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New Newt, old Newt, same Newt?
LA Times ^ | 11-18-11

Posted on 11/22/2011 9:09:03 AM PST by MNJohnnie

In his Nov. 17 Op-Ed column, Doyle McManus draws attention to Newt Gingrich's comeback and compares it with Richard Nixon's makeover in 1968. To that end, McManus offers a side-by-side comparison of the two Newts:

Old Newt -- Angry Newt, the one who entered the presidential campaign last spring -- talked in apocalyptic terms about threats to American culture. Old Newt wrote about "a secular-socialist machine" led by the Democratic Party that "represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did."

"If we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America," he warned, the U.S. could soon become "a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists."

And the revised version:

New Newt -- Presidential Newt -- talks about fiscal challenges more than cultural threats and says they don't look that scary. "There are ways to solve this," he told voters in Iowa this week. The economy can be fixed, he said, simply by allowing more oil and gas drilling, reducing fraud in federal programs and "putting people back to work."

The change is not complete. Gingrich still slips back into his past ways, as people do. Regardless, is this change sustainable? McManus wonders:

Can New Newt keep Old Newt at bay for long? It's one thing to focus on fiscal issues instead of cultural warfare; that's just a matter of emphasis. The greater challenge for Gingrich is maintaining his changed temperament after years of delighting in unconventional ideas and unrestrained polemic.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinion.latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; elections; newt
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You got to give Newt credit. He has keep old Newt under wraps pretty good for the last couple of months. Except for his misstep in Oct about a "Middle way on Immigration Reform" he has kept a tight control over his PR message.

But as anyone who has been in politics since the 1980s can tell you, Newt's Achilles Heel has always been his mouth.

We all are waiting for the other shoe to drop. We all know Newt is going to step in it sooner or later, we just have to wonder how bad it is going to be when he does lose it next.

1 posted on 11/22/2011 9:09:06 AM PST by MNJohnnie
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To: MNJohnnie

Maybe, but if nominated you can bet Newt’ll have my vote in a heartbeat.


2 posted on 11/22/2011 9:12:39 AM PST by skeeter
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To: MNJohnnie

The bad thing about Newt is that he is a guy who thinks out loud, which sometimes hurts him, politically.

The good thing about Newt is that he thinks.


3 posted on 11/22/2011 9:12:44 AM PST by Haiku Guy (We don't need to Occupy Wall Street... We need to Occupy K Street!)
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To: MNJohnnie
Newt's Achilles Heel has always been his mouth.

So true.

I resemble that remark.

4 posted on 11/22/2011 9:13:12 AM PST by cloudmountain
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To: MNJohnnie

“But as anyone who has been in politics since the 1980s can tell you, Newt’s Achilles Heel has always been his mouth.”

Well, except for being the one responsible for giving RR the line of attack in the debate and the “are you better off now?” question...ICONIC in politics, don’t ya think?


5 posted on 11/22/2011 9:13:47 AM PST by jessduntno ("They say the world has become too complex for simple answers... they are wrong." - RR)
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To: MNJohnnie

Newt is better than Romney and Romney is better than Obama.

If one of three men will be the next President — Gingrich, Romney or Obama — I would choose Newt in a heartbeat.


6 posted on 11/22/2011 9:14:30 AM PST by Haiku Guy (We don't need to Occupy Wall Street... We need to Occupy K Street!)
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To: Haiku Guy

I, for one, like a guy who tells the truth.

However, the wimpy, p*ssified swing voters of the electorate are all about farts and rainbows and being “nice.”

We’re electing a President, not a f***ing Prom Queen!

/rant off


7 posted on 11/22/2011 9:18:56 AM PST by RockinRight (It's Newt's turn.)
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To: skeeter

http://www.c-span.org/Events/Gingrich-Interviewed-by-New-Hampshire-Newspaper/10737425652/

One hour video of yesterday’s interview of Gingrich by NH Union Leader.


8 posted on 11/22/2011 9:19:21 AM PST by Lady Lucky
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To: Haiku Guy

Obama and his supporters know that the majority of Americans feel just as you do.

Obama is beat in 2012 regardless of who the Repubs. nominate.


9 posted on 11/22/2011 9:21:34 AM PST by swampfox101
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To: Lady Lucky

Thanks...


10 posted on 11/22/2011 9:22:43 AM PST by skeeter
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To: Haiku Guy
Newt thinks that big government is the answer, his god is government.
11 posted on 11/22/2011 9:24:53 AM PST by org.whodat (Just another heartless American, hated by "AMNESTY" Perry and his fellow demorats.)
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To: MNJohnnie

It appears American conservatives are suicidal...

They will shoot themselves in the mouth with Gingrich..
Shoot themselves in the temple with Romney...
Shoot themselves in the stomach with Cain...
OR shoot themselves in the heart with Perry..

The last thing they will do is shoot the socialists themselves with Michele Bachmann..

America is very depressed.. pity..


12 posted on 11/22/2011 9:25:35 AM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole...)
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To: MNJohnnie

God help us if that jerk should get the nomination.


13 posted on 11/22/2011 9:27:35 AM PST by editor-surveyor (No Federal Sales Tax - No Way!)
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To: MNJohnnie

Same Newt. He will rip on whoever is convenient to make points. It was sickening how he played against Bush through the years.


14 posted on 11/22/2011 9:28:34 AM PST by discipler (How's that 'hope and change' working for 'ya? - RL)
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To: org.whodat

>> “Newt thinks that big government is the answer, his god is government.” <<

.
Pretty good summation of Noot.


15 posted on 11/22/2011 9:29:28 AM PST by editor-surveyor (No Federal Sales Tax - No Way!)
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To: MNJohnnie

“...Newt wrote about “a secular-socialist machine” led by the Democratic Party that “represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.”

That’s the stuff we need.

Thanks, Newt. And to think, this was supposed to be a hit piece.


16 posted on 11/22/2011 9:29:42 AM PST by jessduntno ("They say the world has become too complex for simple answers... they are wrong." - RR)
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To: hosepipe

I think you meant “Go Postal” with Michele Bachmann.


17 posted on 11/22/2011 9:32:17 AM PST by editor-surveyor (No Federal Sales Tax - No Way!)
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To: MNJohnnie

The LA Times? I’ve noticed a trend with your posts. You really like to use left wing rags to attack Newt, don’t you?


18 posted on 11/22/2011 9:32:42 AM PST by Josh Painter ("The only thing these 'investments' will get us is a bullet train to bankruptcy." - Palin)
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To: jessduntno

When Noot was speaker, he was the “secular-socialist machine.”


19 posted on 11/22/2011 9:34:10 AM PST by editor-surveyor (No Federal Sales Tax - No Way!)
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To: Josh Painter

You really like to use left wing socialist Noot to attack Freepers, don’t you!


20 posted on 11/22/2011 9:35:48 AM PST by editor-surveyor (No Federal Sales Tax - No Way!)
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