Free Republic

Why are so many Pennsylvania Democrats fleeing to the Republican Party? PennLive reports that nearly 46,000 Keystone Dems have flipped their registration to the GOP since the beginning of 2016 — a phenomenon writer Colin Deppen attributes largely to enthusiasm for the candidacy of Donald Trump. "With the increase in support in exit polls for Trump among working class, blue-collar Democrats, it is my belief that these are people who fall into that genre," Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, told Deppen. Other possibilities: That disaffected Democrats have...

According to a new NBC/Marist poll, Ted Cruz is within striking distance of Donald Trump in South Carolina. Whereas Cruz was trailing Trump by a massive 16% one month ago, he's now come within 5%: "In the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll of South Carolina conducted after Saturday’s GOP debate, businessman Donald Trump, 28%, edges Texas Senator Ted Cruz, 23%, by only 5 points among likely Republican primary voters statewide including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate or who voted by absentee ballot." The establishment's frontrunner, Marco Rubio, is stuck at 15%, the poll shows, and...

Can you believe this? One longtime Rubio supporter who backs Bush faulted Rubio’s campaign for the slip-up. He said they drove Rubio too hard and too long and he didn’t have enough sleep. In the days before New Hampshire primary, Rubio struggled to find his footing coming off as subdued and tired during some of his final campaign stops. Rubio also repeated himself, again, this time about family values in his last campaign rally in Nashua, N.H., before the primary. “It was the pace. He couldn’t keep up,” the source said. “And then they doubled-down on it – tripled and...

On Laura Ingraham's radio show today, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said he's not surprised by John McCain's dishonest birther attacks. For those who missed it, McCain said yesterday that Cruz may not be eligible because he was born in Canada. Of the course the Arizona senator -- who himself was born in the Panama Canal Zone -- knows full well that Cruz is a natural-born citizen, but that doesn't matter; he hates Cruz, which is why he does everything in his power to derail the Texan's presidential campaign. If he has to lie to do so, so be it....

You knew it was coming! Donald Trump said in an interview that rival Ted Cruz’s Canadian birthplace was a “very precarious” issue that could make the Texas senator vulnerable if he became the Republican presidential nominee. “Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: ‘Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?’ That’d be a big problem,” Trump said when asked about the topic. This is how Donald Trump operates: whenever he's threatened by someone in the polls, he tries to smear his opponents. He did so with Dr. Ben Carson,...

Ted Cruz isn't only surging in the polls -- he's now in second place nationally and leads in Iowa -- he is also raising a truckload of money. In the last quarter of 2015 alone the Republican presidential candidate received almost $20 million from his supporters. Not bad for a grassroots candidate who's despised and hated by his own party's leadership team. Small wonder then that Cruz bragged about these results during a phone call with supporters, adding that he's confident he'll be the Republican nominee -- soon: "There’s a very good possibility that the Republican primary will be decided...

**DRUDGE POLL** WHO WON 5TH REPUBLICAN DEBATE '16? BUSH CARSON CHRISTIE CRUZ FIORINA KASICH PAUL RUBIO TRUMP

The Washington Post has a fascinating article up about the Republican Party's establishment plans to take down Donald Trump. In short? There is no plan. Well, perhaps that's not entirely fair. Plan A is to wait for the Trump campaign to implode. This view is put into words by Frank VanderSloot, chief executive of a large nutritional-supplement company and a backer of Senator Marco Rubio: "It’s just going to take a little time for people to take a step back and look at his track record, see who he is and how he’s changed his positions and how unprepared he...

After news broke that a SuperPAC supporting John Kasich is preparing to launch a $2.5 million assault on Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman once again said he's seriously considering a third party bid if he fails to win the Republican nomination. [TRUMP TWEET] Earlier this year, the RNC and Trump signed a pledge: Trump promised not to run as an independent candidate if he lost the nomination. In return the Republican National Committee pledged not to launch attacks against him. All he wanted, Trump said, was a level playing field. And he got one. The RNC hasn't done anything to...

The endorsements continue to roll in for Ted Cruz, who's also surging in the polls. Last week, two hundred faith leaders endorsed him for president. They were followed yesterday by actor and producer James Woods. Woods -- who's best known for his roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Casino, and White House Down -- says he decided to support Cruz after a forty minute-long telephone conversation with the senator: [TWEET] Woods went on to explain that Cruz could count on his support because he "has a strong posture in foreign policy and an unvarnished view of the domestic...

A few weeks ago, the sky seemed the limit for Ben Carson. The retired neurosurgeon was surging in the polls, and had overtaken every single one of his rivals in Iowa. From the looks of it, he was going to be a real player come primary season. How fast things change. Just one week after the terror attacks in Paris, left-wing website Politico reports that Carson is fading -- fast. His supporters are flocking to Texas Senator Ted Cruz: [A]fter a week of confused comments from the former neurosurgeon and a dismissive critique by his own advisors, Iowans are now...

Question: when do you know that a campaign is in trouble? Answer: when it stops emphasizing its own message, and starts attacking its rivals. Case in point: Team Jeb! Bush wants to open a full frontal attack on Marco Rubio, the young senator from Florida. At least, that’s what the U.S. News & World Report says. This website got its hands on a presentation that Jeb and his cohorts used to convince Jeb’s donors to stick by their guy, even though he’s trailing in the polls. "Additionally, while the slides released to the media outlined Bush’s overarching argument against Florida...

…. at least he is a real bona fide candidate. Regardless of how fraught with inherent deception Jeb Bush’s intent and purposes for seeking the GOP nomination, he is in fact a real candidate; with, factual action taking place on the ground to support his efforts. Like Donald Trump, Jeb Bush is structurally in the race -with infrastructure- trying to win it. The other multiple candidates, not so much; actually, not even close. trump vs bush Spurred by our discovery of the internal Republican National Committee efforts to engage with State Republican party apparatus, vis-á-vis “ongoing rule changes“, numerous boots...

Here is an African-American supporter of Donald Trump speaking up outside a Trump rally in Georgia on Saturday. He shouted it is time to “take back America” from the disastrous policies of Barack Obama. “Obama has failed us! It’s time for somebody to make a stand.” You can hear the genuine pain in this man’s voice as he talks about not being able to find a decent job to support his family – that so many of the jobs have gone to foreigners – illegals. WOW, just wow!

Following recent mass shootings such as Charleston, South Carolina and Roseburg, Oregon gun-grabbers are once again fighting with a renewed effort to disarm the American public.As Democrats such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attempt to use these senseless tragedies as a means for political gain while ignoring the facts, the truth is undeniable… Our forefathers saw the writing on the wall. They knew that our freedoms would be tested, often times taken for granted, but more importantly they knew that ‘We the People’ needed a means to protect ourselves. That is exactly the same sentiment Dr. Carson shares in...

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez recently announced a sweeping, statewide energy plan aimed at embracing a wide array of energy sources, including oil and gas — which already accounts for more than $1 billion in yearly state revenues — solar, wind and new technologies. The far-reaching energy policy and implementation plan, entitled “Seizing our Energy Potential: Creating a More Diverse Economy in New Mexico,” is the state’s “first comprehensive energy policy and plan since 1991, nearly 25 years ago,” Michael Lonergan, Martinez’s press secretary, told Ripon Advance.

I was wondering why a polling outfit (CNN/ORC) is now all of a sudden trusted by conservatives? If not, then say so. If it is all of a sudden now trusted by conservatives...I thought that CNN is a liberal outfit and not to be trusted? Limbaugh seems to be going after CNN for their Morten Downey Jr. documentary on TV as somehow being used to juxtapose against Trump, and for their interviews of Trump supporters, and wondering if they are going to hand-pick the worst of the worst in those interviews to somehow paint all Trump supporters in a negative...

CNN’s criteria for its September GOP presidential debate may keep Carly Fiorina off the stage reserved for the top 10 candidates despite her recent surge in the polls. The CNN debate methodology, released earlier this year, weighs polls from July 16 to Sept. 10. The use of the earlier surveys will hurt the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who barely registered in the polls before the Aug. 6 Fox News debate. But since then, she has seen a significant bounce. “It acts as sort of an anchor on those people who had done poorly early and a bit of a parachute...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants more than a wall to keep out immigrants living in the country illegally. He also wants to end "birthright citizenship" for their children, he said Sunday. And he would rescind Obama administration executive orders on immigration and toughen deportation, allowing in only "the good ones." Trump described his expanded vision of how to secure American borders during a wide-ranging interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press," saying that he would push to end the constitutionally protected right of any family living illegally inside the U.S. ...

The latest Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll shows a big jump for Carly Fiorina, who makes to top 5 GOP candidates with 9% of N.H. GOP voters. This poll also shows Donald Trump in the lead at 18%, followed by Jeb Bush 13%, and John Kasich at 12%. ... Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 10%. ... GOP presidential upstart Donald Trump has lost ground in New Hampshire since his tirade against Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly... Businesswoman Carly Fiorina has jumped to fifth place in New Hampshire with nine percent support. ...