Steve Wagner, Author at The National Pulse

Romney’s Third Party Flirtations Are Immoral

Newt Gingrich tore into Mitt Romney in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, calling the former Republican presidential nominee pathetic, bizarre, and ineffective — principally for his efforts to derail Donald Trump…

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Trump’s January Pivot

Donald Trump is well on his way to winning the Republican presidential nomination. This owes substantially to the party’s bias for “winner-take-all” and “winner-take-all-lite” primaries. Trump will come out of…

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Who’s Hot, Who’s Not: Cruz Cruising While Rubio Looks Outmaneuvered

HOT: The big dogs of the social conservative movement have voted, and their candidate is Ted Cruz. The effort among leading social conservative organizations to coalesce around one candidate – in…

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Peggy Noonan Nails the Trump Phenomenon

Peggy Noonan is the only Wall Street Journal op-ed regular who does not hyperventilate at the mention of “The Donald.” Despite hanging with the beautiful people in Manhattan, Ms. Noonan stays…

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George Will Needs to Chill

Wednesday’s anti-Trump rant by George Will is far from his first. On September 9, it was “Donald Trump is a Malleable Mess.” On August 26, it was “The Havoc that…

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Who’s Hot? Ted Cruz; Who’s Not: “Gentle Ben” Carson

The Republican mating ritual is getting down to brass tacks: policy substance is of increasing importance, and the two candidates whose persona is most about substance are Ted Cruz and…

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Who’s Hot: Marco Rubio, For Quietly Becoming the Favorite “Insider” Candidate

Hot: Marco Rubio A gang of six is emerging in the Republican presidential field — which once sported 17 candidates. The six are: three outsiders (Trump, Carson, Fiorina), two senators…

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Analysis

Walter Jones Is Right: Moral Standards Matter in Speaker’s Race

Walter Jones, Congressman from North Carolina’s 3rd district for the past 20 years, in a letter to Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, called on candidates for…

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Who’s Hot, Who’s Not: Second GOP Debate Edition

Carly Fiorina is on fire. And to think she barely got into the Wednesday debate — only after CNN relented to pressure and changed their eligibility rules. We don’t know…

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So Long, Rick, We Hardly Knew You

And so there are 16, as Rick Perry effectively ends his campaign (they always say the campaign is “suspended,” in case they can get FEC matching funds down the road).…

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Who’s Hot: Ben Carson, the Leading Un-Trump

The latest CNN national survey puts Donald Trump in the lead among Republicans with 32 percent; Carson second with 19 percent. But Carson has gained more since the August CNN…

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Who’s Hot: Donald Trump, for Taking the Pledge

Yesterday, Donald Trump (speaking at the Trump Palace, or Trump Mahal, or whatever it’s called in NYC) announced he had taken the non-compete pledge and said this: “I will be…

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What Do Bush, Walker, and Graham Have Against Christians in Syria?

Jeb Bush’s August 11th speech at the Reagan Presidential Library laid out a six-point blueprint for driving the remaining Christians out of Syria — unintentionally, perhaps, but effectively nonetheless. Each element of…

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Stop Attacking Trump Supporters!

Bret Stephens is sputtering so fiercely in today’s Wall Street Journal that spittle fairly flew off the page into my face. “If by now you don’t find Donald Trump appalling,…

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Mr. Trump: Boycott the September Debate

Do you remember? February 23, 1980: George H. W. Bush had won the Iowa caucuses and now wanted a one-on-one debate with Reagan in order to solidify his status as…

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Who’s Hot: Rand Paul, For Showing How to Have a Heart Without Spending Others’ Money

Rand Paul skipped the Iowa State Fair this week in order to perform eye surgeries in Haiti. Dr. Paul was using his God-given talents to help people — oh, and…

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Memo to GOP Governors: Nobody Cares About Your Experience

Half of the Republican presidential field is a current or former governor (9 of 17 candidates). As you might expect, before the first Republican debate on August 2, a plurality…

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Who’s Hot: Carly Fiorina, For Making It to the Show

Positive public reaction to Carly Fiorina’s performance at the Republican JV debate last week — most of which was previewed in her speech at the Reagan Library on July 28 —…

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Who’s Hot, Who’s Not: Fox News GOP Debate Edition

Let’s do “Who’s Not” hot first, because it’s an easier call: Fox News and the RNC. In a week dominated by the first Republican presidential debate, the biggest losers were…

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Analysis

What I Will Be Listening For At the Debate

Jonathan Haidt – self-confessed liberal professor of psychology, now at NYU – is the author or a really fascinating book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics…

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