Posted on 02/24/2012 2:28:21 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
He was the elephant in the room, so to speak, at the CNN Debate in Mesa, AZ. And this issue is why Campaign 2012 on the Republican side is so depressing.
The he is George W. Bush. And the issue is that Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney spent most of the debate campaigning against George W. Bush without using his name.
They went after each other on earmarks, spending, No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, the debt ceiling, and on and on. Santorum apologized for some votes. He defended some votes. Mitt Romney had the temerity to suggest he would have opposed some or all of that legislation even though, at the time, he was quite supportive of it all — including raising the debt ceiling. All of these were George W. Bush approved, adding also TARP and the auto bailout. They are also issues about which many conservatives and conservative organizations sold their souls to the Republican Party in the name of team work, damn the principles at stake.
Relatedly, it was entirely laughable for Rick Santorum to claim courage as the word that describes him best when he then went on to say he cast his votes against his principles because he was a team player. Just listen to the audio right here. At least he did not do what Romney did and try to claim himself an advocate of school choice, which Mitt Romney did not support as Governor of Massachusetts. Santorum, at least, is willing to recount his political sins honestly.
And that is what is so awful about this election season for so many conservatives. Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich are campaigning against major accomplishments of the Bush Administration that they, at the time, supported, and now have the audacity to lie to us — yes they are lying — and have us believe they would never have supported such big government programs.
For his part, Gingrich at least offered up a balanced budget when he was Speaker and real entitlement reform. Mitt Romney is out championing the progress nature of the American tax code. For that alone he should be driven from the race defeated. Santorum hides behind Jim DeMint to defend his fiscal sins on earmarks and has driven a mass of people who once opposed earmarks to claim that maybe they are not so bad because St. Santorum likes them. Note to this particular cult of personality: No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, and Obamacare would not have passed if earmarks had been banned.
Here’s the long and the short of it — Super Tuesday approaches. I live in Georgia. And I am pretty sure I am voting for either Herman Cain or Rick Perry because I am just not sold on the final four.
Gov. Rick Perry and Herman Cain strongly back Newt Gingrich but Erick Erickson throws Newt under the bus?
Erickson has a lot to say but really, who wants this man's help advancing against the enemy? You never know when Erickson will morph into Benedict Arnold. It's evident he has no stomach for this. He's run from candidate to candidate and now washes his hands of them all.
Feb 23, 2012 - Start at 30:00 and listen to Levin expose more about the closeness of anti-conservative candidates Ron Paul/Mitt Romney.
Wrong elephant.
I agree in part with Erickson and disagree in part.
He is right on the money at how utterly disappointing the current crop of candidates turned out to be. Yes, even Gingrich. Erickson is not at all unhinged in that view.
On the other hand, while Perry *was* the best candidate in this class, Perry is no longer running and has endorsed Gingrich.
I am not going to throw *my* vote away on a man who isn’t even running. So if the ‘Rats and judges ever let us Texans vote, I’ll vote for Gingrich. Whle far from perfect, he’s head and shoulders above the other three.
He certainly is. Why would anyone toss away their vote? Erickson has lost it. His readers (mostly) are telling him he is wrong.
As reluctant as I am to say it, the way things are shaping up I can see only one of two outcomes, both of them very bad:
a.) The GOP-elitists and the establishment ram Romney down our throats, and conservatives will either stay home or go third party in November, and Romney will prove himself the same sort of loser as did his demented Daddy in ‘68.
b.) The primary war of attrition will ultimately end up with Newt Gingrich as our nominee, but the RomneyBots and PaulTards will do everything possible to sabotage Newt in the general election, and it will be a throw of the dice as to whether 0bama gets thrown out on his ass or not.
Increasingly, my candidate is General James Mattoon Scott.
Romney and Santorum are both weak sisters. They will always take the the path of least resistance when it comes to tough decisions and they have a history to prove it.
The cantankerous old Paul is still in this race only because money is being funneled to him through sources yet to be questioned. One needs only to ask who benefits the most from this old spoiler still a candidate.
There is only one candidate who has fought like a man on fire for his country and that is Newt.
...and THAT is undeniable and recorded history.
It’s possible that Eric Erickson isn’t getting the access he wants and so is taking his ball and going home?
To turn Newt aside like this is irrational.
He's correct here and many on FR rightly opposed these programs. Washington, it seems, is full of legislators with Beltway Disease who do this very same thing regardless on which side of the aisle they sit. Of course, Mittens fits right in with that which is what makes him such a poor choice; he's infected with Beltway Disease without even being part of it. Imagine what will happen if he makes it there.
The Republican party has compromised its values too much and too long. Bush's policies deserve to be the elephant in the room.
>>...It’s possible that Eric Erickson isn’t getting the access he wants and so is taking his ball and going home?...<<
Erickson strikes me as a prostitute-with-a-pen and redstate is becoming (if it already hasn’t) another “little-green-footballs-like” laughable site. He should consider teaming up with Ann Coulter to complete his descent into “WTF-istan”.
I can’t take that clown seriously. Opinions may vary.
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