Free Republic

"It's not fair!" may be the most pitiful lament in the English language, but Donald Trump seems intent upon adopting it as his battle cry heading into this summer's Republican convention. The GOP's poorly designed nominating process includes more than its share of problems, but is it really unfair to Trump? ..... < snip > ..... open primaries invite abuse from voters whose goals may not involve selecting the party's strongest representative. Those with deep ties to the party deserve greater input than those with tenuous or nonexistent connections. Yet Democrats and Republicans alike have chosen to pretend otherwise. ........

Some people claim that Trump only recently arrived at most of these viewpoints, so I'd like to discuss Trump's history with each of these issues (sorry for the length but I think these important topics deserve to be delved into). I was told yesterday that Trump is a liberal Democrat. Trump’s political registration records since 1987 are public and available online. During this period, Trump has been a registered Republican for more than twice as long as he was a registered Democrat. If people would bother to read his books, look at the full-page ads he took out on policy...

The release Tuesday by the National Archives of a fresh trove of documents detailing the Clinton administration's dealings with billionaire Donald Trump could become the latest fuel for flame-throwing in an already incendiary 2016 presidential race. ADVERTISEMENT The documents include: a signed copy of Trump's “The Art of the Deal,” delivered to a top aide to then-President Clinton; logs of Trump’s invitations to the Clinton White House; and an entry about a Trump Towers photo-op with the president. The files come at a sensitive time in the Republican presidential race, and could be used by Trump’s top rival Texas Sen....

Super Bowl winning NFL tight end and coach Mike Ditka reacted to Romney, establishment attack to take down Trump on WABC-AM's The Bernie and Sid Show at the end of the week. Ditka said the country needs someone like Donald Trump to follow Barack Obama and that is why he is voting for Donald Trump. "This country needs leadership," Ditka told hosts Sid Rosenberg and Bernard McGuirk. "It needs direction. It needs somebody that steps up front. We need somebody like Ronald Reagan." "If I were to vote tomorrow, I'd probably vote for Trump," Ditka said.

Looking at the Trumpsters of today, I am reminded of the rabid Schwarzenegger supporters of yesteryear. Not caring about conservatism, not giving a damn about principles, not caring one bit about anything but winning. Perhaps a few of a Schwarzeneggerites would like to comment about how all of that worked out.

Michael Bloomberg is planning a run for the U.S. presidency that would begin as early as next week. A source with knowledge of company affairs at Bloomberg L.P., told Anadolu Agency that said senior officials at offices worldwide were clearing schedules for meetings to discuss a sudden change in the management structure at the company. The source, who spoke to AA on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to discuss company matters on the record. The multibillionaire owner of Bloomberg L.P. is preparing to hand over his responsibilities at the financial data and media company ahead of an announcement after...

Minneapolis — Jesse Ventura told The Daily Beast he will run for president if Bernie Sanders does not win the Democratic nomination. Ventura was elected the governor of Minnesota as an independent in 1998 after serving as a Navy SEAL and professional wrestler. Ventura said his campaign was so successful at showing an outsider could be elected that Trump and Sanders are “ripping him off.” He bets he can do it again if Sanders loses and the election is Hillary Clinton vs. Trump. “They’re setting the groundwork for me because if Bernie loses, by the time we get to June,...

WATCH THE VIDEO - No mater where you stand on Trump, it is a great analysis of how he's become the front runner. When you think of the 2016 Presidential campaign, one name comes to mind - TRUMP. Every day, news stories come out about his inflammatory comments, his stubborn, unapologetic debate strategy...and that's EXACTLY the way he wants it. Trump is no traditional politician; his tactics come from somewhere else, and that place is REALITY TV. Trump's long history in reality television has given him the perfect strategic edge in the political arena, and so far he's winning the...

Why does the mainstream media heap such scorn and disbelief on Donald Trump over his promise to build a great wall along the border with Mexico — and make Mexico pay for it? After all, Donald Trump has built a winning presidential campaign — and made the media pay for it.

The most politically active members of the Republican Party have warmed to Donald Trump’s bid for the party’s presidential nomination since last summer, according to a new YouGov poll, which finds 68 percent now think he could win the general election. While most surveys attempt to reflect the entire electorate, this one is the latest in a trio of polls focusing solely on Republican activists: well-informed party stalwarts who've run for or held office, served as party officials, worked on campaigns or volunteered their time before elections. They provide some insight into the role of GOP political leaders in an...

An hour after a Ted Cruz-supporting super political action committee announced it would give $1.5 million to any charity if Donald Trump met him for a one-on-one debate, fellow GOP candidate Carly Fiorina jumped in on the action. Upping the ante, I'm free tomorrow at 8pm, @realDonaldTrump. My campaign will give $2mm to veterans' cause to debate at Drake U. (2/2)-- Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) January 28, 2016 My campaign will also donate $1.5 million to veterans' cause to join debate Saturday in Sioux City, @tedcruz @realDonaldTrump (1/2)-- Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) January 28, 2016 The former Hewlett Packard CEO tweeted late...

"They say I have the most loyal people - did you ever see that? - where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters," Trump said, illustrating his point by pulling his fingers into a gun shape. "Okay? It's like incredible." The crowd laughed and clapped, and someone in the audience shouted out love for the candidate. "We love you, too, man," Trump said. Trump's comment came during a campaign rally Saturday at Dordt College in northwest Iowa. The 1,500-seat theater completely filled, hundreds more watched his speech from an...

In 2013, the tea party rallied to Matt Bevin against Donald Trump. RedState and tea party groups around the country swung into action in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to get Matt Bevin through the primary against Mitch McConnell. We were completely out-funded by establishment interests and Washington lobbyists. It turns out, one of those establishment interests was Donald J. Trump. In 2013, Donald Trump gave $220,000.00 to organizations, many of them dedicated to stamping out the Tea Party. From Karl Rove’s American Crossroads to Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC, Trump spread out money. Rove got $50,000.00 and McConnell got $60,000.00. Trump...

Since joining the Trump campaign as a national spokeswoman in November, Katrina Pierson has served as an attack dog of sorts for Donald Trump, attempting to expose his critics and opponents as faux conservatives who are simply pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people. And yet, Ms. Pierson's own statements reveal she is a self-proclaimed devotee of Malcolm X (whom she has referred to as her "idol") and has a history of attacking conservatives as racists, sneering at Christians who are unable to "handle the truth" and mocking candidates who open up about their faith on the...

And once I saw it, realized it says everything that needed to be said and all straight from Trump's mouth.

National Review's publication of the collective anti-Donald Trump missives from 22 self-appointed conservative potentates has caused quite a stir in Republican circles. The nationwide responses range from, "Wait, I thought National Review went out of business years ago," to "Ed Meese? Seriously?" The Gang of 22 have officially become parodies of themselves. One would have to reach back to the days of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew to lift an adequate quote to describe them. "Nattering nabobs of negativism," "vicars of vacillation," "pusillanimous pussyfooters," "the decadent few," "ideological eunuchs," "the effete corps of impudent snobs," or "the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs...

If you thought the Republican establishment was finally getting used to the idea that Donald Trump could become the party's nominee for president, the National Review would like to set the record straight. That's because the conservative magazine, according to CNN, will release on Friday an edition in which it declares that Trump is a threat to conservatism and that it officially opposes his candidacy. Included in the edition will be 22 conservative voices who have written essays to describe why Trump is a bad idea for the party.

Here is a history of Trump’s voter registration since 1987: * JULY 1987: Trump registers for the first time from his Fifth Avenue penthouse. The real estate developer, 41 at the time, reports having previously been registered from his boyhood home in Queens (though his prior party affiliation is unclear). Trump enrolls as a REPUBLICAN. * OCTOBER 1999: Trump dumps the GOP and enrolls as a member of the INDEPENDENCE PARTY. * AUGUST 2001: Trump enrolls as a DEMOCRAT. * SEPTEMBER 2009: After eight years as a Democrat, Trump returns to the REPUBLICAN PARTY. * DECEMBER 2011: Trump lasts two...

Tonight, a top official with the RNC called me to say that National Review was being disinvited [from the CNN debate]. The reason: Our "Against Trump" editorial and symposium. We expected this was coming. Small price to pay for speaking the truth about The Donald.

"Power," Henry Kissinger once told The New York Times, "is the ultimate aphrodisiac." Kissinger might amend that statement today: Now, fame is power, and thus replaces power as the ultimate aphrodisiac. In fact, fame isn't just an aphrodisiac - it's the ultimate nepenthe, a drug causing forgetfulness. The more famous our politicians are, the more we neglect their positions and character. No wonder the most admired woman in America is criminal Hillary Clinton, the most admired man is criminal Barack Obama, and the second-most admired man is loudmouth Donald Trump. We assume that fame inoculates our politicians for the same...