Republicans
1,347 pieces tagged “Republicans”, newest first.
The Known — and Unknown — Unknowns in the Republican Race Ahead
Some observations on the 2016 presidential race as we head into the dark period, i.e., the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's holidays in which no one has ever dared, at least in the past, to conduct any polls. Those of us who pick over poll results will have to fly blind until the week starting Jan. 4.
Watching the Tuesday Night Fights
Maybe it was because it was held in Las Vegas, where so many great prizefights have been held. But Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate was easily the best yet. CNN and Wolf Blitzer did a good, fair-and-balanced job of staging and refereeing the nine-person fight card. Most of the time was spent discussing substantive issues like foreign policy and national security, not throwing personal low blows.
Does Conservatism Matter in Republican Nomination Contest?
In December 2011, the candidate who led in the Iowa polls was not Rick Santorum (who ultimately squeaked out a victory there), nor Michelle Bachmann (who had driven Gov. Tim Pawlenty from the race by winning the Iowa straw poll earlier in the year), nor Mitt Romney. No, the leader was Ron Paul, with 23 percent.
GOP Debate Number Five
Each of the Republican presidential candidates brings something good to the race for the GOP nomination and some things not so good. In the fifth and final GOP debate of the year, the candidates on the main stage, and even a few on the "undercard," presented ideas and positions that many Republican voters would consider far better than those we have now under the president we have now.
Lessons of the Fifth GOP Debate
All candidates bring their constituents to the election that matters most.
Trump Doesn't Represent the Conservative Base
There's a tendency in politics to mistake personal animosity for ideological animosity. Consider Bill Clinton. His staggering dishonesty, tackiness and scorn for the rule of law aroused a lot of anger from the right. But he wasn't really that left-wing. Oh, he was certainly more liberal in his heart than he let on, but he also worked from the assumption that this was a center-right country, and that limited what he could get away with.
The Season of Trump
I have a history with Donald Trump. Having rescinded an invitation from him to a gathering in August after his comments on Megyn Kelly, I watched as Trump supporters descended on social media, my radio program, my phone number, and my mailbox to express their outrage. It was weeks before my children could check the mailbox again. I still get random and assorted hate mail over the incident.
No Such Thing as a Trump Republican
"You can't be a Trump Republican and a Ronald Reagan Republican." That's the tweet I sent to Jeb Bush the other day, when virtually the entire planet was united in bashing Donald Trump's call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the USA. I also tweeted another obvious truth, "If the Republican Party doesn't dump Donald Trump, the American people will. Trump's outrageous "Muslims Keep Out" plan — apparently his policy answer to last week's terrorist attack in San Bernadino — is an embarrassment to our country and what it stands for.
The State of Play in the Republican Race
There are just eight-and-a-half weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, with two of those weeks devoted to holidays during which polling is ordinarily not conducted, and the race for the Republican presidential nomination seems to be taking perceptible shape. And it continues to defy conventional wisdom. Since mid-July Donald Trump has been leading in the national polls, except for a moment early last month when he was effectively tied with Ben Carson. His numbers have moved up and down a bit but have stayed between 22 and 30 percent since early August.
Cruz vs. Rubio — A Better GOP Race
A funny thing is happening on the way to the GOP meltdown. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, the two most popular and broadly acceptable candidates in the field are perhaps the most talented and most reliably conservative. Oh, and by the way, they are Hispanics in their 40s. Donald Trump is still leading the polls and has demonstrated a staying power that has confounded his critics, but Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are now beginning to stand out in the rest of the field, clustering with Ben Carson in effectively a three-way tie for second place nationally.
Which Party Will Emerge From Its Gathering Storm?
Each of our two political parties, ancient by world standards, seems to be facing a gathering storm. Part of the gathering storm for Republicans is Donald Trump's candidacy and his persistent lead in most primary polls. He is given to outlandish proposals and lacks the temperamental ballast and government experience that general election voters usually seek in a president.
The Disappearing Governors
There is a painful irony in a recent decision of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on the side of Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, whom the U.S. Department of Justice tried to stop from making charter schools widely available to minority youngsters in his state. The Circuit Court's decision over-ruled a lower court decision on the side of the Justice Department, which was opposing the large-scale creation of charter schools in Louisiana, on grounds that this would interfere with long-standing federal government efforts to racially integrate public schools.
Obama Gets Really Angry ... at Americans
Three days after the Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris, Americans were primed to hear their president express heartfelt anger, which he did in his press conference in Antalya, Turkey, at the end of the G-20 summit. And they did hear him describe ISIS as "this barbaric terrorist organization" and acknowledge that the "terrible events in Paris were a terrible and sickening setback."
Chris Christie's Serious Political Talent
Paris was for all Americans, but especially for Republicans, a summons to seriousness that should have two immediate impacts on the Republican presidential contest. It should awaken the party's nominating electorate from its reveries about treating the presidency as an entry-level job. And it should cause Republicans to take another look at Chris Christie, beginning with his speech in Florida the day after the Paris attacks.
A Scary Time for the GOP, What the Headlines Reveal
It's Friday the 13th and the GOP is afraid, very afraid. I know because The Washington Post told me so. A front page article this morning says that the party elders are hitting the "panic button" and see "doom" ahead if the leading "outsiders" — Donald Trump or Dr. Ben Carson — get the GOP nomination. Some of the insiders are so afraid that they are reportedly talking once again about drafting Mitt Romney to run again in spite of his repeated statements that he won't do so.