Disclaimer:
This is not an official endorsement. Not ready to do that yet. Will wait until after Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. It is my fervent desire to defeat both Romney and Obama. They both must be crushed. We the tea party must wipe the anti-liberty socialist forces off the USA map!! We need to coalesce behind and support the conservative candidate with the experience, wisdom, knowledge and proven ability to do just that. Gingrich is a knowledgeable student of history and he’s an aggressive, tried and battle tested, bulldog of a political fighter. A Reaganite pro-life conservative who has been in the arena, fought and won big battles against the 40 year entrenched godless liberal/socialist democrat foe. And, yes, stepped on a lot of toes and made many enemies while doing so. When he says he understands the enemy and knows how to defeat them, he isn’t just blowing smoke, IMHO. He’s done it. He’s now ready and willing to step back into the lions den.
I love you, Jim, but I’m not buying Newt.
Newt is an anomaly in American history.
He's a man who might be more comfortable at Independence Hall in 1776.
I well remember the fierce criticisms of Ronald Reagan.
I think Newt will be a pleasant surprise if he can win.
If Obama gets reelected we are done!
The disdain for Newt being displayed by inside the beltway establishment republicans and the media is making him much more attractive to me by the hour.
Jayhawker meself. :)
Don't love Newt but will support him if it stops Obama. There's limits to compromise and I may not go as far as Romney; yet, still believe the present regime represents an existential threat to the republic.
I completely agree with your analysis, Jim. Newt may not be the perfect conservative, but he is conservative enough to at least begin changing our direction back towards the Consitutional Republic we are all guaranteed under law.
We can argue about the details later, down the road, but there is no doubt in my mind that Gingrich has the ability and gut inclinations to reverse the course that Obama, the Democrats and the RINOs have set lo these too many years.
A lot Freepers are making snide, emotional comments about Newt, but they fail to offer any productive alternative, beyond writing in Sarah Palin or staying home.
There will be no country left to save if Obama wins re-election. We all know this. So all you anti-Newt people need to quit sniveling, suck it up and support the candidate who will take the fight to Obama, not be cowed by the press and the Democrat smear machine, and who clearly shares with us the vision of America’s founders on a very core level.
We won’t slay the welfare state dragon in one election cycle, or one presidential administration. But more than anyone who is running, Newt is the one who can and will start getting that job done. He won’t take us to the promised land, but I believe he is the man to get us started on the journey.
Dang he is making it hard for me to not like him....
From a trust of ideology perspective, I'd rather have Bachmann, or Santorum, or even Perry.......but then I realize that none of them could even beat Romney and I pause.......
Obama has to be voted out, and not by Romney.
Newt, you magnificent bastard!
(did I really say that?)
There is no question that Newt has always been a super talker. And he is a very experienced politician, who has been a power in the back rooms of congress for many years. That has both it’s good and it’s bad sides, of course.
My problem is that he seems to lack a firm moral foundation. You can’t count on him. He started out the Contract with America like a real powerhouse. But then he reached a certain point and stuck, and for whatever reason he then started doing whatever clinton said in his last year in the speakership. At the time, I speculated that clinton had something in his FBI files. In any case, he caved in completely.
Reagan was divorced in his earlier years, but as he grew more mature he seemed to get stronger and stronger in his moral principles. He could be counted on. He didn’t bend with his advisers. When his speechwriters kept removing “tear down that wall” from his Berlin speech, he stuck it back in, several times.
I won’t repeat all of Newt’s recent flubs, but there are quite a few of them. Dede Scozzafava. Friendship with Pelosi. Just the other day saying that life begins with implantation, not conception—which he then retracted after his base was upset. But I cannot believe that that was just a matter of careless talk. He was very specific, and he is perfectly well aware what the arguments are. Probably he wanted to continue fetal stem cell research or chemical abortion.
His several divorces and affairs with aides over the years are far worse than anything Cain was accused of. Whatever one thinks of them, they will certainly be used to persuade the Evangelical vote to stay home, and that’s one of the ways that the Democrats took congress in 2006—because the Evangelicals who had turned out in large numbers for Bush got discouraged and stayed home. The media will have plenty to work with to accomplish a similar reaction.
We are certainly between a rock and a hard place at the moment. With Cain gone, frankly the only real hope I can see out there is that Palin will somehow be drafted or persuaded to run. So I’m not ready to hop on board the Newt train yet. But I can understand why it may seem the least bad alternative at the moment.
I will also note that Newt could have been doing many other things since leaving congress but has chosen to spend a great deal of time and money working at the grassroots level to help republican candidates in state and local races. That also speaks well of him IMHO.
The fact that the elites hate Newt draws me to him. Newt has been all over the map (NY23}in some areas and has been willing to admit mistakes in the past. If he stays disciplined and speaks the truth he will be successful. I do not see any way Obama can win and have not seen any way for him to win in about 4 months. I wish Sarah would have run just for the excitement factor, and she would have won. I am not settling for Newt he would be my second choice after the early carnage in the debates. Great post Jim!!
2. My first preference would not be Newt.
3. We do not need a 3rd party run, too much riding on 2012.
4. See the other candidates very similar to what you described.
5. From the beginning I made the statement that I would prefer Rick Perry remain Governor of Texas. For this reason: as long as Rick is Governor of Texas he will not get too far off the reservation. He has powerful (and honorable) supporters who keep him in check.
6. It will be harder to do that with Newt, but it could be done. We do not need an academic (like Newt) but we need a leader, a young Dick Cheney Clone. Hmmm. VP slot? If we could find the Right VP for Newt and the Tea Party extract enough concessions from the Republican Establishment it might work. This is not about electing one man, it is about electing a man who will bring the right people to Washington, DC. People capable of building things, not people who only want to steal and destroy things. (novel concept?)
7. It is time for Americans to stand together against the common enemy. In this case an internal one and an external one. The internal enemies are the Leftist Dems, the Gobalist Traitors, Self Serving POLs. The external enemies we have always had, but Obozo has enabled the resurgence of the Muslim Dictators.
8. The storm clouds are on the horizon. It is up to US to decide how we will hand them.
Good piece and good info, Jim. I was for Sarah Palin in a big way, when she decided against running I was disappointed and didn’t have a favorite second.
With Cain out I’ve been thinking Gov. Perry and lately Newt Gingrich though I doubt Perry can recover and beat mittens. I believe at this point Newt can beat mittens so I’m going with Newt.
My goal is to follow my tagline. That way anyone in charge can be controlled.
I don't hold out hope but I keep praying Sarah will reconsider somehow someway.
Enter Newt Gingrich - who confounds me. Yes, his tenure as Speaker of the House was productive for conservative goals but his lobbying (whatever you call it) and statements on various issues trouble me. His multiple wives and seemingly extravagant lifestyle don't help. They will be easy targets for the Obama campaign, guaranteed. Most of all, I just don't feel confident that Gingrich won't 'go left' if elected president. However, with Perry, Bachmann and Santorum's campaigns basically on life support, as conservatives, we're just about out of options. With the realization that no candidate is without flaws but that RINO Mitt Romney is not worth even considering but Obama must be defeated, I'll very likely end up voting for Newt Gingrich in my states Republican primary. I won't have to hold my nose, as I've had to do numerous times before e.g. McCain, - but I will have to grit my teeth and hope that this time, we won't get hosed.
Newt is not perfect on every issue, but then, neither was Reagan. And unlike everyone else running, Newt has demonstrated an ability to cobble together coalitions when necessary to enact conservative legislation. All the ideology in the world is of little value if you can't do that.
I’m looking forward to Newt campaigning against Obama. The debates will be a bloodbath - Zero won’t know what hit him.
I am so tired of having mealy-mouthed apologists and cowards representing the Republican party - afraid to take the battle to Obama and those like him.
When Americans are given the choice between conservative principals and liberalism, they choose the conservative every time. Unfortunately, they don’t get the choice very often. Gingrich is the first candidate since Reagan who has me excited about the election.
The people are going to see a real contrast between a man of accomplishment and a poser.
Newt is a real intellectual and professor, not a fake one. No one in the media will be able to say Newt is a dummy. He can articulate conservative solutions in complete sentences with proper syntax. To those who think being a good debater is not a qualification for president - sorry, but it is hugely important. If you can’t express your ideas clearly no one is going to vote for you.
Newt has a real list of accomplishments as Speaker. His balanced budgets will contrast dramatically with the Reid/Pelosi/Obama fiscal disaster since 2006 (and put an end forever to the myth that those 1990s balanced budgets belonged to Clinton).
Newt has free market-based solutions to bring under control the problems of health care, Social Security, immigration, energy, and the EPA. Contrast with Obama’s demagoguery on these issues.
He is a realist on foreign policy and will make Obama’s kowtowing to the Muslims look ridiculous.
Newt will never ever say that Obama is a good man that we don’t need to fear as president. He will take the battle directly to him and has the smarts to win on every issue.
Unless WW III starts between now and next November (and it very well may) Newt will win a landslide victory over the boy President.
Thank you. Your opinion carries a lot of weight with me.
Newt has fought the conservative battles in the past. Romney well, he’s recently discovered little c conservatism. Newt knows history and knows that what needs to be done, needs to be quick, dramatic and historical. Romney would be co-opted his first day in office and resume the rino-in-chief mantle. He would right the economy but grow the debt, increase the size of government and litter the countryside with liberal judges. Same ole, same ole. Newt wants to be a Reganite historical figure and you can’t do that tacking to the left and pushing the country over the cliff. I vote Newt. (And I’m noteven holding my nose like I did with our last assclown).
Thank you for posting a separate thread!
I truly believe that Newt Gingrich is the best equipped to first takedown Romney and then the Marxist. We're in the battle for our Republic.
Who's going to appoint the SCOTUS vacanies? The Marxist or President Gingrich?
Forget his Samsonite Lamestream Baggage. It's already worn out by too many travels 'round the world. Nothing new to throw at Gingrich.
I think that historian Newt Gingrich, will want President Gingrich to be viewed by history as the second Ronald Reagan.
Furthermore, I think President Gingrich will want comparisons to Reagan while he's in office, beginning from day one!