Posted on 02/19/2012 3:36:10 PM PST by VinL
Just after the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich--or his minions--put considerable public pressure upon Rick Santorum to stand down, to get out, to leave the race.
Santorum's response was simple. If he began to come in last in any series of races, he would do so. Santorum went on to explain that he had won as many states as Newt had at that point, so there was no need to go anywhere.
That was five states, 3 Santorum victories, and several instances of bottoming out by the Gingrich campaign ago.
The Gingrich people will not like what I have to say next, but it is resolutely true, and there is no argument against it, so here goes...
"If Newt Gingrich believes Mitt Romney is a worse choice for nominee than a real conservative would be, then he must leave the race now. Staying in the race until Super Tuesday hurts the conservative cause, aids Romney, and ultimately will re-elect Barack Obama."
There, it is said. It had to be. It is all true.
This week Billionaire Casino Magnate Sheldon Adelson announced his intentions to continue to sink money into the Gingrich SuperPAC "Winning Our Future." This newest round of $10,000,000 would roughly match the $11,000,000 that allowed Gingrich his one state win in South Carolina. But even that is money poorly spent.
Gingrich had the chance to build on his win, but was unable to capitalize in Florida, and his absolute stubbornness in refusing to organize for the three state caucus strike-out that catapulted Santorum to front-runner status demonstrated some old inclinations about the former speaker that had been voiced by many former colleagues. Newt is flagging in polls nationally, ranking behind Ron Paul at times, and does not show a path to victory even if he were to break through on Super Tuesday using massive SuperPAC money to land somewhat mediocre media presence. (After all $10,000,000 across seven states won't even begin to touch a fourth of the penetration rate he had with $11,000,000 in South Carolina.)
Debates are now being universally panned, and the free media will not add up to give Newt new opportunities to "un-re-define" himself from himself.
I asked a few columns back if Gingrich was Churchill, for 2012, the answer seems to be "no!"
But that doesn't render him insignificant.
If Gingrich were to leave, and especially if he were to endorse Santorum, Mitt Romney's campaign would truly be on the death's door. Romney is trailing in Michigan, where he couldn't seem to connect with voters even before Santorum's sweep, and according to Rasmussen--the most accurate pollster in the past six cycles--he trails Santorum by 12 nationally, and by nearly 20 in the swing state of Ohio. Despite what her "right-to-be-wrongness" Ann Coulter says about Mitt's inevitability, Republicans--if they are smart--should always elect the man for nomination who wins Ohio. Because in the general election, it is the best indicator of who will be President.
Santorum has thicker skin than Newt and Mitt combined, and next to Newt, he's the best debater left in the bunch. But most importantly he is the sharpest contrast to Obama--in nearly every imaginable category.
Newt is steadily polling at 14% in the polls. Santorum has exploded in Michigan and Ohio, is nearly within the margin of error to Romney in Arizona, and almost the same within Gingrich in Georgia. Meanwhile in some states Gingrich finishes last, Santorum never does. But if you add 2/3's of Newt's total to Santorum's, Rick Rollin' would become the new GOP past time.
If Gingrich is a man of principal, he will allow the consolidation and much-more-baggage-free candidacy of Rick Santorum to zoom into an even further all-out lead nationally. If Gingrich stays in, it is obvious his feelings about Romney's danger and likely losing proposition as nominee will come true. And the former speaker would have only himself to blame.
If Romney is the nominee, Obama will be President for a second term. (His inability to take Obama on--on his biggest weaknesses, the target of his faith's racially questionable history and the twisted way the mainstream media will exploit that, his inability to not say things from an entirely silver spoon perspective, and his lack of distinction from Obama on many social issues--like subsidizing abortion, and creating "gay" marriage.)
The GOP's job at the moment is to pick the best candidate they can to beat Obama, and the one who is most-different-than him presents the best possibility.
Especially if that candidate wins Ohio.
I don’t need ANYBODY, neither pundits, nor you, to explain to me what he said.
I read and heard what he wrote and said, and I am perfectly capable to see what his intents are.
Who needs a religious nut in the White House? After Obama’s divisive class warfare, does America need a religious warfare? As much as one needs a bullet in the head.
GIYF.
Oh just barf. After the Romney deathstar gets finished smearing Rick this next week or two lets see how the polls swing. Newt is the only candidate with a real plan to get things back on track. He needs to just gut it out through Super Tues.
Please provide links that verify your OUTRAGEOUS claims
RF, I merely engage in discussion and debate- with reasonable people. I don’t traffic in “negative ads”- and it’s disheartening when I start a thread and it degenerates into the mud slinging.
If you wish to review the thread, my recollection was it started with an anti-Newt post from “NavVet”- that was deleted by the mods. Thereafter, the counter negatism ensued.
If you wish to characterize my posts as whining- that’s your prerogative. In such a case, to the extent I can offer a respectful suggestion, when I am confronted with a nonsensical post- I disregard it.
Thanks,
Vin
Take this weekend for instance, Santorum wasn’t even talking about Obama’s Christianity; only that Obama is suppressing religious liberties w/ his secular “theology”.
Do you agree? (I sure do!)
Screw Santorum and Romney, Newt doesn’t owe either of them one damn ting. A pox on both their triangulating houses.
“when I am confronted with a nonsensical post- I disregard it.”
That’s a good idea. You are more of a conspiracy guy than a whiner. I’ll give you that much.
“Newt doesn’t owe either of them one damn ting. A pox on both their triangulating houses.”
So what’s your strategy for Newt winning?
Is it Romney and Santorum quitting the race because Newt REALLY wants to be President? He’s running third for crying out loud.
How does Newt win?
The libs and moderates (the Establishment) are going scorched earth on Rick NOW.
How’s that working out so far?
************
Cain, my friend, I reply to your reasonable argument. And my answer is, they haven’t even begun. I’m not being a wiseguy- I mean that sincerely. They can’t beat Rick into the ground at this point, because then, Rick’s supporters would not go to Romnmey— they would hate Romney with a passion. The beneficiary would be Newt.
That’s why I genuinely believe Newt’s continued presence helps Rick— and that’s why the Romney machine is trying desperately to get Newt out.
Just my opinion.
Whoever came up with that statement is brilliant. When one examines the business model of Bain Capitol in detail, you would say it was the bastard son of Capitalism. You might call a loan shark a Capitalist, but then, that would be putting lipstick on a pig. In short, Bain Capitol was a bastard pig of an operation.
“You must be on a sarcasm lark. Ha! Ha!”
Yes, and you probably missed the deleted post that it was a response to.
I support Newt, far more than I do Santorum, but I’m a practicing Roman Catholic myself, and I do respect Rick’s views. Sometimes he should keep them to himself, however, or at least be VERY careful how he expresses them, given the media antipathy to all things conservative, or Christian.
And don’t forget, Newt is a Catholic convert himself (as am I), and I would bet that his grasp of Catholic doctrine and morality is quite good, considering his intellectual capabilities. And being forgiven my own indiscretions, it would be quite hypocritical of me to condemn him for his.
You do whine just a little bit. As De Niro would say.
Billy Batts: Hey Jimmy! What’s right is right. You understand what I’m talking about?
Jimmy Conway: It’s all right. It’s all right.
Billy Batts: No. The kid’s over here. We’re hugging and kissing over here. And two minutes later, he’s acting like a jerk.
Jimmy Conway: No, no, no, no, no. You insulted him a little bit. You got a little bit out of order yourself.
Billy Batts: No I didn’t insult him. I didn’t insult him.
Jimmy Conway: I’m sorry. You insulted him a little bit.
Billy Batts: No, I didn’t insult nobody. Give us a drink. Give us a drink.
Newt only has “baggage” in the minds of small minded people, whose problem is that they are peeking out from a mountain their Own Baggage. Want to cast that first Stone, do ya? Ever heard of King David?
He has received forgiveness, left his past behind, and is once again offering his brilliant mind and substantial gifts of leadership to his country.
BTW, Jesus seemed to prefer repentant sinners over self-righteous Pharisees. It’s beginning to look like we might have the latter in this race, as well.
God Bless Newt Gingrich!
Keep reading, Grasshopper...
All will be made clear.
First, many of those attacking Newt and pressuring him to withdraw are NOT part of the GOP-E. They are anti-establishment conservatives who see Rick as their best choice. Just because some Newt supporters believe otherwise doesn't make it so.
Second, I did limit my statement to sane Romneybots.
Newt 2012.
“Gov.Perry was perfectly right when he described Bain as “vulture capitalism” “
Romney and Bain bought the company in 2000, loaded KB Toys with millions in debt, then used the money to repurchase Bain stock. By 2004, 365 stores had closed.
Mitt Romney and Bain saw a 900% return on their investment in KB Toys, at the expense of 15,000 jobs.
Worldwide Grinding Systems went belly up after Bain invested in it. The company not only lost 750 jobs, but the federal government had to come in to bail out its pension fund, while Bain walked away with millions in profits.
The Wall Street Journal, aiming for a comprehensive assessment, examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Mr. Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain’s involvement and shortly afterward.
“Among the findings: 22% either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses. An additional 8% ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost. [...]
The Journal analysis shows that in total, Bain produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors in the 77 deals, on about $1.1 billion invested. Overall, Bain recorded roughly 50% to 80% annual gains in this period”
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