Republican

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis leads the GOP field and is a better option than former President Donald Trump to face off against President Joe Biden in a hypothetical 2024 general election matchup, according to a newly released poll from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Survey Center. In the poll, 318 likely Republican primary voters in the state showed that DeSantis and Trump are in a statistical dead heat for the 2024 nomination. However, the poll found that DeSantis does better head-to-head against Biden than Trump does. Biden beat Trump by 8 percentage points in 2020, with the poll showing Biden with a nearly identical lead in the case of a 2024 rematch. But the poll showed DeSantis edging Biden by a 47 to 46 percent margin, with 97 percent of Trump voters supporting DeSantis in that hypothetical election. DeSantis' popularity among Republicans , according to previous UNH polls conducted in October and July, has soared. Since October, DeSantis has seen his … [Read more...] about Republicans think DeSantis more likely than Trump to beat Biden: Poll

WASHINGTON - Tuesday's Senate vote to advance a narrow bipartisan deal to toughen federal gun laws was, on one level, a political miracle, with 14 Republicans joining Democrats to defy the National Rifle Association and vocal conservative critics - in an election year, no less. Seen another way, however, the strong Republican opposition to a bill that offered only comparatively incremental tweaks to existing gun laws after an escalating series of mass shootings demonstrated the resilience of hard-line views on gun rights and put a spotlight on the dwindling corps inside the Senate GOP who are willing to cut even modest deals with Democrats. The 64-to-34 test vote Tuesday, which put the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on a path to passage later this week, offered a road map to how governing can still happen on sensitive issues in a divided era - very carefully, with the right players, and under the right circumstances. No player was more crucial than Senate Minority Leader Mitch … [Read more...] about Coalition behind gun bill reveals a sharp Senate Republican split

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 6 WASHINGTON -- After gripping testimony from former Justice Department officials describing Donald Trump's efforts to undo the 2020 election results, House lawmakers on Thursday identified five Republican lawmakers who allegedly sought pardons -- suggesting not just their own fear of criminal exposure, but a belief that the outgoing president would preemptively protect them from the investigations that followed the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress. Videotaped testimony presented at the end of Thursday's hearing named Reps. Matt Gaetz, Fla.; Mo Brooks, Ala.; Andy Biggs, Ariz.; Louie Gohmert, Texas; and Scott Perry, Pa., as the lawmakers who sought preemptive pardons after or, in at least one case, before the Capitol breach. They were among the most active and outspoken supporters in Congress of Trump's false claims of election fraud. The allegations of pardon-hunting … [Read more...] about Jan. 6 panel names five Republicans who allegedly sought Trump pardons

Democratic lawmakers and candidates unleashed a torrent of angry, defiant statements Friday, promising to make abortion rights a decisive issue for voters in November, as Republicans celebrated their victory in a decades-long fight for the Supreme Court to end the constitutional right to an abortion. Since a draft opinion leaked in early May indicating that the court was prepared to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, advocates for reproductive rights have looked ahead to the midterm elections as their only chance to have those rights restored. Democrats believe that by overturning the landmark decision, the Supreme Court just handed them an issue to mobilize voters, particularly suburban women, in an otherwise difficult political climate. And some Republicans are concerned about a backlash in the midterms, particularly from suburban women swing voters. President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House on Friday, called on Congress to codify abortion into law. If there aren't … [Read more...] about As Republicans celebrate end of Roe, Democrats vow revenge at polls

It appears Democrats could use the advice of Outkast's Andre 3000, who once rapped : "I know you'd like to think your shit don't stink, but lean a little bit closer, see roses really smell like ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh." The implication from Three Stacks here was that the, um, fecal matter, did indeed stink. But apparently Democrats didn't take that lesson to heart. A new poll from the irreverent game Cards Against Humanity found that Democrats like the smell of their farts more than Republicans like the scent of their own rear-end emissions. In a post detailing the results of the survey, the company wrote, "Because we could, we asked people if they thought their farts were more smelly or less smelly than other people's farts." Most folks, 51 percent, refused to answer or hung up. But 30 percent of respondents said they thought their farts were less smelly than the average American, while 19 percent said more smelly. Seventy percent of women thought their farts were less smelly than … [Read more...] about Democrats like their own farts more than Republican do, a “Cards Against Humanity” poll found

House Republicans have geared up for the first public impeachment hearings in the Ukraine scandal, set to take place this week, by having GOP staffers send a memo to lawmakers that outlines the strategy to best defend President Donald Trump. But flaws remain within their arguments, which fail to address some of the damning allegations that Democrats will focus their questions on. The 18-page document details four main points of evidence that Republicans believe "are fatal to the Democrats' allegations" that Trump made an effort to force his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Democrats and 2016 election interference by withholding foreign military aid. "The July 25 call summary—the best evidence of the conversation—shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure." "President Zelensky and President Trump have both said there was no pressure on the call." In his now-infamous call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump said he "would like you to do us a favor, … [Read more...] about House Republicans’ defense strategy for impeachment hearings reveals flaws: Analysis

Yesli Vega, a Republican running for Congress in Virginia, faced criticism on Monday for appearing to doubt whether women can get pregnant from rape. At a campaign stop in Stafford County last month—before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its Friday ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that ended abortion rights for millions of women—Vega was asked what action Congress should take should the court do so, Axios reported. Vega responded that she supports more state-level restrictions on abortion. "The left will say, 'Well what about in cases of rape or incest?' I'm a law enforcement officer. I became a police officer in 2011. I've worked one case where as a result of a rape, the young woman became pregnant," she said in audio obtained by Axios. There is no evidence to back up claims that women who have been raped are less likely to become pregnant. According to a 1996 study from the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, an … [Read more...] about Republican Yesli Vega slammed for doubting women get pregnant from rape

Republicans appear poised to take a congressional district that the party has not held in more than 30 years, as a poll shows the GOP candidate leading six potential Democratic competitors. A Suffolk University/ Boston Globe poll shows Republican Alan Fung ahead of the six Democrats who are seeking their party's nomination in Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district. The 2nd district has been represented by a Democrat in the House of Representatives since 1991, and if the poll is accurate it could indicate trouble for Democrats far beyond Rhode Island. If Republicans can flip a seat that has been blue for three decades, President Joe Biden 's party could be facing major losses in the midterms as he continues to struggle with a low approval rating. Fung, a former mayor of Cranston and two-time gubernatorial nominee, led five of the six Democratic candidates by around 10 percent but his lead was narrower with Seth Magaziner, who is considered the Democratic frontrunner. … [Read more...] about Republicans set to flip deep-blue seat held by Democrats for over 30 years

In the immediate aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade , the Democrats reverted back to a common tactic of firing out fundraising emails and telling irate members of the public that the best way to secure abortion rights in the country was to vote for the party in the upcoming midterms. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic National Committee were among those who sent out emails seeking donations from supporters soon after the SCOTUS verdict on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade , was revealed on June 24. "This fall, Roe is on the ballot," President Joe Biden said in a speech from the White House in the hours after the decision became public. The Democrats received criticism for once again dangling the carrot of codifying Roe v. Wade into law in exchange for votes following years of failed attempts to do so. This time, however, it seems they are hoping the tactic is what saves the party from … [Read more...] about Will Roe v. Wade ruling stop Republicans from winning midterms?

During former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment, even when Republicans insisted that the assault on the Capitol was an unfortunate consequence of heated rhetoric, most did not attempt to defend Trump’s conduct on the merits. Instead, they relied on the absurd technicality that the president was no longer in office, and therefore could not be convicted. That was the rationale of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who accused Trump of a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and afterward voted to acquit. McConnell then suggested that Trump could be criminally prosecuted, comfortable in the suspicion that would never happen. Other Republicans, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, insisted that seeking accountability for an attempted coup would be “incredibly divisive,” and was therefore not worth doing. “The notion that we’re going to spend a week or two weeks on a trial on somebody who’s not even in office—it sounds to me like a waste of time,” Rubio told … [Read more...] about Don’t Forget That 43 Senate Republicans Let Trump Get Away With It