Posted on 12/17/2011 9:23:21 AM PST by presidio9
As Newt Gingrich has risen in the presidential polls, the campaign of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has flushed a bevy of Republican establishment figures to criticize the former House Speaker.
And they have plenty to work with. In a forty-year career in politics, Gingrich has stepped on a lot of toes and made plenty of enemies who are only too happy to come forward to say that he is temperamentally unfit to be president, would waste money on faddish intellectual exercises, has too much personal baggage, etc.
As Gingrich himself acknowledges, some of these concerns are legitimate issues to weigh when taking the measure of a candidate for President of the United States.
But much of what has appeared in the media in the past week or two is nothing more than the personal trashing of Gingrich to mask the real reason the Republican establishment is deathly afraid of a Gingrich presidential candidacy.
What the Republican establishment is really afraid of is not Newt Gingrich’s personality or baggage, but a campaign about conservative ideas.
For the past fifty years, the Republican establishment has mostly run content-free campaigns and regularly lost elections at the national level. The three major Republican victories of the past half-century -- the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, the 1994 Congressional elections and the 2010 Congressional elections -- all occurred only because Republicans deviated from the establishment’s content-free model and ran on conservative ideas.
And Newt Gingrich was the leader of, and catalyst behind, one of those campaigns.
The major fault line in today’s Republican Party is the split between those who are part of and benefit from Washington’s insider culture and those who don’t.
The last thing establishment Republicans who benefit from business-as-usual in Washington want is a great ideas-based crusade that actually builds a national movement behind reducing the scope and intrusiveness of the federal government, holding government accountable and changing at a fundamental level the way the federal government does business and interacts with citizens. That is exactly what Newt Gingrich is calling for.
Grassroots conservatives and Tea Partiers are flocking to the Gingrich candidacy because outside of Washington, conservatives don’t want another content-free election. They want a campaign that says, “here’s how the federal debt crisis can be solved and the American economy restored,” and, “here’s how government can be more accountable and efficient.” That means building public support behind the kind of fundamental change that Gingrich is talking about.
And the Republican establishment fears more than anything that, just like in 1994, Gingrich actually means it and can pull it off.
I have yet to endorse a candidate for President -- I don’t know when or if I will endorse a candidate in the Republican presidential primaries. But one thing has become remarkably clear since Newt Gingrich’s rise in the polls has gelled into something more solid than the flavor of the week: the Republican establishment fears Newt Gingrich, and they fear him not because of his tart tongue or his personal life.
What establishment Republicans really fear is that Gingrich’s great conservative ideas-based crusade will actually succeed, and that on Inauguration Day 2013, Gingrich will arrive at the White House at the head of a vast citizen movement with a legislative agenda and dozens of Executive Orders ready to implement the conservative government establishment Republicans have promised -- but failed to deliver -- for the past 45 years.
Grassroots conservatives and Tea Partiers are flocking to the Gingrich candidacy.
Newt will seal the deal when he picks Herman Cain as VP.
Two great debates
Newt and Obama
Cain and Biden
” Republicans have promised — but failed to deliver — for the past 45 years”.
Ya gots that right pal!!!!!
About fed up to here with “compassionate conservatisim”.
And more that fed up with RINOs.
Small govt or NO govt.
Gingrich is both “of the establishment” and “hated by the establishment.” Most folks want to put him in just one box or the other, but as atypical and discordant as it may seem, he’s in both.
One thing I’ve wondered about is that if Gingrich manages to get the nomination, will the GOP establishment ‘really’ support him, or will they be joining up with the lefty media and be constantly undermining him and backstabbing him behind-the-scenes, like was done constantly to Palin? I truly believe it would be the latter.
Newt is another RINO, I will not vote for him!
Gingrich is a political Republican. He’s part of the establishment in as far as it get’s him what he wants and he’s outside of the establishment when it scores him political points.
I’d vote for any Republican over Obama but Gingrich is a politician above all else and he’ll take whatever position he feels is politically popular.
when Newt became speaker in 1995 congressional approval was about 20%, when he left 4 years later it was about 60%.
Now it’s 13%.
When Newt left the national debt was about 3 trillion.
Now its 15 trillion.
The people that are dissing Newt are the ones that helped add 12 trillion to the debt and have driven down congressional approval to 13%. We care what they have to say why?
Newt isn’t my first choice, but if he is the nominee I will vote for him in a New York minute. He’s not perfect, but he is light years better than Obama and Obama HAS to be defeated next November and sent back to Chicago.
There is some truth to what you are saying, but it is pretty clear that there is an organized campaign against the man. It is also clear that it is coming mostly from people who want a role in the upcoming administration, and have picked their horse early in order to achieve it.
The type of people I am referring to (on both sides of the aisle) are VERY good at getting people to believe short narratives. It is what the do for a living, and they are the best in the world at it. At the moment, they have agreed on the idea that Gingrich can not possibly win against Obama. Any sober adult who steps back and thinks this one through logically can not possibly come to this conclusion. With the right campaign manager, Lemmiwinks the gerbil could beat Obama next year. If anything, Romney is more vulnerable against Obama than Gingrich.
Well put! I have changed my mind about alot of Republicans in the past year. Some I would follow and respect their point of view but no more. Until we rid the party of RINO’s and moderates (Demonrats) I am left without a party affiliation. Only a half a handful of Republicans I respect and trust. That’s sad.
I was a Cain supporter until he showed his inability to effectively combat a series of personal attacks. Unless he causes some heads to roll and discloses the people behind the attacks in the immediate future his political career is over before it began.
We can only hope!
Your wisdom leaves me short of words; so, "4 more years" will just have to suffice.
Thanks presidio9.
Or the Republicans will have to run a real conservative!
I agree. Let's all vote for Obama!
I love Newt. This election should be about who has the best ideas and who brings substance to their arguments and who has proven they can work across the aisle and get things done. That’s all this election should be about. Anyone who wants to bring up what someone did 20 years ago, or flip flopped on something from 15 years ago or who worked for Freddie or any other nonsensical argument that’s only there to mudsling, is completely useless to the process. What will fix things NOW is the question! Who is sticking to the issues without demeaning their opponents and offering solutions? I think the answer is pretty obvious. Newt Gingrich is the man. He won this last debate, like he’s won every other debate. So if he gets at least 3 debates with Obama, do you think he’s suddenly going to lose to Obama? It will be the very opposite. He will crush Obama. After 3 debates of at least 60 million people watching, the nation will finally get it and vote for Newt. People want jobs and the economy growing again. They don’t care if this guy made this much. It won’t help them get a job. Solutions is what we all should be looking for. The rest is just cheap politics that we have no time for. I don’t even need to like Newt’s personality because Newt Gingrich will never be my personal friend. But I do want the smartest guy in the room who I agree with the most. There really is no comparison. Newt’s depth of knowledge grounded in historical references towers above his opposition. The Republican elite fear this! Well good - maybe we’re sick of the status quo. Maybe we’re sick of the “experts” telling us who to vote for. Maybe I don’t care who endorses who, because by following the endorser I’m devaluing my own opinion. Maybe we need someone willing to shake it up and really go toe-to-toe with the Democrats and the Media! We need the person who will make the most effective arguments and this will win over the American people not only in the election, but as Newt starts to govern, the people will help push through bills we all want because they will have the most effective argument reasoned in their head thanks to Newt.
“What the Republican establishment is really afraid of is not Newt Gingrich’s personality or baggage, but a campaign about conservative ideas.”
I believe that is pretty much what Rush said on his radio show Friday.
Herman Cain's political career began in 1993, when he actively opposed Hillarycare from his position as president of the Restaurant Association. Housing Secretary Jack Kemp famously went to Nebraska to consult with him, and the Clintons publicly blamed him for turning public opinion against him. In 1996 he had a position in the Dole campaign. He ran for president in 2000 before endorsing George Bush. He ran for Georgia Senator in 2004, and lost the primary, because voters felt that he was too moderate.
I am a fan of Herman Cain. He was my candidate, too, but he lost me with his embarrassing answer to the Libya question. I couldn't care less about his personal life, but I believe that there is SOME truth behind them. Otherwise, he would gain much politically by exposing them for what they are. He is "of Washington," and has been for a long time, whether he likes it or not. At the moment, he is wisely playing his hand, looking for a role in the upcoming GOP administration. That role may be Commerce Secretary, if he can do enough for the eventual winner that it is worth the scandal risk. And even if he is 100% innocent, his history is now that he is DEFINITELY a scandal risk.
Curiouser and curiouser.
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