Free Republic

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell may be one of the most unpopular politicians in the state, but he is probably going to win another term thanks to President Obama. The president is so unpopular - and McConnell has been so effective at tying his opponent to Obama's apron strings - that McConnell's challenger, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, won't say whether or not she voted for President Obama. Twice, she declined to answer.

Halper believes that the Clintons’ effort to in effect keep their friends close while turning enemies into friends has been a masterful and hugely overlooked part of the rebuilding of their machine: "What has been little understood in the past decade, from 2001 to the present, is how successfully the Clintons undertook a systematic, comprehensive, and sustained effort to win over leaders in the GOP, especially figures who were once the biggest critics. In return, both Clintons were able to develop a bipartisan, statesmanlike image that had eluded them through eight years in the White House."

Rasmussen Reports — a polling firm with close ties to Karl Rove and the Bush political organization – has released their “latest” polling on the North Carolina US Senate race. It purports to show Republican Thom Tillis at 45 percent, Kay Hagan at 40 percent, 6 percent for “Other” and 9 percent “Undecided.” (SNIP) The only polls I’ve seen showing Tillis ahead are these Rasmussen surveys, and one from Civitas right after the May primary. Just two days ago, Civitas releases a poll showing Hagan leading Tillis by TWO. Tillis is also woefully behind Hagan in fundraising. And the DC...

<p>Conservative Republicans are still smarting from last Tuesday’s defeat in Mississippi. Evidence seems to be mounting that pro-Thad Cochran allies used rather unsavory tactics to draw out traditionally-Democratic voters to swing the election in Cochran’s favor.</p> <p>But the focus of this post isn’t really those tactics or the legality of non-Republican voters casting ballots in open primaries. Instead, Republicans — both moderate Establishment-types and grassroots conservaitves — should seriously consider the fallout from Cochran’s victory — because of those tactics. They could have broad implications against incumbents, particularly when the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) gets involved in the race.</p>

On Friday, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives continued its wholly political, and ultimately theatrical investigation of the IRS Tea Party-targeting scandal. Chairman Dave Camp's(R-MI) committee brought current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen before the committee to testify as to the loss of Lois Lerner's emails, among other misdeeds. You may argue that Paul Ryan(R-WI) was very aggressive in his examination of the witness, but that entire exchange was mere political theater that will evince nothing at the end of the investigation (snip) The problem may be that to uncover Lois Lerner's email would reveal something no Representative in...

PETROPAVLOVSK KAMCHATSKY, March 29. /ITAR-TASS/. The contact group proposed by the West for talks between Russia and Ukraine is “absolutely unacceptable” as it would mean that Moscow will have to start a dialogue with the persons who have seized power in Kiev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Sergei Brilev’s Vesti v Subbotu (News on Saturday) television programme on March 29. “My latest meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in The Hague and my contacts with Germany, France and several other countries show the outlines of a possible joint initiative that could be offered to our Ukrainian colleagues. This...

It appears we have a spectrum of opinion on FR regarding the upheaval in Ukraine. On the one end of the spectrum there is passionate support, with a firm belief that the uprisings are purely indigenous Ukrainian groups. There is the belief that the Ukrainian people themselves have risen up against a corrupt and tryannical regime that is a puppet of Moscow. While some at the extreme end of this opinion say the protests are not really about the EU, it appears that most now concede that it is, and say that a majority of the Ukrainian people want to...

Television pictures of revolutions can make them seem like a spectator sport. Having Vitali Klitschko, the world heavyweight boxing champion, playing a starring role in the events in Kiev reinforces that impression. But the implosion of the Ukrainian state in the last 48 hours is a political earthquake. Chaos in Kiev could set off a tsunami that will toss Western Europe from its moorings too. It is a mistake to think we are watching from a safe distance. Maybe Ukraine is as foreign to the British people today as it was when an obscure crisis on its southern coast in...

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Sunday that the crisis in Ukraine stems from the government’s failure to act democratically. […] “Ultimately this is the result of the failure of the government to act democratically” and to engage in dialogue and fight corruption, Gorbachev said during an address to a forum on government communications in the city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He added that the root cause of the unrest in Ukraine was an “interruption of perestroika,” referring to his reform policies, and of the democratic process there. …

A member of Ukraine’s opposition movement has called on Jewish and Muslim billionaire businessmen to force the president, Victor Yanukovich, to step down. In a speech in Kiev’s Independence Square, the unnamed protester, who said he was Muslim, urged Ihor Kolomoyskyi, Victor Pinchuk and David Zhvania -oligarchs with links to the protest movement - to talk to the president. He said: “You practice Judaism. In the holy synagogue, you have seats with placards. And you, today, are the only people who have access to Yanukovich. “In another week, your businesses, which you have earned in this land through the work...

2012 Libertarian Party presidential nominee and chairman of the Our America Initiative, Gary Johnson announced yesterday the formation of a 527 Super PAC called Our America PAC. The new Super PAC has the goal of supporting and ultimately getting into elective public office, principled candidates committed to smaller government, fiscal conservatism and individual liberty... Yesterday, Johnson said of the new Super PAC, “From the realities of government-run healthcare setting in to the continuing disclosures of the breadth of NSA’s domestic spying, more Americans than ever are ready to take a serious look at candidates who offer real alternatives to business-as-usual....

Republican lawmakers are running away from town halls in August. In a New York Times piece about the frustrations of one citizen activist in Texas, some prominent Republicans who have not held an August town hall are listed. They include: Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL); Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AK); Rep. John Kline (R-MN); Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX); Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chair of the House Rules Committee; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), who has "not announced any town halls but did participate in them in 2009."

Crime And Trivia I haven't written about the Laci Peterson murder case or the rape case involving Kobe Bryant for two reasons. One, the only things that should be legitimately reported about any criminal trial are the testimony of the witnesses under oath and the remarks of the judge and the attorneys inside the courtroom during the trial. Everything else is hearsay and gossip. Two, an ordinary crime and subsequent criminal trial do not affect anyone except the victim, the perpetrator and their families. Therefore, it should be of no interest to anyone else. Unless you are family or friend,...

Over the past few months, I’ve been advocating for a proactive strategy on immigration. It would be great for conservatives to go on offense and highlight Obama’s callous disregard for the rule of law. They should pass enforcement bills and block funding for Obama’s amnesty programs in budget bills. Unfortunately, because we are not blessed with control over the levers of power, any attempt to address this issue – even in a conservative pro-active way – will backfire. Earlier today, Politico quoted a leadership aide who summed up exactly what we believe to be leadership’s strategy on immigration: “Our members,...

He’s light on specifics here about the pros and cons of the NSA program as he sees them, but any time three serious contenders for 2016 are in a scrum over national security and civil liberties, it’s blogworthy. More than that, it’s blogworthy because the Paul/Cruz Senate partnership is to some extent a proxy for the tea-party/libertarian partnership generally. It won’t go on forever, but it’s fascinating while it lasts. I won’t bore you with rehashing why I think Cruz is more a tea partier than a true blue libertarian; read these two posts if you care, or read Nick...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is siding with Sen. Rand Paul (R) in the Kentucky lawmaker's growing feud with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) over national security policy. "I am proud to stand side by side with Rand Paul. He and I have been fighting over and over and over again in the Senate to defend our constitutional liberties," Cruz said in an interview on Fox News's online "Power Play" show. "And I'll say this, some of this tiff — Gov. Christie is entitled to his view. He's entitled to express his views. I think most Americans don't care about...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took another swipe Sunday at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the two Republicans' growing feud over national security, slamming the governor over spending on Hurricane Sandy relief funds. Paul told reporters outside a Nashville fundraiser that the spending priorities of Christie and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) following Hurricane Sandy diverted vital resources from national security, according to the Associated Press. "They’re precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme — give me all my Sandy money now,” Paul said, as quoted by the AP. “Those are...

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul confirmed to reporters Monday that he and staffer Jack Hunter — the former shock jock known as the Southern Avenger — were parted ways in a “mutual decision.” Paul said he hoped that Hunter’s presence on his staff wouldn’t undermine his efforts to broaden the appeal of the Republican Party. Paul has reached out to African Americans, for instance, speaking at historically black colleges in Washington, D.C., and Louisville. “I think everybody occasionally has people that work for them who sometimes have a background that damages what you’re trying to do,” he said. “But I think...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Some Republicans are accusing the party’s neoconservative hawks of playing dirty pool in an attempt to smear Sen. Rand Paul as a bigot for having an aide who once expressed admiration for Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. The aide, Jack Hunter, who quit on Monday, was eased out by Mr. Paul after a neoconservative publication revealed that, as a radio “shock jock” some years ago, Mr. Hunter advocated that the Southern states secede once again from the union. Saying he had become more libertarian and broad-minded since his days as the “Southern Avenger,” Mr. Hunter revealed...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he will use every resource he has at his disposal to stop President Barack Obama from bailing out newly-bankrupt Detroit because he believes the city can and must save itself and learn from its fiscal mistakes. "I basically say he [Obama] is bailing them out over my dead body because we don’t have any money in Washington.” “There’s some good things that come out of bankruptcy,” Paul said in a phone interview from Iowa. “One is you get to start over. Bankruptcy lets you be forgiven of your debt. And you do so by getting...