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Newt will never, ever be GOP nominee
Washington Post ^ | 11/15/2011 | Jonathan Bernstein

Posted on 11/15/2011 10:33:39 AM PST by presidio9

Yes, Newt Gingrich has spiked in the polls. No, he’s not going to be the nominee. I’ve been trying to duck this one because it feels like laying out the obvious, but, briefly, three reasons:

1. The baggage he’s always had — the marital difficulties, the ethics troubles, a whole bunch of deviations from conservative orthodoxy over the years (such as that ad he shot with Nancy Pelosi: “Our country must take action to address climate change”) — just isn’t going to go away. Republican voters don’t have those things in mind at the moment, but no candidate is more vulnerable to attack ads than the former Speaker.

2. Message discipline, lack thereof. It’s impossible to imagine Newt not saying something that hurts him if there’s a microphone in front of his face for a three-week stretch, which is what wouldgoing to happen if the press decides he actually has a chance at winning this thing. We have a couple decades of evidence, including earlier this year, showing that he’s just not able to do it. For whatever it’s worth, I’d add that as I read the polling over the years, Newt’s basic act is unlikely to wear well with voters after extended exposure. People just don’t like the guy.

3. Both of those might be overcome, but this one won’t: it’s highly unlikely that anyone who worked with Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker would want him anywhere near the White House. As detailed in many places, but perhaps most memorably by David Maraniss and Michael Weisskopf in their

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: drivebymedia; newt; reevaluategingrich; wapo
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To: org.whodat

“All history, want to try the Gettysburg address next.”

Geez, what to do with penetrating insight like that? The point was, you can make mistakes along the path to being a pretty good President. Get an adult to read it to you and explain it.


81 posted on 11/15/2011 11:13:57 AM PST by jessduntno ("They say the world has become too complex for simple answers... they are wrong." - RR)
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To: itsahoot
I do not do what if, so why not try the magic 8 b http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ssanty/cgi-bin/eightball.cgi
82 posted on 11/15/2011 11:14:31 AM PST by org.whodat (Just another heartless American, hated by "AMNESTY" Perry and his fellow demorats.)
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To: BarnacleCenturion
Who in their right mind marries their high school geometry teacher?

I was 18 once, I think hormones had more influence on my life decisions than my brain did. Maybe you were different.

83 posted on 11/15/2011 11:16:38 AM PST by itsahoot (There was a bloodless coup in 08, and no one seemed to notice. God help us.)
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Comment #84 Removed by Moderator

To: jessduntno
Wrong, but you could try all of Lincolns generals, a lot of mistakes there. The first was politics.

If you want to attack Reagan, as newt has in the past, he was out in left field when he canceled the three nuclear power plants we had under construction back then. Cost the tax pay Millions and millions, and millions.

85 posted on 11/15/2011 11:19:21 AM PST by org.whodat (Just another heartless American, hated by "AMNESTY" Perry and his fellow demorats.)
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To: BoingBoing

And you will be a noteworthy poster of the assassination materials they will cite. No doubt you’re proud, hypocrit.


86 posted on 11/15/2011 11:20:05 AM PST by MHGinTN (Some, believing they can't be deceived, it's nigh impossible to convince them when they're deceived.)
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To: presidio9

Let’s see:
Newt has too much baggage.
Ron Paul is a libertarian nut.
Cain is too politically inexperienced and ‘handles things badly.’
Perry is an open borders dunce.
Bachmann’s headaches have turned her crazy.
Santorum is a bore with no charisma.
Huntsman. Wait, who?
Romney is a liberal RINO that no one will support in the general election.
I guess I will have to vote for Obama.


87 posted on 11/15/2011 11:20:20 AM PST by tnlibertarian (Things are so bad now, Kenyans are saying Obama was born in the USA.)
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To: South40

Why is he a RINO?? He’s the best candidate.


88 posted on 11/15/2011 11:21:51 AM PST by Fawn (No TO PERRY!!!!!!!!! Vote for Newt)
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To: BunnySlippers
LOL, she sure looks like it. I cannot believe some of the nuts think women are going to vote a gold digger, trophy wife, as first lady, especially one that spends like jackie O
89 posted on 11/15/2011 11:22:43 AM PST by org.whodat (Just another heartless American, hated by "AMNESTY" Perry and his fellow demorats.)
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To: presidio9

Kinda leaving out the second marriage and the affair with Callista there in your little essay. Newt leading the charge against Clinton while banging a woman 23 years his junior... yeah, he has some good ethics there.

Newt is yesterdays dirty underwear. Best to get rid of it as can’t be cleaned up and will never do anything but stink.


90 posted on 11/15/2011 11:22:59 AM PST by Double Tap
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To: Mr Rogers
If Newt ends up with the nomination, that Pelosi photo op ends up being a genius move. Outside of places like this website, the general perception of Newt Gingrich is that he is the ultimate inflexible (and mean) conservative. Agreeing to do that spot helps soften that image.

And, yes, Newt has said that he regrets doing it. He was also one of the loudest voices against Kyoto.

91 posted on 11/15/2011 11:23:04 AM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does.)
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To: presidio9; kingattax

Indeed.

At first, the left did everything they could to destroy Sarah Palin, because she was so popular and powerful. IMNSHO, what did her in was that heinous accusation that she had sex with a sports figure years ago, before she was married to Todd. I don’t believe this ever happened, but the mere statement of it was over the line. Right after that, Sarah said she would not run, and I totally respect her decision.

Next came Michelle Bachmann. The left had nothing to go on, so they played the angle that she was a ditz and suffers from migraines. They also threw ridiculous, irrelevant questions at her about Biblical Marriage, which she answered sincerely according to her faith. Michelle is hanging in there, but by a thread.

The next person to rise in the Polls was Herman Cain; a real threat to obama, because it would disarm obama’s race card forever. The left incorrectly assumed that Conservatives are racist, so they played the old “Black man chasing blond women” routine. So far it hasn’t knocked Herman Down, but I do believe it has shook him up a little, as his usual ebullience has faded somewhat, as well as his big lead in the polls. If the left succeeds in destroying this man like it did with Sarah and Michelle, I will consider it devastating for our nation.

Next in line is Newt, since his numbers are on the rise. Because of the fact that Newt has been a major political figure for many years, he DOES have a lot of baggage. Even if he has totally repented of his political and moral lapses, you KNOW the left is going to use them to shoot him down.

Gov. Perry is somebody I supported in the very beginning, but he lost me with the business about In-State Tuition for illegals. Especially when he called conservatives “heartless”. That being said, I would STILL vote for him against obama.

The ONLY candidate who has not been attacked by the left is Mitt Romney. Why IS that, I wonder? Could it be that they think that obama could easily beat him, or that a Romney Administration would allow the left to continue in its nefarious degradation of Our Beloved Nation?

For The record, I am for Herman Cain right now. I will vote against obama no matter what, but my one vote will not defeat this evil regime. It is incumbent upon ALL Conservatives of good conscience to resist the lies of the enemy, no matter how bizarre they may seem, or how much they hammer away at us. Vote for whom you will in the primaries, stop demonizing the other Republican candidates, and stand together! WE ARE FREEPERS, DAMMIT!

/rant off

Thanks for posting this thread, Presidio9.


92 posted on 11/15/2011 11:25:42 AM PST by left that other site (Psalm 122:6)
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To: South40

Please name me one candidate for President who has not been called a RINO on this site. Maybe you could name one elected official who has not been labeled a RINO.


93 posted on 11/15/2011 11:26:05 AM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
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To: presidio9

In his heart, Newt loves government. His first instinct is not “Why involve the government?”

His mind is conservative, except when it wanders after his heart...


94 posted on 11/15/2011 11:26:16 AM PST by Mr Rogers ("they found themselves made strangers in their own country")
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To: TFMcGuire; presidio9

Agree with you both. This “RINO” tag—so frequently and mindlessly thrown around (about as precise as one of those big slingshots at baseball games that shoots T-shirts into the stands and expects it to go right where aimed) is more than just OLD.

It simply accomplishes nothing constructive—is just throwing small rocks at a stone fortress. No mind is changed either way, and all we have is frustration, fatigue, and hostility.

Wouldn’t we all enjoy this site more if we were able to find more wheat and less chaff? My thinking, anyway.


95 posted on 11/15/2011 11:27:42 AM PST by JimInMO
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To: org.whodat

“If you want to attack Reagan, as newt has in the past, he was out in left field when he canceled the three nuclear power plants we had under construction back then. Cost the tax pay Millions and millions, and millions.”

What a maroon...it’s not an attack, it’s an example of course correction. Not much on comprehension, eh?


96 posted on 11/15/2011 11:28:01 AM PST by jessduntno ("They say the world has become too complex for simple answers... they are wrong." - RR)
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To: presidio9

Either Cain/Gingrich or Gingrich/Cain work for me ... far better than Obama/Biden or Obama/Clinton.

Romney plus anyone doesn’t work for me. Romney is a one man focus group, every possible position on everything all rolled into one person.


97 posted on 11/15/2011 11:29:34 AM PST by Belteshazzar (We are not justified by our works but by faith - De Jacob et vita beata 2 +Ambrose of Milan)
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To: presidio9

If we have to choose between Romney and Newt, Newt will win.


98 posted on 11/15/2011 11:30:47 AM PST by fortheDeclaration (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Burke)
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To: TFMcGuire

Amen.


99 posted on 11/15/2011 11:31:15 AM PST by left that other site (Psalm 122:6)
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To: presidio9
“the marital difficulties, the ethics troubles,”

Cigar, Intern, Oval Office, Desk, Sink = standard set

Wife, Coattail, Tammy Wynette = Stand by your man

End of discussion.

100 posted on 11/15/2011 11:33:58 AM PST by kcvl
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