Posted on 01/14/2012 12:19:44 PM PST by TitansAFC
DUNCAN, S.C. -- As soon as Newt Gingrich wrapped up his remarks on Saturday night at a forum hosted by the Republican Parties of Greenville and Spartanburg counties, it was Rick Santorum's turn to take the stage.
But Gingrich ensured that the spotlight remained on him.
As the former Pennsylvania senator began his remarks to hundreds of GOP activists gathered inside a high school cafeteria, Gingrich drew most of the media on hand to a nearby hallway where he held a press conference apparently timed to steal Santorum's thunder.
Gingrich took a pass when asked how, over the next week, he would contrast his record with Santorum's.
But even before taking a question, the former House speaker -- who just last month promised to run a “relentlessly positive” campaign -- launched an all-out barrage against Mitt Romney, laying into the former Massachusetts governor’s record on abortion, the Second Amendment, taxes and job creation.
The message Gingrich was trying to convey was clear: that the real battle in South Carolina was between himself and Romney, with the other candidates playing bit roles.
“If we end up splitting the conservative vote, we’re going to end up nominating somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in this room are going to be very uncomfortable,” Gingrich had told the crowd, clearly referencing Romney, whom he has labeled a “Massachusetts moderate.”
Gingrich has some recent numbers to back up his belief that he is the Romney alternative best-positioned to turn back the national front-runner’s momentum in South Carolina. According to the latest RCP Average of Palmetto State polls, Gingrich trails Romney by less than 5 percent, while Santorum and the libertarian-leaning Ron Paul are 12 percentage points behind. Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman continue to spin their wheels in the mid-single digits.........
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
I don’t need to know details about you, Ben. I’m certain you are a decent personl
But you’ve hardened your heart against another Chrisian and condmen a man even though he has had a conversion. That is sad.
Now you’re upset. Do you understand why this has upset you?
I’ll let him speak for me.
Peace.
Ben is a serious Christian who converted from Evangelicalism to Catholicism because he came to see that the latter offered a fuller sense of Christianity.
It makes me think of Sean Hannity's hilarious aversion to men wearing Ugg boots. Hannity is an Easterner. Come to California on the coast and see manly gnarled surfers, buff beach bums, and competitive swimmers in those Uggs. Believe me, they're 100 percent MEN to make any red-blooded American girl's heart go "My stars! *sigh*"
But I think I understand and sympathize with Hannity's take. I know my revulsion at seeing men wearing leather penny loafers with no socks *shudder* is a provincial thing, a California thing (didn't figure it out until I was in my late 30s, either -- I thought it was "dork," when really, it was just East Coast cool), because to me and most native Californias I grew up with, that "look" is, I expect, as shocking and ghastly to contemplate and "real men" in Ugg boots is for Sean!
"That's our kinda stuff!"
Agreed. Santorum does not do much for me but the sweater vest thing is kinda endearing.
Preach it, Sister FReeper. Spot on.
This is a MUST for all conservatives to view. Clearly shows that NEWT is a leader and knows what he is talking about.
There is no other candidate who has the ability to speak with knowledge as Newt has.
Hope he comes across like this in the debates, he's on fire. What passion he has for America, something I have not seen in any political person in, well since Reagan.
But I would hope some of them will put the country over their own ambitions. They HAVE to know mitt could never win over O’Bumbles - and even if he did - the country will still fall. Mitt would finish the job O’Bumble started. Not out the dedication O’Bumbles has, but by just being his Casper Milquetoast self who will do whatever it takes to be liked.
(I really don't think there's much a person there - nor do I think he's particularly bright, nor does he seems to possess any scruples
That was a GOLD STAR statement, and well deserved to the addressee. Well done.
Newt was superb - gives you hope that with him at the helm, we can save our country.
I struggled with Santorum - and finally gave up. He's acting like this is just another election. He doesn't seem to feel the urgency, the danger we are in.
Newt does.
Please, God, save our country - YOUR country.
HI there Katiedidit1,
I am just getting home and am listening, watching this video.
It is Excellent! Good JOB NEWT GINGRICH!
WE really need him as our next president.
“Right, when she was being treated for Ovarian cancer and found out that Newt was cheating on her in violation of his oath to love, honor and obey. Does Newt not get this?”
THIS was PROVEN TO BE A LIE made up by the media...
Setting the Record Straight
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My father, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, has been in politics as long as I can remember.
And as long as I can remember, media coverage about him has contained misstatements of facts. The vast majority are simple mistakes that are easily corrected, understood and rewoven into an ongoing storyline.
But one of them seems to have taken on a life of its own, and simple corrections have not sufficed to set the record straight. Why does this happen? I can’t be sure, but I suspect that the narrative created by these untruths proves to be so much more compelling and more dramatic than what actually happened that it proves irresistible.
I’m talking about the story of my father’s visit to my mother while she was in the hospital in 1980.
For years, I have thought about trying to correct the untrue accounts of this hospital visit. After all, I was at the hospital with them, and saw and heard what happened. But I have always hesitated, as it was a private family matter and my mother is a very private person. In addition, for the four people involved, it was one of a million interactions and was not considered a defining event by any of us.
My mother and I have both recently run into quite a few people who hold an inaccurate understanding of this hospital visit. Many think my mother is dead.
So, to correct the record, here is what happened: My mother, Jackie Battley Gingrich, is very much alive, and often spends time with my family. I am lucky to have such a “Miracle Mom,” as I titled her in a column this week.
As for my parents’ divorce, I can remember when they told me.
It was the spring of 1980.
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I was 13 years old, and we were about to leave Fairfax, Va., and drive to Carrollton, Ga., for the summer. My parents told my sister and me that they were getting a divorce as our family of four sat around the kitchen table of our ranch home.
Soon afterward, my mom, sister and I got into our light-blue Chevrolet Impala and drove back to Carrollton.
Later that summer, Mom went to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for surgery to remove a tumor. While she was there, Dad took my sister and me to see her.
It is this visit that has turned into the infamous hospital visit about which many untruths have been told. I won’t repeat them. You can look them up online if you are interested in untruths. But here’s what happened:
My mother and father were already in the process of getting a divorce, which she requested.
Dad took my sister and me to the hospital to see our mother.
She had undergone surgery the day before to remove a tumor.
The tumor was benign.
As with many divorces, it was hard and painful for all involved, but life continued.
As have many families, we have healed; we have moved on.
We are not a perfect family, but we are knit together through common bonds, commitment and love.
My mother and father are alive and well, and my sister and I are blessed to have a close relationship with them both.
My sister and I feel that it is time to move on, close the book on this event and focus on building a great future. We will not answer additional questions or make additional comments regarding this meaningless incident, which occurred more than three decades ago.
As I said, my mother is a private person. She will not give media interviews. She deserves respect and should be allowed to live in peace.
To find out more about Jackie Gingrich Cushman, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2011 JACKIE CUSHMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
The audience response was terrific throughout -- much more than for Santorum.
THANK YOU for posting the TRUTH about that lie!
What is the consensus among us here if Newt loses SC and FL. No doubt the others will bow out and leave Romney alone. I say, if that happens, Newt stays in.
Once he’s toe to toe with Mittens, the gloves are off, and the conservatives, all of them will unite around Newt.
Surely, he won’t cave in if he loses SC and FL will he? Those state are not winner take all delegates anyway are they?
Folks, if Newt wins SC it will be huge. It might result in Perry an Santorum dropping out to support him. Then he can win in FL.
“if Newt wins SC it will be huge.”
What about this poll posted on Drudge today, 1 15?
Dang. Is Muttering ahead?
“Romney opens 21-point lead in South Carolina: Reuters/Ipsos poll” http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/14/us-usa-campaign-poll-idUSTRE80D0U420120114
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