Posted on 01/22/2010 10:25:12 PM PST by pissant
Golly, I wonder what the reaction in the comments to this bon mot will be.
Gingrich sees the Massachusetts as a boost for his party, but also as a renunciation of go-it-alone by either party, and thinks Republicans would be “clever” to pass a series of relatively non-controversial measures with “huge bipartisan majorities.”
That said, he thinks many Republicans disdain Pelosi so much they simply won’t go along with anything with the speaker’s name on it, even if it serves the party’s larger interests.
“If you are a House member in the [GOP] caucus, I suspect we are about to have a huge argument. We could get clever and work with her…And I think people should work with her… But at that point it becomes a huge problem because nobody trusts her, they distrust her ideology and distrust her because she has run over them so hard…
Insane? Eh, not really. It all depends on how inoffensive the new stripped-down ObamaCare bill is and whether it looks like the Dems really do have the votes this time. If it’s a fait accompli and the reforms are minute, why not take a free kick by voting yes and blowing a hole in the left’s “party of no” crap before the midterms? Then the GOP could boast that not only did it help kill the awful first iteration of ObamaCare, but that when they finally got a good-ish bill, they proved themselves to be “Scott Brown Republicans” or whatever. The problem is, the left is already worried about precisely this scenario and is whining about it to HuffPo:
That the latter strategy [of passing a pared-down bill] is being seriously considered by progressive lawmakers is a testament to how large an albatross health care reform has become for the party. But the worry, for some, is that it could lead to Republicans claming victory.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell “will have his whole caucus vote for it and make it a political win for the Republicans,” one well-connected Democratic health care strategist said. “They’ll say, ‘This was the Republican plan from the beginning. We’re glad the Democrats joined us.’ And take all the credit for passing reform.”…
Alternately, some Democrats might welcome such a move. “Hell yeah,” a Democratic congressional aide said. “We would have created a bi-partisan bill. We would have shown leadership. And we’d get credit for that.”
They would get some credit for it, which is the main partisan objection to it on the Republican side. It’s also hard to imagine the circumstances in which Pelosi would need a bunch of GOP votes for a health-care bill. Is she really going to float something that’s so centrist and modest that House progressives would walk away from it, leaving a vacuum for Boehner to fill? I’m skeptical, but if this drags on another week or two and there’s still no clear path ahead for Dems, they might just be desperate enough to try it. The urgent question right now: Should McConnell and Boehner approach Reid and Pelosi with their own compromise plan? At the moment they have as much leverage as they’re every going to get. If they think some sort of legislative accomplishment is important before the midterms, there’s no time like the present to strike.
Elsewhere, my lefty pal Michael Roston is horrified that the Democratic strategist quoted by HuffPo would reduce the health-care issue to such pure partisan politics. To which I say: But why? Hasn’t the goal from the beginning been simply to pass something to placate the left and preserve the Dems’ electoral viability? Politics has always been job one here. Effective health-care reform is an afterthought.
This guy truly makes me want to Puke!
He is an insane evil RINO like Juan McCain and he F**’ed NY-23. Hannity keeps having the idiot on and he asks Newt the serial adulterer if he will run. Newt says “callista and I will have to think about it.” Always mentions the wife’s name because she wants to be famous too.
Hey Newt - no one efffin likes you idiot. Go make another global warming Tv commercial with Pelosi.
It sounds to me like this whole “healthcare” fiasco is all about who would get “credit” for it. We need more Republicans who want “credit” for stopping it.
He jumped the shark quite a while back.
Thanks. You said it for me - I’ll add ‘on him’.
I can’t believe I used to like this putz.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Same here. Go away Newt.
Newt, shut your damn mouth!
Certainly in the past decade when we hear bipartisanship we’re hearing somebody trying to trade their own morality and dignity for re-election.
They want re-election so bad they actually ask conservatives to accept just a little bit of left-wingism... hoping to somehow appeal to both sides at the same time.
They just don’t get it, the only way to succeed in doing something is to stick with it all the way. Reagan didn’t ask for a door in the Berlin wall.
Groannnnnnn....Newt will you ever learn to just shut up...
Notice how he was quiet on this healthcare fiasco until a conservative gets elected in MA because of this fiasco. He’s trying his best to pi** off conservatives.
Cheers!
Ab uno disce omnes
who is this guy? he is not the Newt of the 1990s... he's gone senile...
HIS PARTY?????? not anymore Newt. Just shut up, we don't want NO stinking health care redo.
Notice too how the Dems made this into a CRISIS? Everything is a crisis, or the sky will fall, got to have it now, now, now.
Health care never has been or never will be a crisis. The biggest outlay for health care lies at the doorstep of the Drug Companies and Lawyers. That is the biggest expense.
Yeah it is weird when he pops up. Here is my take. The POS went into hiding when he and Dede ‘eff**ed NY-23.
He lays low and freaks out that Scott Brown is the new GOP hero and worries people will forget him. He really thinks some people might want him to run. So he comes back out to try to stay in the media news like some media whore such as Paris Hilton or Madonna or Britney. He has to try to have the spotlight even though many conservatives hate his guts now.
I always found his shifty eyes to be creepy like a used car salesman. Go to h*ll Newt.
Birds of a feather...
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