Republican Party

Broward Young Republicans to Manage Golf Event Aiding At-Risk Youth in Coconut Creek

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 7, 2024

The event is made possible through the concerted efforts of the Broward Young Republicans, AlwaysProgress.Org, and the generous support of City Commissioner Josh Brodie.

Key Points: 
  • The event is made possible through the concerted efforts of the Broward Young Republicans, AlwaysProgress.Org, and the generous support of City Commissioner Josh Brodie.
  • Together, they have chosen Coconut Creek High School as the honorary recipient of a scholarship fund, created by the proceeds from the golf tournament.
  • This scholarship aims to acknowledge and support the remarkable progress and achievements of the students and faculty at Coconut Creek High School.
  • AlwaysProgress.Org , is a fiscally sponsored project of Enterprise Palm Beach (a registered not-for-profit corporation in Florida), and the Broward Young Republicans are proud to facilitate this event.

Just Published: 'MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal -- And Other Shocking Notions'

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

CINCINNATI, Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Former Washington Post contributing columnist Gary Abernathy's new book, "MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal – And Other Shocking Notions," is now available in hardcover, paperback and eBook on Amazon.

Key Points: 
  • CINCINNATI, Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Former Washington Post contributing columnist Gary Abernathy's new book, "MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal – And Other Shocking Notions," is now available in hardcover, paperback and eBook on Amazon.
  • He predicted early in the process that the billionaire businessman and reality TV star would win the GOP presidential nomination.
  • Throughout the campaign and in the months following Trump's historic upset victory, Abernathy continued writing about Trump.
  • "MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal" opens with a collection of the columns written for the Times-Gazette that caught the attention of the Post.

FAU AND MAINSTREET RESEARCH NATIONAL POLL REVEALS TIGHT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 9, 2024

According to the national survey, 41 percent of registered voters expressed support for Trump, while 37 percent favored Biden.

Key Points: 
  • According to the national survey, 41 percent of registered voters expressed support for Trump, while 37 percent favored Biden.
  • These findings echo recent polls showing Trump consistently leading Biden by margins ranging from 1 to 4 percent.
  • Demographic analysis of the poll data highlights the role of racial and ethnic identity in shaping candidate support.
  • Further examination reveals Trump's strong hold on white non-college graduates, with 52 percent favoring him over Biden.

Marine Veteran, Fox News Commentator and CA-49 Congressional Candidate Kate Monroe Officially Endorses Donald J. Trump for President - Her "Republican" Opponents Decline

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kate Monroe, the Marine veteran running for Congress and seeking to "make CA-49 red again," has endorsed Donald J. Trump for a second term as President.

Key Points: 
  • SAN DIEGO, Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kate Monroe, the Marine veteran running for Congress and seeking to "make CA-49 red again," has endorsed Donald J. Trump for a second term as President.
  • She has also ripped her Republican opponents for flatly refusing to endorse President Trump, as "they try to deny him, disparage him, and distance themselves from him as if he's radioactive."
  • About the only factions that still oppose him are the extreme far left socialists, Marxists, communists…and sadly, my three 'Republican' primary opponents."
  • Kate has provided insightful commentary about President Trump's impact on the election and the Nation on numerous national TV networks:

Longtime NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is leaving the gun group in trouble but still powerful

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Wayne LaPierre will resign from the National Rifle Association at the end of January 2024.

Key Points: 
  • Wayne LaPierre will resign from the National Rifle Association at the end of January 2024.
  • During most of the 33 years he spent at its helm as its executive vice president, the gun group’s membership, revenue and clout grew sharply.
  • The group announced his impending departure shortly before the NRA’s civil fraud trial began in New York City.

From defeat to victory

  • He joined the NRA as a state lobbyist after working as a legislative aide to Virginia state Delegate Alfred Victor “Vic” Thomas, a conservative Democrat.
  • Often described as bookish and quiet, LaPierre brought to the NRA his considerable skills as a political strategist.
  • He also developed a pugnacious public persona, memorably calling federal agents “jack-booted government thugs” in a 1995 fundraising letter.

Fighting gun control

  • Though it occasionally celebrated and supported hunting or shooting sports, it increasingly emphasized the importance of firearms for self-defense.
  • With LaPierre at the helm of the NRA, congressional action toward gun control ground to a near halt.
  • LaPierre also led the NRA through a sea change in the prevailing legal interpretation of the Second Amendment as its long effort to enshrine gun ownership as a constitutional right came to fruition.
  • Those rulings have forced states to reassess gun regulations already on their books.

Losing members, waning influence

  • All told, they allegedly misused $64 million of the funds in the NRA’s coffers.
  • The NRA is reportedly hemorrhaging members, a key source of its operating revenue and the heart of its political power.
  • For the moment, it’s still the largest gun advocacy organization, though the spending gap between gun rights and gun control groups continues to narrow.

No permanent replacement yet

  • And yet his influence will remain in the short run, as longtime confidant Andrew Arulanandam will step into his shoes on an interim basis.
  • The NRA’s board will decide on a permanent replacement in May, when the group holds its annual meeting in Dallas.


Cari Babitzke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Why Trump’s control of the Republican Party is bad for democracy

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The reason has less to do with Trump and his ambitions than with how power dynamics have shifted within the Republican Party.

Key Points: 
  • The reason has less to do with Trump and his ambitions than with how power dynamics have shifted within the Republican Party.
  • And typical parties tend to select leaders who rise up the ranks of the party, having worked with other party elites along the way.
  • There are three reasons personalist parties are harmful to democracy, all of which have clear parallels to experiences with Trump and the Republican Party.

1. Loyalty to the person, not the party

  • A classic indicator of party personalization is the ouster of politically experienced people in the party elite, who are often highly qualified and more independent of the leader – and their replacement with less experienced people who are personally loyal to the leader.
  • These people are more likely to view their political success as being intertwined with that of the leader rather than the party.

2. Official endorsement of leader’s actions

  • In personalist parties, elites endorse the leader’s actions, cueing voters to do the same.
  • Ordinary citizens who support personalist parties often go along with leaders’ efforts to dismantle democracy, even if they care about democracy, because they are highly receptive to signals provided by the party elite.

3. Polarizing society with controversy

  • While many kinds of leaders demonize their political opponents, we have found that personalist party leaders’ anti-democratic behaviors – such as attempting to overturn an election they’ve lost – split society into polarized factions: those who support them and everyone else.
  • Former President Hugo Chavez’s power grabs splintered Venezuelan society, dividing citizens over what the rules of the game should be and who should have access to power.
  • Chavez’s actions, which faced no resistance from those in his party, polarized society, ultimately pushing the country toward dictatorship.

The GOP is a personalist party

  • Since 2016, Trump has increasingly sidelined the traditional party establishment to remake the party into an instrument to further his own personal, political and financial interests.
  • Traditional parties, including the pre-Trump Republican Party, offer voters a bundle of policy positions hashed out among multiple elite factions of the party.
  • Trump’s supersized control over the Republican Party has transformed other leading party figures into sycophants, always seeking Trump’s favor.

No resistance to a Trump power grab

  • All signs indicate that Trump, if reelected, is likely to pursue an authoritarian power grab by, for example, purging professional bureaucrats, expanding the Supreme Court or using the Insurrection Act to deploy the military against protesters.
  • Party members may even support him in that power grab.
  • Most elected leaders are ambitious and, like Trump, seek to gain and hold onto power for as long as they can.
  • In those circumstances, there is little that stands in the way of a grab for power.
  • My organization, CNAS receives funding from multiple sources, including funding that supported this research from a foundation called Luminate.
  • Joseph Wright received funding from the Luminate Foundation; Charles Koch Foundation; McCourtney Institute for Democracy; and the Minerva Research Initiative.

U.S. Congressional Candidate, Larry Thompson, Hits the Political Bitcoin Jackpot

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 22, 2024

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 22, 2024 PRNewswire/ -- On January 10, 2024, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) gave official approval to 11 Financial Institutions to create a "spot bitcoin ETF" (Exchange-Traded Fund). This long-awaited and controversial government approval basically allows these 11 Financial Institutions to now offer to the public the opportunity to buy "bitcoin" easily and safely as if it were simply a stock in a mutual fund on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, or Chicago Board of Trade, instead of investors still having to figure out how to buy it on a "Crypto Exchange" (e.g. Coinbase) as a "mysterious" and "dangerous" cryptocurrency. 

Key Points: 
  • I am proud to announce that my campaign is one of the first to ever accept donations in bitcoin.
  • This approval is recognized worldwide as the biggest event in the history of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
  • So, how does this financial world news impact the highly contested U.S. Congressional Race CA 32 in Los Angeles, California?
  • Pierce is the Chairman of The Bitcoin Foundation, the longest established Bitcoin advocacy organization in the world.

Angie Wong Announces Dismissal of Civil Lawsuits Against Her in Georgia

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

MIAMI, Fla.  , Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Angie Wong—a political journalist and co-host of The Final Countdown—is pleased to announce the successful dismissal of the lawsuits filed against her in a Georgia civil court. After months of spreading lies about Wong's good character and reputation, Stan Fitzgerald, Jared Craig, Patrick Collis and their associates have finally relented in their bad-faith efforts by their filing of two Notices of Dismissal on January 12th, 2024. 

Key Points: 
  • The voluntary dismissal of both lawsuits (see here and here ) proves that Fitzgerald and his associates could not proceed without providing evidence and documentation to a federal court to support the lies they told the public in a smear campaign against Wong.
  • Wong filed a defamation lawsuit against Fitzgerald and his associates in the West Palm Beach, Florida-based 15th Judicial Circuit Court for damages in excess of $50,000.
  • Wong will be continuing her defamation suit in pursuit of accountability, transparency, and the disclosure of the defendants' fraudulent activity.
  • Unfortunately, American politics is a world full of bad actors, and we need to do much more to expose blatant wrongdoing—starting now."

US election 2024: Trump victory in Iowa caucus not as big as he may have hoped – here's why Biden still wants him to get GOP nomination

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

The last successful GOP candidate who won the Iowa caucus was George W Bush in 2000.

Key Points: 
  • The last successful GOP candidate who won the Iowa caucus was George W Bush in 2000.
  • This is partly because Iowa, with just over 3 million inhabitants represents less than 1% of the wider US population.
  • Its voters are also much older, more rural, whiter (90%), more evangelical and less college educated than the US at large.
  • Those turning out to vote for Trump were also a smaller, self-selecting subset of even that tiny population.

Biden wants Trump to win

  • It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow.” This is also how Biden and his team want it.
  • By contrast, polls pitting Biden against either Haley or DeSantis show a marked improvement in the prospect for the Republic Party.
  • By contrast, the Democrats see such a process as their best chance of overcoming Biden’s own unpopularity with the electorate.

Negative ratings

  • Trump’s national favourability ratings currently stand at 42%.
  • This is a very different picture from that painted by the news coverage from the Iowa caucus.


David Hastings Dunn has previously received funding from the ESRC, the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the Open Democracy Foundation and has previously been both a NATO and a Fulbright Fellow.

Is America enduring a 'slow civil war'? Jeff Sharlet visits Trump rallies, a celebrity megachurch and the manosphere to find out

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Nor is its author, Jeff Sharlet, focused only on the ominous events of January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol.

Key Points: 
  • Nor is its author, Jeff Sharlet, focused only on the ominous events of January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol.
  • Sharlet believes that event is part of a “slow civil war” that threatens the future of the American republic.
  • Review: The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War – Jeff Sharlet (W.W. Norton)

American racism

  • Sharlet documents Belafonte’s lifelong struggle against racism, through a series of conversations.
  • Sharlet uses Belafonte to argue racism is at the heart of the American political and social malady.
  • Belafonte, a mainstream performer with cross-race appeal who still suffered intense discrimination, is Sharlet’s bearer of the bad news that racism resides in the core of American identity.
  • Read more:
    From sit-ins in the 1960s to uprisings in the new millennium, Harry Belafonte served as a champion of youth activism

‘The American religion of winning’

  • While race may be at the heart of a contested American identity, Sharlet believes evangelical religion is propelling the narrative of discontent and rebellion.
  • Or rather, a distorted branch within evangelical religion: the prosperity gospel, which teaches that faith and positive thinking attract health, wealth and happiness.
  • Wilkerson is portrayed as a very “cool” Christian, with a talent for grabbing headlines and fraternising with celebrity friends.
  • Prosperity follows him.” The American prosperity gospel is a materialist practice full of (sometimes unaware) poseurs, a bit like Trump himself.
  • His braggadocio at rallies appeals to his acolytes because it operates within “the American religion of winning”.

Evangelical religion and QAnon

  • As the apostle Paul wrote: “We walk by faith, not by sight” (KJV, 2 Corinthians 5:7).
  • Through QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory provides secular breadcrumbs for those seeking answers for the strange condition of the modern American nation-state.
  • QAnon is rooted in Gnostic philosophy, which held that reality is not what it appears (and was expelled from the mainstream of early Christianity’s canon).
  • QAnon adherents believe that, with the addition of the conspiracy theories supplied by QAnon, menacing forces and hopeful signs can be effortlessly revealed.
  • Read more:
    History repeats itself: From the New Testament to QAnon

A slow civil war


Hope cannot easily spring eternal, so grim are the signs of a slow civil war. Sharlet hints mass protest may be a democratic antidote to the American proto-fascism he fears.

  • In the end, Sharlet can only offer the slender hope that democratic practice, one small step at a time, might prevail through the will of sensible people.
  • But what if the problem went deeper than an internal culture war?
  • Read more:
    In Doppelganger, Naomi Klein says the world is broken: conspiracy theorists 'get the facts wrong but often get the feelings right'

Not unique to America

  • Certainly, Australia has experienced white racism – and violent, organised attacks on non-whites.
  • Alternatively, follow the unfolding story of the two policemen and a neighbour, gunned down in an ambush in Southern Queensland in 2022.
  • But it is harder to channel racist and religious fanaticism into an attack on the political state in Australia.
  • They will not be assured of America’s future role as a reliable world bastion of liberal democracy.
  • Nor can they be assured the United States will remain the politically stable centre of an increasingly unstable global economic system.


Ian Tyrrell received funding from the Australian Research Council's grant schemes on five occasions from 1996 to 2015.