Why Newt Gingrich won’t last

Washington Post ^ | November 15, 2011 | Dana Milbank

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....The public got a taste of Gingrich’s relative moderation in May, when he disparaged PaulRyan’s budget plan, which House Republicans embraced en masse, as “right-wing social engineering” and “too big a jump.” He quickly retreated from this inadvertent honesty, uttered in the same “Meet the Press” interview when he defended his previous support for an “individual mandate” requiring health insurance — the part of Obamacare that conservatives find most objectionable.

...In 2005, he sat down with then-Sen.HillaryClinton to make common cause over health care. He said he and Clinton “have the same instinct” on health care and praised the notion of a health-care “transfer of finances” from rich to poor. “I risk sounding not quite as right wing as I should,” Gingrich said at the time. “I’ve spent enough of my life fighting,” he added.

In 2007, Gingrich appeared with JohnKerry and conceded that humans have contributed to global warming, saying, “We should address it very actively.” He complained about “the absence of American leadership” on climate change, pitched incentives to reduce carbon emissions and said: “I am not automatically saying that coercion and bureaucracy is not an answer.” Gingrich called for a “green conservatism.”

In 2009, Gingrich met in the OvalOffice with President Obama and the Rev.AlSharpton and emerged to proclaim that “education should be the first civil right of the 21st century.” Soon after that, he appeared on Capitol Hill with BillClinton and Trent Lott for an unveiling of the former Senate majority leader’s portrait, lamenting that “we wasted so much energy with controversy when we could get so many more things done.”

At one point during his dalliance with the Democratic establishment, Gingrich joked that “one can gradually rebuild almost any reputation if you pander enough to the authorities that write columns and show up on TV.”....

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Compared to Rick Perry, the Speaker has won each debate (or tied with Mr. Cain) AND sounds coherent.

That's nice. Newt's had 40 years to learn the art of debate and how to flip in mid-stance on issues. "Sounding coherent" is a far cry from being coherent (consistent) and taking principled stands on conservative issues. Newt's principles depend on which way the political wind blows or which perfume grabs him on any given day.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

All you have to do is look at his endorsement of the extreme liberal Republican Dede something, over the Conservative third party guy(back in 2009), who had several high profile endorsements from Republicans, and polls were showing he could win the race, to see that Gingrich is a party first guy. He supported a RINO who was liberal even compared with other RINO’s instead of the third party Conservative who was in a very close race. He obviously showed he's part of the establishment Republican problem by putting the liberal Republican, who ended up dropping out and endorsing the democrat, over the Conservative third party candidate. I'll stick with the outsider Herman Cain who's got more potential than any of these career politicians.

http://www.hermancain.com/home

[xzins]

I can ignore any pre-”late 2009” comments made about climate change by anyone who has changed their position.

What happened in 2009?

In November 2009, the East Anglia Research database was hacked and the fraudulent climate change research was revealed to the world.

Those who had relied on the integrity of the scientific community received a jolt. The honest ones reconsidered and changed their position GIVEN that they now realized they had been lied to about the real situation.

That is why Newt gets a pass on this one. So does everyone else who is less concerned about climate change today than they were pre-2009.

ALL of Newt’s former positions, to include the Pelosi video, were pre-2009. In fact the Pelosi ad was in 2008.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Newt has his baggage. But he’s nowhere near the RINO your pro-ILLEGAL alien hero Mitt Perry is.

Perry will SEAL the border and says NO amnesty. Rick Perry is a border governor. What has Newt done on this issue?

[xsmommy]

probably not, but only because Callista looks like she carries his manbits in her purse.

[Timber Rattler]

ALL of Newt’s former positions, to include the Pelosi video, were pre-2009.

Yeah, before he decided he wanted to run for President and realized he needed Conservative votes.

Sorry, he does not get a pass. Almost all of us knew that global warming was a colossal hoax and said so loudly back then. If Newt is so smart, why then did he not realize it, assuming that he didn't (and that's a BIG 'if')?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....That is why Newt gets a pass on this one. So does everyone else who is less concerned about climate change today than they were pre-2009...

To believe this you would have to say Newt is stupid. I believe he is calculating. He's been around D.C. long enough to know EXACTLY what was going on with the carbon credit bs and when it was more advantageous to him, to reverse sides.

[Tax-chick]

When there’s an opportunity to vote, we’ll find out which candidate will “last” and which will not. Some will drop out almost immediately, like one-delegate Rudi the last time. Others, like Romney, may linger until the entire electorate makes it clear how desperately boring they find him.

[xzins]

EVERYONE who was relying on the scientific data that was around before November 2009 gets a pass on climate change IF they change their position.

It is not their fault that the scientists were using fraudulent data.

It is a sign of integrity for them to change their position in the face of new evidence. It would be LACK of integrity for them to keep the same position.

Surely you see that?

[dirtboy]

Uh, no, Newt is not my candidate. I am undecided at this moment. All of the candidates have flaws. I am waiting for one to make the case that he or she understands their past flaws, will avoid them as President, and can take the fight to Obama and the DNC slime machine and win.

Your using material from the DNC slime machine to attack Newt hardly makes the case for Perry on the last point.

I just don't like obvious shills for one campaign like yourself tearing into other candidates with liberal hatchet jobs.

Perry has to make the case for himself. He has failed so far. That might change, but it's downright slimy for you to run around FR slinging MSM slime at those ahead of Perry.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

That’s a whole lotta spin for your guy xzins.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

What in the article is false?

What in the article will Obama not use to highlight their similarities on liberal issues?

What?

[napscoordinator]

Newt is 68 years old and married to his third wife, Callista Bisek, his former House of Representatives staffer 23 years his junior.

That alone should disqualify him. How any FREEPER can support this guy is beyond me. The three marriages are bad but the adultery is what is most disgusting.

[xzins]

It is not a matter of spin, CW. It is simple truth. Fraudulent research was exposed. It’s a fact. Put it in your google search: “East Anglia Research fraudulent hacker email”.

See what comes up. It happened in November 2009.

You know, and I know you know, that I like Rick Perry an awful lot. You also know that Rick has done abysmally in debates. You know I’ve defended his education initiatives for illegals and his worker programs for illegals.

I was a stauch defender against those who attacked him over gardasil and cronyism. I stood in the gap over the racism charges.

I’m defending Newt Gingrich on those things that are right. This is right.

I’m not going to permit any of our good conservative candidates to be ruined by unjust or smear tactics.

You, too, had better think clearly on this. There is an extremely good chance this could be a Gingrich/Perry or Perry/Gingrich ticket. They are among the few left standing, and it simply does NOT make sense to attack any conservative. Attack Romney, sure. Attack Gingrich, Perry and we’re cutting our own throat.

[dirtboy]

Almost all of us knew that global warming was a colossal hoax and said so loudly back then.

There was bona fide warming in areas such as the North American arctic at the time.

The real question has always been whether or not it was human caused. I believe Newt raised that doubt in his loveseat session with Pelosi.

The real issue with Newt is why he sat on that loveseat with Pelosi in the first place. You NEVER give a Dem a chance to play you for their propaganda machine, in this day and age. The era of reasoned bipartisianship is long gone, and Newt failed to realize that.

He has recently said it was royally stupid to do so. That's good, acknowledging the problem is the first step to correcting it. So, will Newt state that he will stand up to Dem rank partisanship and not succumb to the mentality that you can make a principled compromise with the Dems nowadays?

[dirtboy]

CW, you should avoid someone like Dana Milbank like the plague. That should be a given for anyone with any tenure on FR.

The MSM are playing this 'lookey, this candidate is no conservative' game hard and fast to throw the GOP into disarray. They are part of the DNC/MSM spin machine, and if Perry starts to move up in the polls Milbank will be all over Gardasil and TTC and in-state tuition for illegals to goad GOP Perry critics onwards. And you will be griping left and right about unfair MSM attacks on Perry. And I will just remind you how you joined in those attacks when you thought you could gain some kind of counterproductive advantage for Perry by taking the MSM hatchet to Cain and Gingrich.

[napscoordinator]

he very well could be cheating on her as we speak. Crazy as it sounds, who would have thought he would be cheating on his wife while trying to kick Bill Clinton out of office for the same thing. I tell you the timing of that was the worst timing of all. I would not be shocked AT ALL if Newt was cheating on his wife today because he has this risky behavior. He left the Speaker job (or quit) because he could not control his sexual appetite. He might even have a sex addiction.

[MatD]

Ugh. Is it too late to bring Thad McCotter back into the fold?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It is not a matter of spin, CW. It is simple truth. Fraudulent research was exposed. It’s a fact. Put it in your google search: “East Anglia Research fraudulent hacker email”. See what comes up. It happened in November 2009.

Thank you for the condescending history lesson "Newt." I have been following this issue for a very long time and have stayed informed.

That "snot" comment about "racism charges" tells me all I need to know. Pull that card and it's over for me.

[Toespi]

So what does one want to hear from a potential POTUS? The dumbest person in the room (and we have certainly seen that?) Could you be hearing confidence in his ability to articulate and understand the issues? Being a former Speaker of the House presents problems, he had to compromise and manipulate both sides of the aisle. Check his record while he was speaker, I think you will find tremendous accomplishments. Media would prefer to give the credit to Clinton, but I think it is the opposite.