Free Republic

Can Obama Win Back Wal-Mart Moms?Tuesday, Sep. 09, 2008 By KAREN TUMULTY / WASHINGTON **SNIP** The women that pollsters are watching most closely this year are different in some ways from their "soccer mom" and "security mom" sisters of those earlier election cycles. For one thing, they are slightly older than soccer moms (in their 40s and 50s) and are juggling another set of problems — how to pay for college for their kids, and how to take care of their elderly parents. They are also less upscale. Lacking college degrees, they are more likely to be feeling the brunt...

Among the many dark tidings for American conservatism, there is one genuine bright spot. Over the past five years, a group of young and unpredictable rightward-leaning writers has emerged on the scene. These writers came of age as official conservatism slipped into decrepitude. Most of them were dismayed by what the Republican Party had become under Tom DeLay and seemed put off by the shock-jock rhetorical style of Ann Coulter. As a result, most have the conviction — which was rare in earlier generations — that something is fundamentally wrong with the right, and it needs to be fixed. Moreover,...

Gov. Tim Pawlenty rolled out his "Sam's Club Republican" brand to a national audience Wednesday, making two well-covered speeches calling for a more hopeful message to check recent Democratic electoral gains. Pawlenty, billed by the National Press Club as a top contender to run for vice president with GOP candidate John McCain, said Republicans must broaden their appeal to a new generation of "Reagan Democrats" -- the same young and working-class voters being targeted by presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Sketching a profile that in many ways describes himself, the 47-year-old governor said a new generation of Republican leadership is...