Free Republic

A new class of voter is waiting to shake up our politics. In 2016, we learned about the crucial importance of “Obama-Trump” voters. Some estimates held that up to 13 percent of Trump’s voters in 2016 had voted for Obama in a previous election. This reflects the moodiness of swing voters, the changing composition of the two parties, and the continuities between the two very different men. Notably, Obama and Trump both ran their campaigns as critics of NAFTA. Hillary Clinton lost about one out of every four Obama voters who were white men with only high-school education. Some analysts...

As cable television broadcast the scenes of Trump supporters breaking past police lines and even smashing their way into the Capitol on January 6, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., texted Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff: “He’s got to condemn this sh** ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.” A little later, Don Jr. texted again: “We need an Oval office address. He [then-president Trump] has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.” It’s that last statement that reveals the whole truth of January 6 for Trump’s supporters. Donald Trump’s...

What is nationalism? The word is suddenly and surprisingly important when talking about the times we live in. But we seem to be working without a shared definition. “You know what I am? I’m a nationalist,” Donald Trump said in an October rally in Houston. French president Emmanuel Macron slapped back at a commemoration ceremony for World War I in France. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” he said. “By saying ‘our interests first, who cares about the others,’ we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral...

Sometimes the most inside-baseball political stories tell you something essential about a presidential candidate. That's what happened this week to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who apparently wants to win the Iowa caucuses so badly that he's willing to torch his staff and his reputation to do it. The Walker campaign recently announced that it had hired Liz Mair, a highly regarded Republican consultant. Mair has also played pundit at times, and is generally more pro-gay rights and pro-immigration than the average Republican. But that's typical of Republican consultants in general. It is assumed that policy is set by the candidates...

Are you a Republican looking for a more viable alternative to Mitt Romney? Has the cratering of Rick Perry left you feeling hopeless? Do the scandals afflicting Herman Cain make you think he isn't all that electable? Well, there is still a very electable conservative in the race! Surprise it is Jon Huntsman! He has been branded a moderate by the press and by people in his campaign. But take a look at his record and see if it doesn't warm your heart.