Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
I think it's his time. He's the smartest. He's the fiercest. Negatives? Sure, but I think the media target on Palin's back runs interference for Newt. How many times can the enemies rely on the "kook" word?At some point it wears very thin. Palin, Angle, O'Donnell, and that guy running against Cuomo make Newt more electable each day. And there is something very redemptive in being a Catholic convert. Never underestimate a convert. They breath fire.
I used to lament the fact that Newt could never be president but now I feel he can rally the Tea Partiers and the Republicans and win. I'm for getting behind this man, weathering the storm, and coming out on the other side with one of history's great presidents. Nothing worth doing is ever easy. There is no white knight. Reagan had two wives and signed the law allowing abortions in California. I'll take three wives and Newt's record any day over that.
- Comment (75)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments:
May '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
That's the only way he gets my vote.
Oh ok, he'll also have my vote if he's running against Obama.
Aug '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Denise Moss
He does give me the creeps... And the name Newt doesn't help. · Oct 23 at 8:06pm
Hey, real newts are cute!
The least of his problems is being named after such an adorable critter.
Oct '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Kenneth
Man, wouldn't you love a candidate who denounced AGW as "The greatest fraud ever perpetrated upon mankind"? · Oct 23 at 6:53pm
James Inhofe for President! Or, barring that, Palin/Inhofe 2012.
Jul '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Trace Urdan
Oh ok, he'll also have my vote if he's running against Obama.
Crikey, mine too, his embrace of AGW, Knut, notwithstanding.
May '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Newt's a valuable conservative advisor and I wouldn't mind seeing him get a Cabinet post. But I agree with others that his advocacy for the climate nonsense, his history as part of the old GOP, and his general D.C. insider attitude makes him a poor presidential candidate. I expect he would accept too many compromises and not help with corruption.
Who's the alternative? 2012 is too far off. The next two years will be full of surprises, good and bad.
Jun '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Gary Johnson: His veto pen makes a light saber look tame by comparison.
May '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
The name "Newt" is a loser. OTOH, if he started using his middle name he might be able to peel off some of the Black vote and cobble together a majority. But, I'm afraid Gingrich is too close to Grinch for comfort. Nomenclature is destiny...
Jul '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Johnson is my sentimental favorite, too.
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Disqualified candidates: Newt Gingrich, for buying into Constitution-shredding central planning--justified on the basis of anthropogenic global warming mitigation; Mitt Romney, for beating Obama to Obamacare in Massachusetts; Sarah Palin, for serving only half a term as governor.
My current picks are all outside-the-beltway anti-Obamas: Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour and Chris Christie top the list right now.
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Gingrich, whatever his strengths and faults, was a skilled pol and legislator, but as a presidential candidate, I think he's a non-starter. Rasmussen has his favorable rating at 38%, which isn't insuperable, but his unfavorable—at 46%—probably is. If I remember right, unfavorables are much, much harder to get down than favorables are to get up. And at 46%, he's up there with Clinton, Gore, Michael Moore, Karl Rove, etc.
Also he's ideaphoric (which is great for a strategist, not so much for an executive), and he has a weakness for giant, overarching explanatory schemes (which may be why he likes AGW and trying to solve it). Anyone who listened to the guy in the ’90s remembers how he'd work Alvin & Heidi Toffler’s “Third Wave” paradigm of historical futurism into almost all his speeches.
Substantive or not, he has the image problem of tending to come off like a motor-mouthed, slightly crackpot professor whose classes you might love or hate but whom you can't quite take seriously because he explains the rise and fall of civilizations depends on the engineering of their pants-fastening devices.
Jul '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
George Savage: Disqualified candidates: Newt Gingrich, for buying into Constitution-shredding central planning--justified on the basis of anthropogenic global warming mitigation; Mitt Romney, for beating Obama to Obamacare in Massachusetts; Sarah Palin, for serving only half a term as governor.
My current picks are all outside-the-beltway anti-Obamas: Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour and Chris Christie top the list right now. · Oct 23 at 9:48pm
I would substitute Paul Ryan for Haley Barbour....that Foghorn Leghorn thing is a killer with female voters.
Oct '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Interesting points, well said. I think you are on to something that keeps NG off the edge with many voters, including many here. Eggheadishness doesn't work unless offset by something soothing (viz. Obama with Hope & Change and the symbolism of the first black Pres). If there's one thing NG is not it's soothing—think we all agree on that. :-)
On the other hand, NG tends to crystalize issues in ways which give confidence to many conservatives that there will be effective follow-through. Perhaps it all comes down to how strong/sustainable the apparent conservative surge is coming out of 2010, and on NG's ability to find/convey a softening tone. Then again, maybe he's the perfect VP. A sharp tack as co-pilot could work electorally. Hard to say.
Aug '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
I agree. When he speaks now he has total command of the issues, clear ideas on how to move forward, and lots of energy to boot. This is his time to shine, whether or not he gets a nomination.
May '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
About Santorum, in my mind the pivot point of the collapse of the Republican party which led to the current Obama/Pelosi/Reid hegemony was George Bush, Rick Santorum (and many others) supporting Arlen Spector over Pat Toomey in 2004. Then Spector was allowed chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee.
That was the combined "whack in the head/sharp stick in the eye" that disgusted a large fraction of the Republican "base" leading to defeat in 2006, and disaster in 2008.
I certainly believe that's what cost Santorum his reelection bid.
At crunch time, he's just another pol.
Oct '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
I disagree. Character matters. Western civilization is in an existential crisis right now and the person who leads it needs to be a man or woman of integrity.
If Gingrich's wife can't trust him, why should I?
Oct '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Kenneth A politician who promotes himself within the party by learning how to work the gears and levers and in the process makes compromises in order to score goals with legislation that never should have even made it to the floor.
"Oh, look at me! I managed, by a series of brilliant parliamentary maneuvers to get the bill out of committee."
"Yeah, but it's a stupid bill."
Bob Dole and Trent Lott were exemplars. · Oct 23 at 7:57pm
Excellent point, Kenneth. A nice supporting point to your post are Bob Dole's remarks during his last day in the Senate. I love Bob Dole on a personal level. He's a great guy, but in the end he was a process oriented statist.
Oct '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
Christie is too new to really know how he'd do in the White House. His initial performance has been excellent here in NJ. I voted for him even though I was initially skeptical, but he's winning me over. It's almost like he wants to govern or something.
Speaking as a NJ voter: Keep your hands to yourself. You can't have him. He's ours.
I don't know all that much of Mitch Daniels, but he's on my watch list from what little I know about the man.
Barbour....outside the beltway? Barbour is the beltway. It sounds like he's doing a credible job as governor, but Haley Barbour is about as establishment as you can get. Remember this is the fellow who ran the RNC during the 1990s when the Republicans went native and has had an extensive career as a beltway lobbyist.
Sep '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
What Bill said - Newt is radioactive. And I still love Bob Dole's line when he appeared on Letterman when running for President: "As you know, Dave, he's the first speaker of the house we've ever had who was named Newt."
May '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
I'll vote for whoever pledges to make John Bolton Secretary of State.
May '10
Re: Newton Leroy Gingrich in 2012
There are others I'd rather have as president--though I'd be perfectly content with Newt--but none would be better suited to expose the naked emperor in three debates than Newt. Those debates would be epic. Epic, I say.
And forget AGW. It's time has passed. It's a non-issue. Newt's position reflected poorly on him, but, since, he's testified effectively against Cap-n-Trade on the Hill. It was a lapse in judgment; everybody's got one.