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The History of Newt - Are Republicans ready to look past his transgressions?
The Weekly Standard ^ | November 28, 2011 issue | Fred Barnes

Posted on 11/21/2011 12:11:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

……..If 2012 were an ordinary election year, Gingrich would be doomed by his gaffes, three marriages, and fleeting alliances with HillaryClinton on health care and Nancy Pelosi on global warming. But 2012 is different. Republicans are fixated on defeating PresidentObama. They’re obsessed. They think about little else. And if that means choosing a candidate with a lurid past and a penchant for self-destruction to beat Obama, Republicans are likely to swallow hard and nominate Gingrich.

In their hearts, Republicans have always wanted a candidate who is bold and tough, and Gingrich is. They’re not sure about MittRomney, who is cautious, conventional, and sounds more conciliatory than Gingrich. There’s a reason Romney’s support has been stuck for months at roughly a quarter of the Republican electorate. His blandness explains it. Gingrich is anything but bland.

To rally behind Gingrich, Republicans wouldn’t have to forgive his past sins, just treat them as irrelevant. They already talk about how sweet it would be to see Gingrich crush Obama in presidential debates. They don’t see Romney that way.

But Romney has two important traits Gingrich lacks: carefulness and self-discipline. He doesn’t shoot off his mouth recklessly, as Gingrich often has. In May, the former House speaker practically blew up his campaign by attacking Representative Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform plan as “right-wing social engineering.” He later apologized.

Talk to any of Gingrich’s current or former associates and you hear about the “bad Newt.” This is the undisciplined Gingrich, prone, as one long-time friend says, “to overshoot the runway on something,” perhaps with a wild and inappropriate comment that’s ruinous to his campaign. Many of those who know him believe it’s only a matter of time before he runs amok.

Believe it or not, his press secretary…insists Gingrich has gotten a grip on himself….

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


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: conservatism; economy; gopprimary; jobs
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1 posted on 11/21/2011 12:12:00 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

No.

Next question?


2 posted on 11/21/2011 12:18:27 AM PST by Ronin (If we were serious about using the death penalty as a deterrent, we would bring back public hangings)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I want Newt’s intellect combined with Justice Thomas’s conservatism inside Romney’s body! (with Romney’s $$ as a bonus) :-)

Would be a better candidate than even Reagan was.

I’m getting depressed about the current field :-(


3 posted on 11/21/2011 12:25:00 AM PST by Bobalu (More rubble, less trouble)
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To: Bobalu

http://patdollard.com/2011/11/chris-wallace-panel-bashes-newt/


4 posted on 11/21/2011 12:32:08 AM PST by Fred (no job no house no gas no food no problem Obama 2012)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
To the left of Romney ?

How the hell is that even possible in this field ?

The article made some sense up until that part.

Romney doesn't have anyone to his left, everyone (including a few democrats) are to his right, and Romney isn't running bland, his entire campaign is built on him being a "manager" , he intends to campaign against Obama, not on ideology or philosophy or even policy, only competence.

Newt has many strengths and weaknesses, good and bad traits, but he is not to the left of Romney either way.

5 posted on 11/21/2011 12:34:13 AM PST by Sonny M ("oderint dum metuant")
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I don’t ususally give advice but you should stick with something positive...like cheering on Gov. Perry.


6 posted on 11/21/2011 12:34:59 AM PST by SatinDoll (NO FOREIGN NATIONALS AS U.S.A. PRESIDENT)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Here's what ole Barnesey calls Newt's "bad moments":

He’s largely succeeded. True, he called Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke “corrupt” and labeled President Obama “the most effective food stamp president in American history.” And in a debate in October, Gingrich said, “If you want to put people in jail .  .  . you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.” In other debates, he said Congress should immediately “defund the National Labor Relations Board” and abolish the Congressional Budget Office. Amazingly enough, the press barely raised an eyebrow.

7 posted on 11/21/2011 12:56:45 AM PST by BigBobber
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; All

Here they are for rankin’...

Compare the conservative principles...

A new interview with Michele Bachmann by the Des Moines Register:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RegisterE

Herman Cain on the issues from his website:

http://www.hermancain.com/issues

Rick Perry’s postions on issues:

http://www.rickperry.org/issues/

Newt’s websites:

http://www.newt.org/solutions
http://www.gingrichgroup.com

Which sounds most true to the most conservative principles ?


8 posted on 11/21/2011 1:01:04 AM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves.)
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To: Bobalu
Republican Caucus Power Rankings for 11/21/11................[Romney] ……..Even if these efforts only help to lock in that low 20% support, it could be enough for a win on caucus night if the rest of the field remains splintered.…….Also, Paul benefits to the extent that the not-Romney caucus-goers do not coalesce around a single candidate.................
9 posted on 11/21/2011 1:02:12 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: PieterCasparzen

Oh, and here’s the text of hillarycare(tm), just to have something to compare the healthcare positions to...

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c103:H.R.3600.IH:


10 posted on 11/21/2011 1:02:32 AM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
No, no ego named newt. Found a theme song for you, for perry, I am sure it will be a smash.
11 posted on 11/21/2011 1:16:08 AM PST by org.whodat (Just another heartless American, hated by "AMNESTY" Perry and his fellow demorats.)
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To: Bobalu

Well, yeah. Basically the second coming of Ronald Reagan ain’t gonna happen in time.

So, I go for the most conservative candidate that has a chance of beating Zero.

For me that’s Newt.


12 posted on 11/21/2011 1:18:24 AM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Well, you won’t catch me ever thinking about voting for Gingrich. He bombed with me the day he was elected speaker of the house, when he extolled the virtues of Alvin & Heidi Toffler, two hard-core leftists he admired.


13 posted on 11/21/2011 1:24:08 AM PST by Ron C.
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

No


14 posted on 11/21/2011 3:05:15 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: Ron C.

I haven’t written Newt off entirely, but he is my last choice as anti-Romney (other than Huntsman and Paul). The biggest problem I see in this country is the stench of the Beltway political culture. Newt is steeped in it and it has enriched him. I just don’t see him as the candidate to fight it, and fight it we must. He would just veer it slightly rightwards and then continue it on its course towards ever-bigger size.


15 posted on 11/21/2011 3:14:36 AM PST by dirtboy
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To: Ron C.
“The system of government the founding fathers fashioned
is obsolete, oppressive, dangerous to our welfare and must
be radically changed and a new system of government invented."

"For his wisdom I thank Mr. Jefferson who helped to create
the system that served us for so long, and now must, in
it's turn, die and be replaced.”

-Alvin Toffler- The Third wave

16 posted on 11/21/2011 3:32:07 AM PST by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

If he had spent the last two years denouncing his “mistakes”, maybe. He, instead spent the last two years declaring that he’s been misunderstood because he’s smarter than we are.


17 posted on 11/21/2011 3:52:36 AM PST by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: Ron C.

Did he bomb for you when he got the whole “Contract With America” through?


18 posted on 11/21/2011 3:54:20 AM PST by livius
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Let’s Roll. Time to call Sarah


19 posted on 11/21/2011 3:57:54 AM PST by tiger-one
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

YES!


20 posted on 11/21/2011 3:58:51 AM PST by blueyon (The U. S. Constitution - read it and weep)
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