Free Republic

So we all know that Cindy McCain is loaded. She’s an heir to the Anheuser Busch fortune and has millions upon millions. I love how the McCains & Clinton’s have 10-100X the millions that Obama has and he’s the elitists. Whatever. I want to challenge the idea that money is what defines whether one is a member of the American Elite. In doing so, I rely mainly on Christopher Lasch’s work The Revolt of the Elites. According to Lasch: The new cognitive elite is made up of what Robert Reich called “symbolic analysts” — lawyers, academics, journalists, systems analysts, brokers,...

With Thursday's California Supreme Court ruling regarding same sex marriage, we can expect a resurrection of one of the most shopworn political epiteths: San Francisco values. GOP Rep. Sam Graves unveiled an ad this week using the money phrase to disparage his Democratic challenger Kay Barnes, aka the "Big City Mayor" (formerly that is, of Kansas City.) Barnes' sin: She attended a fundraiser thrown by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and she shares Pelosi's "San Francisco Values." You know what that means. Or at least what it is supposed to mean. Nevertheless, you've GOT to see Graves' commercial only to check...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to hit you between the eyes here. I keep hearing from people who say, "Rush, we're screwed. We are screwed, no matter what happens here. Whatever scenario you just announced, we're screwed. If McCain is the president, big-time Democrat majorities in the House and Senate, we're screwed. If Obama the president, big-time majorities in the House and Senate, we're screwed." I don't think we're screwed. If I thought we were screwed, I would retire. What would be the point here? A friend of mine runs a business. In this business he's got a lot...

Stunned House Republicans vowed campaign changes Wednesday and debated the wisdom of attacking Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama in congressional races after their third straight election defeat in once-friendly territory. "The political atmosphere ... is the worst since Watergate and far more toxic than the fall of 2006 when we lost 30 seats," Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia wrote the leadership in a bluntly worded memo. "Clearly, I think we've got to do a better job" going into the November elections, said the Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, one day after Democrat Travis Childers won a Mississippi congressional...

It's probably no secret to anyone who reads my column regularly that I will not be voting for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for president. But I also will not be voting for John McCain. I could tell you all the reasons and have expressed them already in a number of columns in recent months. But this time, I'll let someone with whom I seldom agree express them for me. His name is Jonathan Chait, a senior editor at The New Republic. Here's what he wrote in that magazine: "Even though it is in the public record, McCain's voting...

I was taking a look at USA Today this morning at breakfast. It had a front page article about the Reagan Revolution on the bench. That was the top layer of the article at any rate. Thinly veiled, just below, was the message, "Do you really trust a Republican to appoint any more judges when your rights are at risk?" I guess that's pretty run of the mill journalism, but we'll get a lot of it in the coming months. John Hinderacker is predicting that this year will actually be even worse than what we've gotten used to. Hard to...

In the 5th Congressional District, incumbent Republican Dan Burton gets to try for yet another term in November. Burton withstood a challenge from former Marion County Coroner Dr. John McGoff, saying his opponent was very well-financed with special interest money. Plus, he says his campaign had problems with the Indianapolis print media. Heading into November, Burton believes the main issue will be the economy. McGoff says the Republican crossover vote was probably the biggest factor in his loss. Burton faces Democrat Mary Etta Ruley in the general election.

Rep. Patrick McHenry says the candidates who want his seat in Congress don't want to talk about his voting record. Unfortunately for the North Carolina Republican, there's plenty of other material for them to work with. The contest has gotten so ugly that McHenry's GOP opponent has accused McHenry of putting American lives at risk after he returned from Baghdad - perhaps a new height in primary election squabbling. "It's getting a little testy out there," said Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C. "Campaigns are modern-day warfare, so you are going to pull out...

Is Rasmussen becoming the most incapable pollster next to American Research? Maybe. Just this morning, Rasmussen released a poll showing Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn ahead of his Democrat challenger by only 3 points. Possible? Sure. Likely? Not. Rasmussen made a similar mistake just last month in the Louisiana Senate race between incumbent Mary Landrieu and GOP State Treasurer John Kennedy. On April 14, Southern Media and Opinion Research correctly found Landrieu leading Kennedy by 12 points. That same morning Rasmussen and friends reported that Landrieu had a lead of 55 to 39. But on April 20, the Times Picayune...

John Hawkins of Conservative Grapevine and Right Wing News hit the nail on the head with his article:"Stop Apologizing for Being American". He explores the plethora of reasons why liberals bash America and whine about the history of our nation. It amazes me how we’ve got “people” in our country (Michael Moore, everyone on The View with the exception of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Harry Reid etc) who insist that this nation has done so much harm to the world that they can barely stand to live in it. Yet, these are the same people that insist on...

Joe Andrew, former Chairman of the DNC threw his support behind Obama. This is of course after he threw his support behind Hillary. One thing you’ve got to admire is the consistency of liberals. They always enjoy voting for something prior to voting against it. Andrew cites a number of reasons as to why Obama is the “right” choice. He goes on to wonder “how the world would be different if Al Gore and not George Bush, would have been President of the United States.” Well for starters we would have let Al-Qaeda get away with 9-11, and we would...

He’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. In a press conference held on Monday, Rev. Jeremiah Wright stated that the criticisms made against him and his sermons were truly an attack on the “black church”. Additionally, he fights back against criticism that he is unpatriotic or un- American, statements made against him after his shocking statements regarding Sept. 11. He states that he served his country and thus cannot possibly be anti-American or considered un-patriotic. He then goes on to ask “how many years Dick Cheney served” --- First of all, although serving our country should always be recognized and respected, there is a great...

Fred Thompson was superb last night on Fox News in responding to Sean Hannity's very legitimate questions about Obama, his politics, electability, and overall qualifications as President, Commander In Chief. NOTE: Barack Obama's refusal to appear on Fox News despite repeated requests, invitations from Fox News seems as if it might finally come to an end as he is currently scheduled to appear on Fox News Sunday.

A group of Republicans said Thursday they are making an organized effort to support the Democratic candidate in the 6th U.S. Congressional District race, state Rep. Don Cazayoux. About 40 people who identified themselves as Republicans who gathered at a news conference to announce the newly formed “Republicans for Cazayoux” said Cazayoux’s values — being pro-life, pro-gun and his ideas for national security — have led them to support a Democrat in the congressional race. Cazayoux, of New Roads, will face Republican Woody Jenkins, a former state representative, in a special election for the 6th District seat May 3. Two...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows John McCain leading both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by an identical margin of 48% to 43%. While the topline results are the same, there are important differences in the way those results are obtained. Clinton does better among Democrats than Obama while Obama does better among unaffiliated voters. Among those not affiliated with either major party, McCain leads Obama by five and Clinton by sixteen. Daily tracking results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (see recent daily general election results). In the race for the Democratic Presidential...

For my inaugural post on FreeRepublic.com, something I should have posted about a month ago. Just in time to be too late for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, here now is the (unofficial) Republican Veepstakes Bracket. The field is broken down in to four regions (Governors, Congress, Cabinet, and Activists) of 16 participants. Note that I don't condone betting or pools, and I'm sure FR doesn't either. Governor's Region: #1 Mitt Romney (MA) versus #16 Jodi Rell (CT); #8 Sonny Perdue (GA) versus #9 Rick Perry (TX); #5 Bobby Jindal (LA) versus #12 Matt Blunt (MO); #4 Mike Huckabee (AR) versus...

Freshman Rep. David Davis (R-Tenn.), who won a crowded Republican primary in 2006 with just 22 percent of the vote, is in a two-man race this year with one of his vanquished foes. Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe (R) finished fourth in 2006 with 17 percent of the vote, but has quietly become one of the few challengers in the country this year to out-raise an incumbent. He reported collecting $120,000 between January and March, compared to $80,000 for Davis, who still holds a 2-to-1 advantage in total cash. Better still, with the 2006 runner-up to Davis deciding against another...

The Dems have their final trainwreck prior to the Pennsylvania primary and it promises to be a show. The National Constitution Center is a beautiful building and it's nice to see Philly in the spotlight. 8:03: Obama's special interest rhetoric grates on me as he's taking money from just about everyone. Oil companies come to mind first. 8:04: Clinton speaking now and talking about the Constitution and going right to the liberal playbook: government is not doing enough for people. We've come a far way from "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for...

Dear JJ, I want to personally thank you for all you've done to support our campaign. Your continuing commitment over the past months to the values we share means so much to me. With the Pennsylvania primary approaching on April 22 and important states following soon after, I need your involvement now more than ever. The stakes couldn't be higher, as you well know. If we want to end the war in Iraq, restore America's reputation in the world, rebuild the middle class, reform our government, and provide affordable health care for all, we need to work together. The Republicans...

Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.) has been one of the most high-profile freshman members of Congress in his first term. As one of Barack Obama’s most visible supporters in Pennsylvania, he routinely appears as a surrogate to tout Obama’s candidacy. And because he is the only Iraq war veteran serving in Congress, Democrats have turned to Murphy as someone with the credibility to speak out against the war. But while Murphy has emerged as a rising star in Democratic circles, Republicans have quietly recruited a candidate with an equally compelling story who is now on pace to raise the amount...

"And [these small towns] fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not..." Obama reportedly continued. "It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." -Senator Barack Obama April 2008, San Francisco If you go to the most expensive private school in Hawaii and then move on to Columbia University and Harvard Law School, you may not understand...

BUSH'S RESIGNATION SPEECH The following "speech" was written recently by an ordinary Maineiac [a resident of the People's Republic of Maine]. While satirical in nature, all satire must have a basis in fact to be effective. This is an excellent piece by a personw ho does not write for a living. The resignation speech we wish George W. Bushwould give: Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans." Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened,...

ALIQUIPPA, Pa., April 9 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday attacked her rivals over Iraq, saying Democrat Barack Obama is all talk when it comes to ending the war and Republican John McCain would keep it going. New York Sen. Clinton and Illinois Sen. Obama traded barbs in Pennsylvania, whose April 22 vote is the next milepost in a long campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to determine who will face McCain in the November election. Polls showed a tightening picture in the state with Obama making a move against Clinton's former big lead. The rivals spoke...

Barack Obama is wrong to consider relying heavily on Iran to help stabilize Iraq, John McCain said Wednesday.Speaking to FOX News,  the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he doesn’t think it’s wise to hold high level diplomatic talks with the Iranians, who are developing nuclear weapons, threatening the existence of Israel and causing much of the unrest in Iraq. “I’d be opposed to any meeting with the Iranians that would enhance their prestige. … There’s plenty of ways of conversing without putting people on the world stage and not sacrificing our standards and everything that we hold dear,” the Arizona...

By LETTER OF THE WEEK I've been a conservative Republican since Ronald Regan ran for office back in 1980. I supported Bush I and Robert Dole against Bill Clinton. I supported Bush II against Al Gore in 2000. My political views began to change when Bush rallied this country for war against Iraq due to the WMD threat. I listened to U.N. inspectors (at least one was a U.S. citizen) that said Saddam didn't have any WMD. I watched the inspectors be discredited. I came to believe that Bush had better find WMD or his justification for war and my...

The foul odor of media-in-the-can-for-McCain and the Rethugs hangs over the 2008 campaign. McCain sez: It's fine with me if we're in Iraq for 100 years. The media sez: He didn't say that! The Washington Post charges Democrats are "distorting" McCain by saying, well, that he said what he said. The New York Times says Democrats are misharacterizing and distorting McCain, by saying, well, that he said what he said. Again, the facts the media is trying so hard to ignore: McCain said he'd be fine if we stayed in Iraq for 100 years. After all, he said (you can...

Many of those with political experience in the Fox Valley are working to analyze the results from our March 8 special election to fill the U.S. House seat left vacant by Dennis Hastert. One thought offered, that GOP voters thought it was a done deal and stayed home, is wrong! Many who voted crossed the aisle. I did. Jim Oberweis set the tone with his negative material. Many voters were put off by the aggressive ads. Bill Foster addressed people with some respect. Look at election results from the February primary. State Sen. Chris Lauzen won Aurora districts by a...

State Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, announced today he will not be a candidate for the Congressional seat being vacated by Bud Cramer. Butler, who is serving his seventh term in the Alabama Legislature (fourth in the Senate), was considering running as a Republican for the north Alabama congressional seat. "After much prayer and consideration, I have decided not to run. I appreciate the support of many across the district and the state who encouraged me to seek the office, but at this time being with my family and finishing the job I stated in the State Senate is my priority,"...

  Red, White & Black? by Paul R. Hollrah On March 23, 2007, a reception was held at the Tamiment Library at New York University. The occasion was the official opening of the archives of the Communist Party USA. The keynote speaker was Gerald Horne, noted Communist and contributing editor of the Communist Party journal, Political Affairs.  In his speech, Horne spoke glowingly of an African-American poet, Frank Marshall Davis, of Chicago, who moved to Honolulu at the height of the anti-communist fervor of the late 1940s. According to Horne, Davis was “certainly in the orbit of the Communist Party...

Flirting females baffle men, say researchers By Julie Henry Last Updated: 2:33am BST 30/03/2008 The flutter of eyelashes, the smile across the dancefloor and the giggle after a lame joke - every woman knows the time-honoured ways to get a man. Men commonly mistake women's sexual signals as merely friendly But research suggests that the flirty female is wasting her time. Men, it seems, are blind to the subtle seduction techniques of the opposite sex. Short of pouncing on the object of her lust, a woman's non-verbal signals of sexual interest often prove sadly lost on the young male brain,...

off you go

Though retiring Republican incumbents hold two western New York seats near Syracuse and the Canadian border, the party is having a difficult time coming up with top-notch candidates to hold the seats. In the past day alone, two top recruits have told the Washington GOP establishment that they will not be seeking their party's nomination to replace Reps. Tom Reynolds and Jim Walsh, while Democrats have largely settled on their candidates. Walsh's Twenty-Fifth District, based around Syracuse, looks like one of the best pickup opportunities Democrats have in the Northeast. Former Congressional aide Dan Maffei, a Democrat who came just...

BEHIND any successful politician lies a usable contradiction, and John McCain’s is this: We love him (and occasionally hate him) for his stubborn individualism, yet his politics are best understood as a decade-long attack on the individual

Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood said today he will challenge U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in this year’s Republican primary for the 7th Congressional District seat she has held since 2002. His entry gives Blackburn her first intra-party challenge since she won the congressional seat by defeating six opponents in the GOP primary of 2002, including three prominent Shelby County Republicans -- lawyer David Kustoff, state Sen. Mark Norris and Memphis City Council member Brent Taylor. “Yes, I’m in (the race),” Leatherwood told The Commercial Appeal today. “This is something that began to brew with me maybe a year or so...

Republicans appear to have found their candidate to run in the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) after their previous nominee, New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann, abruptly dropped out of the race last month. Businessman Martin Ozinga, who owns a Chicago-area concrete company, announced he will be seeking the support of the district’s party leadership, and appears to all-but-assured of the nomination, according to a state GOP operative. The 11th Congressional District State Central Committee will be officially naming a replacement candidate at a meeting on April 30. “After much prayer and careful consideration – and at the urging...

Today is the first day of spring. And this spring offers a spectacle that I thought I'd never see in my entire life: Murray Sabrin has a chance to win an election. I've been following Sabrin's career ever since he ran for governor in 1997. He was outspoken and principled, which of course made him persona non grata in either of the major parties. So he ran on the Libertarian Party ticket and managed to qualify for public funding and a spot on stage during debates with Republican incumbent Christie Whitman and Democratic challenger Jim McGreevey. Sabrin stood up there...

Hillary's White House itinerary is being released. Question, in late 1999, what were her contacts with Luis Nieves Falcon. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_199912/ai_n8877467 The FALN terrorists were pardoned for New York Puerto Rican votes for her Senate election. The 16 terrorists were convicted of a variety of charges that included conspiracy, sedition, violation of the Hobbes Act (extortion by force, violence or fear), armed robbery and illegal possession of weapons and explosives -- including large quantities of C-4 plastic explosive, dynamite and huge caches of ammunition. Observed Judge George Layton, who sentenced four FALN defendants for their conspiracy to use military-grade explosives to...

Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks says he won't run for the 5th Congressional District seat being vacated by Bud Cramer. Brooks, who's a Huntsville lawyer, said Thursday he has been encouraged by many voters to qualify as a Republican for Congress. But he said he has many trials coming up and can't abandon his clients during their time of need. Brooks said he also has family commitments that take priority. Brooks ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 and finished third in the Republican primary.

Skulls Of Modern Humans And Ancient Neanderthals Evolved Differently Because Of Chance, Not Natural SelectionThe approximate locations of the cranial measurements used in the analyses are superimposed as red lines on lateral (A), anterior (B), and inferior (C) views of a human cranium. (Credit: National Academy of Sciences, PNAS (Copyright 2008)) ScienceDaily (Mar. 20, 2008) — New research led by UC Davis anthropologist Tim Weaver adds to the evidence that chance, rather than natural selection, best explains why the skulls of modern humans and ancient Neanderthals evolved differently. The findings may alter how anthropologists think about human evolution. Weaver's study...

The announcement produced outpourings of praise for Cramer and then immediate scrambling by potential successors who have until April 4 to qualify for the June 3 Democratic and Republican primaries. The general election is Nov. 4. State Sen. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, said he plans to visit with political and other leaders in Washington to gauge his chances of winning the seat. The physician joins about a half-dozen others who either have been asked to run or are considering running, including Huntsville attorney Ray McKee, who has qualified as a Republican. State Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, is being courted by Gov....

Thirty-three votes separated Woody Jenkins from a primary victory and what promises to be a potentially hard fought Republican runoff in the Sixth Congressional District. Lobbyist Laurinda L. Calongne sent shock waves across the local political world by narrowly besting former Baker Chief of Staff Paul Sawyer for a runoff slot. Having run a low key campaign, she benefited from an intraparty war between former Baker Chief of Staff Paul Sawyer and Jenkins over the purchase of a mailing list during Jenkins’ 1996 US Senate race. Sawyer contended that Jenkins knew that the list came from former KKK leader David...

The withdrawal of Anne Evans Estabrook as a candidate for the United States Senate makes State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio the clear front runner in the race to take on Frank Lautenberg in November. Pennacchio has already won contests in Hunterdon and Union, and seems poised to win the organization line in Bergen County tomorrow night. Insiders predict that he will also have the line in Ocean, Essex and Passaic counties. His lone opponent is Murray Sabrin, a Ramapo College professor and the leader of Ron Paul’s New Jersey presidential campaign.

For the eighth week out of the last nine, Fox News Channel ranked in the top five channels on cable in prime time last week. FNC was the fourth most watched channel — CNN ranked 14th and MSNBC came in 27th.

Former homebuilder Bill Dew, a Republican, announced Monday that he will challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson in the 2nd Congressional District. Matheson, a four-term Democrat, represents a district that covers the southeast part of Salt Lake County, a small northeastern part of Utah County, and, in a horseshoe-shaped area, eastern, southeastern and southwestern Utah. This is Dew's first run for elective office. A millionaire through his homebuilding business, Dewbury Homes, Dew said he is willing to "spend substantial" amounts of his own money in the race. He declined to give a number. Matheson has been challenged by wealthy Republicans before....

The Republican race for Mississippi's third congressional district will go to a runoff. Charlie Ross won the most votes out of a field of seven candidates. Gregg Harper came in second place, with David Landrum trailing in third. Ross, a former state senator, was cheered by a crowd of supporters Tuesday night at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. The 52-year-old Brandon resident told WLBT Tuesday afternoon that he expected to be in a runoff. He said he was excited about leading the pack of qualified candidates. "It's like we're in the third quarter of a ball game,"...

Looks like the folks in Minnesota are trying to have a little fun. So many of you responded to our video requesting help to name our blog, we here in Minneapolis-Saint Paul figured we're in March, the local college is trying to get into the post-season basketball tournament, that tournament has a catchy nickname, so why don’t we *ahem* "leverage" that into creating our own contest: Blog Madness?

A wheelchair manufacturing company owned by congressional candidate Dan Meuser and his family paid a $23,000 fine in 1997 for employing illegal immigrants. Mr. Meuser, president of Exeter-based Pride Mobility Products, acknowledged the fine in an interview and said the complaint by what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service was prompted by the company’s hiring of three illegal immigrants. The workers presented the company 13 years ago, then known as Pride Health Care Inc., with false identification that included fake Social Security numbers. Fighting illegal immigration has been a linchpin of Mr. Meuser’s campaign. In a television ad aired...

Former GOP state chairman Kevin Mannix made it official Thursday, entering the race for the Oregon congressional seat being vacated by Democrat Darlene Hooley. Mannix will have to fight for his party's nomination against Mike Erickson, a wealthy businessman from Lake Oswego who ran against Hooley in 2006. On the Democratic side, a primary contest is set between state Sen. Kurt Schrader and political consultant Steve Marks. Some unions have also been quietly floating the idea of a run by Jim Hill, the former state treasurer who ran for governor in 2006. Mannix represented the city of Salem in the...

Follow the logic: 1.) Government routes funds -> subsidy to cover some of the bill -> Insurance industry gets a dramatic influx of income -> most influential lobbyists get the exclusive subsidy contracts -> unfair competition and antitrust complaints -> legal framework gets delayed 2.) Unions lose bargaining power as they no longer have the required negotiation of health insurance for workers -> kicking unions in the mouth even more in the face of an already unregulated globalized workforce -> unemployment 3.) No requirement to insure workers -> less workers for same productivity due to weakening Unions -> corporations get...

Here is a new video put out by the John McCain campaign that is just absolutely stunning! This is a winner! I am confident we will see edited ad versions of this running in the Fall General Election - at least we should. John McCain - "The Man in the Arena" . . .