Posted on 10/09/2015 7:21:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I think we have no choice now but to make him Speaker. Apparently, he’s the only man in America who’d accept the job.
Good point from Twitter pal “Political Math”: Having Newt back in the House would be a lovely complement to the retro 90s Bush/Clinton election that’s in the offing.
“I’m not laughing at it. I’m saying to you — I’m trying to be totally honest with you,” Gingrich told the host. “If you were to say to me 218 have called you up and given you their pledge, obviously no citizen could ever turn down that kind of challenge. This is why George Washington came out of retirement — because there are moments you can’t avoid.”
“What I would say, that would be more practical is if the House Republican Conference wanted me to be in a position to sit down with them and try to help them think this through. I think this is a conference-wide problem,” the former speaker said. “I don’t see the personality problem. I think this is something which requires serious historic thought … this is a serious, I think sobering period in American history.””
“Don’t think of this as a personality thing,” Gingrich told Hannity. “If the House conference wanted me to be helpful in their thinking through how they’re going to solve what I think is much more than a personality problem, I would always be available as a citizen to be helpful.”
As I said in the Romney post, if we’re going to recycle 2012 retreads to be “caretaker” Speakers until the next election, Newt’s obviously a better choice. My hunch is he’d be more acceptable to both wings of the caucus than Romney would: His conservative credentials are less in question, and his record of budget discipline as Speaker in the mid-90s would be broadly acceptable to everyone. (An added bonus for centrists: If Newt, who oversaw the 95-96 shutdown, argued against using that tactic again now, House conservatives might give his opinion more weight than they gave to Boehner’s.) Having Gingrich in the top spot would also scratch the itch that grassroots righties have for a Speaker who’ll use his platform to attack Obama rhetorically. Gingrich would be an able spokesman against the Iran deal and the implications of continuing to raise the debt ceiling. If you’re going to go out of the box for a Speaker who’s not a member of Congress, you could do worse.
Any other wacky choices we should spitball today while the House GOP is melting down? The only limit, it seems, is one’s imagination. Let me go get some caffeine into me and I’ll come back and write a three-thousand-word post on why Herman Cain is the only logical choice to lead a fractured caucus to glorious legislative victory over the Democrats.
I know of all of the faults and warts of GoodNewt/BadNewt, but it is inaccurate to blame this on him. From the historical record, with links ......
As a matter of fact, for the record, Newt was kicked out by the Moderates(!) ....
"There is no doubt in my mind he had the votes to win the Speakership, but I'm not sure he had the votes to govern," said Kenneth M. Duberstein, a former White House chief of staff ... .... from the article (drum roll please) .....
"What I believe desperately needs to take place is to heal the alienation that currently exists," said Representative Steve Largent of Oklahoma, a ‘conservative’ football Hall of Famer who announced his own challenge today to Mr. Gingrich's second-in-command, Representative Dick Armey of Texas.
The heart of the Speaker's problems, many Republicans said, is that he had never made an adequate adjustment from being the minority to being the majority, from intense backbench opposition to governing.
The hard-edged partisan bite that worked for Mr. Gingrich in the minority came across as stridency in power, Republicans said. ''Whenever we try to go on the offensive, the White House tries to make Newt the issue and whenever that happens we lose,'' said Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island.
...... AND the "piece de resistance" ...
When Mr. Gingrich allowed Representative John R. Kasich of Ohio, the budget committee chairman, to try to rally House Republicans around a conservative blueprint for more than $100 billion in new savings, the moderates refused to back it.
No thanks, Newt.
You had your chance and failed.
You were bought off by the same people who own the GOPe.
The only way Newt would get 218 votes is if all the Democrats voted for him. Even then it’d be iffy.
Yeah and GWHB still has another term
If the GOP is going to go 1990s, go full.
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[The last thing conservatives need is K-Street Gingrich. Pining for him as speaker is as out-of-date as many of the Dems pining for BJ vicariously through Hillary.]
We don’t need a speaker as conservative as Col. West, Gov. Palin or Mark Levin as some here suggest.
Having a more moderate Republican would not be that bad AS LONG AS THEY INTEND TO WIN AND HAVE THE BACKBONE TO FIGHT.
Revoking funding for a criminal organization who is being investigate for hundreds of felonies involving selling baby body parts is not a “conservative” policy on par with shutting down the Dept of Education or the IRS. Not giving $100 Billion to Iran is not a “conservative” position comparable to installing a missile defense shield in Europe. These are very moderate positions we are talking about here.
The problem we have had over the past 4 years is not that our leaders were not conservative enough. It was that they were so weak and corrupted that they wouldn’t even stand up and fight for moderate, common sense issues that nearly everyone could support.
I don’t need someone who wants to go out an remake America overnight into a bastion of conservatism. I just want someone who thinks it is o.k. now and then to stop Obama and Harry Reid. I want someone who has the spine to draw a line in the sand and stick to it.
RE: You had your chance and failed.
Newt was by all accounts the most successful speaker in a generation.
We had our first BUDGET SURPLUS as far as I could remember when Newt was Speaker.
And even if the surplus was questionable (as many would argue), the deficit was still close to manageable compared to what we have after his tenure as speaker.
He persisted and FORCED Bill Clinton to sign many of the bills the slick one initially refused to pass ( e.g. Welfare Reform ).
I’m not sure he’s enough of the “good Newt” for me to be in favor of this.....having said that, better than Boehner.
Funny thing is I it is hitting me harder that we are still fighting the big gov't culture on both sides of the isle that existed in 94'. But our indebtedness has gotten worse and depending upon who you listen too has or will be a critical mass soon...
I see Newt is as humble as ever
Yeah, I have since looked it up. While being a member of Congress is not a requirement, there has apparently never been a Speaker who wasn't in Congress. So, you don't have to be in Congress, but the odds are against a speaker candidate who isn't.
A clear BadNewt flaw that is rightly pointed out. When Donald Trump exhibits the same hubris, it is applauded by a majority here. I wonder why that is?
That is one big cushy office that can be seen on a coin. Lots of great places Newt had awesome sex romps.
Nice to offer but Newt will not be selected. Still, an outsider might not be a bad idea—and he knows how things work—Maybe for a year? How many in the USA would want an old statesman to take the hammer?
>> You don’t have to be a member of the house to be Speaker <<
Correct.
Moreover, the Constitution doesn’t state any citizenship, residence or age requirements.
So you could be a twelve year-old transgendered Syrian Muslim refugee child and still be qualified, as long as you had 218 votes.
>> When Donald Trump exhibits the same hubris, it is applauded by a majority here. I wonder why that is? <<
Maybe because Trump’s three wives are a lot more glamorous than Newt’s three wives?
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