Seldom before has the debate among Republicans -- and even among conservatives -- been so heated. Donald Trump has his die-hard fans, Trumpkins. Other conservatives are solidly behind Ted Cruz because many believe he is the most conservative candidate running. Others prefer Marco Rubio, mostly because they think he's the most electable of the relatively conservative candidates. Not only are these candidates having a go at each other -- with Trump leading the field by going nuclear on anyone who threatens his frontrunner status -- but their supporters do the same. To...

British bookies see a banner month ahead for Donald Trump. The Republican presidential candidate is the "red-hot favorite" to win the Iowa Caucuses (Feb. 1) and the New Hampshire primary (Feb. 9), says Graham Sharpe, spokesman for William Hill PLC, a leading British bookmaker. William Hill has Trump as the 1-2 favorite in Iowa and the 1-4 favorite in New Hampshire. "The Trump bandwagon shows little sign of a slowdown," says Sharpe.

Ted Cruz has crisscrossed Iowa, headed to all 99 counties and has aggressively targeted this state‘s evangelical voters. Jeb Bush hired a top Iowa operative and had 30 paid staffers to build his operation here, while saying last summer that he still hoped to win the Hawkeye State. And Marco Rubio has dropped more money on TV than any other candidate, culminating in a 30-minute advertisement he‘s launching in media markets across the state. But each of these candidates have something in common: They are bracing for a Donald Trump win in Iowa and planning for the aftermath.

It has been said that if we were getting so-called “alternative” energy from potatoes instead of corn, the first primary/caucus would be held in Idaho instead of Iowa. As it is, ethanol from corn in the first state where votes are actually cast in a presidential election has led to endless political pandering in support of a fuel that consumes more energy than it provides, is difficult to transport, reduces car mileage, can damage auto enegines, and damages the environment.

There are still four people occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. David Fry, Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson and his wife Sandy are still there with the FBI saying negotiations are going on around the clock. The four want safe conduct out and decided not to leave after the FBI arrested others like Jason Patrick who left the refuge with promises of safe conduct out. The imprisoned leader of the occupation, Ammon Bundy, has called for the occupation to end, but the FBI's conduct with people leaving is putting a roadblock in the way. The Pacific Patriot...