Free Republic

I know a televangelist candidate when I see one. To hear the pundits and experts in Washington tell it, the problem with Ted Cruz is that he doesn't play well with others in the Senate, he's too hardheaded and doesn't compromise. In other words, he's exactly what the Republican primary voters want. On this score, I side with the Republican primary voters. If Cruz's problem is that he is a conservative who has no regard for senatorial decorum and fights too hard for the right things, I'm all in. But there is a far bigger problem with Cruz: Donald Trump...

Ronald Kessler reporting from Washington, D.C. , The Republican Party will continue to lose presidential elections if it comes across as mean-spirited and unwelcoming toward people of color, Donald Trump tells Newsmax. Whether intended or not, comments and policies of Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates during this election were seen by Hispanics and Asians as hostile to them, Trump says. "Republicans didn't have anything going for them with respect to Latinos and with respect to Asians," the billionaire developer says. "The Democrats didn't have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them...

If Trump wins the nomination, prepare for the end of the conservative party (According to the bastion of Conservatism, George Will) If you look beyond Donald Trump’s comprehensive unpleasantness — is there a disagreeable human trait he does not have? — you might see this: He is a fundamentally sad figure. His compulsive boasting is evidence of insecurity. His unassuageable neediness suggests an aching hunger for others’ approval to ratify his self-admiration. His incessant announcements of his self-esteem indicate that he is not self-persuaded. Now, panting with a puppy’s insatiable eagerness to be petted, Trump has reveled in the approval...

I'm listening to Fox News live and they just had a segment in which 2 women, Judith Swett and Judith Miller, were given free reign to call Donald Trump every liberal derogatory name they could come up in the segment, plus the usual warning that they hope the voters will wake up before they nominate someone who will get slaughtered by Hillary.

Winter Springs, Fla. - An extended lead for Democrat Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and a virtual tie on the Republican side highlights a recent Gravis Marketing poll from Iowa. The nonpartisan research firm based in Winter Springs, Fla recently conducted a random phone survey of 1,027 registered, likely primary voters in Iowa that was split into two specific demographics. The automated IVR survey which was conducted from December 18th to the 21st, includes 440 Republican Caucus participants, 418 Democratic Caucus participants, and the remainder not planning on participating in the caucus, but is planning to vote in the regular elections....

In a recent op-ed -- "If Trump wins the nomination, prepare for the end of the conservative party" -- the always articulate George Will expresses the angst many establishment (and some not-so-establishment) Republicans feel about their frontrunner: If you look beyond Donald Trump’s comprehensive unpleasantness — is there a disagreeable human trait he does not have? — you might see this: He is a fundamentally sad figure. His compulsive boasting is evidence of insecurity. His unassuageable neediness suggests an aching hunger for others’ approval to ratify his self-admiration. His incessant announcements of his self-esteem indicate that he is not self-persuaded....

Donald Trump 39.3% Ted Cruz 12.8% Ben Carson 9.6% Marco Rubio 8.5%

An E. coli epidemic in Seattle and Kansas City and 19 other states? TB in New York and Manassas, Virginia? Leprosy in New Hampshire? Dengue Fever in Laredo? What's going on here? If you think data about illegal alien crime is hidden from public, just try to find information on the contagious diseases brought across our borders by illegal aliens from nearly 100 countries. If we survey the anecdotal and sporadic official data of the past fifteen years, there is no doubt we are being invaded daily by dangerous diseases.

Taunted by Republicans to declare war on "radical Islamic terrorism," Democrats are turning to an unlikely ally: George W. Bush. President Barack Obama, under pressure to be more aggressive on terrorism, regularly cites his predecessor's refusal to demonize Muslims or play into the notion of a clash between Islam and the West. It's a striking endorsement from a president whose political rise was predicated on opposition to the Iraq war and Bush's hawkish approach in the Middle East

In 1982, California voters were supposed to elect former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as the state's next governor. Bradley went into the election with a sizable lead over George Deukmejian. Exit polls projected a Bradley win. But when the ballots were counted, Deukmejian came out the winner. Thus, the "Bradley effect" was born - named as such because many white voters, who told pollsters they were voting for an African-American (Bradley), ended up breaking for the white candidate (Deukmejian). Could Donald Trump be the 2016 version of a reverse "Bradley effect?" That's the theory of a new study released...

It was the Detroit News headline "Trump goes after Ford Motor Co." not how long Hillary went overtime in the restroom that got our attention. Donald Trump made a whistle stop outside Grand Rapids, Michigan to take aim at Ford’s plans to expand production in Mexico. Trump promised if elected he would threaten manufacturers with big tariffs on imports to discourage building manufacturing plants south of the border. Trump to Ford, "If you build that plant in Mexico, I’m going to charge you 35 percent on every car, truck part that you send into our country," he said. "Every single...

This week we asked ABC News contributor and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol five questions about Donald Trump, the GOP's current frontrunner for the nomination for president, and the broader 2016 race for the White House. Kristol will appear on the "This Week" roundtable Sunday. 1] You sent a tweet suggesting a new party would have to be started if Donald Trump wins the GOP nomination. Were you serious? Would you leave the Republican party if he does win the nomination? KRISTOL: I was semi-serious. I don't think Trump will be the nominee, so I don't expect it to be...

Dec. 17, 2015 Via Adam Carolla. On whether Cruz would serve as Trump's VP: Adam Carolla: They're talking a lot about you and Trump, and possibly vice presidency, has there been any discussion of that? TC: Uh, none whatsoever. And I have no interest whatsoever. On whether Cruz would pick Trump as VP: AC: You don't want him to be your vice president?? TC: You know, it is difficult to see Donald Trump serving as anybody's vice president.

Thursday, December 24, 2015 Trump, Dictatorship and Competing With An Illiberal Left Posted by Daniel Greenfield A number of editorials have appeared in center-right outlets accusing Trump supporters of wanting a dictator. Well obviously. Politics is a competition. Everyone wants to win the game based on the rules of the game. And the current rules of the game are not Constitutional. The left wanted a dictator. Obama gave them one. He implemented laws, started wars and took on powers which were not only beyond his authority, but which were opposed by the majority of Americans and elected legislators in Congress....

Donald Trump seems to think he has revolutionized political campaigns. Without spending much money, he is on top of the national polls but is behind in Iowa and losing ground according to some polls in New Hampshire. Trump is running a campaign without spending money on polling, paid advertisements, or get-out-the-vote efforts. He probably views it as cost-effective, but it may end up costing him the nomination. His long-promised “next phase” defined by new spending, such as a wave of television commercials, has so far failed to materialize, week after week. His advisers have not revealed the existence of any...

This incessant clamoring by voters and punditry for better "leaders" and more "leadership" is one of the most unsavory, dangerous, and un-American tendencies in political discourse. When Donald Trump was asked last week by Joe Scarborough what he made of an endorsement from Vladimir Putin -- a thug who's probably murdered journalists and political opponents and more -- the GOP presidential front-runner responded, "He's running his country, and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in this country." Then he offered an incredibly dumb moral equivalency about how the United States also does "plenty of killing." There was...

It’s one of the most intriguing sub-plots of the 2016 election: Why are evangelicals, who historically have supported immigration reform and a path to citizenship for deeply felt religious and moral reasons, gravitating towards the two candidates who are most hostile to policy changes that would accommodate and integrate undocumented immigrants into American life? Cruz has been working behind the scenes to line up the support of influential evangelical leaders around the country, and it has been paying off: he has already rolled out some big endorsements, and many more are set to come. Meanwhile, Cruz and Donald Trump have...

Since announcing in June that he'd seek the Republican nomination for President in 2016, Donald Trump has dominated in both polls and media coverage. Polls indicate that after a myriad of controversial statements, including Trump's proposal that no Muslims be allowed to immigrate into the United States, he has maintained a large lead over his rivals nationwide. The conventional wisdom of political pundits has often been that Trump will eventually fall under the weight of his own bluster and bombast. For months now, Republicans have waited for his campaign to implode. With just one month to go until the first...

As one of the architects of Mr. Bush’s immigration platform, Mr. Cruz, then 30, outlined carefully calibrated positions that would appeal to conservatives concerned about border security while portraying Mr. Bush to moderate voters as an inclusive Republican. The memo, in which Mr. Cruz put his name on every page, was authenticated by another aide on Mr. Bush’s 2000 campaign. “America is stronger with the many immigrants who come here to make a new life and participate in the American dream,” Mr. Cruz wrote in capital letters about legal immigrants at the document’s outset. He also advised that Mr. Bush...

Despite controversy after controversy, Donald Trump still dominates the polls. With his seemingly impervious lead, it is tempting to declare that he is a clear front-runner for the nomination. From Our Advertisers He has, after all, defied all expectations of his impending demise, including an early one from this author. If he has survived everything so far, why should he lose now? Mr. Trump has emerged as a true factional candidate -- much more like Howard Dean or Pat Buchanan than Herman Cain, or other candidates who have surged to the top of the polls only to collapse. But it's...