For conservatives, I’m a might tired of the weenies who prance around on the Internet as if they’re spoiling for a fight, then when someone with a little fight in them comes along, they start sounding like pussified Republicans. Oh, God, no, we can’t have that go on!!
One of the Left’s big advantages is, they aren’t afraid of a little passion in their politics. They’re also more willing to take risks. Well, there’s a rule of thumb that applies, higher risk is required for higher reward. Look it up in your capitalist manifesto, when you climb down off your high horse and stop defending it, when it wasn’t under attack in the first place.
I didn’t start out backing Newt Gingrich. Perry was my guy. He’s gone and you go to war with the army you’ve got, or you can sit in your tent and pick your ass, while government continues to grow and we continue the long, slow slide into statism that’s been going on for almost a century, now.
It is inconceivable that we will see any serious Right-leaning reform from a guy like Mitt Romney. He may work hard at some things when it suits him, but he has no history of fighting for anything other than perhaps parochial interests when the current is seriously against him. And the current in Washington and the media is most definitely against conservatism.
Romney will make Bush’s Compassionate Conservatism look like the real thing. At this point in our nation’s history, what in the hell is there worth fighting for in that? We may as well turn out the government approved light bulbs and hand over the keys to an establishment GOP every bit as invested in big government, as are the Democrats. They just like to tinker around the ever expanding edges of it on their own behalf.
Well, I’m not down for that. And most certainly not now. We do not have four or eight years to fritter away on Obama-lite, which is precisely what Romney is. So much so, in fact, he may not be able to win the general as his record indicates there isn’t really enough difference to warrant throwing Obama out in the eyes of many voters.
Say what you want about Gingrich, one can look at his record and see someone who actually was once involved in some serious reform of the right kind in Washington. I watched the debate last night and all the others, sorry, but Santorum does not impress in this regard. I’m sure he’s a fine man and I have resisted criticizing him, but that dog won’t hunt, most especially in any general election. So, get over it.
Conservatives now have but one horse to ride; otherwise, you may as well saddle up with Mitt and head off into the sunset with whatever you think is a genuine form of conservatism. Romney is not going to expend one iota of political capital selling it, or fighting for it, because he doesn’t believe in it. He is as elitist and out of touch with the working class that empowers Reagan conservatism as is Obama. And he’s damn near as progressive in terms of government being the answer to everything, as long as he’s the one who gets to make the decisions. That’s not conservativism. It’s bullshit.
We’re in a fight to save what remains of the vision we have of America as conservatives. Whatever he’s done, or not done, we can tell that Gingrich appreciates that particular vision. He is also showing himself to be an effective fighter. However he got there – the people that have voted decided it, not me – that’s where he is. And he’s demonstrating a willingness to fight for conservatism, but some of you bad-asses are afraid to fight for and with him?
Gingrich is not electable. I wish he was, but he is not. He has too much baggage, he is too polarizing. He makes impetuous and bad decisions when pressed hard. He readily alienates those he ought not.
Yep, drj… that’s what the lib/progs tell us. Didn’t know you considered them the bearers of truth. But I believe “landslide” was the word they used. Did you want to borrow it from them? LOL
Certainly glad that Reagan, in similar times of discontent and economic woes, didn’t buy into polls and media hype that said the same about him.
But then, the only poll that matters is election day, Nov 2012. You planning on voting for Obama if Newt gets the nod, drj?
@MataHarley: About as likely as you voting for Obama if Romney gets the nomination.
Newt is such a jerk. He attacks Romney for the very things he ought to be attacking Obama. I mean tax records?
Good grief.
Release them when Obama releases his college records. And…
Paul Ryan social engineering?
Nancy Pelosi and global warming commercials?
That’s Newt.
I think Newt could be a great force in the campaign, but not as the nominee. He is mercurial and doesn’t think before he acts.
Too late then, drj. As is said, we can’t “fire” a nominee. And considering that one of Romney’s issues is how he made his money from Bain, his tax records should either exonerate, or condemn him. And that should be done before he is chosen as the nominee.
As far as the “social engineering” and “AGW couch potato” performances, it’s the same story as the health insurance mandate, that even the economists (not the Constitutionalists) at Heritage supported back then. Newt said he made a mistake on all that you mention, and more. And changed his mind. The day a candidate or pol stops learning, and being able to recognize when he’s in error, is the day we are all in trouble. Obama never learns. Neither does Romney.
@DrJohn: Gingrich is only bringing up what Obama is going to drop on Romney like a piano. Romney is unable to answer the charges. Right or wrong the charges will be made. Romney has a glass jaw and he is incapable of defending himself and us. He just gets indignant.
In this atmosphere that Obama has created, Romney comes across as out-of-touch and elitist. Right or wrong…how many people you know that put money in the Caymans. It is perfectly legal and we all would take advantage of the tax haven if we could but it just isn’t going to play. If Romney could make the case it would not matter but he can’t. How many people you know have their money in a blind trust since 2003 and have no idea how their money is invested and where it is spent?
It might not be right or fair but it is a fact.
Mitt does not inspire anyone.
In a nutshell bombastic,baggage laden Newt can’t beat Obama.By the time Newt’s thru skewering him Romney also a general election loser.
Two winners in this Republican bloodletting.
BHO
Rubio 2016
OMG, drj… you sure you’re comfortable standing shoulder to shoulder with rich wheeler? ouch…. LOL You know, the guy who predicted:
Hey, and that’s just a couple of your misguided predictions.
Well, rich… a few problems with your tarot card reading.
1: Sarah and her husband came out this week, backing Newt, and apparently she has no intentions of getting in the race, contrary to your crystal ball
2: Ron Paul did not win IA, despite your confidence.
In fact, thus far RP hasn’t won anything. Romney won NH’s delegates. Santorum won the IA caucus and no delegates. And we’re only getting into SC, the third state now. Paul’s support declines in most states from here. Romney’s been declining as well, being as he’s dancing around tax returns and tends to wander on answers into rhetoric and nothing of substance. Don’t know what’s going to happen to Santorum… we can only wait and see. But my guess is he’s not going to catch Newt, and there’s little new about Newt to be learned. His dirty laundry has been in public view for decades.
The only state that Ron Paul will win is the state of confusion.
Mata You and Aye are the archivists.Check my predictions on Aye’s blog for 2010 and you’ll see Senate and House were spot on.
Sarah endorsed Newt ONLY for S.C. hoping to keep the battle going.I said large majority of F.A’ers would support Sarah over Newt. True
I said Newt would finish ‘no better than 3rd in Iowa and N.H.”Turns out I was being kind.
As mentioned on another post prolonging this increasingly contentious race helps 2 people BHO and Marco Rubio 2016
So you think the Palin’s will switch their support from state to state? Too funny….
Even more funny is that any one here at FA, or any where, can support someone who isn’t a candidate. Something you have doggedly said she would be.
Mata I didn’t say that. When asked on Fox “are you endorsing Gingrich” she clearly said only in S.C. “to keep the process going and fully vet the candidates” Clearly she’s against Romney.We’ll see if and when she puts heels on the ground for Newt.
‘Whatever he’s done, or not done, we can tell that Gingrich appreciates that particular vision.’
Actually, his personal vision is all over the map, and apparently leans towards authoritarian futurism when the constraints of real-life politics aren’t forcing him to mouth a few words in favor of small government.
I also have trouble buying into the idea that him being a fighter/scrapper/effective debater somehow makes up for the venality and egomania. Being an effective political combatant is certainly a virtue – in people we would want to see elected. Since Newt fails that test for me I really can’t get too excited about his campaigning skills.
Newt is a racist a hypocrite and was fined and disgraced by the House Ethic Committee ($300k) and stripped of his Speakership. Plllleeeaaase make him the nominee! Obama will chew him up!
Republican registered voted who SAY they plan to vote in the Primary tomorrow were polled by Clemson University.
This is slightly different from a “likely” voter who has already shown a pattern of voting in the last two elections, but still, it is an interesting poll.
This was the third Clemson University 2012 Palmetto Poll, a sample of 429 South Carolina GOP voters who indicated they plan to vote Saturday. The telephone poll was initiated Jan. 13 and recalibrated Jan. 18-19 to measure changing dynamics.
Results?
Gingrich 32,
Romney 26,
Paul 11,
Santorum 9
And a whole bunch of undecideds.
http://www.clemson.edu/media-relations/4047
Hi Mata, Do you know how many at large super-delegates the GOP sends to the convention? I really think that the crop of GOP contenders is so weak that the best hope would be for no candidate to be near 50% and for the convention to draft a strong candidate: Jeb Bush, Christie, Rubio, Daniels, even Ryan. All those guys could beat Obama, I think. Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Paul … not so much.
– Larry W/HB
Nope, Larry. No clue how reliable the Wiki source on this is, but they said there’s 132 superdelegates (that aren’t bound by state results, that is… which pertains to your observation) this year, and as of this time, 14 were for Romney and 1 for Santorum. I don’t see any way that the superdelegates… generally elite and often elected officials… would not just race to Romney’s throne. And they do make up a very small percentage of the delegates all together.
The delegates can “draft” all they want. You cannot force any of them to run. It’s entirely possible that any of those you mention don’t want to step into the clusterf*#k that is our status today. And Rubio is still too much a newbie for me for POTUS. He’s only been in Congress since midterms, fer heavens sake. We know the rhetoric, but we don’t know of leadership and the record yet. Even Scott Brown talked a good game at the start.
We call them ‘automatic delegates’. The number is not near as large on the Republican side as it is for the Democrats. There is a list here: http://www.democraticconventionwatch.com/diary/4726/republican-superdelegate-endorsement-list
I think the odds of no one getting past 50% on the first ballot are tiny. Bandwagon effects seem to have gotten stronger over time and on top of that the Republican party will lean heavily on anyone who can’t win, ‘requesting’ that they drop out in order to avoid unproductive infighting.
CURT,
HI,
ANOTHER thing we can be assure of, that is; NEWT WILL GET THE PEOPLE COMING OUT TO LAST DEBATES, which will be so alive there will be no chances for OBAMA AND MEDIA AND ELECTED DEMOCRATS, TO PLAY THE SUBLIMINAL PROPAGANDA EFFECTIVE, BECAUSE OF NEWT KEEPING THE DEBATES SO ALIVE, IT WILL ACT AS A COUNTER MEDICINAL TO NEUTRALIZE THE WORK
OF ALL THE OPPONENTS
CURT
like a deterrent to the before ; anti BUSH HATE, AND AN ANTI CABALE OF THE SALTIMBANKESI THINK I THINK [THE LAST WORD IS FRENCH] OOPS
BYE
BEES Now proudly backing Newt. How do you say “kiss of death” in French?
Looks like Romney is trying to start a fight at the Ham House:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10202845-gingrich-romney-heading-for-ham-house-showdown
@liberalmann:
Obama will chew Newt up for being fined for the same thing Obama’s Secretary of State got a pass on? Oh, yeah, how’s he going to explain that that did not matter when he appointed Hillary? And, knowledge/memory challenged or falsehood spewer? Whatever. Newt resigned his Speakership, he was not stripped of it.
I have been simmering in my disgust for the GOP for the last few weeks. First it was the polls, then Perry suspended his campaign. I just couldn’t believe there are people out there that would elevate Santorum and not give Perry a second look after his first few debates. His last few were pretty good.
I am now done with the self pity and late yesterday I decided I’m back Newt as well. There are a couple of reasons. First, we need this election to be about the distinctive views of conservatives and liberals. Romney does not draw that distinction. I am not ok with just getting Obama out of the White House. I also read that Newt has asked Perry to head up his 10th Amendment Project. Excellent choice and I think it will pull the conservative governors together. Last is 1992. A governor from a southern state with more baggage than a 747 was elected because the GOP ran against his morality while the southern governor won by simple saying, “it’s the economy, stupid.” South Carolina is a pretty socially conservative State. They seem to be thinking that Newt’s baggage is a distant second to the economy. Oh yeah, and Chuck Norris is backing Newt. Do you know how many push-ups Chuck Norris has done? All of them.
Super delegates don’t matter a hoot or holler until the convention. We have a ways to go before that happens.
No candidate on the GOP side can take the nomination without the required 1,143 delegates. Currently, Romney leads the pack with 15, Newt with 4. South Carolina will provide the winner with 25, Florida with 50 and even when all the ballots are counted on Super Tuesday, there will only be 820 delegates up for grabs. Not enough to name a nominee.
Do not discount the fact that the delegate count changed this year. McCain took the nomination because he reached the magic number on Super Tuesday. This year is different. Any state holding its primary prior to April 1st has been fined half its delegates. It is a numerical impossibility to reach the magic 1,143 number by then. The question remains open if those fines will carry over to the convention.
Newt will not do well in a debate against Obama like he has lately. While the current audiences are eating up the red meat he is throwing by taking on the left leaning press, general elections are won, and lost, by the independent vote. Not everyone is going to think his indignant tirades are going to be so great during the general election. Independents,, who are not quite sure what side of the aisle they fall on, want answers, not indignation.
And while Newt may be, in fact, correct that Obama is the “food stamp” president, those who are on food stamps (1 in every 7 Americans) are not going to just jump up and vote for the guy they think will put an end to their monthly subsidities. With probably near 20 million Americans out of work, they are going to vote their wallets, not their values. Obama knows this; he knew it in 2008.
retire05
hi,
nice to have you back,
NEWT MADE IT IN SOUTH CAROLINE, HE can surely adapt to any opponent while saying the same thing,,
you saw RICK PERRY HELPED HIM WHEN HE LEFT, I think he left too soon, but his stand behind NEWT HAS HELP HIM AND PROJECTED HIM TO A TOP RANK, AT ONE BIG PART OF THE VOTERS WHO HAD THEIR EYES ON RICK PERRY, SO THEY BELIEVED PERRY’S STANDING FOR NEWT TO BE THE GUY AND THE MANY VOTES THAT CAME FOR NEWT WHERE A BLESSING FOR HIM ON TOP OF HIS OWN FOLLOWERS,
I don’t believe they will get lazy now, they will work harder to show that NEWT IS THE MAN,
AND BETWEEN OBAMA AND HIM THERE WILL BE A KNOCK OUT, EVEN JUST BY STATING THE FAILURE OF OBAMA, WHICH PEOPLE ALREADY ARE SUFFERING FROM.
BYE
Richard Wheeler,
you ask how do you say kiss of death in french?
OKAY, my translation is A FRENCH KISS,
I couldn’t resist that one
bye