As the parade of conservative goofballs wends its way over the cliff – one by one, rather like drunk buffalo - we can now focus our attention on a lagger who is coming to the fore. One Newton Leroy Gingrich of Harrisburg/Atlanta suburbs/divorce court.
Newt’s on a roll in the polls. He has been far and away the most cogent, intelligent debater…and, if I may add, delightful to watch. He’s like a cranky but rather swell uncle on those stages. Knocking the stupid questions, ripping the media, and then, on occasion, actually doing the unthinkable….sounding as if he actually means what he’s saying. Given the bizarre personas presented by the other runts in the GOP race, he’s refreshing.
Newt Gingrich is as surprising a candidate as a man with his resume can possibly be. Less than 6 months ago he was overseeing a joke and calling it a campaign. Staff was ditching, he was answering questions about an open Tiffany’s account and making ‘campaign trips’ to Hawaii. Then two things changed for him:
1. One candidate after another has imploded or is imploding, or has elected not to implode.….err….I mean run.
2. The GOP decided to go heavy on the debate schedule this cycle. The format suits Gingrich. He’s not unlike Bill Clinton in that he’s a policy guy, in his element rattling off the minutia directly after intoning the broad stroke. Conservatives will give him a another look and one wonders, ironically, if the 3rd spouse won’t be the keeper.
Of course, a closer look at Newt will focus on many a pockmark. He’s a man with a past. Readers here will no doubt loath him forever for the absurd Clinton impeachment. This won’t bother the GOP a bit. It helps him. However, 2 unpleasant divorces, a dalliance with the evil environmentalists, and, I suspect, even his early work with Nelson Rockefeller (remember liberal Republicans!!!???) will all get some play.
For a fortnight or so, none of it will matter to the lost and loveless “Not Romneys”. (Before I hear about Cain’s poll numbers ‘holding up’ I’ll simply repeat Cain’s done, one way or the other. Watch. If Cain is running for President on February 2nd feel free to slam me…but I’m telling you now – he won’t be.) So the GOP right has no where else to go and the truth is Newt’s not such a bad third (or is it fourth?) spouse. Many will view it rather like marrying their long-lost high school sweetheart. He’s stouter and grayer, but that teenage tingle has matured into something cozy, soothing.
I don’t discount Newt’s ability to do some damage in the GOP primaries. He’s got the chops but, lest one forget, he has piles of baggage. He may be a major surprise…or another let down for conservative faithful. The ranks are getting thin on the Right though. Ms. Palin has decamped to the great North, Ms. Bachman has decamped to obscurity, Pawlenty, Christie, Daniels…all distant memories. If they don’t decide to love someone soon they may end up in a shot-gun marriage to Rick Santorum. Ricky S. is, after all, next in line after Newt.
Well, Perry’s parting shots are at least entertaining. Of his recent debate gaffe, he said:
“That was pretty brutal, isn’t it?”
Having been firmly in the group not afraid to call certain Republicans flat out stupid, this made me happy.
Did he really use that locutions. God help us! As one prominent Texan reportedly noted, he’s “George W. Bush without brains.”
Erratum: “…locution?”
Yes, he really did.
My memory serves up images of Nasty Newt “pontificating” before the cameras during the Clinton administration promising to bring impeachment charges and closing down the government.
At the same time he was “fooling around” with Calista, who became wife number 3, then clearing that up with his “I just loved my country too much” as an excuse for his excesses.
So yes, I suppose that in his own way he can be “entertaining” when factoring in the hypocrisy of this belligerent man. Or it might be just another indication of the desperation surrounding the GOP who just can’t swallow the “Mitt for President” slogan.
Pat….My feelings toward Newt Gingrich are forever sealed by the hypocrisy of him calling for Bill Clinton’s impeachment, while engaging in the same behavior that drove Clinton to his infamous denial. He’s a piece of work!
The Luckiest Guy on Earth:
http://thewiddershins2.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/are-you-kidding-me/
Yep, Obama was definitely born under a lucky star. I don’t agree, however, that Mitt is a long shot. The GE electorate won’t be interested in giving anyone a second chance in the WH when the economy’s stagnant or declining. Why not try the other guy, especially when he, rightly or wrongly, exudes economic competence like Romney does. I don’t think non-political-addicts, unlike us, give 2 figs about Romney’s weather-waning ways. Who cares about that inside-baseball stuff but the minority we represent? All most people care about is can he fix the economy. Obama’s given no indication he can, so why keep him? Really, that’s the salient question — why keep him?
I agree. But if the economy improves, even a little, Obama will sail into a second term.
I agree with that, imust. But, it’s almost certain the economy won’t improve in 2012. Also, reportedly, as GWH Bush found put, if the economy improves too close to the election, it’s too late for the incumbent because public perceptions harden around the notion of a bad economy.
Christopher Buckley opined on “The Audacity of Poping” on Newt’s conversion to Catholicism on behalf of Polish-born spouse #3. (They since made a film praising JP2.)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/03/26/the-audacity-of-poping.html
For the last word in {—-}, let’s hear from the man himself why he switched to Rome.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/newt-gingrich-why-i-became-catholic/
With one-tenth of Americans having left theChurch (while Baptists increase), I’m not sure if welcoming “pontificating” Newt’s the kind of PR Catholics need nowadays.
Let’s hope a lot of Repub. primary voters read this dollop of commonsense: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-2011-elections-a-split-decision/2011/11/10/gIQA6Sas9M_story.html
Excerpt:
“Nothing is written. Contrary to the condescending conventional wisdom, the American electorate is no angry herd, prepared to stampede on the command of today’s most demagogic populist. Mississippi provided an exemplary case of popular sophistication — it defeated a state constitutional amendment declaring that personhood begins at fertilization. Voters were concerned about the measure’s ambiguity (which would grossly empower unelected judges) and its myriad unintended consequences (regarding, for example, infertility treatment and life-threatening ectopic pregnancies). Remarkably, this rejection was carried out by an electorate decidedly pro-life.
And smart. So too across the nation, as we saw Tuesday. This is no disoriented, easily led citizenry. On the contrary. It is thoughtful and discriminating. For Republicans, this means there is no coasting to victory, 9 percent unemployment or not. They need substance. They need an articulate candidate with an agenda and command of the issues who is light on slogans and lighter still on baggage.”
The best line I read recently was be on the look out for “angry bird voters” lol
And all of this is why I’ve continued to believe that Obama can win and likely will win, despite all of the negative economic indicators. I heard someone on tv say that “obama might be the luckiest politician on teh planet”. Republicans terribly misunderstood their 2010 victory.
In the Congress Republicans are offering no solutions. They’re petulant children with a narrow far-right wing ideology that is out-of-touch. American’s HAVE SEEN THE TEA PARTY and the sight of it made them THROW-UP! Mississippi, Ohio, AZ, are like tiny bellwethers pointing to a rejection of far-right-wing politics. Democrats don’t even have to do much, just not being a TP Republican is positive. Not only may Obama win in 2012, the GOP may lose the House. Who woulda thunkit?
And what does Virginia say to you? Every Republican in the upper and lower chambers retained his/her seat on Tuesday. Instead, Republicans picked up house seats to give them the biggest majority ever and they picked up a Senate seat which technically, since the tie vote goes to the Lt. Gov. who is a Republican, puts them in control of the Senate for the first time since Restoration. Meanwhile, the Obama apparatus has held 1600 events in the last 6 months in VA. Two major NOVA counties went red everywhere. Obama’s in deep doo doo if VA is going back deep red. That’s a state he won by several points and the first Dem since either Carter or quite possibly LBJ.
Cain tops latest GOP Poll, but not by much. He’s trailed closely by Newt and Mitt.
Republican Presidential frontrunners, Herman, Newt and Mitt or as they’re more affectionately known, Curly, Larry & Moe (can’t get enough of the 3 stooges jokes)
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57322894-503544/poll-cain-tops-3-way-race-with-romney-gingrich/
My mother – a Fox News junkie – likes Newt because of his debate performances. I loathe the man and think he’s done more harm to this country than just about anyone. I hate he’s from my hometown (Atlanta).
Voters are smart, truly – (well maybe not my Mom). The only way BHO won the 2008 Democratic primary was because it was rigged and delegates were bullied at the convention.
Allie, I would love to believe your analysis of 2008 that BHO won “merely” because it was rigged and delegates were bullied. It was and they were. But a lot of voters fell for the marketing scheme, the slick message of change from a man who had no history of change or anything extraordinary. His past was mediocre at best. His words turned out to be ‘just’ words after all, as I think many of us on this board suspected or absolutely predicted all along.
In my heart of hearts, I’m hoping that the American electorate has learned her lesson. But when I read impassioned blog posts over Herman Cain [who in my mind is clearly 'not' qualified to be POTUS] or read excuses being made for Rick Perry, I’m less than convinced.
Magical thinking seems to rule the day anymore, be it in politics, economic issues, etc. We’re in a bad place right now as a country, desperate for leadership in a era where ‘real’ leadership is either ignored or run out of town.
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I’m waiting for the Cain/David Duke “cognitive dissonance” ticket, myself.
I’d like to stick to my projection that Barry O. is gonna have a hard time winning re-election I must, in honesty, now raise his percentage chance of winning back to just above 50%. The GOP is hell bent on self destruction. More debates mean more debasement for that lot. I do not, however, think he’s going to coast to term 2 by any means. Things get forgotten with astounding speed in the current make up of pop culture. By next summer none of the idiocy of the current GOP field will be remembered. The election will settle back down to being about the economy and Mitt Romney – depending on which side is spending the most dough. Obama will make it about Bain Capital and MR. MR will make it about unemployment and the economy.
Also not sold on the off -off year results as meaning anything much. The collective bargaining win is good but imho won’t mean as much as the mandate reversal come next summer. In the 1st instance Ohio acted in its natural impulse as a blue collar rust belt state, in the 2nd Ohio slapped at a Democratic POTUS hard. One’s a state issue, the other a Fed issue. The next election is a Federal election. But the SCOTUS will likely upend or reignite this issue before we vote. The Virginia result is the most telling if any results are ‘telling’ at all.
Why Obama looks better to me today than a month ago is all about how stupid and inept the GOP is at class concerns…to the point that most don’t even acknowledge that class exists in the USA. To the politically disconnected Republicans are being branded negatively and don’t seem to get that it’s happening. Though Mittens is largely unscathed by the lesser douchebags – he’s simply not the guy to rebrand the party in the “free” 6 months he’ll have to do it. Still, Obama’s numbers haven’t really budged in months. Everyone hates everyone. This opens the door for major surprises.
I agree, JWS. Obama’s likely to be defeated. It’s worth considering that, at the end of the day, likely this is the only poll (on the economy) that’ll matter. He can’t win with these numbers: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57323520-503544/poll-obama-disapproval-rating-on-economy-at-record-high/
I’m still the thought that he’ll lose most of the time…in the end it’s the economy and on that count Romney will be seen as acceptable. On the other hand I can’t quite fathom how shitty the GOP field is…and Romney’s ability to make the brain dead remark prolly isn’t going away…we shall see.
Okay, from tonight’s debate, here’s Huntsman re: water boarding:
“We diminish our standing in the world and the values that we project which include liberty, democracy, human rights and open markets when we torture,” Huntsman said. “We should not torture. Waterboarding is torture. We dilute ourselves down like a whole lot of other countries and we lose that ability to project values that a lot of people in corners of this world are still relying on the United States to stand up for.”
Why is this guy running as a Republican again??? Seriously — what’s up with that?
Because he’s been in Utahan politics and comes from a prominent local family? Dems don’t have a chance in that state.
That’s the only answer I can come up with NES.