Posted on 01/27/2012 3:18:48 PM PST by Timber Rattler
We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent.
We will look back on this week and realize that something changed. I have given numerous interviews wherein I espoused the benefits of thorough vetting during aggressive contested primary elections, but this week’s tactics aren’t what I meant. Those who claim allegiance to Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment should stop and think about where we are today. Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, the fathers of the modern conservative movement, would be ashamed of us in this primary. Let me make clear that I have no problem with the routine rough and tumble of a heated campaign. As I said at the first Tea Party convention two years ago, I am in favor of contested primaries and healthy, pointed debate. They help focus candidates and the electorate. I have fought in tough and heated contested primaries myself. But what we have seen in Florida this week is beyond the pale. It was unprecedented in GOP primaries. I’ve seen it before – heck, I lived it before – but not in a GOP primary race.
I am sadly too familiar with these tactics because they were used against the GOP ticket in 2008. The left seeks to single someone out and destroy his or her record and reputation and family using the media as a channel to dump handpicked and half-baked campaign opposition research on the public. The difference in 2008 was that I was largely unknown to the American public, so they had no way of differentiating between the lies and the truth. All of it came at them at once as “facts” about me. But Newt Gingrich is known to us – both the good and the bad.
We know that Newt fought in the trenches during the Reagan Revolution. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out, Newt was among a handful of Republican Congressman who would regularly take to the House floor to defend Reagan at a time when conservatives didn’t have Fox News or talk radio or conservative blogs to give any balance to the liberal mainstream media. Newt actually came at Reagan’s administration “from the right” to remind Americans that freer markets and tougher national defense would win our future. But this week a few handpicked and selectively edited comments which Newt made during his 40-year career were used to claim that Newt was somehow anti-Reagan, and isn’t conservative enough to go against the accepted moderate in the primary race. (I know, it makes no sense, and the GOP establishment hopes you won’t stop and think about this nonsense. Mark Levin and others have shown the ridiculousness of this.) To add insult to injury, this “anti-Reagan” claim was made by a candidate who admitted to not even supporting or voting for Reagan. He actually was against the Reagan movement, donated to liberal candidates, and said he didn’t want to go back to the Reagan days. You can’t change history. We know that Newt Gingrich brought the Reagan Revolution into the 1990s. We know it because none other than Nancy Reagan herself announced this when she presented Newt with an award, telling us, “The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive.” As Rush and others pointed out, if Nancy Reagan had ever thought that Newt was in any way an opponent of her beloved husband, she would never have even appeared on a stage with him, let alone presented him with an award and said such kind things about him. Nor would Reagan’s son, Michael Reagan, have chosen to endorse Newt in this primary race. There are no two greater keepers of the Reagan legacy than Nancy and Michael Reagan. What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stanlin-esque re-writing of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.
But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guard’s choice. In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans “bitterly clinging” to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the “wisdom” of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 that didn’t win. Well, here’s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all.
I spoke up before the South Carolina primary to urge voters there to keep this primary going because I have great concern about the GOP establishment trying to anoint a candidate without the blessing of the grassroots and all the needed energy and resources we as commonsense constitutional conservatives could bring to the general election in order to defeat President Obama. Now, I respect Governor Romney and his success. But there are serious concerns about his record and whether as a politician he consistently applied conservative principles and how this impacts the agenda moving forward. The questions need answers now. That is why this primary should not be rushed to an end. We need to vet this. Pundits in the Beltway are gleefully proclaiming that this primary race is over after Florida, despite 46 states still not having chimed in. Well, perhaps it’s possible that it will come to a speedy end in just four days; but with these questions left unanswered, it will not have come to a satisfactory conclusion. Without this necessary vetting process, the unanswered question of Governor Romney’s conservative bona fides and the unanswered and false attacks on Newt Gingrich will hang in the air to demoralize many in the electorate. The Tea Party grassroots will certainly feel disenfranchised and disenchanted with the perceived orchestrated outcome from self-proclaimed movers and shakers trying to sew this all up. And, trust me, during the general election, Governor Romney’s statements and record in the private sector will be relentlessly parsed over by the opposition in excruciating detail to frighten off swing voters. This is why we need a fair primary that is not prematurely cut short by the GOP establishment using Alinsky tactics to kneecap Governor Romney’s chief rival.
As I said in my speech in Iowa last September, the challenge of this election is not simply to replace President Obama. The real challenge is who and what we will replace him with. It’s not enough to just change up the uniform. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country. We truly need sudden and relentless reform in Washington to defend our republic, though it’s becoming clearer that the old guard wants anything but that. That is why we should all be concerned by the tactics employed by the establishment this week. We will not save our country by becoming like the left. And I question whether the GOP establishment would ever employ the same harsh tactics they used on Newt against Obama. I didn’t see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ‘08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, they’re now using every available microscope and endoscope – along with rewriting history – in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own party’s primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?
- Sarah Palin
You obviously missed the threads filled with posts about how people don’t care if Gingrich is found with a small goat, they’re voting for him.
Besides, being focused on defeating Obama is not mutually exclusive with “caring about the Republic.”
That’s just dumb.
Finally, I hope you will take a moment to understand the difference between a person making observations about the political landscape and their own political views.
That’s also just dumb.
I fantasize about an event Monday in The Villages with Newt, Sarah Palin, and Michael Reagan with about 20,000 people chanting "Newt, Newt, Newt!"
Hank
I just finished reading this on her wall and posted this comment;
Sarah, you stated my thoughts quite well. It isn’t “good enough” to merely defeat Obama this fall. We “tea party” need to select someone who is committed to challenging the culture of corruption in DC. These GOP Establishment Elites think they are entitled to their positions of power. I’ve had enough of the party machine. IF we cannot take over and restore the Republican party, I propose we start a new party to defeat both the GOP and the Democrats AND all of their cohorts in media and intelligentsia. IT’S THE IVY LEAGUE ELITES WHO HAVE EF’D UP OUR COUNTRY. REBELLION IS BREWING, THE COMMONSENSE FOLKS ARE RISING UP!!
weird thing is that I grew up on the streets in the city, foster homes etc but I now love it out here.
My oldest 14 years old went to DC on a field trip this week and he hated the big city and said he could never live in a big city.
I tend to agree.
Anyway you have a good weekend FRiend
Bingo! The way they have rigged the primary is nearly unbeatable, short of a revolution. Boehner assured that ocare would proceed unimpeded, and it will be impossible to undo it. Alan Simpson played the lovable conservative for years, when he retired he took off his mask and revealed the Progressive that suckered us for years.
Actors all of them.
Your team is pushing the facts as Mitt being the only one electable, the successful politician.
The reality is that Mitt is not electable, and is an unsuccessful politician.
In 20 years of running after he became a Republican again, and quit supporting the Democrat Party, Mitt has only one a single election, he failed as a Governor, destroyed the state party, left office with 34%, and the Democrats have retained the office ever since.
Massachusetts is the armpit of america.
Have you considered that Palin’s presence might just suck the rest of the wind out of Newt’s sails?
i’m still a noob. is this an ibtz? if so, i’m very excited!
The reality is that a large percentage of the GOP base... simply does not give a damn about either Romney or Gingrich’s or anyone else’s record.
They are 100% focused on figuring out who, in their best estimation, can defeat Obama.
So we nominate the most inoffensive, most likely to succeed, most universally approved candidate. Even better, we've used this strategy before.
Good plan.
If she sees the RiNO Establishment, with its serried ranks of Murkowskis and McCains and Bushes, successfully tigering down the Tea Party with money and backroom deals and brutal, bare-knuckle ad hom advertising against the Tea Party's standard-bearers (who right now appear to be Santorum and Gingrich), then I think she might conclude that there is nothing for her to lose, if the RNC crowd wins again, and throw herself on the pyre in an attempt to forefend such an outcome, by using her fading influence to help whoever can beat Willard.
There have been several indications -- Obama began his campaign this week by savaging Romney -- that Willard is the one the 'Ratscum really want, and have wanted, all along. That being so, his nomination simply must be prevented, and I'm sure she sees that.
I think she might indeed try to enter some of the primaries late, in order to try to prevent Willard from sewing up the nomination by "achieving inevitability". That would open the convention to a real fight on the floor, such as the GOP hasn't seen since 1952.
Have you considered that Palin’s presence might just suck the rest of the wind out of Newt’s sails?
“Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, “In this world, Elwood, you must be” - she always called me Elwood - “In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me”.
The Woman, I won't use the term Lady, who you helped out obviously thinks she is smart, but your Family proved that pleasant is the way to go.
You are a class act, I would have slapped the Bit@h. LOL
Got that right and I can say that as I had to live up there for a bit.
Hated it but sadly there are a few good freepers up there still fighting the good but maybe lost fight, freepers like massmike etc
Yo Heres’ ta Sarah geting on da Newt Train what ‘chew trippin foo’
I wonder if this will move the FL polls? I’m sure that GOP and the media will make every attempt to keep this piece out of sight. I’m guessing that it will get very little coverage in the media.
I hope Newt can pull this out. I have never voted third party, but I refuse to support Romney. He is everything that despise about Democrats.
Nope. Newt will never get my vote, nor will Romney. My war is with the GOP-E.
same here I will never vote for Romney no way
You are full of crap.
I just watched Rush rip Romney and Obobo’s plan a new a**hole on Great and I ACTUALLY LISTEN to Rush most days, like today.
Take your RINO crap and buzz off, please.
Finally, someone gets it. Your 262 is right on the money.
No one, and I mean no one on FR was for Newt when he was polling in the single digits. First it was Sarah and then it was Cain. Now it is Newt. But there is a much larger picture before us to consider, and you articulated it masterfully.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.