Before I throw support to a sometime conservative I want to see how the votes go in SC & FL. Right now everyone seems to be excited about Newt but he is hardly a solid conservative and as he has just shown on abortion there are some caveats in his Pro-Life views. Also, I believe that Pery has gotten a lot more endorsements among his peers than Gingrich.
Also, how much difference is there between Gingrich and Romney. They both supported the personal mandate in healthcare. They both are establishment candidates and Gingrich is the consummate inside the beltway politician. The only big difference I see between Romney and Gingrich is Romney actively supported a pro-abortion agenda and Newt did not.
The Perry machine has blown a rod and I don't see the AAA truck anywhere near him. Newt has literally 10 times the support that Perry has right now.
Again, no votes have been cast and at this point last time around McCain was in 4th place. If Gingrich gets the nomination I will vote for him in the general election. I won't do that for Romney. I intend to support the conservative running (Perry) not the sometime conservative (Gingrich) that everyone thinks is going to win debates.
I think Gingrich can win in the general election, but don't think it will be easy. Gingrich plays right into all the stereo types that obama wants to run against. He's the inside the beltway politician who after he left office made millions peddling influence. He's the rich guy who spent $500,000 on his wife at Tiffany's. Also, the expectations are so high for Gingrich in debating that if he stumbles at all it looks like a win for obama.
My post above shows that Gingrich was talking about the distinction between an implanted and an unimplanted zygote. There is a distinction. The first is absolutely developing. The unimplanted is definitely destined immediately to cease functioning.
The idea that Gingrich and Romney somehow support the same thing regarding mandates is not correct. Romney supported an entire system of RomneyCare that was financed by a state requirement to purchase a state approved health plan.
Gingrich's idea of mandates (and this started during the Hillarcare debate when she was pushing single-payer) was that every individual in America who used a hospital should be required to prove that he had insurance or had posted a bond before entering that hospital.
Gingrich's thought was, "If you're going to run up a bill, then YOU should pay for it, and not dump it off on the taxpayer or on other patients of the hospital who paid their own bills."
Personally, I STILL agree with the above. If you're going to take your car to the mechanic, then you should pay the guy who fixes your car. You should not have a law protecting you that allows you to stiff the mechanic. Nor should the taxpayer have to pay to fix your car. YOU should have to pay to fix your own car.
And that's what Gingrich has repeatedly explained. But, we get these soundbites that say "Romney mandate = Gingrich mandate", and it's a huge disservice to the fight against Obama and Romney.
“He’s the inside the beltway politician who after he left office made millions peddling influence.”
His company made 1.2 million over 10 years. That’s not a lot of money. Assuming he was the only one on the payroll, that’s only 120K a year...