Republicans
November 3, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Earlier today, John wrote: By historical standards, the Democrats’ performance in this year’s midterm elections won’t be good. The current consensus–which may be wrong, but let’s go with it for now–is that they will net at least 23 House seats, enough to gain control of that chamber, and probably a few more, while losing a seat or two in the Senate. This is sub-par for the first midterm election of
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October 26, 2018 — John Hinderaker
I am in Washington to attend Turning Point USA’s first-ever Young Black Leadership Summit. Today’s highlight was a visit to the White House, where President Trump addressed the group in the East Room. We arrived at the East Entrance to the White House around 9:30, started going through security at 10:00, and were in the White House proper by 10:30 or so. The event was scheduled to begin at 11:00;
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October 21, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The interview of Senator McConnell by Laura Ingraham below dates back to October 5, in the immediate aftermath of the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Senator McConnell explicitly discusses the mobs opposing confirmation that Republican Senators faced at their homes prior to the vote. It is worth pausing over this interview and reflecting further on the Democrats and their supporters. This is the new Democratic normal. Quotable
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October 20, 2018 — Scott Johnson
In a nearby post John comments on Republican state senator Karin Housley’s race against appointed incumbent and metro liberal nullity Tina Smith. I have no sense of how that race is going, but it is only one of two Senate races on the ballot. Incumbent Democrat Amy Klobuchar is running for reelection against Republican Jim Newberger. I do have a sense of how that race is going. Running a campaign
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September 24, 2018 — John Hinderaker
For some time, as I have written here more than once, I have been waiting for Americans to notice that the Democrats are crazy. I have puzzled over why the Democrats’ outrageous conduct doesn’t seem to alienate more voters. Financial interest is obviously a partial explanation, but it can’t be a complete one. In that context, this Gallup poll is good news: “GOP’s favorability hits highest mark in seven years.”
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August 20, 2018 — John Hinderaker
Associated Press reporters wake up every morning wondering how they can best attack President Trump today. Steve Peoples’ effort for Monday is headlined: “Trump warnings grow from forgotten Republicans.” The “forgotten Republicans” are the ones who don’t like President Trump. But they haven’t been forgotten at all; on the contrary, the AP eagerly seeks them out for comment. The ranks of forgotten Republicans are growing. Some were forced out, such
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August 6, 2018 — Scott Johnson
After John noted the suppression of Elizabeth Heng’s Facebook ad for her congressional campaign yesterday (video embedded below), Victor Davis Hanson wrote us to enlist the support of Power Line readers for Ms. Heng. Alexandra DeSanctis profiled her here for NR and Jack Fowler updated the story with the Facebook angle yesterday here. Heng’s campaign site is here; contribute to her campaign here. Dr. Hanson writes: Elizabeth Heng is the
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July 30, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I’d never heard of Adam Greenberg before I went to see him speak three years ago at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul. From an early age Adam was a gifted athlete and driven competitor. He excelled at three sports — baseball, basketball, and soccer — but baseball was his first love. He played baseball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a junior in 2002, he
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June 20, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Earlier this evening John wrote: [T]he fundamental reality is that Democrats are in favor of illegal immigration, and Republicans are against it. The GOP wins that one every time. I agree with John on both counts. However, on the issue of amnesty for illegal immigrants Republicans are divided. Being for amnesty is not the same thing as being for illegal immigration. However, amnesty encourages illegal immigration. Thus, if you’re against
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June 13, 2018 — Scott Johnson
In the adjacent post Paul cautiously evaluates President Trump’s possible role in toppling Republican incumbent Rep. Mark Sanford in yesterday’s Republican primary. Yesterday afternoon Trump took time out to put the hex on Sanford and endorse Katie Harrington in the tweet below. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Arrington prevailed with 50.5 percent of the vote; Sanford took 46.6 percent. The margin between them was 2,500 votes. Stephen Douglas
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June 12, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
With nearly all of the vote counted, challenger Katie Arrington leads Rep. Mark Sanford by 4 percentage points (and almost 3,000 votes) in South Carolina’s first congressional district. Sanford has just conceded. This result is the first defeat of Sanford’s remarkable career. He is the “comeback kid” of South Carolina politics, having survived his affair — part sordid, part comical — with an Argentine woman. Before that affair was revealed
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June 2, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
A few days ago, I discussed the sickening delay in getting a floor vote for key Department of Justice nominees. I blamed Sen. Cory “Weed” Gardner, obstructionist Senate Democrats, and, to a lesser degree, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the delay. In McConnell’s case, the problem, I argued, is that he’s not making the Senate work enough. To be fair, though, some GOP Senators apparently don’t want to work hard
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May 7, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
West Virginia holds its primary tomorrow. Republicans will select a candidate to run against the very vulnerable Sen. Joe Manchin. I wrote about the race and the debate among the three major candidates here. I favor Patrick Morrisey, the state’s Attorney General. He’s the most reliably conservative of the three main candidates, in my view. That’s not why I’m writing this post, though. I’m writing to encourage our West Virginia
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May 2, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
West Virginia has quickly become Bright Red. President Trump may be more popular there than in any other state. West Virginia still has one Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin. However, he is up for reelection this year and considered quite vulnerable. Three main Republicans are vying for the right to take on Manchin. They are Rep. Evan Jenkins, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, and former coal executive Don Blankenship. Each has at
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April 30, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
“Drain The Swamp” was an important rallying cry of the Trump campaign. But does it still resonate a year-and-a-half after the 2016 election? It does. So finds a poll commissioned by Ear to the Ground and conducted by McLaughlin & Associates. The poll (of 1,000 likely voters) found that 55 percent of Americans are “concerned” or “very concerned” about “the Swamp,” with 36 percent very concerned. 59 percent of those
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April 26, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Bret Stephens, a Never Trumper, compares Donald Trump and George H.W. Bush. Guess who comes out the winner. There’s no doubt that Bush is a better man than Trump, by far. Whether he was better president than Trump will turn out to be? It’s too early to say with confidence. In terms of domestic policy, my guess is that Trump will prove easily superior. Indeed, it can be argued that,
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April 11, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Speaker Paul Ryan will be stepping down. He will not seek re-election to the House. I like and admire Ryan, but believe he’s been a disappointment as Speaker. His signature issue was always entitlement reform/fiscal responsibility. Ryan was never likely to get entitlement reform. However, he might at least have avoided the gross fiscal irresponsibility of the omnibus bill that Congress recently passed and the president signed. Alternatively, and preferably,
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