Free Republic

The independent Democratic candidate has repeatedly upheld his socialist views throughout his presidential campaign.When a New York Times reporter asked President Obama whether his domestic policies suggested that he was a socialist in 2009, the president responded with a laugh: “The answer would be no.” After the interview, Mr. Obama called the reporter back to elaborate on his answer, saying, “It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question.” “That socialist question” has taken on a new form these days, revolving around the only self-described socialist in the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination: Bernie...

While short of an official endorsement, Sarah Palin was effusive in her praise for GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, claiming the celebrity billionaire is in touch with working class "Joe Six Pack" values. "I am so happy that he is running," she said. Appearing on Fox's On The Record with Greta Van Susteren Tuesday, Palin was asked if she was endorsing the candidate and billionaire business leader: "Here's the deal Greta, he's the best thing to happen to the permanent political class since the beauty of the Tea Party genuine movement rose up and shined light on crony capitalism, and then...

The bottom line is this: As long as Republican politics demands extremism, some candidates are going to adopt highly controversial positions that rally conservative support while potentially driving away voters in general elections. “Would you support a change in the 14th amendment if necessary to achieve that?” Trump cited his rival’s views on immigration, Iraq and the Common Core education standards. So, I see what Mr. Trump is talking about right there. “Our country is going to hell”. Trump announced in his proposal for his policy for immigration that was released this past Sunday that he wants to put an...

Businessman Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz donÂ’t have much in common, but theyÂ’re shaping up to be great partners in the political poker game that is the 2016 Republican primary. Seventeen political players currently sit around the green felt table of GOP politics waiting to check, bet, raise or fold every news cycle. On the table lie polling points, caucus vote and donor dollars. Despite their vast ideological differences -- Ted Cruz is arguably the most conservative politician in America while Donald Trump often has trouble explaining why heÂ’s a Republican at all -- theyÂ’re looking across the...

The attention-grabbing candidacy of Donald Trump is again bringing out differences between the two White House hopefuls from Texas. The bombastic billionaire put the GOP field on the spot Sunday with the release of a plan to deal with illegal immigration that calls for an end to birthright citizenship. In effect, that would require changing the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to those born in the United States even if their parents are in the country illegally. Where exactly former Gov. Rick Perry stands on Trump's birthright citizenship position was unclear Wednesday. But over the past few days, Perry has...

Campaigns at last month’s 'kiddie table' debate believe the RNC took actions that made them look like losers.Two weeks after the first Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, several candidates scraping the bottom of primary polls are still seething about their treatment — and ripping party leadership for what they describe as, at best careless, and at worst intentional, decisions that embarrassed them on national TV. POLITICO reached out to the seven campaigns who faced off in an Aug. 6 undercard debate on Fox News, and several vented about the Republican National Committee — which has adopted a more assertive role...

* Trump's campaign said he has 'cordial' relationships with both men based on 'mutual respect' * Ex-aide to Trump, Roger Stone says he met with Carson's campaign of his own volition because he thinks the doctor would be a good fit for Trump * Trump openly praised Cruz and Carson after he was asked about possible running mates, 'They’ve been very supportive of me' * Cruz and Trump planned to visit the United States' border with Mexico together in July but Senate votes kept the Texas senator in WashingtonLeading Republican candidate for the White House Donald Trump hasn't officially begun...

We've gone far enough now with the Trump political phenomenon to know that it is no mere or momentary matter of name recognition which has placed him as the top contender for the Republican nomination, as bizarre an eventuality as that might appear. He now leads all national polls and all polls in the key early primary and caucus states - and by significant margins. We've also witnessed key GOP stakeholder Fox News try to derail Trump's campaign and fail miserably at it. Lots of top Republicans jumped on that bum-rush Trump bandwagon only to be damaged in turn when...

This is becoming something of an almost comfortable ritual at this point. Another week goes by, Donald Trump does or says something to generate a new round of headlines, everyone predicts that heÂ’s on the way out, and the next poll shows The Donald further ahead than ever. Then the veteran analysts are left staring at their laptops forlornly, stuck with the unenviable task of writing something to explain why. Once the first set of numbers came out which showed that not only was Trump on top of the GOP heap but was within striking distance of Hillary in the...

One of my working hypotheses this year is the possibility that partisan polarization has made a hash of traditional “electability” arguments for this or that “moderate” presidential candidate for the simple reason that swing voters are harder to find and harder to sway than in the past. The data are a bit unclear on the subject just yet, and the cycle is still young. But new CNN/ORC poll findings today should provide a very rude shock to those who think Republican voters will finally wake up and realize Donald Trump would be a disaster as a general election candidate and...

DETROIT - Attorney General Bill Schuette is among the Michiganders who are endorsing Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush. In a statement Wednesday, Bush listed a handful of state leaders whom he said would help bring his "message of opportunity and renewal to every corner of the state." "I am happy to have the support of so many of Michigan’s great leaders and look forward to growing the team. Michigan is a key state and I will work hard to earn the support of every voter," Bush said. Bush is scheduled to visit Michigan for the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference on...

Actually the games have been going on for some time as they do every four years when the mega rich essentially elect our president through their super packs and media outlets. The “game” part of the process is how it is done causing the people to believe that they choose their president when they do not. I have told my students for years that the quickest way to understand our political system is to watch the movie “The Hunger Games.” The strategy is to herd all voters into their two camps called Republicans and Democrats excluding all other political parties,...

Donald Trump keeps on saying stupid, hateful things. About Mexicans, women, John McCain, Megyn Kelly ... And he keeps on leading the Republican presidential race. Gosh, could there be a correlation? If anything, Trump has consolidated a sizable lead in the Republican race since the big debate earlier this month, as the new CNN poll demonstrates. And he is the most trusted voice on the major issues, even winning plaudits from supporters of other candidates. What that means is the other Republican candidates can't afford to deviate much from what this guy is saying. Let's keep that in mind in...

Cruz Picking Up Money and Support According to the Dallas Morning News, Ted Cruz isn’t making things any easier for Rick Perry. Cruz has raised close to $900,000 from some of the same donors who donated to Perry’s 2012 campaign. Those same people have only donated a little over $370,000 to Perry this time. Cruz isn’t just raising money though, he is connecting with a lot of potential voters. With $14 million, Cruz’s campaign has raised more than any other Republican–he was the first candidate to officially declare, which gave him a head start on fundraising–and he’s dominated the market...

S.E. CUPP: He'll (note: Jeb!) always have a tough time with immigration, he'll always have a tough time with education. We thought he would have a better time when it came to terrorism. Obviously had a little difficulty with that as well. So he's got to steak out his ground on jobs and the economy, growing the economy, solving for income inequality, solving for poverty. Ideas like that. I would give him this advice. Chris Christie's best line, the best moment on the stump is when he says, 'I want to win' and that's the kind of fire that I...

The 2016 Republican presidential primary field is unusually large and unusually unsettled, and the first debate earlier this month didn’t do much to change either of those things. So we gathered FiveThirtyEight’s political writers in Slack to talk about the state of the race. This is an edited transcript of the conversation. micah (Micah Cohen, senior editor): Harry and Nate, a Fox News poll released Sunday found Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz leading the Republican primary race, and a lot of people are saying the outsider/angry wing of the GOP is ascendant. Is something going on? The Republican...

Wishful thinking can come in many shapes and sizes, but history and present reality do readily tell us that Bernie Sanders is more likely to walk among us during the early stage of the presidential campaign as a prophet than as a messiah. And that is not such a bad thing, for martyrdom always seems to take place as precursor to major change; and this resolute honest New Yorker representing Vermont appears poised to bring inspirational change in the much-needed political transformation of American society. Yes; Americans, both the destitute and the destitute-in-waiting middle class do need a champion to...

Three different Georgia Republican districts have held straw polls recently. A week ago, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won the 8th district straw poll at their annual fish fry. Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, in office during Mike Huckabee’s time in Arkansas, was there with an endorsement for the Razorback and Huckabee won it with 23% of the vote. Ted Cruz coming in second at 17%. In Floyd County, in a straw poll requiring a dollar contribution to the party, outsider candidate and former HP executive, Carly Fiorina came away with the win at 21%. Ben Carson, another outsider, came...

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2016 election has made its way to the Keystone State. Well…sort of. We were able to get a look at how the local GOP thinks in one of the state’s most crucial counties. According to Tom Sofield of Levittown Now, Donald Trump won the straw poll at the Bucks County Republican Party’s annual Middletown Grange Fair. Trump finished first with 778, while neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businesswoman Carly Fiorina came in second and third with 542 and 397 votes respectively. More than 3,100 attendees voted in the straw poll from August 12th to 16th. The full...

It’s been 12 days since the first Republican presidential debate was broadcast on the Fox News Channel. Immediately following that event on the network’s The Kelly File, pollster Frank Luntz conducted a focus group on location in Cleveland, the site of the debate. According to the participants of his focus group, real estate mogul Donald Trump, the frontrunner of the race, fared poorly, but they gave a mixed response as to who was the strongest in the debate. Many of the respondents gave a favorable reactions to former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon...