Free Republic

It's early in the campaign cycle, but it's never too early to speculate on who will win in 2016. Though most of my friends are "Ready for Hillary," I am confident that Marco Rubio will be the next president of the United States. Here's why: Marco Rubio is handsome. The effects of physical looks on presidential elections are well documented. The most famous example was 1960, when John F. Kennedy was perceived by television viewers to have beaten Nixon in their presidential debate and radio listeners said Nixon won. Data confirms the importance of looks. Researchers at Princeton University found...

A new Rasmussen poll has found that First Lady Michelle Obama would be the strongest challenger to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton if she chose to run in 2016. According to Rasmussen: In a hypothetical matchup with Hillary Clinton, the putative Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, Obama earns 44% support from black voters to Clinton’s 36%. Among Likely Democratic Voters, it’s Clinton 56%, Obama 22%. That appears to be a better showing against Clinton than Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the only other announced Democratic presidential candidate, makes at this point. Among all voters, Clinton earns 37% support to Obama’s 17%....

The Planned Parenthood abortion business is running a new poll for its abortion activists to determine which of the pro-life Republican presidential candidates and potential candidates they hate the most. Apparently the pro-abortion stalwarts at Planned Parenthood are not fans of Ted Cruz and Scott Walker. Ad Row 1 Not in use The abortion business couches the poll in it’s typical “pro-woman” phraseology, designed to shield itself from abortion and make it appear pro-life candidates hate women, never mind that Planned Parenthood aborts hundreds of thousands of baby girls every year and kills and injures their mothers in abortions. Here’s...

He thus pointed the finger on the "Control Act of violent crime and public order" adopted by the Clinton administration in 1994. Ted Cruz, one of the many Republican candidates in the race to the White House, accused former President Bill Clinton have put a generation of African Americans in jail, so he stated that his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, should respond to this. Cruz and pointed his finger on the "Law on Control of violent crime and public order" adopted by the Clinton administration in 1994. One measure introduced tax incentives for States launched the "harder"...

The official Republican debate calendar is here, and I don’t mean to scare you, but you have less than three months before this whole thing goes to eleven. Or I should say at least eleven, because the Republican National Committee seems to be moving toward capping the early debates at 12 candidates. Even that is much higher than the number included in the scrums of 2012, and it has party leaders concerned that it might make for a big mess on TV. And they’re probably right – except for the bit about changing the channel. Who doesn’t love to watch...

We all know that if the Republican debates include all the declared candidates that it's going to be a circus. Each candidate will only get to speak for a few minutes and we won't learn much. We'd learn more if the debates were limited to the candidates who had the greatest chance of getting the nomination. Here are the most realistic candidates--not the best candidates, but the ones who have at least a chance to win the nomination: Scott Walker: Current governor of Wisconsin, an inspirational speaker, riding high in several polls. Jeb Bush: Former governor of Florida, he's been...

There are so many Republicans running for president, or thinking about running for president, that the Republican National Committee is having a hard time keeping track of them all. An official GOP online straw poll lists 36 potential candidates (and as Politico noted, that list actually missed at least two former governors who have said they're mulling White House bids). Regardless of the final tally, it's becoming increasingly clear that debate planners will need to come up with creative ways to fit so many podiums on the stage when the candidates first face off in August. But what makes this...

Republican Party chiefs are concerned that the sprawling size of the 2016 GOP field could compromise its chances to win the presidency. "We're in a danger zone," Doug Gross, a top Republican establishment figure in Iowa, told The Washington Post. "When the party poobahs put this process together, they thought they could telescope this to get us a nominee who could appeal to a broad cross-section of people. "What we've got instead is a confederation of a lot of candidates who aren't standing out — and in order to stand out, you need to scream the loudest." Former Florida Gov....

Last week I wrote that Bill Clinton, deep down, didn’t really want his wife to be president. On reflection, I don’t think she really wants to be president either. And for that matter, neither does Jeb Bush. Both Jeb and Hillary think they want to be president, have had it in their dreams for umpteen years, but now, faced with the reality, they don’t know why they’re doing it. At least they don’t act that way. They are lost people, running not on fumes, but on habit. They’re supposed to run. They were bred to run. But they don’t have...

Sign up here to learn how you can attend the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, in Oklahoma City, where Senator Ted Cruz is giving the keynote address and where participants will be voting in an important straw poll.

Sen. Lindsey Graham will run for president, he told CBS This Morning Monday. “I’m running because I think the world is falling apart,” the South Carolina Republican said. “I’ve been more right than wrong on foreign policy.” He added that his top priorities will be working with Democrats to “go after [radical Islamists] before they come back here again.” Graham joins an increasingly crowded Republican field, which includes Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and Rand Paul.

I see a future of sky-high taxes and very tall ceilings. Of a chicken in every pot and a pot plant in every planter. Fat cats would be incarcerated en masse for the criminal possession of money. And thugs who shoot, maim and steal would be reclassified as victims of wage inequality, in need of high-paying jobs, welfare benefits, affordable housing, therapy, hugs or deep-tissue massages. Cops would replace their badges and aggressive blue uniforms with soothing earth-tone windbreakers and espadrilles, and trade in their guns for thick-skinned yellow fruit. Bananas donÂ’t kill people. People kill people. And with burger-flippers...

Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) invested time Friday at the Georgia Republican State Convention in Athens as he met delegates and delivered two speeches. Cruz was surrounded by admirers late Saturday afternoon once delegates discovered his staff room on the second floor of the Classic Center in Athens, where the state’s GOP convention was being held. A line formed and a crowd gathered to shake his hand, ask him about issues and pose with him for a photo. Cruz is one of a half-dozen declared Republican candidates for president in what is expected to be a crowded...

As America begins the search for a new president in 2016, many people are tired of the status quo and are looking for an authentic conservative, one who can make a difference and who has shown they are determined to make a difference. There aren’t many who fit that description like Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. In fact, there are none in the race so far who can match his record of conservatism. And he’s demonstrated an willingness to do more than just mouth conservative platitudes. When most “Republicans” were busy badmouthing ObamaCare but doing absolutely nothing to stop it,...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Saturday declared he would aggressively campaign to win the caucuses here, ending any doubt about his participation in the first contest of the GOP primary but also opening himself up to the possibility of a defeat that could severely harm his candidacy. With Bush trying to win here, the more than 100,000 Republicans in his state who are expected to participate in the Iowa caucuses next February will play an even more important role in winnowing a field that will likely include more than a dozen candidates. And wooing Iowa's...

Longtime Republican volunteer Pam Johnson has a conundrum: She’s an avid supporter of Gov. Scott Walker, but she would rather not see him living in the White House. “I hope he doesn’t run” for president, the La Crosse woman said Saturday as she staffed the souvenir/information booth of the Republican Party of Wisconsin at the La Crosse Center. “He’s doing a good job for Wisconsin, and I know he can do more for Wisconsin, and I know he can do good for the nation,” Johnson said. “But I’m not ready to give him up.” Walker, who hugs Johnson whenever he...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The road to the White House goes through downtown Oklahoma City this week as hopefuls in the crowded Republican field audition on a stage ideally suited for their messages about military power, religious liberty and energy independence. Eleven Republicans with presidential aspirations — including some who have not officially declared their candidacy — will speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which begins at the Cox Convention Center on Thursday and ends Saturday with the release of a straw poll. “This is a huge event for Oklahoma City,” said Gov. Mary Fallin, who will address the conference and introduce some...

Reason No. 5: Running for his brother’s “third term” is a losing proposition. After finishing the first draft of this piece I received a late night return phone call from a Florida Republican power player (who asked that his name be withheld). He was responding to a question from me earlier about former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s prospects for winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Coincidentally, he had just left a high-dollar local fundraiser for Florida Senator Marco Rubio — the reason he gave for calling so late. Here are some direct quotes from our conservation: “Jeb’s people are now...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)It’s clear that Jeb isn’t a conservative, but it’s mightily kind of him to be honest about it. He could also do what the Mitch McConnells of this world like to do: lie about it until they get elected after which they ‘suddenly’ become as progressive as Nancy Pelosi. That’s what Senator Ted Cruz recently said on Megyn Kelly’s show on Fox News. Well, OK, I admit I added the last part about Mitch McConnell myself, but I’m sure you get my drift. "I’m a fan of Jeb Bush. I’ll give him credit for candor and consistency. He is running...

It’s not just Iraq: Bush repeatedly insists he won’t yield to popular pressure, until he does.After a week of misinterpreting, misspeaking and mismanaging the media over his position on the Iraq war, Jeb Bush’s hoped-for shock-and-awe campaign-in-waiting looked nothing like a political juggernaut. “It’s the Bad News Bears,” quipped Dave Bossie, president of the Citizens United conservative group. “The problem for Jeb Bush is he didn’t look very agile. He didn’t look smart in the sense of a rapid-response communications system that could get him out of the trouble he was in.” More troubling for Bush is that many supporters...