Posted on 05/15/2011 7:11:01 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Says Andrew Stiles of NRO, “Newt Gingrich’s appearance on ‘Meet the Press’ today could leave some wondering which party’s nomination he is running for.” DrewM at Ace’s site thinks it’s yet another illustration of Newt’s loose-cannon lack of message discipline, but I can’t believe that; he surely must have considered how this will play in the primaries, especially after the pounding Romney just took on the right for his health-care speech. What’s his strategy? Maybe he’s decided his shot at the nomination is so long that his only chance is by Mediscaring seniors, who famously turn out in high numbers at the polls, into backing him. Paul Ryan’s budget has played remarkably well with the 65+ crowd thus far, but an AP poll taken late last year, before he introduced his plan, found even Republican seniors opposed privatizing Medicare to the tune of 71 percent. If professional Smart Guy Newt Gingrich is now warning them that Ryan’s gone too far, their jitters about reform may make them inclined to believe him. It’s desperate, but since he’s not going to win with support from the GOP’s right, why not pander to its left? I just hope he’s prepared for the relentless beating he’ll rightly take in conservative media for kneecapping Ryan at a moment when deficit hawks are frantic to move national opinion on entitlement reform via a unified party message. He’s handed the left a campaign commercial here and they’re already using it.
As for his point about mandates, Gregory’s question was presumably inspired by this recent HuffPo piece. Here was Newt’s chance to climb down from his previous Romney-ish rhetoric about our individual duty to buy coverage. But … nope. He’s still all for it — not for a mandate specifically, mind you, but for variations on it, like having to post a bond. What his strategy in the primaries is in taking that position, I have no idea. If anything, it gives Romney a bit of cover by now being able to claim (a) that the mandate isn’t as fringe as conservatives would like to believe and (b) that Mitt’s the more responsible of the two since at least he doesn’t want anything like this at the federal level. Any theories on what Gingrich was thinking here? I’m mystified.
Update: Via NRO, a pointed rejoinder from Ryan’s spokesman:
“The solutions offered by Chairman Ryan and advanced by House Republicans make no changes to Medicare for those in and near retirement, while offering a strengthened, personalized program that future generations can count on when they retire,” Sweeney says. “Far from claims of radicalism, the gradual, common-sense Medicare reforms ensure that no senior will be forced to reorganize their lives because of government’s mistakes. The most ‘radical’ course of action on Medicare is continue to cling to the unsustainable status quo.”
“Serious leaders,” he adds, without naming names, “owe seniors specific solutions to avert Medicare’s looming collapse.”
Sit down Newt. We have heard enough from you. Go write a book: “How I used to be a Conservative and now don’t know the term”.
It’s amazing how incredibly quickly these RINO dunderheads tip their hands and get crossed off my small list of aceptable candidates.
Any chance you can be a little more coherent, or was that “authentic frontier jibberish” for our amusement?
I support repealing the whole mess called obamacare and keeping Cap and Trade Newty far away from the White House. If you tweak totaltarian crap, it is still stinks, Newt.
Not a newby, I used to support Newt, note, USED to. He has gone too far on the RINO crap. Count me in teh undecided department, looking for a decent conservative.
If I may be so bold.. Thanks for dropping out Awww Shuckabee! The very thought that he would get the nomination made me feel ill!
See my post 65!
saving
toast
This from Newt “Scozzafava” Gingrich. Buh bye. Going nowhere.
Br'r Gregory is a Leftwingtard ~ an evil one too. IGNORE his questions.
Best advice to Conservatives is NO interviews with Gregory, or GQ, and Katy.
Normal words don't have the same meaning in their minds, so even if they asked you what time it was, you DO NOT ANSWER that question ~ answer something else ~ always switch to a Conservative topic.
I disagree.
A real Conservative would have gotten someone in there to undercut her campaign though. We unfortunately ran another "nice guy".
I don’t make a habit of defending every dumb thing that Gingrich says. But just because he’s wrong about something doesn’t mean he’s a RINO. He’s never worked against the party...he’s never as far as I can tell used his GOP credentials to advance himself while undermining the principals of the party. Look at the twin hags from Maine, Linda Graham nad her boyfriend John MCCain...those POS’s are RINO’s.
See what happens when you let the same old "establishment" take over the party ~ they'll give you doufous after doufous into misspeaking, kowtowing to Democrat punks, and union political street theater.
Those people do not know how to stand up to the Left ~ you must do it with a mailed fist.
Really?? how so...? I'm not interested, I guess, in Gregory to the degree that you are, I guess. "...That fact is separate and apart from whatever Gingrich's merits are at the moment....."
What "fact" are you referring to....?
"...What counts is how bills are written, decisions made, and whether or not Democrat criminals (and they got a lot of 'em) are being sent to prison for longer and longer terms......" I certainly agree with your last point; especially the first part. Seeing any politicians going to jail, however, is simply wishful thinkink on your part.
? jail? Democrats send our guys to jail. It’s time to turn the tables on them.
What makes you think Priebus is "my boy"?
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