Posted on 12/07/2011 7:16:40 AM PST by Rufus2007
In an appearance on “The Michael Berry Show” on KTRH in Houston on Tuesday, a disappointed Mark Steyn, the author of “After America: Get Ready for Armageddon,” declared the 2012 Republican nominating process a failure and chalked up the proliferation of cable debates as a substitute for campaigning in the early primary states as the reason.
“I think the nomination process failed last time around when John McCain wound up as the nominee and I think it is heading for failure this time around,” Steyn said. “I’m speaking to you from my home in New Hampshire … but in my state of New Hampshire, one reason we like the primaries is its all supposed to be about swinging by local diners and county fairs, and the annual pancake breakfast and all this kind of thing. And we know the clichés — the woman who tells the Washington Post, the New York Times every four years, you know, ‘I won’t vote for any candidate I haven’t danced with at least three times.’”
“None of that happened this time around,” he continued. “Instead, we had some new TV debate every 48 hours —sometimes on cable channels none of us ever heard of until they hosted a debate — and the result is there has been no retail politics. And Newt Gingrich, brilliantly in my view — who would have been terrible at the whole shaking hands at the diner and all that kind of stuff — through the debates has emerged as the front-runner.”
...more (w/audio)...
(Excerpt) Read more at thedc.com ...
If he is the nominee, hope Mark Steyn changes his tune.
If anyone needs to change his tune, it's Newt Gingrich.
The world is about to catch fire starting in the middle east. “Big (domestic) Government” will be irrelevant when we’re back on an existential WWII war footing next year.
Steyn doesn’t trust Newt, period. For the most part, I agree.
Right now we are going on his word only. That can change with the wind.
I think Newt will be a big compromiser.
But...he sure isn’t as bad as Obama. Shame we blew it again.
So why is Michelle Bachmann polling so low? She’s the most consistent conservative there is.
It's going to get real ugly real fast.
I too have my reservations about Newt.
The problem with Steyn’s analysis is that it isn’t your grandmother’s campaign process anymore. Maybe that’s a shame, but it is what it is.
The election is now largely driven by television and the internet, media that Newt has cleverly learned to master. He is apparently the King of Twitter (for the GOP), and the young people love him.
The overall field has been second-rate from the get-go. After the 2012 loss, maybe we can get our A Team in gear, Palin, Jindal, Rubio, West, Rand Paul, Ryan...
I wish I knew. By all rights, Bachmann and Santorum should be fighting it out for the nomination instead of Gingrich and Perry.
But that's the way it is.
That doesn't change the fact that we need to elect as many Tea Partiers as possible to Congress. If anything, it just makes it that much more imperative.
Indeed... the last time Steyn hosted Rush, I had to turn him off. His anti-Newt vitriol was REALLY getting on my nerves.
Like... okay, butthead. You hate Newt. We get it. But he’s our front-runner right now, and do we REALLY have to tear him down? For what purpose? So the only man left standing is Romney?
And the way the media’s treated Romney... it’s almost as if he’s Obama. No, no... can’t touch THAT guy! — Geez, they must REALLY have something big on him that they’re sitting on so they can tear into him the minute we finish destroying the rest of OUR potential candidates. Lovely.
And Steyn was playing right into this, all along thinking he’s the brightest light on the Christmas tree. Fool.
Rush has a MUCH better, saner, and productive viewpoint...
DON’T EAT YOUR OWN. ONE OF THEM WILL BE THE CANDIDATE AGAINST OBAMA... and HE’S our enemy.
Maybe Steyn should listen to Rush sometime.
Mark's tune seems to hit the right note for me. It's Newt's take on immigration, national health care, etc., that is hitting the sour notes.
To keep him in line.
It's a pre-emptive strike to keep him from employing John McCain's strategy of appeasing "independents" and "moderates", aka, Obama voters.
For God’s sake, have Mercy on we Conservatives.
Steyn may be right about the process...leave it up to the RNC to screw the pooch.
But, conservatives never win because they are too stupid to unify at some point.
The attacks on Gingrich are ridiculous.
Gingrich
Romney
Obama...
What is to decide here?
Ah, yes. Party uber alles. We must all dance to the GOP tune or else...
Might as well just keep the EPA if Newt simply wants to replace it with another agency.
I wake up every morning and think “How could this have happened?”
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
The GOP had plenty of time to put together a candidate recruitment team...to take it to the likes of Ryan, Rubio, Jindal and even Christie...not to politely ask them to run and wait patiently for them to talk to their families! But to implore them to do this for the sake of our country’s salvation and what future the party has left, not to mention Conservative principles.
The wise? GOP contenders who declined to run so far did so because they know how devastating the race can be to one’s character and family. And the GOP is no longer a safe harbor for qualified candidates. Why would they want to risk so much?
We shouldn’t be where we are with this weak field as our only choices. And it’s not just the Rats and Libs anymore who are to blame.
So telling the truth about a Republican is vitriol?
Get back on the Grand Old Plantation.
I agree, Pravious.
Steyn’s humor was overshadowed by his non stop lashing out at Newt. For what purpose?
Does Mark think that his offensive rants will change anyone’s mind?
Methinks he overestimates his influence,,kinda like Turd Blossom.
Yes, last time in 2008 there was a candidate that the young people loved too, they turned out on droves to elect him. How is that working out again?
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