Newt Should NOT Drop Out, Period.

RedState ^ | March 16, 2012 | mswalnut

[2ndDivisionVet]

I am writing as a Newt supporter so there are bound to be many who will disagree with my assessments; but these are my personal opinions with little room for argument.

Here are the reasons why Newt should stay put:

1. Santorum v. Obama, the best we can do?

I thought the number one goal for most people here is to beat Obama, i.e., ABO, not ABR (anybody-but-Romney). It makes sense for us to rally behind a candidate ONLY IF that candidate is the best we can muster to match up with Obama, not because he is the current non-Romney favorite.

For good reasons, many Newt supporters see Santorum as a featherweight who has little chance come November. There is simply no reason to throw in the towel at this point just to accommodate him.

2. Sorry, every man for himself now

Early on, many had opined that the best way to block Romney was for Santorum and Gingrich to work together and let the other win those states he is strong in. Newt, through his own wisdom and initiative, had been doing exactly that while Santorum was obviously having none of it.

No one can fault Santorum for trying to win as many delegates as he can, but it does reveal two things about his strategies:

•Blocking-Romney was not his priority; and •He did not want/need collaboration with anyone. Apparently, Santorum’s focus all along has been to establish himself as the strongest not-Romney standing, blocking Romney be damned. All fair enough and it looks like he just might succeed.

But his actions also made it amply clear that this race is all but every man for himself now, splitting votes be damned. That being the case, there is absolutely no justification for anyone to continue to parrot the call for Newt to drop out, let alone call him egotistic and other terrible names if he doesn’t comply immediately. If people truly cared about conservatism, they should be spending all their energy calling for Romney or Paul to drop out.

Santorum on the stump: “We are in this thing not because I so badly want to be the most powerful man in this country. It’s because I want so badly to return the power to you in this country.” Yeah, right. What hollow cliche.

3. Romney v. Obama or Santorum v. Obama, do we really want to pick?

Ultimately, this entire debate around Newt boils down to whether we believe Romney or Santorum has a better shot at defeating Obama. Honestly, nobody knows. As the saying goes, When in doubt, do nothing.

I believe neither Romney nor Santorum is up to the task of taking on Obama. And as much as I detest Romney, if I have to pick, my money will be on Romney, if only for the fact that many clueless, out of work voters may want to believe he could fix the economy. As for Santorum, I cannot think of one thing to recommend him to anyone outside the congregation of his own church.

4. Only Newt has the right to decide what he should to do next

Newt has weathered a lot going this far and really has very little to lose staying in the race. If he is willing to expend time and effort to continue the fight, it is all good news to me as a true supporter; and I hope he has all the necessary resources to do so.

[Catholic Iowan]

I’d just counter with this:

http://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2012/03/gingrich-can-only-play-spoiler-against-santorum/

[Catholic Iowan]

I certainly understand the desire to defeat Obama. Yet, I don’t understand how voting for the most detestable, non-conservative in the Republican field advances conservatism, at all.

[Vendome]

Changed, Disregarded.... Cheating

[freedomfiter2]

The GOP doesn’t care about advancing conservatism.

[Catholic Iowan]

Well, certainly the Establishment doesn’t.

[Bobbisox]

And you think I am going to move to Santorum based on one unknown Iowa blogger? Get real...I game you some professional information that should enlighten you as to Mr. Newt’s background and qualifications.

You gave me an opinion piece from an Iowa blogger whom I have never heard of. What a joke!

[LibsRJerks]

Newt has to stay in. He’s critical to shaping debate, to clarifying arguments, to breaking through the media machine.

**

Which is EXACTLY why Newt should be president ....

The others simply do not LEAD. They react.

Hell, even Obama reacts now to Newt. It’s pitiful.

[Toespi]

“Newt has to stay in. He’s critical to shaping debate, to clarifying arguments, to breaking through the media machine.”

Seriously, I can’t stop laughing. We are going to send Romney or Santorum to go up against Obama. Yet, we want the only qualified candidate to say in the primaries just because he is critical, will shape, clarify and break through the MSM. Still laughing at the idiocy of voters.

[Admin Moderator]

MY COMMENT: I would like to see you all push the following point.

Don't. Jim has stated that Santorum birtherism is not welcome on FR.

[andy58-in-nh]

The biggest problem Newt has right now is that his campaign is broke. He’s out of money and in fact, in debt. That makes it extremely hard to compete, especially for a candidate that has only won two primaries to this point. He may not be able to stay in the race, even if he wants to.

[darrellmaurina]

For whatever it's worth, that Iowa blogger you mention got cited in national media when he did an interview with Santorum on faith issues and Santorum said things that ended up being newsworthy. Santorum, especially early on in his Iowa campaign, was doing interviews with pretty much anyone who would talk to him, and some of those small-town reporters and bloggers asked some really good questions, plus allowed him time and space to explain himself beyond what major media would have allowed to any candidate.

It's been an undertone in this campaign since Iowa, but the work of Dutch Reformed people in northwest Iowa was critical to Rick Santorum’s rise. PCA/ARP people in the South and in West Michigan were paying attention and decided to get on his bandwagon early. The Caffeinated family of blogs is run by PCA people and other Calvinists who are trying to promote a Christian view of political activism.

Of course, Rick Santorum’s base of support has long since moved into traditional evangelical circles. That needed to happen; there aren't anywhere near enough Calvinists in the United States to be politically influential outside certain key states and prominent figures (D. James Kennedy, Sproul, Ryken, Schaeffer, Joel Belz/Marvin Olasky from World Magazine, etc.)

For whatever it's worth, I'm a member of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, attend church with a staffer from World Magazine, and spent most of my adult life in the Dutch Reformed world, though that had very little to do with my decision to support Rick Santorum.