GOP Race Is Now a Tossup
The dramatic turn of events in the past week in the GOP race suggest that, after Newt Gingrich’s decisive win in South Carolina on Saturday, Mitt Romney is no longer the presumptive nominee who will outlast his foes.
The exit polls, consisting of interviews with almost 2,400 voters, indicate a win of 12 percentage points for Gingrich, a remarkable turnaround in a race in which Romney led by ten points five days ago. The popular vote tally indicates Gingrich may win by even more than that. Gingrich, who has been written off twice already in the GOP race, will now carry a lot of momentum into the next contest in Florida on January 31. He may also win all or nearly all of the South Carolina delegates to the GOP convention, as Romney now leads in only two counties.
Remarkably, Gingrich’s win can be attributed at least in part to one group of voters who normally would not vote for the more conservative candidate — those who view Romney’s background as an investor negatively. Among the 28% of South Carolina voters who held this anti-private equity sentiment, Gingrich beat Romney by 50% to 3%. Until Newt Gingrich’s “super Pac” started airing a 3-minute version, as well as the 27-minute version of a hit piece on Bain Capital, the topic had not become an issue in the almost year-long GOP nomination campaign.
While most analysts on Saturday night attributed Gingrich’s comeback to his strong debate performance on Monday and again on Thursday, particularly his passionate dressing down of CNN debate moderator John King in the second of the debates, it is apparent that the Bain smear campaign also worked very effectively. Mitt Romney’s super Pac ran negative ads focusing on Gingrich’s record both in Congress and since he left Congress that eliminated Gingrich’s lead in Iowa. Gingrich seems to have repaid the “favor” with his attacks on Romney’s record at Bain. The success of the negative ad messaging suggests that we are in for a lot more of this in the GOP race, as well as in the general election campaign to follow.
One other Gingrich message seems to have resonated with South Carolina voters: that Mitt Romney was a Massachusetts moderate. Romney won a small plurality of those who described themselves as moderate or liberal, but was trounced among those who consider themselves conservative. Of the 14% of voters who said the most important factor was nominating a “true conservative,” Romney won 2% of the votes, Gingrich 37%, and Santorum 34%. It is a certainty that Romney’s opponents will be hammering all the way to the convention in Tampa that Romney is not a conservative. In states where only Republicans can vote, this message will work even better. Also, the regional bias — Gingrich from neighboring Georgia, Romney from Massachusetts — was certainly not an assist for Romney in the Palmetto State.
In what can only be described as cognitive dissonance, or willful blindness, of the 27% of voters who stated that the religious beliefs of the candidate matter a great deal, Gingrich won 45%, Romney 9%. Apparently, at least one of the Ten Commandments does not seem to matter to those who think a candidate’s religious beliefs matter. In essence, Gingrich pulled off a remarkable feat in the last ten days — he has won a GOP primary in a conservative state by running ads and campaigning in a way that normally appeals only to left wing, anti-capitalist critics, and skated by his history of adultery by riding a wave of MoveOn.org-type sentiment among evangelical voters.
Liberal voters excused Bill Clinton’s peccadillos since they liked his positions on most issues. Religious conservatives seemed willing to ignore Newt Gingrich’s history since they like his anger at the media, and expect him to thrash Barack Obama in presidential debates. One question not posed in the exit poll interviews, since it would likely not be answered honestly, was whether Romney’s Mormon faith was the real turnoff to evangelicals and others who believe a candidate’s religious beliefs matter a great deal.
In any case, all polls in states with upcoming contests, as well as national polls, are now meaningless. Romney held a twenty-point lead over Gingrich in Florida, but that survey was taken before this week’s South Carolina debate. As numbers maven Nate Silver argues, Florida may well be a tossup race after South Carolina. Romney led Gingrich by 37% to 14% at the start of the week, and by 31% to 23% on Saturday. After Gingrich’s big win, the national numbers could well be about even by Monday. There is no reason why Florida would be very far from the national numbers. One factor that favors Romney in Florida is that his organization has encouraged early voting, and Romney may have a big lead among those who have already voted. If everyone else is equally divided between Gingrich and Romney, Romney could win by his early banking of votes in Florida.
Other than a few caucus states, Florida is the last big primary contest for a month. As such, its importance is greatly magnified. Either Romney or Gingrich will carry the winner’s mantle for a month, and this topsy-turvy race, with candidates surging and then dropping off rapidly, will get a breather.
The absence of scheduled debates after Florida will take away what has been Gingrich’s strongest campaign weapon. It also will provide some time for Romney to refocus his campaign, which has been sputtering all week. Romney seemed unprepared to defend his Bain record, and his failure to release his tax returns seemed to suggest to some that he was embarrassed about what was in them. (Note: Romney announced on Sunday morning that he would release his tax returns on Tuesday.)
If Romney becomes the nominee, he will likely not have to deal with the amateurish and wildly inaccurate 27-minute anti-Bain video that Gingrich supporters have run, but he will see clips of Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich attacking Bain, and calling him a vulture capitalist. Not only has Romney slipped off his glide path to the nomination, but if he becomes the nominee, he will now be much more vulnerable to the inevitable class warfare arguments in the general election.
Newt Gingrich, who has the highest negatives of any GOP candidate among those who are not Republicans (many of whom will need to support a GOP candidate to get that candidate elected), will now have a chance to use his stature as a serious contender to try to smooth out some of the rough edges. The fact is that both Romney and Gingrich now have a real shot at being the nominee. Each has strengths and obvious weaknesses. Their race, which could turn into a regional faceoff of sorts (Gingrich strong in the South, Romney in the North), will not end quickly.
“One other Gingrich message seems to have resonated with South Carolina voters: that Mitt Romney was a Massachusetts moderate.”
Yes he is, and that makes him a Dem Marxist in the eyes of the rest of the country, blue states we won’t win anyway not withstanding.
Romney believes in gun control, AGW, government run healthcare, and bailouts for wall street.
One of those, Gingrich briefly also thought was real–AGW. He has since repudiated and apologized for his mistake, and credibly so. The rest he is no fan of, and has had no steadfast support for, unlike the democrat Romney, who still believes in all of them.
The purple states want a reason to go red. Gingrich will give them the red meat they want, and he’ll beat Obama.
Your delusional. Let’s be real, is Newt’s run anything other than a vanity exercise? Surely he has seen how he polls, his negatives are only slightly better than those of the ebola virus. That is not likely to change. His followers may indeed be very energized, but he will not get independent voters, or women for that matter. If Newt is the nominee (I can’t even believe I’m saying that!) Obama will have this puppy wrapped up by the end of August.
Those polls are meaningless. The only thing people know about Newt are what the media lets them know. Even most conservatives until very recently have been heavily influenced by the propaganda.
When he is nominated, like Reagan, he will have the ability to speak directly to the people. Everything will change.
Try listening to what Gingrich says instead of what others say about him. Likewise, listen to McRomneys pablum. Then come back and say what you think people will think after hearing what each has to say.
The Republican presidential nomination has always been a race, despite the Ruling Class punditry insisting that the sword was Mittens’ to pull from the stone. Now those pundits, refuted and embarassed but not humbled, can no longer pretend that even to themselves.
“If Romney becomes the nominee, he will likely not have to deal with the amateurish and wildly inaccurate 27-minute anti-Bain video that Gingrich supporters have run…”. OH, REALLY?!?
REPUBLICANS IN DENIAL
from: http://floppingaces.net/2012/01/20/republicans-in-denial-reader-post/
EXCERPTS: “Get familiar with the names BCIP Associates III Cayman and Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd. If Romney is the Republican nominee they will become a household names. Why? Let me explain.
BCIP Associates III Cayman and Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd are basically nothing more then P.O. boxes in Bermuda and the Grand Cayman Island. The number of words in the names of these companies is greater then the total sum of employees on the payroll. No secretaries, no janitors, no interns. Just a few lawyers working out of their own offices with a plaque on the wall. In essence these are companies in name only. They are what is more commonly known as off shore accounts. They can and are directly linked to Romney. You know, the same Mitt Romney who is trying to convince everyone he is Mr. Everyman. Starting ring a few bells? Maybe its because we’ve been down this road before and the only thing that has changed for the Obama campaign and the media is the publish dates of the articles written before and will be again. The facts have not changed. The accusations remain the same.
Independent voters on the other hand have a much harder time relating to these accounts as it is. Add to this the Obama campaign and the media filtering how the Independent voter will again recieve this information and the problem becomes obvious and predictable. One ad on national T.V. will leave the independent voter thinking and realizing that Jane and John Doe independent don’t have off shore accounts. They are paying their taxes without the use of loopholes. How can Mitt Romney argue cutting taxes when in their mind he isn’t paying his fair share in the first place? How does Romney argue for reducing the deficit by cutting social programs when he is hiding money off shore that could fund them? If Romney isn’t using these companies to subvert the tax code, why do they even exist then? What would be the point? Why go through the hassel? Something doesnt smell right to them.
Republicans and conservatives are just not going to be able to win the Romney off shore account argument with the Independent voters using the same idiotic retorts currently being thrown at conservatives pointing out the fact that this could be a problem. Instead of whining about conservatives bring the issue up, Republicans and Conservatives of all stripes should be figuring out how they are going to deal with the inevitable class warfare that is going to be ramping up as the Novemeber election nears. Pretending Romney’s use of off shore accounts is no big deal is not going to end well for the Republican party.”
The republican ruling class is a pack of fools. They have ridden their sinecures for so many years that they have lost complete touch with reality.
They think they can play dirty, but one-man gang Ginrich has rolled over them.
The author thinks Bain won’t come up if Romney pulls off a miracle and buys the nomination. How naive can a person be?
And the Cayman Island thing is just one other tiny element of a campaign that will have the country viewing mittens as the reincarnation of John D Rockefeller.
Fortunately, Newt is pretty close to wrapping up the deal. Pravda (marxist style) must be in a panic today trying to figure out how they can nuke him in the next debate. If it wasn’t for the fact that they have real players behind them, Soros and co, I would say it’s all over. But those boys are going to get involved now, and Newt will have to step his game up another level. At some point, he will have to tire. But if he holds it together through Florida, Mitt can begin having his campaign team strategizing about which ambassdorship he should claim as consolation prize.
You think Gingrich is the anti-establishment candidate? What about the 1.8 million he’s taken from Freddie Mac? What about the fact that he’s a paid spokesman/lobbist for the ethonol subsidy lobby? Oh and check where he’s been living since leaving Office 12 years ago – Northern Virginia, in the DC suburbs. Newt the crony capitalist – Global Wrming, guy who accused Congressman Ryan of engaging in “right-wing social engineering. If you think Gingrich is remotely conservative your wrong.
you are totally clueless.
Go read about what the establishment thinks about Newt. They hate him a thousand times more than obama. They are in the midst of a total meltdown right now at the prospect he might actually win the nomination. If he wins Florida, this will become so public that it will be the major news story for a month.
It doesn’t have a thing to do with ideology or with Fannie Mae, or his personal history. They hate him because if he wins, their power will be broken, possibly forever. That is all they care about. They would a thousand times prefer for obama to win than for Newt to win.
Why do you think virtually every establishment conservative pundit is for Romney, even though Bob Dole is a brilliant candidate compared to Mitt.
The sheer strength, speed, and power of the Gingrich comeback, argues against a Romney recovery. The Not-Romney vote, which is 75% of the primary voters, is settling on Gingrich. These voters were never interested in Romney, and if in 5 years of campaigning he hasn’t been able to get their votes, why should we believe they will start voting for him now. Most Americans believe that “Actions speak louder than words”, and by that criteria.
Romney=Obama
The political achievements of Romney and Obama are identical
Romneycare=Obamacare
Romney raised taxes=Obama wants to raise taxes
Romney increased spending=Obama really increased spending
Romney is a 1 term Governor=Obama will be a 1 term President
Gingrich on the other hand, took over congress, balanced the budget, reformed welfare, and cut taxes, they are exact opposites.
“Actions speak louder than words”
Gingrich’s actions are conservative, Romney’s are not, he is a conservative of convenience and cannot be trusted.
It’s about time to admit that Newt is a rare genius and that Mitt is a good business guy when he has a few thousand times as much money as the competition.
Newt has been running a one-man show against the entire Republican Ruling class for eight months, while they have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him in an unprecedented dishonest and negative campaign…and he is now the leader. It’s really a stunning accomplishment.
And there is way more to it than that. While doing so, he has innoculated himself against the family values meme, and made it difficult if not impossible for the marxists to attack him as a tool of Wall Street. At the same time, he has wounded Romney so severely that even people who thought he was electable now have to wonder. How electable can a guy be when the 3-term governor of Texas will be starring in advertisements against him. Maybe Romney should have game-played disclosing the rock incident a few more times before deciding to smear Perry with it.
And Newt is also now the champion of anybody who has a gripe with pravda. Meanwhile, pravda is about at the point where they are scared to ask him what time it is.
What a stunning achievement.
Romney is a really smart guy who isn’t very good at politics. And having the guys advising him who were clipping their coupons the last two decades while the marxists captured the country isn’t helping him.
Mitt should give up before he embarrasses himself so severely that he won’t even be able to get an ambassadorship.
But you never know. Enough money usually can buy anything. I wonder when Axelrod will make the dicision to start chipping in to the Romney campaign, if he isn’t already doing so.
“At the same time, he has wounded Romney so severely that even people who thought he was electable now have to wonder.”
Gingrich is enough of an historian to be very familiar with Georgia’s Tom Watson and to understand how strong a populist appeal can be in The South. The South is now largely freed from the economic conflict between the races that so thwarted Watson’s brand of populism that he, like many other Southern politicians, gave up and made his way in the politics of race. There is a deeply inbred dislike and distrust of bankers, speculators, and “big business” in The South, and in the rest of rural America. People like to think of Sarah Palin as some conservative darling, but Palin’s actual governance came from somewhere between the tax protester libertarianism of the oilfields and outright anti-big business populism. There’s a template for it. The question is whether there are 270+ EVs for it.
There is something patently fraudulent about the Hahvud Biz and Wharton grads using the government to eliminate their competition, make their deriviative scams legal, and then claiming that they’re somehow engaged in free enterprise. The very last thing the elite school MBAs want is open competition on a level playing field. Maybe Newt’s populist theme is resonant; Wall Street is all in for Obama and “coordination,” to use the German phrase, with the Obama Junta. The big corporations just want the government to put up regulatory barriers to entry and run their competition out of business. Since the Republicans have largely become the Party of small business and trades people, maybe backing the Wall Street types isn’t quite the right ticket for the Republican nominee.
re 270 EV’s, Newt would be a lock for something between 150 and 200, the entire south and the western states other than Nevada, Colorado and NM. McRomney would be at risk for a few of those. It’s hard to imagine Newt losing a McCain state, but Romney might find a way to lose a couple.
Can McRomney win any blue states? not likely
Word is McRomney would give the repubs an edge in Michigan and NH. Maybe, but it seems to me that Newt would have an equivalent edge in blue collar swing states that hate DC.
I just can’t picture Mitt being more electable than Newt. The fury from the feminists, gays and politicians would be greater at Newt, but unions? minorities? Where is this purported gigantic electability edge?
Other than in the eyes of McRomney’s supporters.
If Newt can get his vision of American renewal out through the barbed wire of Pravda, he could win in a landslide. Mitt’s message of “I’m more competant than obama” might win in a squeeker.
Well, I don’t know about that landslide part; I’ll take 271 and we can fight with the communists about whether we have a legitimate government or not. If my name’s on the door, I don’t give a damn whether some communist SOB likes it there or not.
This is Ron Paul’s famous Predictions speech from April 24, 2002. This is the original video compiling recent images and video to give his speech a chilling effect.
“I have no timetable for these predictions, but just in case, keep them around and look at them in 5-10 years. Let’s hope and pray that I’m wrong on all accounts. If so, I will be very pleased. ” Ron Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGDisyWkIBM&feature=player_embedded
“At the same time, he has wounded Romney so severely that even people who thought he was electable now have to wonder.”
Absolute Schadenfreude that Jeb Bush (FL) was rumored for weeks to be endorsing Romney and only yesterday said he’ll stay “neutral.”
Unleash Gingrich in 2012!
Romney might be a good businessman, but he’s a lousy politician.
He got killed in his Senate run, governed so poorly as governor that he couldn’t run for reelection, got hopelessly outmaneuvered by hick Huckabee in 2008, and is 1 of 3 so far in 2012, despite 5 years on the campaign trail and having spent more than all the other candidates combined.
1 of the 3 was a guy who beat him from a pickup truck. The other guy beat him despite the biggest negative campaign attacks in republican history.
Why does anybody thing Mitt is electable to anything? and having a crew of advisors who were clipping coupons for the last 15 years while the marxists took over the country isn’t helping.
I think just not getting it quite right runs in the family; his dad was, after all, the head of Rambler. Anybody remember the Gremlin and the Pacer?
My younger brother had a Pacer for a year or so. Like Mitt it kept running – but never well.
+1
And to top it off, he can’t manage his resources. He has only gotten this far by outspending all of his competitors combined (both times), and he has little to show for it. Come the General Election, that advantage goes out the window. Romney does not have access to the kind of money needed to outspend Obama. He would pretty much have to offer Donald Trump the VP slot in order to have a fighting chance, not because of the votes Trump would bring in, but because Trump could spend a billion dollars on his campaign for Vice President without breaking campaign finance laws. That’s the only way he can fight Obama on equal terms, and that doesn’t get the base out to vote for him.
The Republicans only chance of winning is to open the convention to nominations and stop this ridiculous primary/debate routine. By having them they are promoting the idea that most Americans, Republicans and many independents, think along the lines of the Bible Belt born-again types. I think they are wrong. I had little use for the word ‘Cad’ until Billy Clinton came to office. Now I have two people to whom the word applies. Those who think Gingrich’s debating ability will save the day will be further embarassed by his actions, past and future.
if any voters would care about Newt’s persoan indicretions from 15 years ago it would be South Carolinians.
Newt’s past will most certainly be fodder for anti-Newt campaign adds. However, we are beginning to notice that the base doesn’t care. The independents are less inclined than they used to be to condemn past marital problems. And as for the Dems, remember Clinton? I mean Bill, of course. Pelosi actually helped Newt by “threatening to disclose what she knew” until someone kindly [unfortunately] reminded her that if she did it would be a felony offense.
I agree that we run risks with Newt. However, I think the long run risks with either Mitt or Rick are greater.
Democrats are laughing, figuring a Fifty State landslide for Obama. They want Newt badly, as the nominee.
Lets get real — the only voters in play who won’t vote Obama or Republican are White female professionals. They are the only group that switches. Most of you people here are in denial on the obvious, inescapable fact that Presidents are chosen by White professional women. Who vote Alpha/Beta male, not politics, the economy, war, or anything else. Look at Presidents Kerry and Gore, or Jimmy Carter’s defeat, or Dukakis. Or heck McCain (old, cranky, “lame” against dreamboat Obama beloved of the media).
The Media matters because it always tilts to Dems and spins them as Dreamboats and Republicans as “icky beta males” … and this time around we won’t be running against Gore or Kerry.
Newt Gingrich, in favor of Open Marriage, in the habit of dumping his wives for the latest mistress when they get sick, old, ugly, fat, and derided by the media, will not win much if any of the White female professional vote. Which decides elections.
So go “Banzai” to your doom, yelling at the media, on the backs of an insider who sat with Pelosi on the couch endorsing Global Warming, or made millions off Freddie/Fannie, or a zillion other corrupt insider things. Or realize you only have one shot, and choose the best available Alpha Male, the youngest, most handsome, tallest, guy against Obama.
The stuff you don’t like about Romney, women DO: Rich, handsome, insider, go-along, smooth, unruffled, “moderate.” About all Obama can say about him is that he’s rich, a Mormon (which is fairly positive after those cable shows and the Broadway show for WOMEN), and well he’s rich. The more Obama pushes that, the more women like Romney.
This is a LEFT nation. Not Center right, or even Center. LEFT. Ask President Obama. Gingrich will fold like a cheap suit against Obama’s attacks, because women ALREADY DETEST HIM. [Yes Slick Willie was not held to that standard. That's because Clinton was/is the Alpha Male, the one the media swoons over and found a dreamboat.]
White guys will vote against Obama. Same with blue collar White women. That’s a done deal, no nominee will get more or less of that. Blacks/Hispanics will vote Obama. That’s already set in stone. The only voting bloc that varies, election to election, is White professional women. Ask yourself, who is most likely to pick enough of them up against Obama in the General? Newt Open Marriage Fat-Guy Gingrich? Or Romney?
Do you want President Obama with a Senate and House run by Reid and Pelosi? Or not? That’s your question. Banzai! or eking out a victory? Suicide charge or victory eked out?
Yeah I get it, Mitt is a Mormon. A lot of guys don’t like that. He’s an insider (like Newt, see Pelosi couch and global warming, Fannie Freddie). You don’t have to love Mitt to want Obama beat. You’re on a suicide run if you think Newt doesn’t lose all fifty states.
Your alpha male shtick is getting stale.
I’ll take a well-seasoned old fart who is not easy on the eyes and has plenty of personal flaws but has learned from them any day over some pansy-@ssed 0bama 1.0 POS.
I don’t need a president to cream my panties over. I want a president who can turn this ship around and steer us back to what the founding FATHERS inspired every person who ever came to America for. What is that, you might ask? For personal liberty, freedom from tyranny and the right to say what you want, shoot to protect and own what is rightfully yours.
We have become enslaved by BIG, SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT and the tipping point is coming. When the takers overcome the givers, America is in deep, deep sh*T.
And yet, Gingrich won a greater share of the votes of married women than did Mittens.
Face it, whiskey, your mancrush on Roissy makes you incapable of seeing that politics is not game.
I am so dissapointed by you people who talk so superfically about politics. Ideas are what matter; ideas and a clear, consistent message conveying those ideas is what truly changes things. Time for Americans to wake up and think!
What is this “You people” crappola?
Hey, Missy…I’m tryna understand you!
I am so dissapointed by you people who talk so superfically about politics. Ideas are what matter; ideas and a clear, consistent message conveying those ideas is what truly changes things. Time for Americans to wake up and think!
Where are your ‘big’ ideas besides your brain-farting about nobody having any?
Please enlighten.
kthnx!
Love,
Delia
Bam! Pow! Right in da kissa!
I concur, Akatsukami.
Bulldust, Whiskey. If Newt stays in “tiger” mode he will rip out 0′s throat in debate. Then he will paint 0 as the whimpering idiot he truly is. Sure, 0′s handlers play Chicago politics. What do you think just happened to Mittens?
If you’re right, so be it. I choose to go down fighting rather than surrender. I don’t care about the Republican Party; I care about life and liberty. That means I’ll take a chance on Newt (or would, if he were on the ballot in my state), rather than voting for Romney. If this nation really is left, like you say it is, we deserve to be destroyed by our own folly and moral cowardice. If our women really are that shallow, and cooler heads do not prevail, so be it. Better to die defending the Alamo than to send out an attractive negotiator to discuss terms of surrender.
Tossup, eh? I view that as a feature, not a bug.
At least it is getting interesting now. Watching people toss off is like watching paint dry. A tossup is a nice contrast for a change.
So, we still all have an open mind about this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z79T2veZy0Q&feature=youtu.be
Note to Gingrich:
Release the HOUNDS!
P.S. Call me, stud. *bats eyes*
This. And I hope you enjoy this tumblr as much as me
http://newtjudgesyou.tumblr.com/
MOISTUREEEEEEEEE!
Fanks! Whoo. *whipes bead of sweat*
That was HAWT!
Sadly, the one thing that catapulted Gingrich over Romney was the Bain smear–i.e. the rejection of capitalism per se. Romney’s involvement with Bain was a capitalist venture, where there are clearly some winners and some loosers. That’s how the market works. Those who reject this are rejecting free enterprise and deserve what they get–more of the same. Good luck!!!
Kathleen,
The ‘truth’ isn’t a ‘smear’. It also doesn’t help that Romney is all squishy about revealing his tax returns when his own father was a forerunner in showing the ‘receipts’.
Name me a perfect politician and I’ll name you a really good LIAR.
There is a huge difference in being a small “c” capitalist, and supporting the big companies that use the government to insulate themselves from competition, and only call themselves capitalists. Republicans have no obligation to support companies that use the insider game set up by the nexus of big business, big unions, big government to obliterate individual freedoms. SOPA and PIPA are only the latest examples that come to mind of so-called capitalists trying to use their allies in government to gut the low level competition. Medio-bots who want to pigeon hole Republicans by their projections of what it means to be a conservative will be mightily confused by what continues to happen. Viva la Gingrich. Down with the liberal-lite Romney who couldn’t beat Obama anyway.
“In essence, Gingrich pulled off a remarkable feat in the last ten days — he has won a GOP primary in a conservative state by running ads and campaigning in a way that normally appeals only to left wing, anti-capitalist critics, and skated by his history of adultery by riding a wave of MoveOn.org-type sentiment among evangelical voters.”
Until about a week ago or maybe a bit longer ago than that, I used to see the people who write for PJM as conservatives and libertarians. That is no longer the case, the people who write here have become every bit as vitriolic as any left wing web page.
You claim that Newt was running his campaign as a left wing, anti-capitalist, and yet the right wing, and pro capitalists who turned out to vote in the hundreds of thousands repudiate that nonsense in total. Now, when something like this happens a person with a sane view of the world will take a second look at their premise.
Your Premise is that Newt ran a left wing and anti-capitalist campaign, I never saw it as such. When you take a specific attack on a specific activity by a specific individual or small group of individuals and extrapolate it out to cover something as large as the entire capitalist society in which we live, that is a left wing tactic. No different than the argument that the science is settled, so if you keep bringing up scientific facts that do not support what we have claimed to be settled you must be an anti-science neanderthal. It is no different than arguing that if you do not support educating children (DREAM ACT) then you must not have a heart. So, who exactly is fielding a left wing campaign? Romney or Newt?
I say Romney is fielding the left wing campaign and I base this on style and as well as substance. I also declare that you and much of the supposed conservative media has moved towards something that is not going to end well for your reputations.
Sorry about that, I thought it was already filled in. You can delete this message.
“In essence, Gingrich pulled off a remarkable feat in the last ten days — he has won a GOP primary in a conservative state by running ads and campaigning in a way that normally appeals only to left wing, anti-capitalist critics, and skated by his history of adultery by riding a wave of MoveOn.org-type sentiment among evangelical voters.”
Until about a week ago or maybe a bit longer ago than that, I used to see the people who write for PJM as conservatives and libertarians. That is no longer the case, the people who write here have become every bit as vitriolic as any left wing web page.
You claim that Newt was running his campaign as a left wing, anti-capitalist, and yet the right wing, and pro capitalists who turned out to vote in the hundreds of thousands repudiate that nonsense in total. Now, when something like this happens a person with a sane view of the world will take a second look at their premise.
Your Premise is that Newt ran a left wing and anti-capitalist campaign, I never saw it as such. When you take a specific attack on a specific activity by a specific individual or small group of individuals and extrapolate it out to cover something as large as the entire capitalist society in which we live, that is a left wing tactic. No different than the argument that the science is settled, so if you keep bringing up scientific facts that do not support what we have claimed to be settled you must be an anti-science neanderthal. It is no different than arguing that if you do not support educating children (DREAM ACT) then you must not have a heart. So, who exactly is fielding a left wing campaign? Romney or Newt?
I say Romney is fielding the left wing campaign and I base this on style and as well as substance. I also declare that you and much of the supposed conservative media has moved towards something that is not going to end well for your reputations.
You’ve lifted your posting game lately, astonerli, apart from the fact that I agree with you.
More to the point. Better written. More persuasive.
To most people, capitalism is a concept. They might view it favorably, but it is a bloodless sort of thing. Not something they will reflexively fight for. People will fight for a job, yes; they will fight for liberty; they will fight for honor. Hell, some people will fight for fried chicken. They will fight and die for a flag. But nobody went up Porkchop Hill for capitalism. That is why Romney lost.
A Goober won a Goober state. That’s news? I don’t love Romney, but Salamander makes my skin crawl.
You really need to understand, fool, that the people you call “goobers” hate you at least as much as you hate them, and they’re more likely to be armed and know how to use those arms than you elitist castrati.
Is Norman Bates your idol (just wondering……)?
A Goober will win fifty states, come November. You and Barky will have to be satisfied with the other seven.
Don’t overpromise- even Reagan only won 49 in ’84. The only one who ever pulled a clean sweep was George Washington.
Yeah, Newt’s perma-smile can give me the creeps and I keep finding out something new about him and then striking him off my list, and then . . . and then he rips the hide off some MSM bubble-blower, resews it inside-out and hands it back to the guy as a party dress. And my middle-aged heart soars and I believe in love all over again, and all because of this hideous toad of a man.
I don’t care about all of the rest. He’s sharp, eloquent, and has balls of dark-mattered, depleted uranium. You don’t see other candidates giving the MSM the backhand. Just for what he’s done for my morale, he can go on and keep making mistakes and he’ll still be my guy.
Note to the Newt detractors: Please take some time to watch him on the stump (it’s not difficult, with YouTube, C-span, etc.). Do some research. Someone posted really good coverage on his views about public ed. in another article’s comment line. You will find that Gingrich has a lot of good ideas to share. He is inspiring; this is what is attracting voters more than anything else, IMO.
Obama: We need more debt and more wars – that’s good for gay people!
Romney and Gingrich: We need more debt and more wars – Reagan would like it that way!
Ron Paul: I can’t believe you people are buying this crap.
Either Gingrich or Romney would be perfectly acceptable to the GOP Establishment lads and lasses. The only disagreement between them would be whose crooks get to run which department. (1) Romney gave the People’s Democratic Commonwealth of Massachusetts ‘Obamacare two or three years before Obama’s Democrats passed the federal version; (2) Gingrich is a ‘business as usual’ politician, which is the attitude which gave us the mess we have now. The GOP Establishment wants the status quo – pork and favors and more of both – to continue. That route will lead to the country that we – or at least some of us – love. Oh, only a few folks will die in the riots and only a handful of people will actually ‘just from a window’ in the economic melt-down – and certainly no politician’s buddies! – but the nation I and my father and my grandfathers served in the Army uniform for more than 50 years, through six wars, will no longer exist. So for the the one who is ‘more electable’ or who is ‘more moderate’. Then duck.
The Republican establishment is apoplectic at the prospect of Newt Gingrich. If Newt wins florida there will be a spasm with no precedent in modern US politics. They hate him with a palpable passion greater than any passion they feel, other than their passion for money and power.
It could split the party into the elites (1%) and everybody else. Just like the democrats, the elites are not going to surrender their fiefdoms without an apocalyptic battle.
My very strong suspicion is that if Newt gets the nomination, many members of the Republican elite will support obama, and there will be many who jump to the Democrat party. Many of them will be famous names.
But I have to say, it’s not just a strong suspicion, it’s a powerful hope.
I always thought that 2012 would be the showdown with the marxists. Here’s hoping it’s the showdown with the marxist enablers as well.
Running an “anti wall St” campaign would be a good political position to enter the presidential race no?
Once upon a time, I played a lot of football. Weighing less than 180 pounds, I wasn’t very powerful, but I was very quick. kind of like John McKay of USC, though John was a lot older than I am. John was a WW2 age. I was in the Army during Vietnam.
In my post football years, or to more accurately pin my age down, these days, in my grandfather years, I’ve switched to softball. To get to the games, I drive a 19 year old, 8 cylindar Mustang Convertible. Matter of fact, I drive it all around town; a little college town, I might add, where Tony Romo of the Cowboys played his college football.
Anyhoots, about 8 years ago, the school invited me to teach a little college course. So nice of them I thought. Something different and fun to do in my retirement years.
My wife thinks I still think I’m a 19 year old hot shot. Hates to ride with me in my car because every now and then some college kid with a cute coed next to him pulls up next to me at a stop light on the main drag in town.
Does anybody know where this is going?
No matter what kind of vehicle he’s driving, more often than not, he apparently gets this urge to beat me off the line when we’re stopped at a red light.
Now, I’m much too mature to try to show my manhood in such a childish way so I…Oh, excuse me. My wife will tell you I’m not mature at all.
So far, friends, nobody has ever beaten that Mustang off the line. It can run just as fast as I ask it to. Man, that’s fun.
Then there’s the football I used to play. Most of the time I had a second and third gear so if a receiver caught a pass, I could run them down. White . Black. Scatbacks. Wideouts. I could catch most anybody.
In a debate, how much mental sprinting speed do I have? Not nearly enough to be a great debater.
Some debaters think on their feet like they’re driving a four cylindar 1998 Ford Pinto. They’ve got no afterburners. If they were an engine, they’d have trouble accelerating.
As I see it, that’s the problem with Mitt Romney. He seems to think at one speed. A little faster than average.
Newt, on the other hand, thinks like a halfback that can run the forty in about 4.3 seconds.
Maybe the GOP race is a tossup. If that’s true, it’s because Mitt has a powerfully large source of funds, not because he has a powerful amount of brain power.
Obama, on the other hand, also has one mental speed. There’s no next gear. Of course when it comes to being a lying corrupt miscreant, Obama is far and away leading the pack. Which is why if Obama wins another term, he’s the odds on favorite to lead this country into oblivion.
The only reason Mitt hasn’t been forced to drop out is because he has scads of money. His three biggest donors are Banks and one can imagine how much his Super Pac has as it seems unlimited. In 2008 none of the candidates liked him and this year it seems the same. I look at Mitt much like Reagan in 1976 when the lost at the convention to Ford. While that caused Carter to be elected it ushered in the conservative Reagan in 1980 and the conservative cause was strengthened for years afterward. I agree with Michele Bachmann – don’t settle and Mitt is settling big time.
Ok, Newt isn’t conservative all the time. Is Golden Boy, Romney ever conservative? What did Romney accomplish as Governor? He passed Romneycare and put left wing judges on the bench. He didn’t even try to get conservatives confirmed. And he put abortion money in Romneycare. For me, Romneycare is a deal breaker and I just can’t support him.
When Newt was Speaker he balanced the budget and he helped to pass welfare reform. And he kept sending Welfare Reform to Clinton, until he signed it.
Newt has reputiated global warming.
Newt hasn’t risen alone by his taking on the Marxist Media. He didn’t back off and threw their smears back on him. And he didn’t back down calling Obama the “food stamp” president. It sums up Obama nicely as the antijobs and pro-welfare president. Newt’s a warrior. We don’t need another mealy mouthed liberal to try to take on Obama and his spin meister, Axlerod.
Once a party gets it in their heads that the only way to beat a perceived political enemy is to nominate a monster whose only move consists of going for the jugular, it’s all over morally for that party. And this is exactly what the GOP is doing in their creepy courtship of Newt — telling America that victory at all costs, even if we have to nominate Nero or Caligula to get there, is a GOP value.
Is it not true that it is believed the Independents got Obama the presidency? That is what I think is the reason why some conservatives favor Romney. For some reason they believe he will pull more Independents, because they know that Independents know that Romney is a cynic at heart i.e. his “flip-flopping” (a term I hate, because it was invented by a political operative to engender a onomotopaeitic automatic disgust reaction), but has the indifferent business-wise acumen to bring economic growth. And the case for Newt, to draw Independents, may be in the same vein… that he is cynical enough, smart enough, to draw enough of the cynical vote, the Independents, to win. That is why Santorum is left in the dust – a real conservative, who will not get the Independents like the other two… might. There is one constant in all of this – Conservatives are in the bag, as far as NOT voting for Obama. I hate to say it, but there is one candidate who would get a lot of Independents, and we all know who it is. I won’t even say his or her name, but the fact of the matter is that conservatives will ALL be on board for anyone who is NOT Obama. As far as an analogy that gambling mimics life, or vice versa, it may be wise to go with this person.
Watch Herman Cain deliver the Tea Party State of the Union at http://www.TeaPartyExpress.org ! The live stream starts on Tuesday, January 24th at 10:30 EST/7:30 PST.