Free Republic

Nearly a quarter of Democrat voters say they would vote for a candidate based solely on their abortion position, an NBC News poll released Friday found. Twenty-four percent of Democrats said they would base their vote on abortion when asked if “any one issue [is] so important that you would vote for or against a candidate solely on that basis.” The survey was conducted November 10-14 with 1,000 registered voters and has an overall margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points. “The poll also finds that the highest share of single-issue women voters (22 percent) say abortion is their top...

Common Single-Issue Issues Many of the issues that attract single-issue voters are the so-called “wedge” issues. These are usually the most controversial and divisive issues there are. These are the issues that are meant to either leverage or ignite a candidate’s base. These issues, such as gay marriage, flag burning, gun control, abortion, immigration, etc., are usually ones that a candidate has no ability, or is unwilling, to bring about any change in policy on. Gay marriage is a matter for state and local governments. While I may not personally like guns, gun ownership is a right guaranteed in the...

While liberal interest groups were quick to criticize President Bush's State of the Union comments on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the environment, conservatives were also upset as he continued to push for immigration reforms that they claim go easy on illegal aliens. While Bush reported that he is doubling the size of the Border Patrol to monitor the U.S. border with Mexico and pledged to enforce immigration laws at the workplace, his temporary worker proposals are still a touchy subject for his conservative base. "We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to...

Tancredo slams White House for being 'tone deaf' for ignoring overwhelming public opposition to unpopular plan. The President...did everything he could to guarantee a Congress sympathetic to his "amnesty for all" plan. I am disappointed but not surprised that the President has once again chosen to trot out this same old pig, albeit with a slightly new shade of lipstick.

Tom Tancredo has been called a one-trick pony of a politician, a man out of step with his party, a bigot. The Republican congressman vehemently opposes illegal immigration, and he created an uproar last week when he talked about nuking Muslim holy sites."Unless I misread the political tea leaves, there is a great deal of support for what I say," Tancredo said.Experts say Tancredo has no chance at the White House, but like Ross Perot's campaign on a balanced budget in 1992, he has found an issue that could force other Republicans to treat immigration as a major issue.

Note the following is my wording for what is found on the webpage listed in the Weblink given.] Senator Arlen Specter [R-PA] has received $10,000 from two Abortion/Pro-Choice Pacs. This is under the Category that Open Secrets lists as: Single Issue/Idelogy contributions. This is important since Arlen Specter is being considered for the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is raw data from: http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/memberprofile.asp?cid=N00001604&cycle=2004&expand=Q15 webpage...

Barr exam The Libertarian Party is celebrating the defeat of U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, whom it calls the "worst Drug Warrior in Congress." Although I spend much of my time criticizing the war on drugs, I do not share the L.P.'s enthusiasm. There's no question that Barr, who recently lost his bid for the Republican nomination to represent Georgia's newly redrawn 7th District, is an enthusiastic prohibitionist. The four-term congressman has bucked public opinion by doggedly opposing the medical use of marijuana. He even supports a ban on hemp products because they sometimes contain trace amounts of THC -- too...