Posted on 01/23/2014 4:50:23 PM PST by mandaladon
Don't laugh. He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential. If Chris Christie was ever the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he isnt anymore. All along, the theory behind his candidacy was that he could overcome his lack of conservative bona fides with a combination of personality, competence, electability, and money. Bridgegate undermines all four.
In the minds of many voters, Christies personality has morphed from brash to bully. Its harder to look competent when your top aides egregiously abused power under your nose. Christies supposed electability was based partly on polls showing that he was the only potential Republican nominee running even with Hillary Clinton. But Marist and Quinnipiac, whose surveys showed Clinton and Christie virtually tied in December, now show him trailing her by 13 and 8 points, respectively. The electability argument also depended on Christies supposed success in bringing New Jerseyans together across party lines, a harder claim now that Democrats in the state legislature are talking impeachment. And as Christies electability erodes, so will his vaunted support among GOP moneymen. As a Republican insider recently told BuzzFeeds McKay Coppins, There are definitely people jumping ship.
So if Christie is no longer the candidate to beat in the 2016 Republican race, who is? Believe it or not, its Rand Paul.
To understand the Kentucky senators hidden strength, its worth remembering this basic fact about the modern GOP: It almost never nominates first-time candidates. Since 1980, George W. Bush is the only first-timer to win a Republican nomination. And since Bush used the political network his father built, he enjoyed many of the benefits of someone who had run before.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Duh!!!!!!
If he looks like he has a chance, he will be slimed as an anti-Semite and possibly killed.
Thank God there's no Bob Dole Jr.
~Newt Gingrich, 2012
====== NEWT GINGRICH'S GREAT 2012 CAMPAIGN SPEECHES ======
CPAC 2012 Speech -- Newt Gingrich, U.S. President Elect
CPAC 2012 Speech -- Sarah Palin, U.S. Vice President Elect
Nancy Reagan (1995) : Ronnie turned that Torch over to Newt
NRA Second Amendent Speech -- Newt Gingrich
U.S. Energy Independence in 2012 -- Speech
U.S. Energy Independence in 2012 -- Newt Gingrich
"America's Space Renaissance" in Florida !
Newt Gingrich -- Vision for America in Space Again
Why is Newt Gingrich So Angry ?
Newt Gingrich : South Carolina Victory Speech (2012-01-21)
Newt Gingrich : Christmas Day in 1776 George Washington's "Victory or Death"
Newt Stoutly Defends the Second Amendment (Right to Bear Arms)
Newt Gingrich Constitutional Removal of Radial-Liberal Federal Judges
Newt Slams an "Increasingly Radical" EPA
Newt Defends Israel and Shows how the Palestinians are an "Invented" people !
Newt Warns against the Proposed 9-11 NYC Islamic Mosque and Islamic Sharia Law
Gingrich Compares Radical-Isalmics Muslims To Nazis
Newt Gingrich On The Threat Of Radical Islam
Newt Gingrich Americas Defense of Judea-Christian Ideals and Defense against Islamic Fascism
Gingrich: Aggressive Prosecution of Radical-Militant U.S. Muslim Groups
Newt Gingrich: Response to CNNs John King Divorce Question
Newt Gingrich to Juan Williams: Americans Want Paychecks, Not Food Stamps
Gingrich BLASTS Chris Wallace for his "Gotcha" Questions at Iowa Debate
Newt Destroys Ron Paul's Foreign Policy Vis-à-Vis Killing Osama bin Laden
Gingrich: My Credential Is 4.2% Unemployment
Newt Slams Obama's Stupidity on the Keystone Pipeline
Gingrich attacks Federal Reserve (Bernanke and Geitner) Deception and Corruption
Newt Discusses Job Creation and Dismantling Federal (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)
Newt: No American President Should Bow to a Saudi King
Newt Gingrich: Super PAC Committee Is Washington's Dumbest Idea
=============================================
====== NEWT GINGRICH'S GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS ======
Newt Gingrich understands ... what many of us know to be true ...
America is dangerously close to becoming a Marxist Godless Socialist Second-World nation ...
While in congress, Newt
* Founded the Conservative Opportune Society which met weekly to discuss ideas many of which were adopted by Reagan during his second term supporting the groups conservative goals on economic growth, education, crime, and social issues.
* Co founded the Congressional Military Reform Caucus and the Congressional Aviation and Space Caucus
* Led charges against the Democrat Speaker of the House Jim Wright
* Became House Minority Whip in 1989
* In 1990, he came up with a paper titled Language, a Key Mechanism of Control, that encouraged Republicans to speak like Newt and contained lists of contrasting words words with negative connotations such as radical, sick, and traitors and optimistic positive governing words such as opportunity, courage, and principled, that Gingrich recommended for use in describing Democrats and Republicans, respectively Now we know why he is so good with words during the debates.
* Gingrich and several other Republicans, in an effort to offer an alternative to Democratic policies and to unite distant wings of the Republican Party came up with a Contract with America which laid out ten policies that Republicans promised to bring to a vote on the House floor during the first hundred days of the new Congress if they won the elections. The contract was signed by Gingrich and other Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. The contract ranged from issues such as welfare reform, term limits, tougher crime laws, and a balanced budget law, to more specialized legislation such as restrictions on American military participation in UN missions. In the November 1994 elections, Republicans gained 54 seats and took control of the House for the first time since 1954.
* Congress fulfilled Gingrichs Contract promise to bring all ten of the Contracts issues to a vote within the first 100 days of the session
* Legislation proposed by the 104th US Congress included term limits for Congressional Representatives, tax cuts, welfare reform, and a balanced budget amendment, as well as independent auditing of the finances of the House of Representatives and elimination of non-essential services such as the House barbershop and shoe-shine concessions.
* Newt led the Republican majority to an re-election in 1996, the first time Republicans had done so in 68 years, and the first time simultaneously with a Democratic president winning re-election.
* In 1996, Newt pushed for the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act which was intended to reconstruct the welfare system. The act gave state governments more autonomy over welfare delivery, while also reducing the federal governments responsibilities. It instituted the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which placed time limits on welfare assistance and replaced the longstanding Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. Other changes to the welfare system included stricter conditions for food stamp eligibility, reductions in immigrant welfare assistance, and recipient work requirements. The said act was signed into law on Aug 22, 1996.
* Pushed Clinton for a Federal Balanced Budget- The plan included a total of $152 billion in Republican sponsored tax cuts over five years. Other major parts of the spending plan called for $115 billion to be saved through a restructuring of Medicare, $24 billion set aside to extend health insurance to children of the working poor, tax credits for college tuition, and a $2 billion welfare-to-work jobs initiative. Plan was to have a balanced budget by 2002 but was achieved in 1999, three years ahead of schedule.
* Through the Contract with America, Gingrich was credited with the largest Capital Gains Tax Cut in US History with the 1997 US Tax Relief Act
.
Newt would make a great President,however, getting elected is probably not in the cards.
Isn’t he very weak on the Second Amendment.
I am with you.
Paul is the MSM’s new crush, now that Christie’s on the skids. That should be a dead giveaway. He’d hand the next 100 elections over to the Dems with some kind of amnesty scheme.
No thanks. Next?
Rand Paul is not my first choice but I have no problem voting for him in 2016. I just don’t want to see a Chris Christie or Jeb Bush heading the GOP ticket because that will spell certain defeat and this country can’t absorb another left wing presidency.
Did you hear Walker today? He announced he's giving back the budget surplus to the citizens of Wisconsin. Hadn't heard him in awhile and he sounded great. .
Not agreeing on a conservative candidate gave Mitt all the advantage he needed. Who better to pull together the TEA Party within itself and with Conservative Republicans and Independents in general than Rand Paul?
I won’t vote for Ron Paul under any circumstances
BUMP
No Amnesty candidates!!!!
I dont have a problem with Rand Paul being the candidate and saying ignorant things about immigration.
My problem is it will split the primary vote and also some people won’t turn out. If he has nothing useful to say he should not talk about the issue. Walker and Jindal will pretend they are not for amnesty even though they are probably more liberal than Paul on most issues.
Peter King could end up getting a few votes from people who think t hey are voting for Steve King.
I wish Ron Paul would have run against Cornyn.
Am I naive or could the implosion of Christie torpedo the inane notion that the GOP must ever and anon run RINOs at the national level?
“But unless Rand Paul can convince his wife that he should run for president, I question the significance that Paul is frontrunner at this point in time.”
She’s a former political consultant. She knows what their family will face.
Who the GOP will offer:
Peter King
Christie
Boehner
Jeb Bush
McCain
Seeing that Boehner was on Leno last night. He would seem to be the MSM's choice of GOP candidate (you know, the one who will be the easiest to beat). King is also a media darling because he is taking a strong anti-TEA stand.
We are going to need some SERIOUS activism to get the GOP pointed in the right direction.
The guy who said he didn’t think Obama’s position on gay marriage “could get any gayer” and had the Southern Avenger on his staff is not going to be getting the nomination. There is much to like, but Rand Paul’s work will be in the Senate. His only contribution to the Presidential race will be in helping frame the debate. I don’t mean to belittle that. It’s very important, even though he can’t win.
“Since 1980, George W. Bush is the only first-timer to win a Republican nomination.” And his name was not a first-timer.
Okay, whose turn is it this time? Have we finally run out of retreads?
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