Free Republic

Like the Olympics, it's a game that's played every four years. The media march out on the field in their ideologically matching blazers and try to convince the GOP to ditch social issues. Their pitch goes something like this: Republican voters are far more moderate than their party's platform. The day of the religious right has come and gone. With pro-life, pro-marriage stands, the party alienates legions of voters who agree with it on taxes, spending and defense. An article in the July 5 Wall Street Journal ("Giuliani Support Hints at Shift") argues, "Mr. Giuliani's lead in the polls -...

Recently, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially threw his hat into the ring as a candidate seeking the Presidency of the United States. The night before his official announcement, Giuliani appeared on the FOX Network's "Hannity and Colmes" where the Republican told the program's hosts about his political intentions. A number of recent polls indicate the former federal prosecutor currently leads an ever-growing field of Republicans seeking their Party's nomination. During Sean Hannity's exclusive interview, Giuliani was asked about his liberal social leanings, including his position on abortion, homosexual "marriage," and gun control. Hannity, the popular conservative co-host of...

Not since Teddy Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall a century ago has a New York politician closely linked to urban reform looked like presidential timber. But today ex–New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near the top of virtually every poll of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Already, Giuliani’s popularity has set off a “stop Rudy” movement among cultural conservatives, who object to his three marriages and his support for abortion rights, gay unions, and curbs on gun ownership. Some social conservatives even dismiss his achievement in reviving New York before 9/11. An August story on the website Right Wing...

Democratic hopefuls lined up against the surge. “We’re not going to baby-sit a civil war,” declared Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on NBC’s “Today” show. Former Sen. John Edwards said it was “wrong for Iraq and wrong for America.” Even New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has taken heat from Democrats for her support for the war, said she can’t support the surge. The Republican field was more divided. Eager to prove their conservative credentials, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani lined up behind Bush. But Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel...

As a preface, I must declare that I am a Reagan Republican, I am the recipient of a 2004 NRCC Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal for my support of the Republican Party during that election year, and that means that when it comes to core values I am probably more big- R Republican than most "republicans" in Washington state. Thus are established my credentials on this issue. (So to all you Democrats out there, don't delude yourselves that I am now a Democrat. I am not on your side, I loathe the Democrats' platform, and you will never find a...

In last week's installment of the Crystal Ball, we explored the myriad of possible Republican White House contenders for 2008, the lack of an obvious successor to President Bush, as well as the wide open nature of the 2008 party primaries. This is only the fifth time since the dawn of the twentieth century that the incumbent President or Vice President has not been running--the earlier examples were 1908, 1920, 1928, and 1952.And now to the Democrats. The most compelling element of the 2008 contest for the Democrats, in the Crystal Ball's view, will be their burning desire to end...

.......... On Monday night, the Republicans were having their party, so I had mine. I gathered friends -- New Yorkers, San Franciscans and one stray Angelino -- for cocktails, snacks and a chance to observe the political system from the relative safety of a Manhattan living room. We put boring speeches on mute, but jacked up the sound when John McCain and Rudy Giuliani took the stage. A typical conversation went like this: Guest A: Ohmygod. Bush screwed McCain so hard in the 2000 primary, why is he kissing Bush's butt? Guest B: Pass the vodka. Guest A: I mean...

John Kerry's nomination happened so quickly and on such uncertain and scant reasoning that Democrats may come down in a few days or weeks with a touch of buyer's remorse. But they should get over it quickly. They probably couldn't do any better if they took more time. Never before had the Democratic presidential nominating contest been so compressed so early. Multiple states held rat-a-tat primaries that allowed no time for retail campaigning and placed a high premium only on one thing - the bounce enjoyed by the big winner from the primaries of the week preceding. Voters had no...

WASHINGTON - John Kerry's campaign calling card, electability, was the winner from coast to coast on Super Tuesday. John Edwards' best efforts notwithstanding, that portended Kerry's elevation from Democratic front-runner to his party's nominee-in-waiting, and a quick pivot to the fall campaign against President Bush. Not that there would be much time for celebration. On Thursday, Bush's re-election campaign dips into a $100 million-plus war chest to begin television commercials in 50 or more cities across more than a dozen battleground states. It's money that Kerry doesn't have - in states where he hasn't yet polled for a general election...

Kerried Away The myth and math of Kerry's electability. By William Saletan Posted Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004, at 9:41 PM PT By media consensus, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is over. Why? Because John Kerry has won 12 of the 14 primaries and caucuses held so far. And why has Kerry won these contests? Not because voters agree with him on the issues. The reason, according to exit polls, is that voters think he's the candidate most likely to beat President Bush. There's just one problem: The same polls suggest this may not be true. Two weeks ago,...

<p>A new 60-second radio advertisement paid for by Rosario Marín's campaign committee introduces the Republican candidate seeking the nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.</p> <p>MARÍN: This is Rosario Marín, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, and I approved this message.</p>

We Deserve More Than Electability Every year, there is a word or phrase that is repeated over and over until you can’t stand to hear it anymore. In 1999, it was ‘millennium’. In 2000, it was 'chad'. There are scads more: 'yellow cake', 'Shock and awe', the ever popular 'embedded'. And now, in 2004, we have 'electability'. It’s the word on everyone’s lips. When you hear John Kerry and Howard Dean and John Edwards and Wesley Clark on the campaign trail, the one point that they’re attempting to pound into people’s heads is their electability. They never explain what electability...

Not quite false, not quite true They're not myths. Not exactly. But they aren't the full truth either. And I'm getting a little tired of hearing them. Let's start with a perennial complaint: The press is more interested in the horse race than the issues. Maybe it is, but in this election the horse race is an issue. At this point most of the candidates seem to spend less time arguing that they have the right platform than arguing that they can beat Bush. That was, of course, the thrust of most of the attacks on Howard Dean: that his...

The Florida AFL-CIO's endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride is the latest setback for former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, whose campaign for governor is plagued by questions about whether she can win in November. Reno didn't receive the union's endorsement because some of its leaders were concerned about Reno's "electability," according to AFL-CIO spokesman Rich Templin. "As a state federation representing over 150 unions here in Florida, the convention delegates felt like they had a responsibility to choose a candidate who not only represented the interests of working families in Florida but who had an actual chance to...