Free Republic

Should Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) worry about his seat come November?  In 2014, he barely cruised to re-election by under a percentage point against Republican challenger Ed Gillespie—a race that stunned political observers everywhere. Now, the self-described “radical centrist” and senior Virginia senator is banking on his political transformation to secure a third term. Warner’s seat is listed as “Solid Democratic” by Cook Political Report and “Safe Democratic” by Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball. But he must answer for voting 84 percent of the time with Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and why he, previously the wealthiest U.S. Senator, believes capitalism doesn’t work anymore.  Warner, however, does...

On March 4, 1825, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, a fighter in the Revolutionary War and the last president who was a founding father, departed the White House, retiring happily to Oak Hill, Virginia, and the life of a country gentleman. Monroe had completed his second term as president. His predecessor, James Madison, had also completed two terms, as had Thomas Jefferson before him. It was probably quite conceivable to these men, their contemporaries in the political class, and the electorate, that, perhaps in their lifetime, another three occupants of the White House would succeed each...

(CNN) — Three progressive House Democrats who won their seats by challenging Democratic incumbents are rebuking a new rule by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that prohibits the organization from conducting business with "political vendors" that support primary challengers to incumbents, calling the rule a "blacklist" that weakens the party. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ro Khanna of California have called out the DCCC for the new rule, which is included on a form for vendors looking to partner with the organization. "The core mission of the DCCC is electing House Democrats, which includes...

I'm told that the public is "angry" at today's politicians. Eighty-two percent disapprove of the job Congress is doing. So will Tuesday's election bring a big shakeup? No. Congressional reelection rates never drop below 85 percent. The last big "wave" election was 1994, when Democrats lost control of both houses. The media called it a "revolution," and the late Peter Jennings from ABC likened Americans to 2-year-olds throwing a tantrum. Even that year, the reelection rate was 90 percent.Matt Kibbe of the group FreedomWorks and Hadley Heath Manning of Independent Women's Forum came on my show to say they don't...

Ann Coulter was just on Hannity's Radio show and said something interesting. That Obama's advantage was his incumbency and voters traditionally do not unseat an incumbent president, no matter what. (examples: Clinton and W Bush). Reagan was the only Republican able to unseat the incumbent Carter in a 100 years. Her ray of sunshine was that in the coming elections of 2014 and 2016, Republicans will have a much better chance with voters (I'm paraphrasing her)...

The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is promising to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year. The Tea Party caucus’s response? I’ll see your $100 billion and raise you $2.4 trillion over 10 years. Both groups are barking up the wrong tree or, to use a more appropriate animal analogy, putting the cart before the horse. The road to real deficit reduction, not a cosmetic nip and tuck, runs through term limits. If Americans are truly interested in shrinking the size of government — one of the takeaways from the 2010 midterm election — they can...

Liberal propagandists are very good at changing the subject, their task made all the more easy thanks to their firm grasp on both the channel and volume controls of the mainstream media remote control device. >p>Take for very good example, the current election cycle. Democrats are in trouble. Big trouble. We know that. They know that. But it is also very handy to provide excuses, excuses that will disguise the real reason for rising voter discontent. So the story becomes not that the public is outraged with Democrats or liberals or those who rammed the stimulus or the health care/student...

MONROEVILLE, PA.--With the war in Iraq, $3-a-gallon gas, and Jack Abramoff dogging Washington Republicans, it might seem a good bet for an ambitious Democrat like Chad Kluko to give up a six-figure salary and campaign for a seat in the House of Representatives. After all, he was a top executive at Verizon Wireless, started his own technology company, and makes a convincing case for bringing the lessons he's learned from business to bear on government. But Kluko was hardly the Democratic Party's first choice to run in Pennsylvania's 18th District, which fans out east and west from southern Pittsburgh. He...

Conspiracy Conspiracy fans can have a field day if Sen. John Kerry wins the Democratic nomination for president, as it appears at this time he will. Conspiracy buffs can say that, once more, the Establishment has won. Both the Democrat and the Republican nominees will be Establishment types — both are rich guys, both are Yale graduates, and both are members of the secretive and elitist Skull and Bones club at Yale. And the outsiders (Howard Dean, John Edwards and Wesley Clark) remain outside. By now, I'm used to this state of affairs and don't put a lot of stock...

Incumbent Advantage American representative government suffers from the handicap of a largely uncompetitive political system. Why should we be concerned about a lack of political competition? Political scientist Ross K. Baker suggests a reason: Incumbency has become so entrenched . . . that many voters lack any real say in who represents them. Democratic and Republican House incumbents alike share a semi-perpetual easement on their seats that more nearly resembles hereditary entitlement than the competitive politics we associate with a democracy. Not only are the advantages of incumbency important, but their importance has risen over time, especially since the passage...

* COMMENT: Unpatriotic Underwear. Dear A-Letter Reader: Odds are you've never heard of alternative girl punk band 'L-7.' Their 1997 album 'The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum' contains a song that I nominate for the attitude anthem of the current US Congress: "The Masses Are Asses." That sums up the congressional view of you and me; that we're ignorant rubes likely to fall for their posturing that passes for lawmaking. My problem is that I've been there, so I know how Capitol Hill pols think and operate, especially in an election year marked by scandal and economic uncertainty. I smell the...