The GOP is expected to score a big pickup of House seats in November’s elections. But with President Obama still in the White House and the Democrats likely keeping the Senate, Republicans will need to focus on policies that can pull independent and Democratic support.  more

UPDATED: The Senate has taken up the Akaka bill which will restore certain rights to Native Hawaiians and it looks like it will pass. National Review and other conservatives are wrong to attack the bill as a return to segregation or race-based laws.  more

Obama’s missteps are discrediting the Democratic majority. But if the GOP hopes to cement this political shift, they will need to offer more than just criticism of the left.  more

For 50 years American exploits in space towered above those of any other nation. Now we will go, hat in hand, to the Russians and Chinese.   more

Patrick J. Buchanan has finally given up on Quemoy and Matsu, not to mention the ghosts of Douglas MacArthur and General Chiang Kai-shek. In a Feb. 2 column, Buchanan calls for American retreat from bases in Japan and Korea.   more

As the reaction to Obama’s spending freeze announcement highlights, the President cannot please both his supporters and the electorate as a whole. The Democrats cannot be saved this year, but will the President make the right choices to save himself?  more

I have just finished Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the Court in Citizen United v. FEC and one thing is mightily clear — conservatives are now the chief defenders of free speech and the internet, and the importance of the blogosphere has broken through to the Justices.   more

The national Republican Party’s machine ignored the Massachusetts Senate race until Scott Brown willed himself into contention.  more

UPDATED: Scott Brown has run a good campaign for Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat in Massachusetts, but now the Democrats have awoken to his threat.  more

In a recent blogpost, Harvard professor Stephen Walt tallied the number of Muslims killed by the U.S. and presented this as grounds for the Muslim world’s anti-American bent. His approach though ignores the real forces driving Muslim disapproval of the U.S.  more

Conservatism can be a powerful ally for a Republican, but if the candidate fails to focus on local governance issues he will lose. And if he fails to defend marriage, oppose the growth of government and profligacy he will be crushed.  more

HBO and television in general is, as Larry David’s critics note, far more likely to insult Catholics than adherents of almost any other religion. Only Southern Baptists and Mormons are in the running for this dubious honor. From a Christian perspective this should be a badge of honor rather than of complaint.  more

We are one week away from the first elections of the Obama era with close races in Virginia, New Jersey and New York’s 23rd congressional district.  more

The 1980’s were the anti-communist coalition’s finest hour, but because the keepers of memory in America are academia and popular culture, the Cold War has almost been forgotten.  more

Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey ought to be a dead man walking. But the entry of former Republican-turned-independent Chris Daggett into the gubernatorial race is splitting the Republican vote and handing the governorship back to Corzine.  more

Word is out that Michael Castle, after years in the House, is poised to run for Joe Biden’s former Senate seat. The seat is now held by a Biden ally who is warming it for Beau Biden, Joe’s son.  more

Two young journalists posed as a pimp and prostitute seeking loans to set up brothels staffed by underage illegal immigrants, and received advice from ACORN workers on how to do it.  more

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission and will decide if an election year documentary about Hillary Clinton broke campaign advertising laws. No law prevents rich people or unions from buying the New York Times or CBS. How does that differ from corporate contributions and a movie critical of Hillary Clinton?  more

Many in the media have picked up on the “Obama’s opponents are racist” meme. The burden of proving racism is on those making that accusation. Is there any member of Congress now opposing the public option and multi-trillion dollar deficits who would not be opposing them if President Obama was as white as his mother and the grandparents that raised him?  more

The Republican leadership must begin to highlight, in a systematic way, that Barack Obama’s failures all emerge from the ideology and playbook of the Left.   more