Posted on 01/19/2012 12:41:04 PM PST by Jim Robinson
Edited on 01/19/2012 12:44:42 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]
I have issues with his spending habits but I cannot find ANYWHERE that he has lied or flip flopped on a position and I agree with everything he has said he would do.
Although I've preferred Newt all along, Santorum has been my second favorite since Cain dropped out.
But Santorum completely lost my support during the Monday night debate for two things he said:
1. He supports letting felons vote, claiming they should have full rights "once they've done their time". I've been a crime victim more times than I can count, and this infuriates me. They NEVER do their time... time is always cut to a fraction for good behavior and where I live (CA) prison overcrowding means even more crooks who don't serve much. Not to mention that most sentences are far too light for my taste to begin with. And let's not forget: the majority of felons will vote Democrat.
2. Santorum, the self-professed "true conservative", called Newt's idea to let people control their own social security accounts a "new entitlement." ARE YOU FRACKIN' KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?! Oh, he thinks it's something we should do "eventually", but "can't afford" now. This is EXACTLY the time for major conservative changes in the failed system. And Newt is right that it should be "paid for" by massive cuts in federal bureaucracy (as if you have to "pay for" not taking money--it's massive government programs, yes, entitlements, that have to be paid for).
I did not approve of Newt's attacks on Bain, but calling a plan to let people control their own future INSTEAD of depending on the government an ENTITLEMENT completely INFURIATES me!!!! It is THE OPPOSITE of an entitlement!
At this point, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd now probably support Romney over Santorum if I can't have Gingrich.
If you want something significant to happen with entitlements...Gingrich is not the answer. He will NOT do anything to impact them at any significant level.
Remember he is a politician first...
I thought Santorum was a conservative too...
...until Monday night's debate, when he called Newt's plan to let people control their own future INSTEAD of depending on the government an entitlement. It is THE OPPOSITE of an entitlement.
See my post, #661 in this thread, for my longer statement about this and the other thing he said Monday night that made me question his conservatism.
WAHOO and GO NEWT!!!
(And, I'd like to unofficially welcome one and all back home! :^D)
I wouldn't hold my breath that ANY of them will do something significant.
HOWEVER, Gingrich has a track record of political guts that dwarfs an OK record of political guts in the case of Santorum, and as for Mitt Romney, politically gutsy is pretty much the OPPOSITE of what I'd characterize him as.
Gingrich has repeatedly endorsed moving America to the Chilean retirement account system. I believe he would do it if he could get it through congress. He probably can't. He's not likely to have 60 Republicans in the Senate. Would he try to do it anyway and pick off a few Democrats? Maybe. No president can get everything he wants through Congress. Newt's more of a big picture guy than Santorum or Romney, so I trust him to prioritize correctly.
WAHOO and GO NEWT!!!
(And, I'd like to unofficially welcome one and all back home! :^D)
FR FOUNDER JIM ROBINSON ENDORSES NEWT!
Hopefully, the PaulBots will leave the building and Santorum supporters will graciously concede & join us in uniting to defeat Obama. To the Mittsters and the GOP establishment: DEAL WITH IT!
Current consensus of polls show Obama vs. Romney head-to-head = too close to call (within margin of error).
Current consensus of polls show Obama vs. Gingrich head-to-head = landslide, double digit Obama victory.
I’ve been here since 1998 and honestly, I’m scratching my head. I have to ask myself: Why does the Free Republic founder want to see President Obama re-elected in 2012? Because Jim Robinson is a smart guy, he knows that Newt’s negatives are off the chart. Even if I conceded that Newt was the more conservative candidate (and I don’t), can someone explain to me how he is going to get people who voted for Obama in 2008 to change their vote to Newt in 2012? It is nonsensical on its face. And Obama is still on the ticket last time I checked and his voters haven’t died - which is more than one can say about many McCain 2008 voters.
For whatever bile folks may spew on Romney, the polls indicate he is far more likely to convince Obama 2008 voters to vote for a moderate Republican this go-around.
Dealing to a inside straight is no way to play, and this is FAR more important than poker.
Sorry, pal, if you been here since 1998 then you shouldn’t have to ask why I’m not about to support or vote for an abortionist/statist RINO like Romney for president. And any poll showing Obama with double digits over Gingrich is a POS!!
If you wish to support Romney be my guest, but do it ELSEWHERE!!!
Even the great Churchill was tossed out like yesterday's trash after saving Britain in WWII.
It's *YOUR* assertion, YOURS, that states that a leader can't be all that great if they're chucked to the curb.
So, *YOU* would then believe that Churchill was not great. At least, according to the post I commented on.
And that's wrong.
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Personally, I think that's bullcr@p. And that Churchill was a great leader.
Which means that I don't believe that greatness is measured in whether or not a leader can manage to stay in power.
As for Newt, he's better than the rest of our slate. Is he great? Eh, I think he's okay... and if he makes President, he'll have four years to prove it one way or the other.
Why on G-d's green earth would a conservative have a problem with manifest destiny?
If anything, we need to expand and take over more territory for colonization. I'd have annexed Afghanistan and Iraq, put the natives into reservations and then opened the land up (forty acres and a mule!).
And after a decade of that, both Iraq and Afghanistan would be prosperous, well-governed American territories nearing the cusp of statehood.
Compare that with the present... and tell me again how manifest destiny is a bad idea.
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A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
-Thomas Jefferson
Think about it. I favor Jefferson. Santorum, by his own words, does not... and then has the gall to say that neither do any other good conservatives.
Pah! Anyone that values our Constitution would not find fault with the ideals that shaped it.
Cut out the newby crap. It’s old.
7 am tomorrow, I am voting for Newt in West Columbia, SC
Can you imagine Newt/Palin! OH MY!!!
When Newt came to suburbs of Houston, I was the first in line. My posts of the event are well documented here. Newt and staff worked the private meeting room with style while Herman and staff worked the private meeting room like Don King (seriously). Perry was invited but he turned down the invite. Newt was impressive.
I AM ENDORSING MITT ROMNEY!
Everyone Ive endorsed so far has been in the sewer in a week.
You are deliberately lying about Newt. Time for you to stop.
I think surfer is probably a devoted Beck fan. Unfortunately, even though he’s uncomfortable mentioning it, our friend Beck is in the tank for Romney.
I agree, but that's inherent with internet discussion forums -- and not just on Free Republic.
I love cats — especially Siamese with their aggressive personalities. Knowing felines rather well, I do think “herding cats” is a very good description of how well it works to try to guide internet discussions.
I am not a PaulBot. I have never given the guy a dime. He will not be next president of the US. But you know what. Most of what he says is right on, and if we moved 5%, 20%, 50% or 90% in the direction he wants to go we would be much better off. He is the one guy who has consistently stated a philosophy and stood on it. His foreign policy might be a bit naive, a bit. But do you think that neo-cons who go us into Iraq and bankrupted this nation were wise men experienced in statecraft and the military arts? They invaded Iraq and then it turns out they had no clue what to do once they go there. They didn't even have a clue they needed a clue. None of them. Not even Cheney.
And we are bankrupt because of it. Yeah Obama didn't help. He didn't have the courage to change a direction that needed changing, but he merely followed the arc of the arrow launched by the neocons.
So don't lecture the Paulbots here. They are not your enemy, unless you are also on the take for federal loot.
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