Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Challenge of a Newt Gingrich Candidacy and the Death Throes of the Republican Party

The Republican Party is dead if Newt wins. Why? What are the 3 legs of conservatism?

Social values: Newt sleeps with his teacher whom he eventually marries, then divorces when she has cancer and says she wasn't First Lady potential anyway. Marries 2nd wife with whom he was cheating on the 1st wife, divorces her when he finds out she has MS. Marries 3rd wife with whom he had been carrying out an 8 year affair. In that time he went from being a Baptist to Lutheran to Catholic.

By the way, if Newt were to be the nominee, Obama will parade his picture perfect family. It is actually the one thing I greatly admire in our current President. It would be the only thing, but Obama also stood against SOPA/PIPA (that's a story for another day).

Fiscal values: Newt has a problem balancing his own budget. He was brought up on ethics charges, which he was later cleared on, but still had to pay the $300,000 fine and was removed from Congress as Speaker of the House. The only Speaker ever to have had that done. Charged Romney with Leftist talking points of class warfare and enmity.

By the way, if Newt were to be the nominee, Obama would replay Newt's anti-capitalist ads against him. Newt has already lost the Presidency if he wins the nomination.

Foreign Policy: Standard fare here. Nothing really to report. Other than to put his vindictiveness on display. He lashes out at the media for asking valid questions. He shut down government because he felt slighted on Air Force One. What is he going to do when meanie Ahmadinejad and meanie Chavez start insulting him? World War 3?

By the way, if Newt were to be the nominee, Obama will tout his successes of "getting" bin Laden, bringing the troops home from Iraq, and winding down the conflict in Afghanistan. He's going to do that anyway with Newt, Mitt, or whomever. The Republican candidate will have to make a strong argument that Obama has disrupted the balance of the world more than he has helped bring solidarity among the nations of the world.

If Newt becomes the nominee, the Republican party has lost all three legs of Conservatism and is dead. A new party will have to emerge, it might be the Libertarians, the TEA Party (unlikely - too disparate in other ideals), or something else. As it is, Newt has made it a difficult race for the GOP. Will he single-handedly win the DNC another Presidency as he did in 1996?

With the unfavorables that Newt engenders among the entire Republican party and with the Independents in the nation, it is difficult to see that there won't be a serious Third Party contender. If that is the case, I can only hope we have a 4-way race with Obama, Gingrich, Romney/Paul/someone respectable, and Hillary Clinton.

Despite all of this, it is still Romney's race to win. Will Rick Santorum carry on? The South Carolina result should be a warning bell for the GOP and anyone who cares for the Republican Party. I suspect if Gingrich is able to keep his momentum (minus VA and MO), we will be headed for a brokered convention.

---

As a side note, I know there is a lot of chatter about how this site is a Romney-haven. Some of us don't have our preferred candidate in the race. Some of us have settled on Romney, others haven't settled on anyone. Many here, as I do, have been Mitt Romney supporters since we first heard of him (which for me was 2007). I think, and I could be wrong, we all feel Newt is the wrong candidate for the Republican Party. Please disagree with me if I am wrong.

After South Carolina, Rick Santorum will find himself in the same boat as Rick Perry; and, realistically, it is Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul who are left. In my humble opinion, it is time to pick sides.

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51 comments:

Anonymous said...

After the SC vote yesterday, it's clear there are three new-leg that define the Republican Party:

1. Hypocrisy.
2. Bigotry.
3. Stupidity.

I think it is almost time to leave the GOP with these clowns onboard.

Firecracker

Anonymous said...

Firecracker

Ha ha ha...you got that right. You should phone that in to Limbaugh and Hannity. People will literally laugh at these fools when they talk about the importance of character,morals and values since they support a misogynistic, pig like creature called Gingrich-ugh!

Machtyn said...

I should add something about the religious remark in my first paragraph. I don't care that Newt changed religions twice if he did it for the right reasons... that he truly believes the one he switched to is the true church of God. I highlighted it because the switches are too convenient. I'm not sure Newt truly believes in anything.

Noelle said...

Firecracker, I think you nailed it. The current most defining characteristic of the GOP seems to be hypocrisy. When Bill Clinton has an affair he is impeached. When John Edwards has an affair he is scum. When Anthony Weiner sends pictures of his genitals on the internet he should be drummed out of office. When Newt Gingrich has the daughters of his first wife tell his 2nd wife she is a liar to protect his 3rd wife, he is a "movement conservative."

In the past the GOP has condemned infidelity. Mark Sanford is the most recent example I can think of.

The excuse I hear constantly is "as Christians we believe in repentance and redemption, and we should forgive Newt." Okay, maybe Newt is repentant, and maybe he is not. But either way, forgiveness is one thing, trust is quite another.

I would like to hear something like the following from Newt Gingrich: "I am eternally sorry for the harm I have done to Jackie and Marianne, and will strive for the rest of my life to repair the injury I have done." Instead I hear arrogance, and lashing out at anyone who dares question his past marital infidelity.

I just think we should hold the leader of the free world to a higher standard.

Anonymous said...

Firecracker,
I think many people are like you regarding the GOP. If the GOP nominates someone like Gingrich...I am willing to bet that many will no longer contribute money directly to the party.

They will be like me and only give directly to the candidate and not the party.

A Gingrich nomination will kill the GOP.......but maybe that would be a good thing,since they don't seem to stand for anything anyway.

Anonymous said...

I was going to post a blog similar to this and was going to call it The Party That Stands For Nothing. You got out many of the points that I was going to make.

It is becoming painfully clear that family values really, really don't matter to republican voters.

And then there is crime. Huck and Barbour with their many, scandalous pardons of sex offenders and murders, and then Santorum fighting for felons suffrage.

And two of our candidates supported Medicare part D and Gingrich lobbied for Freddie Mac.

About the only thing that the GOP stands for now is a ballooning defense budget.

Ohio JOE said...

"The current most defining characteristic of the GOP seems to be hypocrisy" Perhaps, but that also fits the Romney camp rather well. I thought that Mrs. Palin's biggest problems (according to the Romney camp) was that she was not articulate and unprepared. That fit Mr. Romney to the letter in the debate. To top it off, the Romney camp blamed the media for that fact that Mr. Romney failed to brush up on the issues.

Anonymous said...

The word is "throes" not "throws". It's agonies, not small blankets. After you fix the headline, please delete this comment.

Terrye said...

Ohio Joe:

Oh please...Sarah Palin is a hypocrite...Newt Gingrich is a hypocrite...but all you can do is come up with some lame and utterly ridiculous claim that Romney is like Palin in a debate..please Romney did very well in the last debate and the one before that too..the fact that he spent the debate answering the moderators questions rather than yelling at them does not change that fact.

BTW, after Gingrich won that primary Obama jumped up on intrade..I don't know what Obama is paying Palin and Red State and Fox and the rest of conservative media, but whatever it is he is getting his money's worth.

Anonymous said...

Look at what cost Romney SC...his tax returns and Bain Capital, two attacks that should never have been brought up in a GOP race but were because of the desperateness of Gingrich and Perry. In the end it worked, and Mitt gets partial blame because in 2 debates he didnt defend them well, especially the tax return. All he had to say was yes he'll release them in April, except he stuttered through it and seemed unsure. In the end SC was always going to be a hard climb for Mitt, but hopefully he has learned his lesson. Newt has the media to thank for setting him up perfectly with 2 questions that gave him the chance to attack the moderators in both debates and put the crowd on their feet. Either way I predict a Mitt nomination but the Obama team is happy with the outcome tonight as they will either get Newt Gingrich or a bruised maybe bloody Mitt Romney with less money.


MIZZ

Tony said...

Mach very nicely done I couldn't have said it better. Newt is the death of the party if the stupidity keeps up. I think that SC must be a media following state. There is no way that race should have ended with that wide a spread if people were actually listening to the debates.
Romney is not going to take this sitting down and will come into Fl. with gloves off. Romney 2012!

craigs said...

Yes, the party of Gingrich is not my party. The party that will sell it's soul for votes and personal gain is not the party of Lincoln. Newts problem is he has Nixons ethics and no personal morality. He is an empty vessel that he daily fills with whatever is needed. It's a shame because he is the one candidate that guarantees Obamas re election. Everybody from Barney Franks to Donna Brazile to James Carville knows it.......but the same dumb , blind mice that re elected Harry Reid are intent on bringing back Obama and Pelosi.....and they may well succeed

Anonymous said...

Chapter 1 Twen Grinch

The Lord surely moved in strange ways the day that the Twen Grinch dropped his beloved King James Bible next to the gleaming platinum silver Mercedes SL600. The license plate on the front bumper said NUCLEAR. He stared at those ominous letters for several minutes, mesmerized, before he picked up the Bible in his right hand, and contemplated the sensuous curves of the car, its opulent leather seats, CD player, telephone. Then the revelation hit him with like a bolt of lightning, or at least what seemed to be a roar of thunder from on high.
After seven years of mining the God-fearing suburbs of East San Diego County, he realized he had set his sights too low. Like most of the young teenagers who'd hung around the video store around the corner from Lakeway High, he had never paid much attention to the screaming, sweating stars of Christian television. One day he had walked by a rally at the local VFW next door, and noticed all the television cameras. In the middle of the crowd, surrounded by a forest of flags, the great Senator Ollie South was booming out in his mellifluous voice. "God made our country great. Choose the path of Jesus by donating to our cause."
Twen had watched in amazement as twenties, fifties, hundred dollar bills showered into the red, white, and blue buckets being waved at the crowd. "God bless." "We're with you." "Go get'em, Ollie." He hadn’t understood the significance of that outpouring of money until now.
"Twen," he assured himself as he watched the lithe young blond woman come toward him, smile coyly, then slink into the tan leather seat. "This is your day.” Dollar signs flashed before his insipid eyes. As surely as the Almighty had spoken to Jedediah Smith out in the great plains of Utah, it was a miracle, a revelation that would bring him to the land of milk and honey. Twen knew that he was going to spread the word, and spread some of that money along his trail of enlightenment. Maybe even get something going with that angelic blond with the long graceful legs. Praise the Lord.
His soul began to stir with the ferocity of one of the whirling teacups he had ridden at DisneyWorld. His eyes were a dazzle with images of swirling peace loving electrons, neutrons, protons, pi mesons, quarks. The Great Creator was speaking to him. Go forth and spread the word: Nuclear Power.
Only a fool, he told himself, would mistake the message in those sacrosanct three inch high letters, blue as the sky above, on that pure white and gold rectangle of stamped steel. The cynical humanists, with their cock-eyed ideas about sex education, global warming, saving rainforests, other blasphemies, would have called it just pure coincidence. But Twen Grinch knew the inescapable and ineffable hand of the Almighty. He knew what he had to do.
A week later, Twen was carrying a briefcase full of cards, stationery, and contribution envelopes with a logo of the world surrounded by pretty little red and blue circles of electrons. At the top of the letterhead was written Evangelicals for Nuclear Power, Twen Grinch, Executive Director.

Alan said...

It has become clear that the fight for the nomination has become a fight between the head (Romney) and the heart (Gingrich) of conservatism. Romney is ever cool, dispassionate, logical, prudent, and rarely ruffled. Gingrich is ever emotional, impulsive, egotistical, subject to moody swings from good Newt to bad Newt. The good Newt is awesome, and the bad Newt is spiteful and bitter. In a Star Trek analogy, Romney is Spock, Newt is Dr. McCoy.

New Hampshire voted for the head, SC voted for the heart. Florida will surely vote for the head, right?

Alan said...

Just as the prodigal son was forgiven by his father, all should forgive Newt. It is our Christian duty. Nevertheless, the father of the prodigal son didn't hand over control of the family business to the prodigal son. Control of family interests went to the son who was ever faithful. Forgive Newt, but don't give him control of the family business. It's for his own good and ours as well.

Anonymous said...

Newt isn't the heart, he's the crotch.

Publius Nemo said...

Newt prayed on the ignorance and bigotry of the South. Is it any surprise that South Carolina is out of step with the true conservative republican party. We need a bigger tent not a smaller one. Newt wants to exclude 75% of the nation and he has no chance in hell of taking the nomination or the presidency. The people of South Carolina have struck a blow at decency, free markets, capitalism, and republicanism. They had the chance to vote for three other decent human begins with similar conservative ideals and they chose evil over good. They chose a reality TV star instead of substantive Americans. A pox on South Carolina for it's love of ignorance, hatred, and bigotry.

Anonymous said...

@Ohio,
“ I thought that Mrs. Palin's biggest problems (according to the Romney camp) was that she was not articulate and unprepared.”

Here’s a serving of Sarah’s latest word salad, which clearly is not articulate.

"I'm still not endorsing anyone at this time, but I'll tell ya when Todd endorsed, my husband, endorse Newt Gingrich last week, or two weeks ago. I had explained to your colleague there Eric Bohling, that Todd is all about Carharts and still toed boots. He's all about work, and work ethic, and job opportunities,, and I think real reflective of..red blooded average Americans who just want that opportunity to and who would it be who could best espouse ideas on how job opportunities can be embraced by this..uh..this..uh electorate out there who is very, very cognizant (New word!) of the fact that we don't have enough jobs out there because government has been on the back of our small businesses AND our corporations, and not allowed the expansion needed. So I think that endorsement was real reflective of a lot of Americans who understand that somebody with experience in cutting government budgets, cutting taxes, which does more for liberty in an economic turn around than anything else. Someone who has waged war on Hillary-care and government taking over of health care. Somebody with that experience. Plus somebody who has struggled personally and overcome struggles and challenges, would be one that was embraced by voters, and again I..I think that even Todd's endorsement of Newt”

dd

Ohio JOE said...

"that Romney is like Palin in a debate.." No, Mr. Romney is not like Mrs. Palin in a debate. Mr. Palin at least talked sense in the debate unlike the Hypocrite, Mr. Romney.

Terrye said...

Well now Palin is saying that Gingrich is the front runner, it is not as if she can count or anything..

BTW, I hear that the State Democratic Gala in South Carolina they broke into cheers when they heard that Gingrich won...Palin, Eric Erickson, Mark Levin, and Right Wing Nut on the same side as the Democrats...that tells everything we need to know about these folks. I wonder how many Democrats voted in that primary? Lots and lots I bet and all for Newt.

Terrye said...

You are calling Romney a hypocrite? Oh please...Romney has been more upfront and consistent and honest with voters than Gingrich has been or Palin for that matter. I mean come on, she had me on her side for awhile too but eventually I saw her for the scam artist she really is. I guess some people never catch on.

Terrye said...

Palin says Gingrich waged war on Hillarycare..because he preferred a system with a national mandate..he was pushing it even then..talk about hypocrite...

Anonymous said...

drill baby drill, lipstick on a pitbull, hockeymoms blah blah blah, Obama is a socialist

Ya, that Palin is real articulate.

Right Wingnut said...

dd, you dumb bitch.

Cognizant is not a new word.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cognizant

Anonymous said...

RW,

Your swearing is repulsive. Get a grip you loon.

Ohio JOE said...

"Ya, that Palin is real articulate." Yes compared to Mr. Romney.

Right Wingnut said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ohio JOE said...

"You are calling Romney a hypocrite?" You better believe it, Mr. Romney did not care about defending capitalism until his own company was attacked. His camp did not care about morality until Mr. Gingrich came along.

Ohio JOE said...

"Your swearing is repulsive" No, what is repulsive is that you have to cry bigotry every time you lose a debate.

Anonymous said...

Right Wingnut said,

dd, you dumb bitch.

Cognizant is not a new word.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cognizant

----------------------------------

You just proved a point. The religious right is full of hypocrits. Your probably part of the religious right and probably spend a good part of your day cursing. I'm sure God is thrilled with that.

Ohio JOE said...

"Obama is a socialist " So DanL, you are saying that Mr. Obama is not a Socialist? Now that would be rich to say the least.

Right Wingnut said...

Obama is most definitely a Socialist.

Right Wingnut said...

You won't beat Obama by tip toeing around the truth. That's why the GOP electorate isn't fond of Mitt.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see RW is back on here full-time. He was nowhere to be found and disappeared when Romney *won* Iowa, and then went on to win NH and seemed he would sweep, not a single post. Now that Newt has gained some momentum and wins SC, he is back to being Mr. Hater.

Dont disappear when Romney wins Florida and the nomination. I still enjoy your posts, it gets me through the day.

Terrye said...

Right Wing Nut...what you would know about the truth?

Terrye said...

Ohio Joe...what are you talking about? Romney has always defended capitalism, all of his life to say otherwise is a lie..and the only kind of capitalism Gingrich ever defended was the crony kind that made him a wealthy man.

As for morality...look at how these men have lived their lives..Gingrich has been a vain, pompous, womanizing cheat who was widely despised by the people who had to deal with him...Romney has been a good father and husband who has kept his promises and his word. It is insane to attack this man as immoral. And wrong as well.

Terrye said...

And btw, what is the point in calling Obama a socialist, it does not change anything or fix anything or do anything constructive..now if all you care about is running your mouth making statements like that will please the folks in the fever swamps but it is no replacement for real policy changes and Gingrich is very sparse on real workable plans..he is better at emotional rants and hyperbole.

Terrye said...

And right wing nut...you won't beat Obama by running a man that the majority of the American people won't vote for either..but that little detail seems to have escaped some folks.

Anonymous said...

@ Right Nutcase...cognizant is a new, very big word for Sarah's continued meaningless word salads. You are the only person in this group who has lost every debate he tried to bully his way through. Newt would have won SC with or without the quitter.

Romney 2012!

DD

Anonymous said...

If Newt is the new face of the GOP, count me out. Me, and every other clear thinking person with standards.

Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail, and Romney will win big in FL. If not Mitt, Rick. If not Rick, Ron.

If it's Newt, I'm finished with this party, and I would happily vote third party or Obama.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Great post, Machtyn.

Firecracker, I hope those are not the new legs of the stool, but it sure looks like it today!

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Lots of passion flowing on here. I wish some of you would keep your anger--and your curses--to yourself. Don't like many of these comments.

I feel sad today, too. Mostly because there were other decent human beings up on stage besides Romney, but SC voters chose the most despicable one to vote for. Not a good day for those of us who actually care about values.

*Just a note: 1) Romney has defended capitalism before now. It is NOT a new thing for him. 2) Many of us in the Romney camp have always cared about family values; that isn't a new thing, either. I see that quite a number of accusations have been thrown around (from all sides) that aren't true. Just sayin'.

I see dd was up to her old tricks again, and I don't approve of what she said, but I do like the term "word salad." I'll have to try that one some time, but I won't necessarily attach it to Palin's name, so I don't want anyone to be mad at me, okay?

AZ

Anonymous said...

Santorum was on Huckebee this evening and they were talking about how irritating it is, when people who support other campaigns are telling him he should get out of the race and support Newt as the ABR candidate;especially when Santorum won Iowa and finished ahead of Newt in New Hampshire. I believe he was referencing the former governor of Alaska.

The media is really feeding the Newt frenzy and they are presenting Newt as the outsider and they are presenting Romney as the elitest establishment candidate. What a joke.

The establishment doesn't like Newt simply because they know Newt, and they know he is unreliable,unethical,lacks discipline and can't be trusted.

I hope the GOP voters are smart enough to see the game the media is playing.

Ohio JOE said...

"Many of us in the Romney camp have always cared about family values;" Yes, in your case as well as other that is true.

Ohio JOE said...

"Santorum was on Huckebee this evening and they were talking about how irritating it is, when people who support other campaigns are telling him he should get out of the race and support Newt as the ABR candidate;" Bingo, even though Mr. Santorum cannot win, he should remain in the race rather than get out and endorse somebody else.

Right Wingnut said...

Leighrow,

Your facts are false again. Palin never said Santorum should get out. In fact, just the other day, she said he should stay in.

OJ, sorry to see you're buying in to the lies from the Rombots.

Ohio JOE said...

"OJ, sorry to see you're buying in to the lies from the Rombots."

And who says that I was refering to Mrs. Palin? I am refering to those in both the Gingrich and Romney camps who actually do want Mr. Santorum out (unlike Mrs. Palin.

Right Wingnut said...

OJ, I apologize if I misunderstood, but that's who Leightow was talking about in the comment you responded to. I think there may be an alternative explanation for her saying she would vote for Gingrich in SC. If Romney would have won the othe other night? The race would have been over. A Gingrich victory actually gives Sangorum a slim chance going forward. I'm not saying that's what's at play here, but you can't rule it out.

Personally, I think Santorum should drop out. At this point, he can only help Romney. I don't see a path to the nomination. Unlike you, I think Romney. Is worse than Gingrich.

Ohio JOE said...

"I think Romney. Is worse than Gingrich." I disagree, I think Mr. Gingrich is worse, but I am not happy with either.

Machtyn said...

Wow! Romney worse than Gingrich? Romney is only accused of flip-flops, cronyism, being a Washington insider, the "Establishment", big government candidate, etc. Gingrich actually IS those things.

In any case, I kind of wonder where Santorum will fall if/when he drops out. His attacks against Romney have been built upon lies, so I can see how he can rationalize his meeting of the minds with Romney (ala Tim Pawlenty). I can see how he sides with Newt if he is in with the ABR crowd. I've seen today where Santorum is on the Newt attack.

Ohio JOE said...

"His attacks against Romney have been built upon lies," Now that is rich considering that Mr. Romney's attacks on Mr. Santorum have have less than honest to see the least. I thought that you were more reasonable than others in your camp, Machtyn