[marron]

I think the writer is over-thinking it.

Newt is Newt. He will tell you what he thinks whether it hurts him or helps him, he is too old to care at this point. I do think he would like to be there in Trump’s inner circle and if he is there, he will say what he thinks whether anyone likes it or not. He wants it, but not enough to be anyone’s toady.

If Trump is smart, and he is, he will want people around him who can take orders, but he will also want people around him who will give their unvarnished opinion when asked.

[huckfillary]

I think Newt would make an excellent WH COS. Putting him on the ticket would not benefit Trump. Our country loves youth and novelty. Age and wisdom are just so yesterday. That’s why Hillary will lose. Trump would be well advised pick a running mate who’s under 50, a fresh face, articulate, a military veteran, and considered scrupulously honest. That’s why Trump should select Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas as his running mate.

[nathanbedford]

Newt Gingrich is doing nothing more than stating truth.

So long as Donald Trump demonstrates that he is incapable of controlling his mouth he will incur defection among the Republican elites and, ultimately, among Republican rank and file voters. Worse, he will be undermining conservatism in America with every foolish utterance.

Politicians are businessmen they are in the business of politics and, like all businessmen, they are intent on protecting their brand. There is nothing in politics today more toxic than to be labeled a racist. No Republican, no intelligent conservative, associates himself or even tolerates any gratuitous remark which can legitimately be described as racist.

No one has been more adamant on these threads than I have that phony claims of racism are the stuff of Democratic Party politics and must be opposed where ever encountered. That argument can be seen in my decade-old about page. It is a contributing reason why I use the name and avatar which I use. I repeatedly advance Nathan Bedford's first maxim of American politics:

All politics in America is not local but ultimately racial.

The problem here is that Trump's remarks were not merely gratuitous, the problem is not that they were stupid-which they indisputably were-but that they were ultimately selfish because they placed Donald Trump's personal interest above the cause which is campaign represents. In other words, Trump's reaction was ego driven because he was willing to court a charge of racism in order to combat charges that he committed fraud. In resorting to this defense, or at least in resorting to it in such a clumsy manner, his ego ran over common sense. The damage down ticket to conservatives running for inferior offices is potentially very great if Trump cannot get his ego and his mouth under control. These remarks are dispiriting to those of us who have committed to support Donald Trump in this election. We want him to win but he is needlessly making a very daunting task for any Republican candidate even more difficult for himself and for those of us who wish him well in this election.

[Rastus]

Give HIM their unvarnished opinion. Not the media.

[cousair]

Newt is the man. He has been around forever, which tells us he knows how things run. He is a Conservative who understands Liberalism..and how it can erode the country, a little at a time. New knows Congress and how to make things stay in line. He is definitely the man for the job.