So ... What'd I Miss?
As many of you now know, I spent yesterday shuttling back and forth from Northern California, where I sat down with Professors Epstein and Yoo for a video edition of "Law Talk" (it'll be out in the not-too-distant future, but for now I'll tantalize you with a sartorial teaser -- Yoo went bow tie, Epstein went the full "Saturday Night Fever": no tie, shirt collar out over the jacket). Little did I know that this meant I was going to miss perhaps the most volatile day in the entire election cycle.
From the vantage point of the following morning, it seems like the big takeaway from this memorable January 19 was Newt Gingrich's response to the allegations from his ex-wife at last night's debate, part of the bigger narrative of a Newt resurgence in the last week. What I'm curious about at this point is how real the shift in the Republican electorate has been. So here's my question for you, the members: how many of you have been rethinking your loyalties in this race in the 10 days since the New Hampshire primary?
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May '10
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Well I called you a girl on the new "Intel" tab. Sorry about that; it was inadvertant.
Mar '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I am surprised that I now back Newt as a result of the debates.
Nothing I thought before, in terms of Newt's weakenesses, has changed. And I still want Mitch Daniels or Marco Rubio as the result of a brokered convention. But I think Newt's crazy-stupid ideas won't go anywhere, and he is slightly less likely than Mitt to try to "fix" the government. Newt's "executive" experience in government, for me, trumps private sector executive experience.
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
As long as it wasn't in the form of posing the question "Is Troy Senik a girl?", we're safe. I maintain the Dr. House stubble beard for a reason.
Dec '10
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I'm still very undecided about what I want, but I remain steadfast in what I don't want. Newt scares me but is growing on me if for no reason other than I enjoy good theater.
Jul '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Newt was in a WWF wrestling match. He used a Bain chair to hit Romney and got booed. Romney, who can hold a grudge, unleashed his Drudge. Newt assassinated the King, coming closer to the west wing. Romney when asked about his taxes found that his eloquence waxes. Perry left for the prairie. Huntsman was a dunceman. Santorum came to our forum. Ron Paul, I'll leave that to y'all.
May '10
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I never had any loyalties in the first place. If you put 40 meddling and idiotic network executives in a room and ask them to come up with a GOP political version of Survivor, this is exactly what you'd get. Your not rooting for anyone, just hoping to vote the imbeciles off the island one-by-one.
Mar '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I have no loyalties, and only one prejuidice: I'm not voting for the one that looks and sounds like Smeagol.
Newt is fiery, but he's liable to burn himself. Mitt can't see a punch coming that was telelgraphed weeks ago, and he's going to be going up against Obama, who due to his hideous record and Alinskyite training has no choice but to go on and stay on offense all the way through the campaign.
Rick Santorum seems like a nice guy. Leo Durocher had a take on nice guys, but then, Leo blew an 8 1/2 game lead back in '69, so it's not like he was Mr. Infallibility or anything.
I don't know if any of them can win.
Troy, you did miss the part where Newt tore John King into bloody shreds and built a cage with his bones.
May '10
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
As a Romney guy, I'm distressed and surprised he's been so inept at handling this tax thing. I've little doubt about his character, but even I can't help kinda sorta suspecting he's got something more to hide than a low tax rate. Positively bizarre.
Re Newt, I worry he fails to understand the difference between "zinging" and persuading. In the debates next fall "ripping Obama a new one" is not going to coax a few million Obama supporters -- who, like it or not, are at some level personally invested in the guy -- to come around to our side. A calm, controlled, you're-a-good-man-but-you're-wrong approach will be more effective. Does Newt have the self-awareness to switch to that approach in those debates? And even if he does, is he capable of overturning his now-well-established rep as a belligerent partisan?
I doubt it, which is why I'm sticking with Mitt. But, geez, Mitt can be a frustrating guy to support at times. Like this week.
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Scott Reusser: As a Romney guy, I'm distressed and surprised he's been so inept at handling this tax thing. I've little doubt about his character, but even I can't help kinda sorta suspecting he's got something more to hide than a low tax rate. Positively bizarre.
· 1 minute ago
Exactly. For the life me, I can't figure this out. The all but invariable rule in politics: Whatever you're hiding, buster, it's better to get it out sooner rather than later. We already know he's rich. We already know that for years now he has paid taxes at a rate so low that middle-class Americans are scratching their heads, wondering what they did wrong. And we already know that he has invested in offshore vehicles, including some domiciled in the Cayman Islands.
What else could there be?
Baffling.
Apr '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I was hoping for a Perry resurgence until he quit. I loved Newt's performance in last Saturday's debate. He can deliver a devastating 1-2 punch. I don't put much stock in his ex-wife's allegations. There is nothing new there for me. I'm just not sure if I want to go safe (Romney will attract independents) or if I want to take a gamble on Newt. He may try to implement real change in Washington, while I'm not sure what Romney will do. Romney's been all over the map on the issues. At the same time, Newt has the potential to implode and very few of his former colleagues speak highly of him. He's also had instances where he lost his way as a conservative and his renowned debate prowess may not be much help if Obama agrees to only one or two debates. Why would he agree to more?
The choices are kind of depressing, and anyway Newt is not on the ballot in my state of VA. I think I will contribute to DeMint's PAC and focus on senate races.
Jul '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Oh that's preciousssss.
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I've been doing a lot of rethinking. Completely undecided.
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
To tie all of the threads in this post together, perhaps the solution is to hope for a brokered convention that results in an Epstein-Yoo ticket? Or Yoo-Epstein (it really seems like you've got to put the guy with the bow tie up front)?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
I've been doing a lot of rethinking. Completely undecided. · 3 minutes ago
Mar '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
I've been a fan of Newt's for almost 20 years now but I was supporting Bachmann until she self-destructed with the Gardasill thing. Since then, I've been hoping Newt would make himself competitive. And, waddaya know, he's back and it's 1994 all over again.
How he's performed in the debates, especially the last two, is what I've always liked about him. Frankly, I like his tinge of arrogance, his use of the English language, and his credentials as the politician who's done more for conservatism than anyone except Ronald Reagan.
So, my loyalties are even more firmly in place than they were six months ago.
Aug '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
I've been doing a lot of rethinking. Completely undecided.
But in your heart, you know he's right.
Mar '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
The Obama/Epstein Debate.
Oh.
My.
I would crawl on my hands and knees through broken glass to watch that.
Dec '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Romney has had years to rearrange his financial affairs so that he could present the public with a less-than-damning one-year tax return. But he didn't get around to it, so now he expects us to wait until April for his sanitized 2011 return?
Show us your 2010 return, Mitt.
Anyway...if I were voting in North Carolina, I'd go with Gingrich, though my heart really belongs to Ron Paul.
May '10
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Re the "touchy subject": In the long run, this marital thing is going to hurt Gingrich, bad. POTUS, and particularly FLOTUS, as kinky swingers does not play well out here in fly-over country. In CA maybe, but not OH.
Dec '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Re the "touchy subject": In the long run, this marital thing is going to hurt Gingrich, bad. POTUS, and particularly FLOTUS, as kinky swingers does not play well out here in fly-over country. In CA maybe, but not OH.
Go ahead and focus on the unverifiable claims of a woman so deranged by bitterness that, 15 years after the end of her marriage, she is still trying to destroy her ex-husband.
A presidential campaign is not The Ex-Housewives of Washington, DC - a delectation for the easily-distracted. It's serious business.
Jun '11
Re: So ... What'd I Miss?
Nobody's Perfect:
Anyway...if I were voting in North Carolina, I'd go with Gingrich, though my heart really belongs to Ron Paul. · 10 minutes ago
Well, you still have plenty of time. The North Carolina Republican Primary is May 8th.
I think you're right that, even though he's been running for 5 years, he didn't think to have a tidy 2010 tax return. my guess is that it has millions in charitable donations to his church. From the very beginning he could have clearly said, "I'll release my tax returns on April 16th." If they kept asking he could refer them to the answer he already gave.