Except that the majority of the country didn’t know who he was in 2006. I live in OR, my concern about senators wasn’t focused on Pennsylvania. My first introduction to him was when freepers were upset that he backed Arlen Spector over Toomey. Evidently the people of PA felt that way too.
Don’t make excuses. Yes I can read his policy positions but most people expect the candidate to promote their ideas when they have the opportunity, especially to a national audience who are only paying cursory attention at this point. I’ve read articles here about all the candidates and watched most of the debates. When the press tried to suck Newt into the whole slut controversy he put them in their place and talked about HIS agenda.
For the record, I didn’t know all that much about Newt until he ran. I knew about the contract with America, of course, but not much more. And things are much scarier today. Your argument about “specifics” falls flat. Here’s what I know about Newt just from watching interviews, debates & reading articles:
He wants to move towards a flat tax
Develop a plan for winning against radical Islam (notice he doesn’t need to know specifics)
use the military only when it’s clear we need to
End capital gains tax
repeal 0bamacare and let people buy across state lines
Repeal Dodd-Frank
lower gas prices to $2.50 a gallon
tap our own oil resources
Here’s what I know about Romney from articles and debates (I’m only talking about what they’ve proposed not flip flopping or whether I agree)
cut corporate taxes
have a cap on spending
repeal the death tax
reduce taxes for individuals and corporations
joining a union shouldn’t be mandatory
discuss the situation in Afghanistan with those in the field
be resolute with decisions & hold foreign leaders accountable
Here’s what I know about Rick:
he homeschools
everything the other candidates propose he thought of first
he has a daughter with a grave disability which caused him to take time off campaigning (what will happen if we have a crisis and his daughter is in the hospital)
he wants to regulate what adults can watch in their own homes
he’s actually bold enough to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites
he’ll repeal 0bamacare
Thus I know specifically he’ll repeal 0bamacare and do the right thing with Iran. Those are the specifics. Why can’t he do what the other candidates have? Yes voters should be proactive but the fact is most voters aren’t. They expect the candidate to inform and earn their vote. It’s also a way of vetting their communication skills which is vital for a president. There’s just no reason I shouldn’t have the same expectations of his ability to communicate as other candidates. If he can’t handle the press as a candidate how will he do it when something important (and controversial) comes up and they’re beating him over the head with it? How will he firmly get his point of view across to foreign leaders (especially radical ones) if he can’t even get his message out to a (hostile) press. Sorry but a candidate does bear the responsibility for getting some of his message out to the wider audience. Doing so would generate enough interest to want to read some of his policy papers.
Cindie
Having said that, for a guy who threw his hat in the ring less than a year ago, has been doing a great job getting his message out to those who will hear him. He hasn't pandered just to be able to speak to certain groups. It's a political risk, but one that has been paying off well for him so far.
Yes, it's his job to get his message out, but as the least funded candidate he has to be judicious about his ad buys, scheduled appearances etc. i don't recall where I saw the stat, so I can't cite the figures precisely but when you look at the $ to vote ratio of each of the candidates thus far, Rick is by far and away the leader. If that doesn't bespeak his ability to get his message out, or his ability to take advantage of the opportunities he's given, nothing does. Frankly, it tells me he's a better steward of his resources and can do more with less than any of the other candidates.
You make good sense, Cindie.
Santorum’s moral-issue distraction won’t last. If he cared half as much about less government than he does about government moralizing, he’d have a tsunami of support.
I appreciate your posts very much.