And so there you have it: Highlight Democrat misgovernance and the misgoverned will favorably respond.
As of this morning, Republican Steve Hilton is leading the "jungle
primary" for California governor and reformer Spencer Pratt remains in second place in
the race for Los Angeles mayor. If they hold their positions they'll advance to the November general election.
Unfortunately that's a big If. Only 58 percent of the vote has been
counted as of 9:40 am Eastern, and counties in the massively-Democratic
state have 30 days to certify their results. So stay tuned.
Nonetheless, it's good news for those of us trying to move the needle in D strongholds throughout the nation. Only 20 percent of LA voters identify as Republican yet Pratt is at 30 percent.
Twenty five percent of California voters are registered R yet Hilton and
Chad Blanco, the two main Republicans, are tallying 39 percent. This despite
the presence of several other candidates on the ballot.
Regardless of the final outcome, Pratt and Hilton have demonstrated that
if you show up and fight, the voters will notice and approve.
May 19
If you've watched TV in Ohio recently, you've seen the ads where challenger Sherrod Brown accuses Senator Jon Husted of a connection to Jeffrey Epstein through billionaire Leslie Wexner,
a client of Epstein and political benefactor to Husted. The connection is tenuous and contrived but
that doesn't matter to Brown and the Democrats.
By initiating this campaign nearly six months before the general election, they're demonstrating a commitment to
reiterate this ruse to the one demographic where the Ds see opportunity: college-educated women,
the so-called "Zionsville moms". (Zionsville is a trendy, well-off
Indianapolis suburb, once solidly Republican that is now trending left.)
At the same time the Democrats will do what they're best at doing: turn out the vote
in the metropolitan counties. The Republicans with their palace of
consultants will come up with a strategy
to counteract the negative ads. But they have no strategy (other than
surrender) in the metro areas.
The D strategy is apparent. The R strategy should be obvious to
anyone who cares about preserving the Congressional majority: Stop the surrender in the cities!
Shouldn't be difficult. The Democrats
have nothing to sell except Trump derangement and the occasional personal
attack. They're on the wrong side of several 80-20 issues that will
play anywhere: immigration, school choice, crime, mismanagement and
transgenderism. Republicans take note: this is a gift. Deploy
some of the millions that will be spent, and move
the needle!
May 11
We've said before that if the Republicans could just win the competitive races, the House majority wouldn't be in danger. Here's what we mean:
In 2024 there were 54 races in districts rated R+3 down through D+3 on
the Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI). The Republicans lost nearly 60
percent of them.
If the GOP could have prevailed in half of these, that would have been a
+5 for the Republicans. A extra ten-vote margin.
It could have been worse. Over three cycles (2020, 22 and 24) and
163 races in this same subsection, the Republicans lost two thirds.
The common feature of all these districts is a large swath of heavily-D
precincts where the Democrats have long experience in getting out their
vote, and where the Republicans have a long experience of ... complete
surrender. Which allows the unchallenged Democrats to rack up huge margins
that the Republicans cannot overcome in the suburbs and counties. This is
the same story in each defeat.
Either fight back and move the needle in those precincts, or say goodbye
to the House majority. Can't make it any simpler.
March 25
Jim Jordan couldn't have said it any better on CNBC this morning.
This would work well as the main Republican talking point in this year's elections. Plenty of supporting arguments. (Use them one at a time, always
accompanied with "he's crazy" (or "she's crazy") and the message will sink in.
"(Democrat candidate) wants boys in
girls bathrooms."
"________ wants to you to miss your flight and wreck your vacation
suffering for hours in the airport TSA line so he (she) can protect criminal
illegals."
"________ wants to destroy our culture by creating Muslim enclaves,
terrorist breeding grounds, everywhere."
"________ wants to overrule local zoning laws to create public housing in
your neighborhood."
"She's crazy. I'm not."
If the Republicans could unite on a single message like this, then every
Democrat up and down the ballot would be back on their heels having to
demonstrate that he or she is somehow not crazy for supporting all these
insane policies.
No Democrat should be left off the hook. Doesn't matter if they're
running for US Senate or township trustee. They're all political
hoodlums in the same gang. Unless they've spoken against any of these ideas,
their inaction makes them complicit. Let 'em have it.
March 24
From the speaker's X post today:
They are refusing to fund TSA and FEMA for the American people... unless
Republicans agree to also reopen the borders for illegal aliens. We CANNOT
and we WILL NOT.
That explains the impasse. What's amazing is that Democrats think this helps them politically.
In our view it's because of the Republicans' inability to coalesce into a single, unified national voice on the subject.
Every Republican at every level on every platform should be repeating Mr.
Johnson's words. That's the only way to affect public opinion.
Democrats do it. Which is why they always seem to win the public
argument.
When will we learn?
A word about Mr. Johnson: He's a giant. Holding together a five-seat majority on the most contentious issues of our time is the greatest political performance since Lincoln and the passage of the 13th Amendment.
The Republicans have a real leader in Congress. Follow him.
February 12
Today we're reading that the Republicans will have no one on the ballot to
challenge for the US Senate because their candidate failed to qualify with
enough signatures.
Another US Senate seat down the dumper. It looks like the Republicans
didn't even try to find a quality candidate.
We did the research. If the GOP can somehow raise slightly the
Republican average in Bernalillo County (Albuquerque), and polls say they can,
then New Mexico is a Republican state!
When will they learn?
January 29
A former elected official and metropolitan-county GOP chairman just called us "one of the all-time greats in GOP strategy."
Thanks, Mike, for the plug. We prefer to think our advice on this site has
more to do with common sense.
If you're a candidate, you've already heard from dozens of geniuses
offering their own strategic vision. For a price (usually a
monthly retainer) that you cannot afford.
Here's our free advice: Recruit, Target, Prioritize. That's how you Win.
Works every time.
January 6
We tend to applaud President Trump's "revenge tour" because it's important
for everyone to see that enemies cannot operate with impunity. Otherwise they'll keep shooting.
But Trump's public criticism of Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has only empowered the guy.
Massie is not the enemy, merely an annoyance. A booger you can't shake. He's a virtue-signaling Libertarian who's taken advantage of a safe Republican district to
selfishly platform his perhaps laudable but altogether unrealistic goals. He should be a talking head on CNN, not the deciding vote in a tiny
GOP majority. The Republican voters of northern Kentucky should find someone else.
And they might, if Trump would just stay out of it.
Instead, by anointing a primary opponent, the President has crystallized
Massie's support and alienated former opponents who will respond by siding with
Massie because they resent either Trump's involvement or the newcomer he endorsed.
Stay out of it, Mr. President. If you want to get involved, here's our suggestion:
We're building a list of candidates who could prevail in each of the 40 or so winnable D-held districts. One phone call from you to each of these candidates will convince
them to run.
You defeat Massie by building the Republican majority.
Because then he'll be nothing but a fart in the wind. He won't count. The cameras will turn elsewhere.
December 16
In all the finger-pointing and threats over the Indiana Senate's failure to approve a new Congressional district map lies one
unspoken truth:
The White House has lost all confidence in the GOP to produce victories in
competitive districts. So Mr. Trump is looking to stack the deck in states where
he can.
Another wake-up call for Republicans.
By our count there are at least 40 winnable D-held congressional districts
out there. The solution is to join our coalition, find the best candidates
...
From the post: "One factor here is that Dem money does a better job turning their voters out than Republican money does turning our voters out
."
Early reports indicate the Republican outspent the Democrat 3-2. Yet managed to get only 53 percent against an unrepentant leftist who said she hates both Nashville and country music.
Now President Trump wants to "primary" those Rs in the Indiana legislature who refuse to go along with a do-over of Congressional redistricting.
Why?
Republicans already have a 7-2 majority in the state. The two D districts are
centered on the Democrat cores in Gary and Indianapolis. A redrawing of the map
will at best create two new still-difficult districts that the GOP will probably
lose anyway, based on past electoral performance.
Here's a better idea: Spare the turmoil and focus on District 1 in NW Indiana.
It can be won with the right candidate.
November 13
Here's what the six House Democrats who voted last night to reopen the government have in common: They're from competitive districts.
The Democrats clearly understand that the 43-day government shutdown was
exposed for what it always was: a childish act of petty selfishness. A political loser.
But only if the Republicans can take advantage of this monstrous blunder.
Every Democrat running for Congress is on the wrong
side of several 80-20 issues: illegal immigration, crime, gas prices,
transgenderism. And now
unconcern.
People are dismayed, scared and suffering, and their frivolous Congressman isn't even serious
about it. His only initiative is to shut down the government so maybe we'll
blame it on Trump.
If the Republicans cannot win with this, then it's time to forge a
coalition that can.
November 5
Told you so!
To be fair, the Republicans in New Jersey and Virginia were battling on the Democrat homecourt. Yet still underperformed.
It was painfully familiar: poorly run campaigns, candidates left to twist in the wind, and a Republican establishment that either couldn’t connect with its own base or wouldn’t lift a finger for those who did.
The Republican Party cannot be fixed in the year we have left. Best option will be to support those candidates and GOP clubs in the metro areas who will work together on messaging and turnout.
November 3
Looking at the new maps in Ohio and elsewhere. Haven't run the precinct and ward numbers but it looks like they took slightly Democrat seats
and made them nominally Republican.
For example, in Ohio 1 they removed a few of the worst Cincinnati wards,
added some west-side wards and a rural county of 42,000. Certainly an improvement. But now this:
All it means is that a bevy of Republican challengers will file and then
spend the primary kow-towing to President Trump for his endorsement. Trump
will then, as he has so many times in the past, choose the wrong candidate
... who will blow it in November. This is the main reason why
Democrats win 70 percent of the competitive districts.
Here's our solution: Crowded primaries are a specialty of ours. Find the best candidate who fits the district --
the one who can win in November and not just in May -- and get to work!
September 4
We were asked about the idea of the R-controlled Indiana legislature following the Texas example
and creating a new congressional-district map that yields one, perhaps two
additional Republican districts.
Think about this one: The two D seats in Indiana are centered where the
Democrats are: Indianapolis and Gary. Look at the map. The only way to make
these districts more competitive is to make the surrounding
Republican districts less competitive. And how will that work out,
considering the GOP's poor performance in competitive elections? What about
those Indiana legislators who fancy themselves as Congressmen
and will have the power to draw a district for themselves? And do you think the
incumbent Republican Congress members will give up their safe seats without
a fight?
It will be a mess.
Here's our idea: Get to work. The Indy seat is a lost cause. Too
many Democrats. But the Gary seat (Indiana 1) is an opportunity. Recruit a quality candidate. Then organize
and fund a GOP turnout operation in the 300 or so Lake County precincts and
the seat turns red. Lots of good people in NW Indiana who want to make it
happen. All they need is a push. And a few bucks.
August 29
If there's a culprit for the Republican under-performance of recent years it is
the confederacy of Washington-based consultants foisted upon candidates who are
led to believe that hiring from the GOP union hall is the price of gaining
national support. This system works well for those consultants while candidates, their supporters
and ultimately the public are left holding the bag.
As we mentioned in yesterday's post, the Ds first move is always to look for a reason to disqualify the opponent from the ballot. And if they don't
succeed they hope to at least emerge with an issue that will hamstring the Republican throughout the campaign.
This is why we always rejected the assertion that Barack Obama was
foreign-born.
Who was his opponent in the 2008 primary? Correct. Hillary Clinton.
If Obama was born outside the US, it is a metaphysical certainty the
Clintons would have figured it out.
July 29
Article in today's Cincinnati paper about a Republican candidate for Congress who registered his candidacy at an address outside the district.
This is legal, of course. The Constitution only requires residency in the
same state. The candidate apparently has since changed his address to one
inside the district. But an embarrassment nonetheless. Which was
compounded by the Washington DC consultant's refusal, according to the
article, to provide the candidate's contact info to the reporter who called.
Are you kidding?
The district is Ohio 1, perhaps the most difficult of the so-called
"winnable" seats. And the candidate apparently thought the proper first move
was to hire a consultant rather than properly file his candidacy.
Where did the reporter get this information? Probably wasn't on her
radar. It was almost certainly the Democrats, whose first move in any race
is to challenge the Republican's ballot status. (Remember that,
everyone.)
And now they'll keep
digging. The candidate is a local boy who recently moved back to the
district and his vote-turnout record is spotty. Has he actually moved
to the apartment inside the district or does he still own the other
property? Does the date of his move match what he filed publicly?
Hopefully this is the end of the story.
But then the article also had one of his supporters saying his voting
record was spotty because he worked for the CIA. His website says he was a
case officer, which to many would suggest he was operating undercover,
recruiting spies in a foreign land. Highly commendable and highly dangerous.
But if it turns out he was managing cases from a PC in Langley, the Ds will
gleefully exploit this as another case of stolen valor.
Oh boy. Stay tuned.
July 21, 2025
From Kevin O'Leary (aka "Mr. Wonderful"):
Consultants don’t make real decisions. They make slides. They scrape data, present it to CEOs, and never feel the weight of being right or wrong. Stay in that world too long, and you become a single-cell amoeba in an ocean of mediocrity. I use AI more than consultants now
October 11, 2024
Always admired Donald Trump's statement about his personal faith. He's Presbyterian but not a very good one. How refreshing to hear the truth that most politicians are unwilling to admit about themselves.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
Catholic schoolchildren of a certain age remember this as St. Michael's prayer. Father de Souza concludes:
Mr. Trump’s post provoked criticism from the easily agitated, who suggested he was likening his political rivals to the devil. But the prayer, which is as ancient as the Scriptures and as new as the 19th century, is about something much older than American politics. Evil abounds, and the battle against it needs joining. St. Michael leads the charge.
October 10, 2024
It's been a good week for Donald Trump. The polls seem to be trending his way. The Senate Republican candidates seem to be sharing the same momentum everywhere except in Nevada and Arizona.
Donald Trump can pull you over the top if you're a Republican in a close race. But if you're reading this you're probably not. Which means that now is the time put the pedal to the metal.
If a Trump wave is forming, riding it will take some work.
Are you ready for early voting? Is there an
absentee program in place? Has your local GOP printed the
slate cards, and is there a fund-raising effort underway to pay the postage?
If the answer to any of these is no, then exactly how the hell do you expect to win this?
Call the number at the bottom of this page. We want to help.
Sept 27, 2024
Someone posted on Facebook a graphic showing the electoral map of US
counties. (Haven't checked for sure but it appears to reflect the results of the
last Presidental election). Most of the country is red, save for the blue
regions on the coasts and in the major cities. The caption reads: "There
are zero blue states. Only blue cities."
Google that phrase and it will point to a Facebook post that is
blocked with the following message: "False information. Reviewed by
third-party fact checkers." Click on the "see why" button and it says the
post has no basis in fact. "The viral image misrepresents the electoral
process," say the self-appointed holy guardians of the truth at USA Today,
which is named as the "independent" source.
There are about 3,000 counties in the US and Trump won about 2,500 of
them. So any county electoral map of the US will be
mostly red.
Debunking the essential facts as myth. This is Trump Derangement
Syndrome.
Here's our take: the censorship apparatchiks at Meta and the AP
understand what we've been saying all along: Trump and the Republicans need
only to move the needle in a few cities, and Comrade Kamala and her
confederates are toast.
Sept 20, 2024
Once upon a time the Columbus mayor and most Franklin County officeholders were Republican. The numbers began to diminish in the late 90s because, in the words of the former county Republican chairman, "our voters moved to Delaware County." (Well then, they're not your voters anymore!)
The Franklin County Republican Party is typical of those large-county organizations who blame electoral failure on changing demographics, rather than acting to meet the challenge.
You'd at least expect them to offer up a slate of sacrificial-lamb candidates
this year. Not even that. The one GOP officeholder, the county engineer,
resigned when he found out a Democrat had filed to run against him. No Republican
has filed to run for the offices of commissioner, sheriff, clerk, treasurer, recorder and coroner. No Republican filed for any of nine judicial seats
and six legislative seats. Oh, there is a Republican candidate for prosecutor.
But he is left off the party endorsement page. (Must not be a member of their club.)
What about the party's responsibility to the public? How many undistinguished Democrat officials will gain office by default?
This is a sorry example of GOP surrender in the metro counties.
Here's the really sad part: by leaving the field to the Democrats, the GOP is helping to lay the groundwork for a crushing defeat of Donald Trump and US Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio's second-largest county. Which could sink both candidates statewide.
If Trump loses and the Republicans fail to retake the Senate, here's your reason.
Sept 18, 2024
Since last week's Trump-Harris debate the Dems and the pro-Harris news media have focused on the veracity of Trump's claim of pet cats being eaten by the Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.
Democrats are smart. They're using the lack of concrete proof of this story to convince the public that everything else we hear about Springfield is fake. But they cannot deny the crime, traffic accidents and strain on public services.
A Springfield aquaintance says he's noticed three changes since the Haitans arrived: the motels and laundromats are full, driving to the store is a stressful adventure ... and the ducks have disappeared from the park where he walks his dog.
Which stands to reason when the population of your town of 55,000 has been invaded by 20,000 with so-called
special immigrant status from a third-world voodoo culture.
This is the Democrats' America.
If the Republicans can't win on this issue alone, then we deserve to go out of business.
Don't think "it can't happen here." Smaller towns around Springfield are dealing with the overflow. If your community has cheap housing and businesses in need of unskilled labor, rest assured the Biden/Harris migration machine is looking at you now.
Sept 14, 2024
Turns out a Fox News op-ed explains the lack of movement in the polls. To the Beltway cabal and some of Trump's supporters, Tuesday's debate wasn't a good look. For everyone else? Meh. Just Trump being Trump.
Here's a few lines from the brilliant Newt Gingrich:
President Trump’s great attraction to the supporters who have been with him through thick and thin is precisely that he is not an effete, fawning, dishonest, and manipulative cretin from the governing class. Remember, they’ve stuck with him through the Russia hoax, a multiyear investigation, two impeachments, multiple lawsuits and slanderous attacks by the leftwing propaganda media.
You can like him or dislike him, admire him or disdain him, but what you get is the authentic Trump.
So, we had a debate between the privileged, protected elitist Princess of the Left and a down-to-earth guy who people understand. It isn’t that President Trump can’t function in high society and country clubs. He owns country clubs ... But he is a regular guy who never hides who he really is.
The fact is, authenticity beats wearing a mask. Being yourself beats trying to be the person your consultants have trained you to be. This has always been true in American politics.
We encourage everyone to read Newt's column because he leaves us with many good talking points. If we don't use them, we're as dumb as the Ds.
Sept 11, 2024
Answer: Nothing.
Everyone understands it was three against one. ABC moderators clearly in the tank for Kamala. So what's new about that?
Don't obsess over things you can't control. Such as the fact that, after everything the Democrat/deep state/media alliance has done to sideline Trump, he's still neck-and-neck in the polls.
So take that as good news. And get to work! Are you ready for early voting? Is there an
absentee program in place? Has your local GOP printed the
slate cards, and is there a fund-raising effort underway to pay the postage?
Seems there are some remaining uncompleted tasks with far more impact than a lackluster (but still early!) debate performance.
Sept 6, 2024
Today they're mailing out absentee ballots in North Carolina. (In Ohio and presumably elsewhere they've already mailed absentee-ballot applications.) Which means that in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, the Democrats are hard at work "banking" their votes.
Oh. Wait a minute. Now we're hearing the mailing has been delayed because of RFK Jr.'s lawsuit to have himself removed from the ballot. Which just underscores the absurdity. And here's another absurdity: this deadline was established by a Republican-dominated legislature.
Which underscores our general gripe: the Republican election system is
broken largely because it's dominated by frivolous incumbents in safe districts who
haven't a clue of what it's like to campaign in majority-D precincts.
They are the teachers, equipped with the knowledge and authority to direct their hapless charges. We are the students, naive and ill-informed, sometimes attentive but too often insubordinate, with minds that need to be shaped and disciplined.
This self-image of Democrats and their role in government as benevolent, omniscient educators emerges from a mindset that represents a greater challenge to our freedoms than any attempts at interference in the lives of law-abiding Americans the Republicans are accused of planning. The didactic ethic, in which our leaders treat us as people who can’t make good decisions for ourselves, has been vividly on display in the last decade
We aren’t well-informed enough to understand the damage fossil fuel-energy production is doing to the environment. So we need to be told what kind of car we can drive and what kind of stove we can cook on. We can’t be trusted with information from unreliable sources. Like schoolchildren reading naughty books and listening to schoolyard gossip, we must be protected from “misinformation.” We aren’t sufficiently developed to comprehend the dangers of firearms. So our leaders must determine who can have access to them. We didn’t have their deep grasp of the science behind pandemics. So we had to be instructed to stay home, wear masks and submit ourselves to vaccination on pain of losing our livelihoods. Lacking their sophisticated biological knowledge and understanding of geopolitics, we weren’t permitted to speculate about what caused Covid-19 either. We must accept the teacher’s word on the subject.
Not content with ensuring our compliance with their social studies and science curricula, our governor-didacts insist on teaching us ethics. We need to be educated in how sinful we are as white people, as Americans, guilty inheritors of Western civilization. We must learn the new catechism of critical theory and expiate our sin.
August 30, 2024
Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
From “Those Who Remain” by G. Michael Hopf
August 28, 2024
from RFK Jr.'s social-media post after endorsing Trump:
"Make America Great Again' recalls a nation brimming with vitality,
with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself. It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes. It was a nation of broad prosperity, the world's most vibrant middle class, and an idealistic belief (though not consistently applied) in freedom, justice, and democracy. It was a nation that led the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. And it was the healthiest country in the world. I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore."
As we repeat elsewhere on this site, indeed the political sands are shifting.
