Gingrich to Rivals: You’re Chicken

Newt Gingrich had a message for rivals Santorum and Romney at a campaign event in his native Georgia Friday: bawk bawk bawkkkk.

After two people dressed in chicken suits entertained the crowd, holding a sign reading “I’m Chicken to Debate Newt,” Gingrich hit his rivals for backing out of a CNN-sponsored debate that had been scheduled for March 1 but was canceled after Santorum, Romney and Paul of Texas said they would not attend.

“I’m going to ask them to reconsider and come to Georgia. It’ll be just fine,” Gingrich told an audience of about 400 gathered in an airplane hangar in Peachtree City for an evening rally. “We’ll be hospitable, and frankly there’s something wrong when someone tries to buy their way to the presidency.”

The frequently cash-strapped Gingrich campaign has relied heavily on his solid performances in the national televised events. After the event, talking with reporters, Gingrich said, “All I can tell you is that the average Georgian and the average Ohioan is going to say, ‘Wait a minute, they’re not willing to come here to debate but they want my vote?’”

Although Gingrich said earlier this week that he may not win his home state of Georgia, he projected confidence Friday and noted the number of frontrunners who had come and gone, comparing the election cycle to being on Space Mountain in Disneyland.

“You don’t know where you were and you’re not sure where you’re going,” Gingrich said. He told the crowd, “For the third time, we’ll be moving back toward front-runner status with your help.”

He said, “It’s very important for me to win Georgia. It’s very crucial. … How crucial is it for Mitt Romney to win Michigan? How crucial is it for Santorum to win Pennsylvania?”

Principles you say?

Sounds like a suggestion of Santorum there.

He helped give us Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, Sotomayor, by voting to confirm her Circuit Court appointment by Bill Clinton. That's the kind of judge Senator Rick Santorum truly believed was suited for our high courts! To compare, "rock-ribbed" RINO John McCain voted against her for the 2nd Circuit.

Principles?

Rick Santorum added $550 million more in Amtrack funding to the $900 million in the budget. (Reference: Santorum amendment to Transportation funding bill; Bill S.Amdt.3015 to S.Con.Res.83 ; vote number 2006-052 on Mar 15, 2006) It that fiscal conservatism?

Principles?

Based on his voting record, until just recently Santorum rated an F from Numbers USA on immigration. Suddenly, late in this campaign, he's now an A-, the only candidate to flip-flop positions and raise his grade substantially except the king flip-flopper himself Mitt Romney. Even Mitt moved just one letter grade! Which is the more believable Rick, the cold hard voting record or the sudden rhetorical shift?

Principles?

The PA press have started gathering things from their years of reporting.

Here are just a few highlights culled from the above piece:

1. His charity Operation Good Neighbor (2001-07), illegally never registered with PA, doled out just 36% of income as grants, far less than the 75% of responsible causes. I'm sure it's coincidence the charity which spent most of its money on lobbyists, aides and fundraisers closed after he was defeated for reelection.

Principles?

2. His "leadership PAC," "American's Foundation," was worse--just 18% went to candidates, well below similar PACs.

Principles?

3. The $500,000 mortgage for his Leesburg mansion came from a private bank run by a big campaign donor. By all appearances, Santorum was not eligible for the closed program.

Principles?

4. Santorum bilked a Pennsylvania school district out of $72,000 to pay for home "cyberschooling" of five of his kids ... in Virginia.

Principles?

5. As the third-ranking Republican, he worked closely with House majority leader Tom DeLay, now felon, on the "K-Street Project" to grow ties between the GOP and major lobbyists. Twenty-three of his own staffers landed well-paying jobs at lobbying firms. When he was fired by the PA voters? Santorum turned to lobbyists to make nearly $1m per year while unemployed. How can he credibly help drain a swamp he diligently helped craft as the senate GOP point man?

Principles?

6. This supporter of Medicare Part D was so important to the culture of crony capitalism, an internal memo at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline said his loss "creates a big hole that we need to fill."

Principles?

7. Before anyone heard of Solyndra, Santorum was securing $100 million federal loans for a coal-to-liquids plant that was never built. The project's lobbyist was PA's top GOP power broker, Bob Ashner, and paid nearly $1 million.

Principles?

Santorum chose to endorse former Democrat turned RINO, later turned Democrat again, Spector in the GOP PA senate primary over conservative Pat Toomey.

Principles?

This doesn't even start to unravel Santorum's record. He needs to be vetted fully.

5. As the third-ranking Republican, he worked closely with House majority leader Tom DeLay, now felon, on the "K-Street Project" to grow ties between the GOP and major lobbyists.

Speaking of "principles", as you weere, isn't it just a bit unprincipled to take a cheap shot and label Tom Delay a "felon"?

His case is on appeal and, by all accounts, he will be acquitted. All of us on this site, informed as we are, should already know that Delay's charges were trumped-up by a partisan DA -- the despicable Ronnie Earle.

Hell, one of the charges was violating a law that didn't even exist at the time his so-called "transgression" occurred.

No Republican is going to be found innocent of "political crimes" by an Austin jury. I'd think you'd know that.

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