Free Republic

The GWU Battleground Poll published on September 9 shows Donald Trump a clear path to victory: win the conservative vote. The data in this poll has been consistent over the last two decades, and the data in the latest poll is no different. The overwhelming majority of Americans are self-identified conservatives. The September 2016 Battleground Poll shows that 54% of all Americans are self-identified conservatives and only 38% are self-identified liberals, which means that if the tiny "moderate" 3% and the equally tiny "unsure/refused" 4% are excluded, then the conservative candidate would beat the liberal candidate by a landslide of...

Donald Trump cannot win this election unless he wins a state that Mitt Romney lost in 2012. If you haven't heard me say this before: Welcome! Thanks for reading. I keep coming back to that point because it is the simplest way of thinking about this election. For all of the polling that's sprinkled down over the past year-and-a-half, for all of the demographic breakdowns and discussions of who and what is doing well where and why, that's the only thing that really needs to be tracked. Is Trump winning a state Romney lost? And if the answer is no,...

SCRANTON -- A crowd gathered Thursday morning in Scranton, waiting to hear from the daughter of a presidential candidate. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is scheduled to speak to supporters at Clinton campaign headquarters on North Washington Avenue. About 100 supporters gathered at Clinton headquarters. "If the Republicans get in, then we're very much at risk as far as Planned Parenthood, women's rights. There's so much at risk, and especially the Supreme Court," said Paula Roos of Honesdale. "Because Hillary's a Democrat, you know, and I'm hearing so much. And our taxes are going up, nobody...

A picture circulating on social media appears to show Malia Obama near what looks like a large bong. The image was taken at a University of Pennsylvania fraternity house on Sunday, according to Radar Online. The 18-year-old is seen wearing the same 'Smoking Kills' t-shirt in the image that she was pictured wearing to the Budweiser Made in America festival in Philadelphia that day. The teenager, who is taking a gap year and will attend Harvard in 2017, also sported a crimson baseball hat with an H on it - a nod to her future alma mater. It comes just...

Wednesday, September 7, 2016: LIVE stream coverage of Donald J. Trump’s remarks in Philadelphia, PA at The Union League of Philadelphia. Live coverage begins at 11:00 AM ET. Philadelphia, PA Watch the LIVE stream and FULL replay of the event below: The Union League of Philadelphia The Exterior Room The Lincoln Memorial Room

This Labor Day, America has 83,000 fewer coal jobs and 400 coal mines than it did when Barack Obama was elected in 2008, showing that the president has followed through on his pledge to “bankrupt” the coal industry. A 2015 study found the coal industry lost 50,000 jobs from 2008 to 2012 during Obama’s first term. During Obama’s second term, the industry employment in coal mining has fallen by another 33,300 jobs, 10,900 of which occurred in the last year alone, according to federal data. Currently, coal mining employs 69,460 Americans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Much of...

Election 2014 displayed one of the most incredible switches of U.S. Senate control in recent memory. The Republicans did not just take back the upper chamber—they wiped the floor with the Democrats. They bested some of their pettiest political tricks, including three different Democratic candidates in Montana, plus three-way races in other states. Nothing can top Election Day 1980, which produced a Republican majority with 12 Senate wins. Election Day 2014 produced nine seats, but could have been 11 if not for the intense infighting in Republican primaries. So, will 2016 turn into an epic landslide of the Democrats and...

--SNIP-- Looking around at the joyful throng, she said, "This is a euphoria of people! It's insane! When [the guard's] not looking, I'm going to get up there and dance again." Meanwhile, Meredith Edlow of South Philadelphia was registering voters in the Hillary for America booth when out of the blue, Bill Clinton popped in to say hi. "I suddenly saw my fellow volunteers get that 'Oh! Oh! Look!' look," Edlow said, "and I turned around and said, 'No way! Oh wow!' We were super stoked!" she said, still a little breathless as if Rihanna had stopped in to say...

Wayne Curtis Weldon Jr., 35, a son of former Congressman Curt Weldon of Delaware County, was found dead Monday, Aug. 29, in his Boyertown apartment, his father said Saturday. Mr. Weldon was found on his sofa. An autopsy was planned, his father said. Mr. Weldon had Type 1 diabetes that required regular insulin injections. But it was his long struggle with drug addiction that the family wanted to be "transparent and open" about, Weldon said. "We worked with Curt and went through the same trauma as other parents," said Weldon, a Republican who served in the U.S. House from 1987...

NANTICOKE, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania mother faces a slew of charges after admitting to leaving her children locked in a car outside the gym on multiple occasions, according to prosecutors. Molly O'Neill and Daniel Johnson, of Mountain Top, Pa., were were arraigned on child endangerment charges Wednesday after an incident over the summer launched a police investigation. Police responding to a 911 call June 29 found two children locked inside a car in the parking lot of Nanticoke Fitness, according to WNEP. Police said O'Neill had been running on the treadmill for about 20 minutes when they found her 11-year-old...

New Jersey Governor Christie said on Friday the state would begin taxing income earned by people who work in New Jersey but live in Pennsylvania, ending a long-standing arrangement with the neighboring state. Pulling out of the nearly 40-year old “reciprocity” agreement would allow New Jersey to raise more revenue starting Jan. 1. Christie, a close ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, said in a statement that he was forced to act because the Democrat-controlled legislature created a $250 million budget hole in June by relying on public employee health insurance cuts they have not yet made. If lawmakers...

--SNIP-- Trump will visit Philadelphia on Friday afternoon for a private meeting with African American voters at a North Broad Street catering hall operated by a nonprofit controlled by the Greater Exodus Baptist Church. Trump's campaign declined to comment, but the visit was confirmed by two congressional candidates - both African American - who were invited to the event by the Republican State Committee. Greater Exodus is headed by the Rev. Herb Lusk II, a onetime Eagles running back and a prominent conservative who twice hosted visits there by President George W. Bush

"...Now many in that class are turning 58 years old, and Butler is a shell of what it was four decades ago, with the mills long-since shuttered or shrunk — casualties of the globalized steel industry — taking most of the jobs and that old sense of security with them. People here are approaching their golden years with a sense of bitterness about the new, unforgiving economy and foreboding about what they will have to show for this life. Something their parents could count on — a comfortable retirement, debt-free and maybe in a warmer place — seems out of...

The road for Donald Trump to win the White House goes through Pennsylvania. Actually, all roads for Trump winning this election count on him taking the Keystone State and Florida (via Cook Report): Trump, meanwhile, has only 4 paths to 270 [Clinton has 13]. And, all require winning BOTH Florida and Pennsylvania. The current Real Clear Politics Average of polls has Clinton up by nine points in Pennsylvania and 4.5 points in Florida. Unless and until Trump can turn those numbers around, there is no way he can win the election. Yet, ever since new revelations about the Clinton Foundation...

It was while attending my alma mater--the University of Scranton--three and a half decades ago that I began questioning the economic value of universities. What intrigued me was "Da U" claiming that it helped fuel the local economy, even while America recovered from a recession and Scranton never did. Thirty-five years later, as America struggles through another Depression, and Scranton continues to lose large chunks of its population to more promising locales, "Da U" is still at it. On their web site they claim that: • "Each year, the University offers more than 100 free events to the public." This...

A Montgomery County judge has ordered the Lower Merion School District to revoke its latest tax hike, saying the district misled taxpayers by projecting large budget deficits to justify raising taxes 4.4 percent when it actually had socked away millions of surplus dollars. In what may be an unprecedented win for Pennsylvania taxpayers, Common Pleas Judge Joseph A. Smyth said in his decision Monday that the district could increase taxes for 2016-17, but no more than 2.4 percent.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The video is disturbing. The reason behind the attack, perhaps horrifying.“He all of a sudden, without any notice throws a punch and it’s clear the victim never saw it coming,” said Lt. Phillip Riehl of the Philadelphia Police.Investigators say the seemingly random and unprovoked attack happened Friday evening on the 700 block of Adams Avenue in the Lawncrest section of the Northeast. The victim was 30-year-old Mardoquo Sincal Jochola. He and his brother have been in the U.S. for eight years and are from Guatemala.“Only he’s my brother,” said the victim’s brother. “Now, he really leave me...

Fresh after Congress and the White House scored the largest transportation spending package in a decade, both presidential candidates this year are proposing billions in funding to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. While both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump—and the parties they represent—agree the nation’s roads, bridges, airports, rail system, and ports are in need of repair, the new proposals invite familiar questions over how the spending would be paid for, and whether the federal government is the best provider to pay for it. Those questions, and the lack of a must-pass infrastructure initiative requiring Congress’ attention in 2017, mean that...

I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In a dream world the bread is super soft, like the Wonder Bread of my childhood, and the sandwich will have crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jam, and a cup of cold milk to go with it. Maybe PB&J isn't your favorite sandwich, but I want you to imagine your favorite comfort food for a moment. Maybe it's a hamburger, a piece of pie, or a fruit smoothie. Whatever it is, just imagine yourself enjoying the very best version of your very favorite food. It's perfectly delicious. Then, imagine yourself glancing up on the...

Philadelphia Eagles rookie linebacker Myke Tavarres has reversed course and will now stand for the national anthem Thursday after earlier saying he would sit it out in protest. "He plans on standing for the National Anthem," Tavarres' agent, Corey Williams, said in a statement Monday. "Myke does not want to be a distraction to the Philadelphia Eagles organization. Myke's goal is and will always be to make the Eagles 53-man roster and help the team win a Super Bowl." Asked if he advised Tavarres to change his stance, Williams replied: "Yes, I did." Speaking to ESPN on Monday, Tavarres said...