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Noonan, Krauthammer to GOP: You're losing this thing
Politico ^ | 1/20/12 | ALEXANDER BURNS

Posted on 01/20/2012 9:47:07 AM PST by Qbert

Two prominent conservative columnists, Charles Krauthammer and Peggy Noonan, warn this morning that Republican infighting may do the party grievous damage for the 2012 election, with Krauthammer declaring that President Obama "could not have chosen more self-destructive adversaries."

Here's Krauthammer on GOP candidates playing into Obama's message reboot:

For the first few weeks, the class-envy gambit had some effect, bumping Obama’s numbers slightly. But the story was still lagging, suffering in part from its association with an Occupy rabble that had widely worn out its welcome.

Then came the twist. Then came the most remarkable political surprise since the 2010 midterm: The struggling Democratic class-war narrative is suddenly given life and legitimacy by . . . Republicans! Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry make the case that private equity as practiced by Romney’s Bain Capital is nothing more than vulture capitalism looting companies and sucking them dry while casually destroying the lives of workers….

How quickly has the zeitgeist changed? Wednesday, the Republican House reconvened to reject Obama’s planned $1.2 trillion debt-ceiling increase. (Lacking Senate concurrence, the debt ceiling will be raised nonetheless.) Barely noticed. All eyes are on South Carolina and Romney’s taxes.

This is no mainstream media conspiracy. This is the GOP maneuvering itself right onto Obama terrain.

And here's Noonan on the 2012 field racing into a "John Grisham novel"-like phase of the primary campaign:

Secret offshore bank accounts, broken love, the testimony of anguished ex-wives: "He wanted an open marriage." A battered old veteran emerges from the background and, in his electoral death throes, provides secret information—"I'm for Newt"—that he hopes will upend a dirty, rotten establishment. A vest-wearing choir boy turns out to have been the unknown winner of that case back in Iowa. And all this against the backdrop of a mysterious firm that moves in and destroys communities—"When Mitt Romney came to town . . ."—while its CEO pays nothing in taxes.

If you are a Republican who hates a mess, or if you are a member of that real but elusive and hydra-headed thing, the GOP establishment, you are beside yourself with anxiety and unhappiness. You think: "They're losing this thing! They're going to limp out of South Carolina, they'll limp through Florida, they're killing each other and killing the party's chances. How will they look by the fall? What are independents going to think of the guy we finally put up? We all know politics ain't beanbag, but it's not supposed to be a clown-car Indy 500 with cars hitting the wall and guys in wigs littering the track!"

There's been a lot of damage. We lose sense of it in the day to day, but in the aggregate it's going to prove considerable.



TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: establishment; krauthammer; peggynoonan
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To: Qbert
My only question is- if Romney doesn't win, will the Establishment defeatists get on board and back the nominee (like we were forced to do in 2008, against our wishes), or will they try to bring him down with "friendly" fire?

Apparently you've already forgotten what the GOP Establishment did to Sarah Palin, or else you wouldn't even need to ask such a question. Until we can kick them out of the GOP, we'll always be fighting an uphill battle against our own alleged allies.

21 posted on 01/20/2012 10:08:58 AM PST by Thane_Banquo
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To: Qbert

Egads, Peggy!

The rabble is refusing to vote for Mitt!

22 posted on 01/20/2012 10:09:11 AM PST by SnuffaBolshevik (In a tornado, even turkeys can fly.)
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To: Joe the Pimpernel
The inside-the-beltway crowd holds the unwashed masses they fly over in complete contempt.

You can include the East & Left Coast Intelligentsia/Liberals in that crowd. I deal with it daily on my alumni blog, where conservatives are roundly thought of as idiots and knuckle draggers, even though we all graduated from the same university.

For example, I raised a stir this morning in responding to a poster who said, "the republican base is Rush Limbaugh". I upset many of them by saying that "the Democrat Party base is Peggy Joseph".

Here's what is really upsetting the Washingtonian elites, who are primed for four more years of Obama: Romney has been outed before he could be anointed. After he got the nomination sewed up, then Romney was going to be nailed on everything, and more, that has emerged over the past week.

They're so twitterpated, they're raising the spectre of a brokered convention.

I'm not the biggest fan of Newt, but I've concluded that what this country now needs is a real son of a beyotch as President, not a community organizer.

Methinks that Newt is the most genuine SOB currently running.

23 posted on 01/20/2012 10:11:25 AM PST by Night Hides Not (My dream ticket for 2012 is John Galt & Dagny Taggart!)
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To: Qbert
Two prominent conservative columnists, Charles Krauthammer and Peggy Noonan...

Stopped reading right there.

24 posted on 01/20/2012 10:12:29 AM PST by COBOL2Java (Virginia GOP: Romney's favorite butt boys)
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To: Qbert

You can almost see noonan’s words slurring themselves.
As for the other guy, he knows conservatives know he isn’t...and he has taken to giving disclaimers prior to his ramblings on fox. It’s...um... amusing.


25 posted on 01/20/2012 10:13:40 AM PST by MestaMachine (obama kills)
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To: Qbert

They’re both full of shyt. Both are Romney backers that can’s stand the though of real conservative winning the nomination. To hell with both of them.


26 posted on 01/20/2012 10:15:07 AM PST by NKP_Vet (creep.)
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To: Qbert
This is absolutely correct. The Republican establishment IS losing "their thing". And we, the conservative people, will continue to ensure that their thing is losing until they realize that they serve us, not the other way around.

I will not serve their Romney-thing, any more than I would serve the Obama-thing of the Democrats.

27 posted on 01/20/2012 10:15:10 AM PST by tentmaker
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To: Qbert

In other words: LEAVE MY ROMNEY ALONE AND ANNOINT HIM THE NOMINATION SO WE CAN RE-ELECT obama!


28 posted on 01/20/2012 10:18:05 AM PST by Terry Mross
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To: Qbert

Vote for Mitt or Noonan will throw cats at you.

29 posted on 01/20/2012 10:18:22 AM PST by Snickering Hound
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To: 1malumprohibitum

"Who is really losing this thing, the candidates or the idiot “conservative” talking heads who push the harmful theme? I don’t like infighting and yes it makes us look bad, but I hate the idea of giving up and going with romney unchallenged, which is what they want."

Exactly.

And they do this every time they don't get what they want. For Noonan, it wasn't enough to have McCain in 2008- she also wanted another RINO VP- and when she didn't get it, she had to use her poison pen to bring the whole thing crashing down. She did more than almost anybody else to help elect Obama because she "validated" all of the leftist criticism of Palin. Sorry Peggy- you're credibility is shot...

30 posted on 01/20/2012 10:18:22 AM PST by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
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To: Qbert

The establishment RINO’s are just upset that Newt and Santorum are delaying Romney’s “coronation”...


31 posted on 01/20/2012 10:20:22 AM PST by apillar
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To: Qbert

Noonan a conservative? Who knew?!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2835373/posts

Tinseltown offensive: Studios strike back with $3M SOPA ad blitz
NYPost ^ | January 19, 2012 | CLAIRE ATKINSON

Hollywood strikes back!

The Motion Picture Association of America and its member studios are planning a $3 million print and online ad blitz to beat back opponents of controversial Internet anti-piracy legislation, The Post has learned.

(snip)

In addition to the MPAA, a group called the Creative Coalition, repping unions among others, is running a pro-SOPA ad campaign.

(snip)

http://thecreativecoalition.org/about/board-of-directors/

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

...

Peggy Noonan

...


32 posted on 01/20/2012 10:21:23 AM PST by maggief
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To: LS

Actually, IIRC, Noonan supported Obama.


33 posted on 01/20/2012 10:22:08 AM PST by SpringtoLiberty (Liberty is on the march!)
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To: Qbert
Peggy....Charles.....if I could speak to you in person, or tell you in an email I am 100% sure that you would receive and have to read, I'd tell you to just SUCK IT.....SUCK IT!

Do you hear me? SUCK IT! Both of you have evolved significantly beyond a once, seeming-conservative view point, to Washington DC sychophants, token minority conservative DC media establishment 'mouths' (female and disabled, if you didn't grok the 'minority' thing, idiots)....

Both of you are so invested in your standing amongst DC pundits and powers-that-be, that you have sold your damned conservative souls, if you ever had any to start with.

You disgust me. I'd sooner pay attention to a fart that one of my family members or the dog toots out. Your words and thoughts are to me like boils on my ass. As much as I've blathered here about Newt in the past, I AM VOTING FOR HIM, and HIM ALONE. You two can Suck it! Just Suck it! And you can just shut the f@ck up. You're thoughts and concerns don't matter any more.

34 posted on 01/20/2012 10:22:48 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: Thane_Banquo

"Apparently you've already forgotten what the GOP Establishment did to Sarah Palin, or else you wouldn't even need to ask such a question. Until we can kick them out of the GOP, we'll always be fighting an uphill battle against our own alleged allies.

Rhetorical question.

35 posted on 01/20/2012 10:23:03 AM PST by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
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To: Qbert

The infighting will be long forgotten by the time the general elsection campaign starts. It didn’t hurt Obama in 2008 either. His race against Hillary was drawn out until June and more bitter than this one.


36 posted on 01/20/2012 10:25:05 AM PST by wolfman23601
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To: Qbert

“If you are a Republican who hates a mess”

Is this why they hate Newt? Because he would make a mess of Washington? Then all i can say is GO NEWT!


37 posted on 01/20/2012 10:27:43 AM PST by Amntn
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To: Qbert
I have watched, enjoyed and agreed with almost all of the comments in the past by Dr Krauthammer. He is a very educated, reliable and precise orator. The basis of most of his arguments are very solid in his analysis. And here comes the but. But, in these proceedings, I'm having a problem with his criticism of the candidates and more specifically with Newt Gingrich. His praise of Romney is also surprising. If he is going to declare his endorsement, he should just come out with it instead of constantly finding fault with everyone else in the running. My take on his actions is very simple. I'm going to bet that sometime in the past, Dr Krauthammer had a run in with Newt and much to his dismay, he was intellectually outgunned and has never got over it.
I'm from Massachusetts, and believe me, Romney is not our man. If Romney is selected, it's McCain all over again. I will admit I've been a Newt fan since the day made his first speech in the congress. He definitely has warts, pot marks and lesions all over, however his record of accomplishment is second to none and surpasses the idiot in the WH by miles. This country is in severe need of a leader. Newt is a leader. His private life was a mess, but whose wouldn't be when serving in congress and accomplishing what he has done.
Think twice before you check off someone Else’s name on the primary ballot. Just my opinion.
38 posted on 01/20/2012 10:28:01 AM PST by bramps (zero from zero is zero)
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To: maggief

How about that?

Noonan is on the BOD of a coalition of people that is for SOPA, and backs the actors union.

Not only can we NOT pick our candidates, conservatives can’t even pick our own commentators.


39 posted on 01/20/2012 10:31:13 AM PST by RinaseaofDs (Does beheading qualify as 'breaking my back', in the Jeffersonian sense of the expression?)
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To: Gaffer

Why don’t you tell us how you really fell? LOL


40 posted on 01/20/2012 10:31:41 AM PST by KansasGirl
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