Newt Gingrich - RINO or Genuine Pro-Life Reagan Conservative?

vanity | December 9, 2011 | Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

I posted the below in response to a FReeper who asked me what we should do in regards to progressives Newt and Romney. And he asked me what would George Washington do? So I got to thinking about why I've been gravitating towards Newt. In fact it kept me up for half the night.

Here is my reply:

Well, I’ll tell you, after Palin declined to run I really didn’t have a dog in this race. I liked Bachmann and Cain a lot, even Perry, but not as much as I liked Palin. Bachmann and Cain are both conservative enough, but neither have really been tested in higher office, nor do they have much experience in world affairs.

I also had high hopes for Perry because it looks like he’s done a great job in Texas, but his positions on the border issues turned off a lot of people. And his “heartless” statement didn’t win him much opportunity to turn that around.

I guess Santorum is conservative enough and possibly Huntsman, but neither engender much enthusiasm or excitement. Seems they’re just going through the motions. Don’t know if they have the real world experience to be CINC anyway.

Bachmann seems to be trying really hard but don’t know if she’s really qualified for the top spot either. Even so, had Bachmann really lit a fuse on the trail, I probably would have stood by and supported her, but she flopped and is unlikely to recover.

I thought early on that if Perry got into the race (without Palin) that he’d suck all the air out of it and would dominate. But he flopped. And then Cain took off like a rocket and he flopped.

Now Cain didn’t have elective experience, but he looked like a great conservative so we were all hoping and pulling for him. Well, that didn’t turn out well.

Mind you, that abortionist, lib progressive bastard Mitt Romney is just sitting there smiling through all this and he, Rove and the GOP elite think they’ve got it in the bag. Just gotta hang in there, not say anything rash, not rock the boat, no mistakes, just play defense as one by one the upstart tea party conservative candidates burn themselves out.

In my mind, we must defeat Romney AND Obama. I don’t think George Washington is going to be smiling down on us if we had this great tea party opportunity to knock off the progressives and we let Rove, Romney and the corrupt good old boys club bushwhack us. We’re supposed to be the bushwhackers.

So like a whole lot of conservative Republicans and tea party folks, we’re bouncing candidate to candidate looking for the one to knock off Romney so we can take the tea party battle directly to Obama. Romney is no tea party person. He and Rove, et al, sneer at us. No way in hell are they going to do anything we’re interested in doing even if they do get elected. It’ll be government as usual. Big. They hate us worse than they hate the democrats because we’re a direct threat to their power base.

So in comes Gingrich. Didn’t much care for him at first, mainly because of his well known baggage, and his perceived RINO plumage, but he began making a lot of sense and scoring a lot of points in the debates. Turns out his depth of knowledge and experience in government affairs both domestic and foreign and his experience with Ronald Reagan, the Reagan Revolution and the Republican Revolution of the 90’s are quite extensive and quite impressive if you look.

He’s been through the mill and that’s what a lot of our younger less experienced, less traveled candidates are missing. In the debates he comes off as a wiser, more experienced, more knowledgeable, level-headed senior statesman. And it appeared to me that the other candidates acknowledged and respected that.

So I start thinking back about his history as a congressman and speaker, and lo and behold, it appears to me he’s not such a RINO after all. He was a genuine Reagan protege. And he learned well from the master communicator. He eventually set a goal for himself to build a Republican majority and to take the speakership, and he determinately accomplished that goal.

And he had some great conservative accomplishments as congressman and speaker. He passed the contract with America. He cut taxes. Cut the deficit. Reformed welfare. Blocked HillaryCare. Became a thorn in President Clinton’s side, blocked much of his liberal agenda and ultimately allowed impeachment to proceed. Then of course, he resigned due to his own infidelity scandal. But, unlike Clinton, he didn’t deny it, didn’t lie about it, and he did the right thing by resigning.

Bottom line though, through his years with the Reagan Revolution and the Republican majority much conservative good was accomplished. The Wall came down, the Soviet Union collapsed and our great Reagan economy flourished for two decades.

Now, if a progressive RINO had been in charge of the congress during this period, who knows what would have happened. I’m sure the history would have been a lot different. Remember, before Gingrich and his Republican Majority, we conservatives had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years!! And our country was on life support after Jimmy Carter nearly killed it. And the democrats were saying at the time that there was nothing we could do about it. We were going to be stuck with the cold war. Stuck with the Soviet Union, stuck with Iran. Stuck with high oil prices, gas lines and rationing. Stuck with recession, high interest rates, high inflation and high unemployment from that point forward. They could not be fixed. Jimmy Carter and the democrats had given up on America and surrendered the USA to our fate as a failed nation.

In walk Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich and reestablish that great shining city on the hill! Thank God! It’s not the end of the world after all. Iran returns the hostages immediately. Reagan takes the Soviet Union head on! Reagan takes the democrats head on and doesn’t take no for an answer. Takes his ideas to the people. It was a struggle but eventually the economy began turning. Reagan’s central theme domestically was that the government was too big, too intrusive, taxes too high, too much spending, too many regulations, too many restrictions on business and industry and they all must be cut. And he took that battle over the heads of the democrat congress to the tax payers and they loved it. Sound familiar?

And in 1994, Newt Gingrich leads the charge against the democrats who had been in power for 40 years and the Republicans take the majority and Gingrich becomes Speaker. He dreams up the contract with America which was designed as an extension of the Reagan Revolution and and included items attempting to balance the budget, reform welfare, tort reform, term limits, line item veto, etc. Some of it was successfully implemented, some not. But under Gingrich they did cut the deficit and balance the budget four years running. Sound desirable? Sound progressive?

How many times in our history have you seen a liberal progressive, cut taxes, cut regulations, cut spending, cut welfare, balance the budget, block big government programs like HillaryCare, impeach a sitting president, etc?

Never! In other words, all this to say Newt is NO RINO!! He’s a pro-life, pro-small government, pro-national security, Reagan conservative!! In short, we’re desperate, and he’s exactly what we’re looking for, and he’s running head and shoulders over the rest of the field, so what the hell are we squabbling about?

Yes, Romney and Rove hate him, the Republican establishment elite ruling class hates him, the liberals hate him, the democrats hate him and they hate him for the same reasons the taxpayers will support him, the lovers of liberty will support him, the defenders of life will support him, the defenders of national security will support him, the lovers of the Reagan Revolution will support him, and we the tea party should support him!! He’s a tax cutting, budget balancing, strong defense, small government, pro-life Reagan CONSERVATIVE!!

After reviewing Newt vs Romney, George Washington would say, go, NEWT!!

I’ll take a chance with Newt. Over Romney? You betcha!!

What say you?

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Or he ends up overplaying his hand and we get nothing.

What we ended up with was better than what we had. There is always the thought that you can get a better deal if you just hold out for longer, but sometimes, you can't. Sometimes the moment passes, and you end up getting nothing. The left has gotten to this point because they have incrementalized us to death. ObamaCare wasn't everything the left wanted because it lacked a public option, and wasn't a single payer system, but the smart folks on that side knew that it was a wedge that advanced the ball.

I'm kind of tired of always saying "next election". I want someone who can get the legislation that advances the ball -- even if it isn't perfect -- actually enacted.

[EternalVigilance]

Newt Is Unfit

[Jack Hammer]

I’m afraid I don’t know who Van Jones is; however, I doubt he could be worse than Obama.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I’m afraid I don’t know who Van Jones is; however, I doubt he could be worse than Obama.

Evidently you aren't paying very much attention.

Van Jones is an avowed Communist who was appointed by Ubama to be Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

After his past associations came to light (thanks to Glenn Beck) he resigned his position.

So would Van Jones be better than Ubama?

[Jack Hammer]

Evidently, Van Jones IS Obama - in a different skin.

No improvement.

[Waywardson]

Market Ticker? You quoting the Ron Paul folks now? LOL

[EternalVigilance]

Whatever. The main point is that even Gingrich’s big “accomplishments” were, when examined over the long haul, big zeroes. Nothing but hot political air.

[EternalVigilance]

You know, the more I reflect on your post #274, the more it galls me.

Don’t bother to talk to me any more, until you quit blaming those who won’t compromise the self-evident truth of the founding for the inevitable fruit of those who do.

Thanks.

[longhorn too]

To me if we wind up with Gingrich or Romney we are screwed!

Why would Gingrich agree to sit down with Pelosi and agree with her on global warming. He now refutes the video, but why make it to begin with. Bad judgment.

Also why did Gingrich support Rino Dede Seozzafava in the New York representative race in 2009. Again bad judgment!

[fightinJAG]

I agree with you. My point really was more about the fact that welfare reform, whatever its merits, really wasn’t some big legislative victory to Gingrich’s credit.

[Lurker]

I’m with you, Jim.

[heysean]

I’ve never trusted or liked Gingrich, and I’m not about to start doing mental gymnastics to try and convince myself to start liking or trusting him now just because he’s the frontrunner.

[SunkenCiv]

From the 9th. Word from the boss about Newt Gingrich. Topic FReep.

[Pharmboy]

Great job on this, JimRob. Back in ‘08, I had the same tagline (with the right date, of course). Actions DO speak louder than words, and Newt wins on that as you’ve outlined.

[Pollster1]

Women won’t vote for Newt when they learn about his betrayal of his wives and taking up with mistresses.

I have major concerns with Newt, but the fact is that women voted for Clinton who was a current scum during his elections. Why would they not vote for Newt who appears to be a former scum? I think this worry is mostly symbolic and not actual. Note: I also think we need a VERY conservative Congress, whether we have Newt, Romney, or Obama in our White House next term, but Newt is by far the best of those three. Newt has been an enthusiastic conservative who flirted with other ideas, where the other two are leftists.

[mmanager]

Spot on Jim! Our country is in a mess like never before because of Obama and big government. We need someone that understands ALL of the issues here and abroad.

GO NEWT!

[Adder]

whoever can beat zero.

all else pales.

beating zero is job 1

getting the senate is job 2

keeping the house is job 3

thats it, imho

[grellis]

MICHIGAN PING LIST

Please freepmail me if you wish to be added or dropped from the mitten ping.

Okay Mitten, chime in!

Santorum has my vote in the primary. I don't care if he lacks the polish of the establishment choice, or that he lacks the ability to excite the emotions (both hot and cold) of the former Speaker. He is a solid conservative. He lost his office because he refused to turn aside from his principles.

Speaking of principles: Speaker Gingrich's dismal track record as a husband truly turns my stomach. A man who will betray you in the smallest way will betray you in any way--and I don't consider marriage to be a small thing.

[lonestar]

I don’t trust Newt...sticking with Perry.

[cripplecreek]

Bachmann or Santorum for me. Gingrich is nothing but more of what the tea party has worked to remove from office and the last thing Michigan needs. Romney? Meh.

Gingrich Frontline interview

"I think if you have mandatory carbon caps combined with a trading system, much like we did with sulfur, and if you have a tax-incentive program for investing in the solutions, that there's a package there that's very, very good. And frankly, it's something I would strongly support." he said.

He then went on to criticize Bush for backing off the pledge.

"If he had instituted a regime that combined three things I just said -- mandatory caps, a trading system inside the caps, as we have with clean air, and a tax incentive to be able to invest in the new technology and to be able to produce the new technology -- I think we would be much better off than we are in the current situation," Gingrich said.

wo months later, Gingrich took part in a debate with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts about environmental matters. Gingrich was slightly less gung-ho about cap and trade than he had been on PBS, but his message of "urgent need for action" on environmental dangers was clear.

"We should address it and we should address it very actively," he said in the debate, citing a UN report documenting the earth’s rising temperatures. "The … consensus is that humans have contributed to that. I don't think there's any consensus that we are the only contribution, but there is a clear agreement that human activity has helped increase the level of warmness."