1
This post is rated VS for Very Shillish.

2 I just read this from a transcript of a very interesting piece on the anti-Newt tsunami by Rush:
"You know, the criticism is a lot of people say Romney doesn't believe in anything and Newt believes in everything. It just depends on the day.  Now, if Romney's behind this attack, we may have to rethink our opinion of his cut 'em off at the knees talents.  The question is, whoever's doing this, do you think they have the guts to do this against Obama?  That's the real question.  (interruption)  You do?  Have you seen any evidence of this?  Have you seen any evidence the Republican Party's willing to go after Obama like they're going after each other?  I haven't. "

3 I hate bad coverage as much as I hate the second wife

4
A lotta words for: I hate Mitt Romney; Vote Newt.

5 Backlash Frankenstein?  Yeah, I am really looking forward to her half time show.

6 This is some pretty desperate wishcasting, right here.

Hey rdbrewer, why don't you go back to selectively suppressing all anti-Newt news stories in the sidebar?

7 This is what I had thought I spotted in the Herman Cain lynching; to wit, that people were so fed up with the MFM that they said 'fuck it, whatever they say he did, I don't care.' I don't think Cain had the savvy to weather the storm of the controversy, to whatever extent there actually was a controversy. Newt is sounding off on everyone (when he doesn't stick his own foot in his mouth) and the standing ovations are evident. Personally, at this stage, I'm leaning Santorum but Newt would be just fine, for no other reason than he'd wipe the floor with SCOAMF and that the Republican establishment will go ape-shit if us unwashed masses thwart Mitt-L-Schmerz. HA!!!!!

8 'This is some pretty desperate wishcasting, right here.

Hey rdbrewer, why don't you go back to selectively suppressing all anti-Newt news stories in the sidebar?'

No, I got sick of that shit. Fuck, too much for me bitches!

9 Newt got bitchsmacked by Rubio in FL and was forced to walk back an attack on Romney for the second time. You know who this helps? Newt, bitches!

10 Whoo-hoo hullaballoo.  Look at the Romneybots.  JeffB, I don't recall you ever supporting anything about another candidate.  Evah.  

11 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable tyrant.

12 Strike me down...

13 Elsa Lanchester wardrobe malfunction?????

14 >>>A lotta words for: I hate Mitt Romney; Vote Newt.

Right.  No attempt whatsoever to even engage with the substance.  No mention by rdbrewer of Newt actually LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH about 1.) offering character witnesses to ABC; 2.) being deposed during his divorces and not lying under oath, unlike Clinton.  No attempt to discuss the hilariously insulting, wrongheaded stuff Elliot Abrams cites Newt saying.

Nope, just some handwaving, a "look at this cool insult Newt just spewed!  SHINY!" and a forlorn hope that it will all somehow backfire.

Even Rush Limbaugh is on the radio saying Newt's a fucking liar and shaking his head in condemnation.  Drudge linked to the transcript.

15 Soooo all the anti Newt coverage is like some Jedi mind trick that will suddenly make me support Newt? Sure, o.k. you go with that. Yes, the negative Newt coverage makes me overlook his attacks on capatlism, immigration control, Reagan etc. I read Drudge and now I must go rip off my Newt 2012 bumper sticker. Thanks for clearing it up.

16 Corbomite, no, it's NEWTually Assured Destruction.  (NAD).  But no, I sense that Mitt is going to be on his game tonight.  I think Newt is done.  Sorry DrewM.

17 Wife stuff and other baggage doesn't bother me, it's the un-serious bombastic un-presidential crazy that does.

18 >> Hey rdbrewer, why don't you go back to selectively suppressing all anti-Newt news stories in the sidebar?

RD, stop suppressing me!!!!

Oh, wait.

19 Newt more electable?We might find out.I hope he is in that case.

20
oh tonight should be good

and by good I mean sickening

21

BAD BRAIN

22 Rush seemed pretty bewildered today, discussing Newt. 

I won't vote for either one of them, but I still could vote for Santorum, though with lots of reservations. 

Good thing that crazy, unhinged Palin didn't run. 


There will be blood. 

23
Tonight the two of them are gonna try to out-pander each other on illegals.

24 damn.  still no linkies.

25 As soon as I am convinced Romney has a better chance of beating The Won, I will support Romney. I am not there yet.

26 >> But no, I sense that Mitt is going to be on his game tonight.

I think we've identified @FakeJenRubin.

27 >>>Whoo-hoo hullaballoo. Look at the Romneybots. JeffB, I don't recall you ever supporting anything about another candidate. Evah.

What?  I was anti-Romney for a very long time, for god's sake.  I first supported Pawlenty, then Perry, then hoped Christie would run, then Perry again, then finally Mitt after all the other options destroyed themselves.  Now maybe you don't remember because 1.) it's not in your polemical interest to remember this inconvenient fact; 2.) you haven't been paying attention. But it doesn't make it less true.

And enough the "Romneybot" baloney.  I arrived at the position by default, but once there recognized that there was no other logically plausible option. You're increasingly out on an island alone with DrewM. on this.  Newt's brazenly lied in public two times in the past week about issues that would nail him to a cross sooner or later and you're still walking around muttering "I don't like Romney...therefore Newt MUST be more acceptable.  MUST BE."

28 I'll keep saying it until I get cob status...Newt believes in Newt.  Everything else, including any conservative principles, comes in a distant third. 





There will be blood.

29 Backlash Frankenstein is a great name for a band, BTW.

30 "This is some pretty desperate wishcasting, right here."

Not wishcasting- and, until the end, I didn't read anything in it that was actively pro-Newt.

It is simple fact that the negatives about Newt are known.  We know he's a cad and a "loose cannon," we know he had ethics charges (funny how those were all false, but we'll move on).  We know he resigned.  We know he'll throw crap against the wall, just to see what sticks.

Saying those things again isn't going to hurt Newt.  It just isn't.  You're not going to be able to say "He cheated on his wife!"  Because people who actively support Newt really will just respond with either "Yes.  And?"  or "Yeah.  Which one?"

They've accepted those negatives and they're looking at the positives.

So if you RomneyBots are going to defeat Newt, you'll need to come up with actual positive arguments in favor of your guy. 

Shocking, I know.  We shouldn't actually have to point out good things our candidate did, we should just be able to tear down the other guy, right?

31 ..speaking of which at least Yuval Levin at NRO had the decency to correct the Newt Gingrich "ice bucket" story that Ace commenter wheatie pointed out right away was bunk. ***************************** ‘An Empty Bucket in His Hand’ By Yuval Levin January 26, 2012 3:20 P.M. Comments6 It’s true that Newt Gingrich used to go around with an empty ice bucket in 1996. It was a symbol of his efforts to cut congressional perks and costs. For decades prior to 1995, every congressional office would receive a daily delivery of ice from a central freezer on the Capitol grounds. It was a holdover from the days before easy refrigeration, and it made for a nice demonstration of the sort of silly and costly perks that members of Congress received. When he became Speaker, Gingrich ended the practice and (in large part because that meant eliminating several staff positions) saved some $400,000 a year. Gingrich liked to use the ice bucket as a metaphor for Democratic governance: expensive, wasteful, and out-of-date. Whatever you think of the metaphor, it was something Gingrich talked about constantly, including on many occasions in the presence of Bob Dole. One could point to any number of erratic, undisciplined, and peculiar statements or actions by Newt Gingrich during his speakership. He was in many ways a disastrous manager and leader. But Dole’s example in his statement today reflects more poorly on Dole than on Gingrich, I’d say. And putting out this statement from Dole frankly doesn’t reflect well on the political judgment of the Romney campaign. (The Corner, NRO) ******************************

32 I'm all dead inside.

33 I'm sure we'll hear from polynikes as soon as he's done blowing Jeff B. On the upside, that'll mean Jeff B. will shut the f*ck up because he'll be busy returning the favor.

34 Posted by: ParisParamus at January 26, 2012 04:18 PM (bN5ZU)
All I can say is "Go NAD!"

35

OT: Perry sinking in his home state (from the Dallas Morning News)

Absolutely fucking HILARIOUS

Rick PerryÂ’s dismal showing in the presidential contest has plunged his approval among Texans to its lowest level in a decade, and more than half say in a new poll that he should not seek re-election as governor.

The poll by The Dallas Morning News shows that Perry now has a lower job approval rating in his home state than President Barack Obama, despite the GOPÂ’s domination in Texas. Many also say that Perry damaged TexasÂ’ image with his stumbles as a presidential candidate.

 

36 So if you RomneyBots are going to defeat Newt, you'll need to come up with actual positive arguments in favor of your guy. ******* Do this NOW-ASAP.

37 Romney's supporters are rapidly getting more sanctimonious, obnoxious, and condescending than even the most tarded Paulian.

38 I almost want Newt to win FL just to see the epic meltdowns that will follow

39

I'm just mind boggled that people want to support Newt after all his support for retarded proposals during the years.  The guys is slime.

40 25 As soon as I am convinced Romney has a better chance of beating The Won, I will support Romney. I am not there yet.

Posted by: real joe at January 26, 2012 04:20 PM (979FD)

I say this as someone less than enthusiastic about Mitt. But if you look at pretty much any poll, they all have Romney over 0bama. Newt is either behind 0Bama or best case scenario tied. His favorable ratings are garbage, especially with women. There's many voters who vote based on their personal feelings about a candidate. I think if Newt's the Nom. We get SCOAMF V 2.0

41 Funny, JeffB, but you never advance the ball.  You never add to any discussion of politics.  In fact, you could save yourself a lot of trouble and just write "Argument A-1" in all of your posts.  We'll all know what you mean.

42
oh tonight should be good
Posted by: soothsayer




The hell?  Another debate?

That's what we get for letting the unemployed run for President. Get a real job, you bums.

43

Romney is slime and his pattern of scorched earth attacks against Republicans and sucking up to liberals is disgusting.  I won't vote for him in any election.

Newt is Newt, he's flawed, but he's usually pointing his guns at the right targets.

If Romney gets the nod, I'm voting for Gary Johnson.  Burn the GOP establishment down.

44 Bob Doles knows that empty buckets are bad leadership. Now who stole Bob Dole's peanut butter?!?!

45 If you think Newt's baggage is already baked in the cake you are totally underestimating how little the general population pays attention. Do you think most of the voters who believed Palin said she could see Alaska from her house are going to recall any of the long complicated history that is Newt's baggage? Dems will drag out every nasty bit of dirty laundry and rehash it in the general.

46 I woke up this morning and my timeline on Twitter was solid - SOLID- Newt agitprop, repeating the same post and points they've been pushing for days. When I pushed back, THEY accused me of spamming the timeline. Kinda like their candidate.

47 Since we're all a bunch of dummies for not fantasizing about being ravaged by Willard, I guess we've proved we're the conservatives, based on the previously posted study. Thanks for confirming you're libs, Romneybots!

48 Newt says things that gets you fired up, good or bad.

Romney says what you want to hear, which is obvious, so it bores the hell out of everyone.

This selection sucks.

49
Wow -- another new thread. AllenG. killed the last one in record time.

50
8 Go away, Newt!
Posted by: Y-not at May 16, 2011

51 >>>>Funny, JeffB, but you never advance the ball. You never add to any discussion of politics. In fact, you could save yourself a lot of trouble and just write "Argument A-1" in all of your posts. We'll all know what you mean.

Oh right, this coming from the guy whose go-to move is posting a picture of Romney wearing a corn sombrero.  You've got a lot of fucking nerve to make the "Argument A-1" attack against *anyone* who writes for or comments on this blog.

52 "Do you think most of the voters who believed Palin said she could see Alaska from her house are going to recall any of the long complicated history that is Newt's baggage"

Okay, I know the Dems and MFM have influence and power, but I didn't realize they could cause mass amnesia.  Why even try, then?

Look, yes, at first people might, indeed, say, "I'd forgotten that."  It's almost certain, in fact.  What's also certain is that Barack Obama is a SCOAMT, and people, in general, aren't missing that (however much the media would like them to).

We're not denying he's flawed.  I'm not even claiming that his flaws are actually some kind of strength.  I'm simply saying that since his flaws are known, they'll have a lot less play than they otherwise would, and he'll have a lot more chance to say "Yeah, that was nearly 20 years ago- things have changed" and it work.

53
"Shorter Newt: Yeah, I'm as much of a loose cannon as you remember... So too summarize, Newt is basically running to the left of Paul Ryan on entitlement reform and Mitt Romney on healthcare."
Posted by: DrewM. 5.15.2011

54 People have accepted that he's flawed.

And those same people capable of flaw acceptance are constantly being referred to "purists" for the crime of not supporting Romney.

55 You're right, Newt's neagtives are baked into the cake.  Irreperably so with about 58% of the population.

56 Okay, that one wasn't me.

57 47

I wanted to ravaged by Rick Perry...*sob*

58 Hey are we gonna have a detailed explanation of how obama bought and financed his Chicago house with that crook Rezko?

59 Newt has Fat Ninja Skills. From the front he looks a bit portly, but when he turns to the side you tend to notice that he's really big.

60 Yeah, I don't get the "wishcasting" thing, but it's Jeff B, so what do you expect.  It's happening, dude.  Newt is not being dinged by this stuff.  You might come up with alternate explanations as to why that's happening, but to deny it's happening is silly and irrational. 

61
This worthless shit is trying hard to out-McCain McCain. He will have zero conservative support.
Posted by: Vic at May 15, 2011

62 Unfortunately where we're at right now is whoever is the most effective liar will win.
I'm forced to throw in with Newt at this point for the best potential for reversing the marxism, and for the reason mentioned in my first sentence.

There are no good or pure choices only poor, bad and worst.

63 OT there's a hostage standoff in lancaster PA LANCASTER PA good god seriously?

64 Newt Gingrich's national favorable/unfavorables: 28/60.

This is rdbrewer's idea of what it means for Newt to be "becoming attack-proof."

Yes, Newt is "attack-proof" because the nation already likes him less than genital herpes.  They pretty much couldn't like him any LESS at this point. 

65 I'm not going to get down into the mud and fight with people on my side.You like Newt,fine.You like Romney,fine.We ALL hate Obama.He's the target.

66 JeffB,

Take a breather.  Breath in, breath out.  Calm down or we are going to have to put you in a home.

67
____?____ / Brewer 2012

68 Science-dammit!!  That was unintentional.  Sorry.

69 There are no good or pure choices only poor, bad and [SCOAMT] worst.

That would look better if strike-through were working...  but FIFY.

70 There are no good or pure choices only poor, bad and worst. Posted by: ontherocks at January 26, 2012 04:30 PM (ZJCDy) And don't forget the fourth choice: silver dimes!

71 Holy Fuck people. Just because someone is not wearing their Newt 2012 t-shirt does not makie them a fucking "Romneybot". I don't like Romney, he was my 4th choice and all the other 4 are now gone. I have been up in the air and I gave serious thought to Newt but decided against him for various reasons. I've never been less enthused about our candidate, a feeling I didn't think was possible after Juan McLame. But a Romneybot? Fucking spare me.

72 Positive stuff about Romney:

Supported by John Bolton
No crazy family stuff.
Managed to get elected in a heavily democrat state.
Understand how to fire people,  which is something our government needs.
Compares more favorably to Obama in the looks department.
Keeps his political promises,  even if you don't happen to like them.
Doesn't advocate space mirrors an local immigration panels.
Knows numbers.


And since I have given pro-Mitt stuff,  I would point out that R. Emmett Tyrell,  long-time editor of the American Spectator,  has a devastating piece on Gingrich today.  Calls him a huckster and says there are more women stories that he has heard,  and democrats probably have more.

You guys going to call him an elitist too?

73

JeffB,

It balances out. I put anti-Romney and anti-Newt stuff in the sidebar. If it's sidebar worthy anyway.

 

74 Let the voters decide and back whoever wins the nomination to the best of our ability.

75 @31
Posted by: tasker at January 26, 2012 04:22 PM (r2PLg)
Yeah, that's Romney and his minions new attack strategy is to try and paint Newt as mentally and emotionally unbalanced.
As reported in the Washington Post "Plum Line" blog.
Imagine that! No positive reason to vote for Romney. Just another smear.
Call me when Romney starts to run any kind of negative ad on Obama.

76 Newt is knocking it out of the park. Everybody already hates him and he's a shitty, horrible person, so he's got that going for him. He beat Ron Paul to the punch on the whole colonizing the moon deal. He's out in front of Obama on the vulture capitalism angle. What's not to like!

77 As well as pro-Romney and Pro-Newt stuff, if I can find it

78 If anyone thinks either candidate is so strongly better than the other on the actual relevant merits and detriments that they need to go in with the ZEAL, they are fooling themselves. They are different, but that doesn't make one of them strongly better overall. I've said it before, forced between two roughly equal choices, in this situation, I'm going to choose the one that pisses my party leadership off the most. Hating your party is probably not a good reason, but right now it's the best thing I've got to break the deadlock of meh-why-bother.

79 >>>It's happening, dude. Newt is not being dinged by this stuff. You might come up with alternate explanations as to why that's happening, but to deny it's happening is silly and irrational.

If Newt is not being dinged by this stuff, why have his polling number in Florida plummeted nearly 15 points within the span of four days?  From 8-9 pts up over Romney to 8 points DOWN?

What, is it just coincidence?

80 Gingrich/Perry 2012, aka MasterBlaster. Who runs Bartertown now, bitches?

81 I think Romney would make a better President than Newt. More disciplined at a minimum. He's been an elected executive. But I also think he won't beat Obama. I don't believe he'll have the same nasties attacking Obama as he does other Republicans. I don't believe he anticipates the coming shitstorm from the Democrats. I continue to think that Newt has a chance. He will either crash and burn or continue to have the right things happen at the right time.

82 I want to like Romney now that its down to these 4 but he hasn't been helping at all.  "HARP 2 sp? is the wrong way to do it"  WTF?   The only right way to refinance mortgages is to let banks compete for whom they think are good risks and leave the one's holding bad mortgages to eat the losses.   Romney, please stop making me think you loves you some big government solutions as long as you are in charge.    Please please just say that government is too big and you know how to downsize it w/o killing it with  whatever success rate.   

83 Newt has had more wives than obama has friends.

84

Come to the meteor side.  You know you want to.

You know what, Peter Jennings may get to see the backlash of the angry voter.  I am starting to believe that Newt is the middle finger candidate. 

 

85 With Newt, his negatives are also baked in the cake. People have accepted that he's flawed. But Newt is also frightfully nimble, and he's becoming attack-proof. So I think Newt might be the better candidate against Obama.

I love this argument:  "Everybody already knows that Newt is an ego-maniacal, undisciplined, unfaithful, ethically challenged Washington insider with the personal appeal of a rabid skunk.  That makes him electable!"

Gee, well in that case sign me up!  Why didn't you say so?

Considering how many decades he's been involved in politics- either as an elected official or a "consultant"- it's naive to suggest that more won't come out.  It will.

86 "He beat Ron Paul to the punch on the whole colonizing the moon deal" The colon is for excreting waste only. If elected President, I will outlaw any effort to colon-ize the moon.

87 My choices are gone so ABO with the exception of Luap Nor.

88 Newt Gingrich's national favorable/unfavorables: 28/60.

Actually, the latest poll has him at 23/53.

Romney's? 23/51

89 I am starting to believe that Newt is the middle finger candidate.
Posted by: alexthechick


As always, right on target alexthechick.

90 Actually, the latest poll has him at 23/53.

Romney's? 23/51

Posted by: Meiczyslaw at January 26, 2012 04:35 PM (bjRNS)

******

Jeff B.'s? 1/99

91 So if you RomneyBots are going to defeat Newt, you'll need to come up with actual positive arguments in favor of your guy.

Shocking, I know. We shouldn't actually have to point out good things our candidate did, we should just be able to tear down the other guy, right?

********************

Positive arguments for Romney.  I really wouldn't mind seeing some.

92

@30...AllenG,

.

I agree, AllenG. .....I keep asking what the Romney strategy will be....to overcome the negative narrative that has been accumlating for years, against the very stereotype that he represents. .....And all I get is *crickets*.

.

What I've been reading is: "He's better looking than Newt" .....or, "He hasn't cheated on his wife" ....or, "He has a better organization".....or, "Romney is the tortoise, Newt is the hare".....or, (my personal favorite) "Romney is really a stealth conservative, he will surprise you once he is elected".

.

 In other words, we are supposed to stick our heads in the sand....and ignore all the occutards protesting about the "evil rich 1%ers", ignore the years of class warfare that has been laid down.....and hand the Dems a candidate that embodies everything that they have already been campaigning against!

93 Repeating the criticisms of Newt may make him stronger *among some motivated GOP primary voters*.

But that's very different from all GOP voters much less the independents whose votes we need to actually in the general.

They hear all the critiques and baggage and just think this guy is flawed and why take a chance on him.

94 You know what else is baked in the GOP candidate cake? A Sh*t Sandwich, Dam this election is depressing.

95 I really don't think that you can give Romney positive points because he got elected in a liberal state.  So did Scott Brown.........

That would actually be a strike AGAINST because that means he's a lib with some right leanings occasionally.  NOT what I'm looking for in a conservative candidate for President.

96 ____?____ / Brewer 2012

Let's hear it for the smoke filled room. I know a lot of folks are wondering why the establishment hating base is looking for the establishment to save them. Especially since we have reached an impasse caused by their incompetence. It's because it is our only chance to have a decent candidate, and maybe, this time, they get it that they can't make the base Republican Enemy #1 and win. And choose someone other than it's-my-turn-I-ran-last-time.

97

What, is it just coincidence?

 

That's all there is, just coincidence!

98 Dam this election is depressing.

DRINK!

99

I am starting to believe that Newt is the middle finger candidate.

 

Not me.  I'm voting for Hillary. 

 

 

100 Get this clearÂ… there is not much difference between Newt or RomneyÂ… or Newt or Romney or Obama. This is all part of the same DC club. Newt shills for Freddie Mac, MittÂ’s old buddies from Bain go to work at the Obama WHÂ… itÂ’s all pustules from the same infection.

101 @31....Thanks for the mention, tasker.

102 Positive arguments for Romney. I really wouldn't mind seeing some.

Posted by: rdbrewer at January 26, 2012 04:37 PM (Iyg03)

See Post 72 By Miss Marple.

 

 

103
It's interesting to note that both President Dole and President McCain have made very harsh and unflattering comments about Newt Gingrich.  Very ungentlemanly, and it leads me to believe both have an agenda.  Or something?

104 WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she wants to step off the "high wire of American politics" after two decades and is again tamping down speculation that she might stay in government if President Barack Obama wins a second term. ???Ya know, to be honest, I forgot all about her? Where has she been held hostage?

105 So I think Newt might be the better candidate against Obama. The fear Romney has a glass jaw is much greater in my mind.
...........
Both candidates suck at the moment.

But.. Newt will never be able to overcome his negatives with a large enough portion of the populace that makes it impossible for him to win.  People simply hate him.  He will drive disaffected Dems to the polls as well.  He cannot win.

So, you can have some laughs at Obama getting pwnd by Newty at a debate at the cost of the Presidency.  Your choice.

106 Supported by John Bolton
No crazy family stuff.
Managed to get elected in a heavily democrat state.
Understand how to fire people, which is something our government needs.
Compares more favorably to Obama in the looks department.
Keeps his political promises, even if you don't happen to like them.
Doesn't advocate space mirrors an local immigration panels.
Knows numbers.

Alright, in order:
Yes, and?  John Bolton is admirable.  So are many of those who endorsed Newt.

Not a "positive" but a back-handed negative against Newt.  And "Mormon" is probably going to cover quite nicely for "family stuff" if Mitt is our nominee.

Yes.  He was liberal enough to get elected Governor in Massachusetts.

That's true- now show me where he's actually shown a tendency to do that in Government.

Oh.  That again.  I'm not in the habit of comparing other guys' looks, so I'll take your word for it.  I'll admit he's objectively better looking than Newt.

No he doesn't.  By definition he breaks roughly half of them.  Since he takes both sides of any given issue.  Well, except Health Care Mandates.  He's still forcefully for those.

Again, not a "positive."  Also, I'm not so sure why "space mirrors" is a negative anyway.

Seriously?  I'm guessing you mean he can do a budget, and such- not just that he can count.  And I'll agree, more or less, but Newt is still the Republican most responsible for the first balanced Federal budget (whether you like the tactics he used or not) in I don't even remember how long it had been.

That said: that's more positive for Romney in one post than I've seen on this blog in whole threads at a time  Congratulations.

107

And enough the "Romneybot" baloney. I arrived at the position by default, but once there recognized that there was no other logically plausible option. You're increasingly out on an island alone with DrewM. on this. Newt's brazenly lied in public two times in the past week about issues that would nail him to a cross sooner or later and you're still walking around muttering "I don't like Romney...therefore Newt MUST be more acceptable. MUST BE."

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 04:20 PM (23Ios)

 

 

Like you arrived at supporting McCain over Romney 4 years ago to the date?  Declaring that Mitt cannot garner support of the conservatives or the independents?  "A socially liberal phony that flip flops more than a fish on the dock."

 

108

Come hither and embrace your inner Newty-ness  for we are all Newtists now.

 

109 What will people here will do in the general if their candidate isn't the nominee?

Personally, I'm ABO....but I'm curious (no, not THAT 'curious') how many will NOT vote for the R candidate if it's not 'your guy'?

110 Ha.  I was just listening to Frankenstein on my way in to work this morning.  I love when David Johansen screams his head of in the end.  He sounds like the GOP losing its mind.

Cue lyrics:

So now, you're off starting 'round here
Here you ask and demand
In a place where they don't expect nothing
You're trying not to dirty your hands
When asking you as a person
Is it a crime, is it a crime
For you to fall in love with Frankenstein

111

Get off my lawn ...

112

If Newt is the R candidate, there will be only one debate with Teh Won.

The rules already forbid any audience participation.

Big fat Newt with his too-big fat head will be standing there next to Obama.

Whether you like Obama or not, he looks like a page out of GQ.

Newt looks like the angry crazy old man with more mouth than brains.

The vast majority of the general election electorate will vote for the more attractive candidate, the guy who looks like a winner.  That guy is not Newt.

113 You know what else is baked in the GOP candidate cake? A Sh*t Sandwich, Dam this election is depressing.

Posted by: Buzzsaw at January 26, 2012 04:37 PM (tf9Ne)

******

At least the bread is fresh-baked. Eat fresh!

114 Oh good...not everything is italicized!

Feast or famine, bitches!

115

Fuck, I broke the blog again! Sorry Pixy!

Man, you can't me any where!

**sniff**sniff**

 

116
nice goin, numbskull

117 The number 1 issue in the general should be getting rid of ObamaCare.  I don't know how anyone can think that Romney could make a legitimate case for getting rid of ObamaCare when/if he gets the nomination.  Given this fact, please explain how you can support Romney.

118

Newt Gingrich says and does shit that pisses off conservatives and we are supposed to hate and despise him and find him unelectable.

Mitt Romney says and does shit that pisses off conservatives and its our fault for not accepting him because <Insert excuse here>

119

So if you RomneyBots are going to defeat Newt, you'll need to come up with actual positive arguments in favor of your guy.

 

-----------

 

Lie shamelessly, you mean?

 

That's always been the romneybots Pro-Romney strategy. Lie and claim he did anything at all conservative.

120 I am done with Drudge.  His attacks on Newt the past few days are just over the top.

121 this is why I stopped hacking in formatting.

122 Heat.  Kitchen.  Etc.

123

WOO! Massachusetts, #1 in jobs!

Masscare is teh AWESOME very conservative!

124 Eh....what happened in No. 105 to bring on all the italics?

125

.>>>>>What will people here will do in the general if their candidate isn't the nominee?

>>>Personally, I'm ABO....but I'm curious (no, not THAT 'curious') how many will NOT vote for the R candidate if it's not 'your guy'?

 

I gave every single Not-Romney candidate a chance. Some of them were given multiple chances. They all shit the bed.

 

Now, only Romney is left. I disqualified Gingrich last October, I'm not going to pretend my criticisms of him are invalid now because he's the only Not-Romney who can still win.

I dislike everyone still in the race, but in policy I think Romney=Gingrich, but Romney is more electable.

So I've moved to acceptance and I'm dead inside for the next 10 months.

126 </em> I can accept an argument against Gingrich's candidacy, but I don't understand the gibbering, frothing hatred. Sure, I don't like Romney, but I'll vote for him against Obama. Happily.

127

I like to dip my junk in corbomite and pudding, of course.

 

128 'OOTIN ON DA 'ITTZ!

129

My old man was a big believer in  the power of the whippin. If you broke the rules or messed up, you got the belt. Not on the seat of your pants but on the back of your bare legs. BTW, it hurts like a mofo. Let's say you forgot to do something you were told? That might be 3 licks with the belt. Say you sassed Mom, well, that might be 7 or 8 licks with the belt.

What did this teach me? Well number 1, I never spanked or used the belt on my own kids, but number 2, it's best to take your fucking whippin without complaint or delay, as this only makes it worse. This entire election is going to be takin your whippin. A whippin is better than The SCFOAMF.

130 I think Romney would make a better President than Newt. More disciplined at a minimum. He's been an elected executive. But I also think he won't beat Obama. I don't believe he'll have the same nasties attacking Obama as he does other Republicans. I don't believe he anticipates the coming shitstorm from the Democrats.

Here's another absurd one I keep seeing as of late.

To counter the electability argument, Newt's apologists will just try to replace "Romney" with "Newt" and claim- against all evidence and common sense- that Newt is actually the more electable candidate, not Romney.

Come on.  I have a difficult time believing that anyone who's ever made that argument remotely buys it themselves.  It's one thing to argue that Newt isn't as unelectable as his detractors suggest, but don't spin it beyond the realm of plausibility.

131 Positive arguments for Romney? In a year that has shown us a candidate that has been left on life support, only rise from the hospital bed after imbibing a bit of populism, and a president that WILL run a populist campaign, Romney is the complete opposite. Nominating a guy that embodies what the population hates, and the inability to even make an argument for himself will surely do Romney well. Am I right? Fellas?

132 The vast majority of the general election electorate will vote for the more attractive candidate, the guy who looks like a winner. That guy is not Newt.

CDS in prime display. Newt will handily beat Obama in a debate, it's not as if he doesn't know how to make a popular appeal. The media will spin it as a draw. And the one debate they have will be so early as to make it old news by November.

In short the debate Will help Newt, but not as much as some think, also not nearly as little as you think.

133

Mitt Romney says and does shit that pisses off conservatives and its our fault for not accepting him because <Insert excuse here>

 

---------

 

It's his turn! He has lots of money and he payed us to support no um, err...

 

GINGRICH IS FAT!

 

Pockmarked fatass with stupid hick voters who vote for stupid hick shit! Stop being stupid hicks!

134 Supported by John Bolton - Wrong.  Bolton endorsed Newt.
No crazy family stuff. - No MFM scrutinization yet.  They're waiting.
Managed to get elected in a heavily democrat state. - By promising to be a dem.
Understand how to fire people, which is something our government needs. - He fired non-government workers.
Compares more favorably to Obama in the looks department.- Fuck looks.  I want a demon.
Keeps his political promises, even if you don't happen to like them. - Once again, a dem in disguise.
Doesn't advocate space mirrors an local immigration panels. - No vision.
Knows numbers. - How much is RomneyCare really costing MA?

Posted by: Miss Marple at January 26, 2012 04:32 PM (GoIUi)

135 "Lie shamelessly, you mean?"

I hope not.  Seriously, I hope they can find something objectively conservative he's done, and then back it up.  Well more than one thing, really, but I'm sure you get my point.

So far, what I'm getting is Nothing Burger with Weak Sauce.  Not even a side of fries or a drink.

136 I'm not sure Jonah Goldberg quite gets it either. From the article:

"This dearth of convincing passion in the front-runner makes the passionate base of the party want to look elsewhere — even to Newtzilla."

Codswallop. Dearth of convincing passion, shyeah. Dearth of credibility, based on reams of evidence that Slick Willard is an unprincipled windsock of a sack of rhymes-with-Mitt.

No charge, Jonah...and Georgette, and Coulter, and Drudge, and whomever else hasn't got the memo yet.

137

>>>Romney got blindsided last week on something he should have been ready for.

 

You mean his tax returns? The one chip he could play to point out that Toonces hides everything? The one he didn't want to have to use in the primaries?

 

You numbnuts convinced yourselves Romney's tax returns would be his Achilles heel. Turns out the guy gave away more money than most people make in a lifetime. How stupid do you think he is?

 

Anybody not blinded by estrogen could have gamed this out but not you. And you guys wonder why we have to eat shit sammiches. We make and sell shit sammiches to ourselves!

 

Wise up.

138

Romney's entire campaign now centered around charge that Gingrich is as liberal, disloyal, and unprincipled as Romney is.

.......via Tweet quoted at LegalInsurrection.com

139 I love the trotting out of the "why all the hate?" when one quotes someone else's favorite.  Don't be a mewling goddamned lefty wuss, people.

140 Get this fucking blog fixed, Ace.

141   120 I am done with Drudge. His attacks on Newt the past few days are just over the top.

Posted by: Tasmaniac at January 26, 2012 04:43 PM (YfcON)

I find myself frequenting The Blaze, Weazel Zippers and I Hate the Media more and more.

142

93 -

I think one of the problems for Newt is not so much that he has the baggage, but that a shedload of the criticism is being hurled at him from the so-called right leaning pundits and tv networks and politicians that they've been listening to for eons. 

 

In other words, it's one thing to have Nancy Pelosi threatening scorched Earth tactics against you, it's another thing if it's Ann Coulter and Fox News and a bunch of current and former Republican Senators and Governors. 

143 Newt would be an awful president. 

Romney would be worse. 

Obama ranks among the worst in history.

We're screwed.

144 I also would like to point out that I have gone with Romney by default.  I have come to realize,  after being sucked in by Palin and Cain and Perry,   that my emotional satisfaction is not necessarily the best way to decide on a presidential candidate.

Newt is getting support because of his debate skills and particularly his smack-down of John King,  which most of us had been waiting for SOMEONE to do for quite some while.

The average voter doesn't hate John King.  And you can only go so far on attacking the media,  just like you can only go so far on chanting "9-9-9" or calling people to be Mamma Grizzlies.

Newt is not consistent and will go wherever the TV cameras will give him face time.  I have watched him since 1997, and like Bob Tyrell, I refuse to get sucked in.

Romney was not even my 7th choice.  Several people I like didn't run.  Romney has shown the ability to be organized and on message, and if you want to see the rest of my reasoning,  see post #72.

I am not going to call people names who don't agree.  Either the GOP will come to a conclusion or we will have a brokered convention. I don't vote until May,  so by then there will probably be a clear front-runner (unless we are heading to a brokered convention).

145 >>So I've moved to acceptance and I'm dead inside for the next 10 months.<<

I can bring a blueberry buckle to the next Team Meteor meeting.

146 There's really only one sensible way to resolve this: let Romney and Gingrich each create the best 4e Fighter than can come up with using only the core rulebooks, and then they'll duel for all the marbles.  25 point stat buy and 10,000 GP worth of equipment.  I'm betting on Gingrich because his wife looks like a familiar.

147 Hey Poop,  you stink!

148 Now we have the RNC frontline, hand-picked by the MFM in their day -- Bob Dole and John McCain -- raising their objections over Newt. Both of them were pansies, and that's why they were boosted by the media. We bought it then. Are we going to just take them at there word? Stand them both in the corner over there with Norm Coleman, before they open the door and let us be overrun again with stupid.

149 Man oh man. The November 7th recriminations thread will be a blast!

150 I still can't believe we're arguing over who is more conservative between Newt and Mitt.  How far we've fallen.

151 125 Yep,that's how I see it too.

152 "Look, yes, at first people might, indeed, say, "I'd forgotten that." It's almost certain, in fact. What's also certain is that Barack Obama is a SCOAMT, and people, in general, aren't missing that (however much the media would like them to)." Yes, I get this. Nobody is saying Obama is anything less than a SCOAMT. It is highly possible both Newt and Mitt could beat him. It is also possible both are so flawed neither could beat him (power of incumbency wins). The argument only Newt the fighter can win ignores history though. Newt admitted guilt in the ethics charge when he had none because they wore him down. He has shown some remarkable resemblances to the Newt described in Coburn's book - "Fire, Ready, Aim" was the phrase used to describe his leadership. For me the issue isn't the ethics charges, the rebellion of his Class of 94 Contract recruits is really the deciding factor against Newt. There is some really nasty sleazy bombshells in there too, that have gotten little attention. If it were marriages alone, the ethics alone or maybe even the rebellion alone I would say the scale tips to Newt. Taken all together - it is just too much.

153

GOP voters keep repeating the same questions: Which candidate stands for conservative values? And..Which one is more likely to beat Obama?

 

Gingrich is the answer to the first question. Romney, the second.

 

And here we are.

154 Obama ranks among the worst in history. We're screwed. Posted by: Valiant at January 26, 2012 04:48 PM (aFxlY) "Among the worst in history"? Who was worst?

155 Mittens is so disingenuous.  I mean you can't tell me that bain doesn't hire and use the k streets folks to their advantage, yet, they are attacking them.  Mittens really does think the American people are stupid.  There is already someone in the WH who thinks that, we're going to replace him with like and kind just because he has an R after his name.

I think most people would rather take their chances with the ex washinton insider, who everyone who is a washington insider is trying to absolutely murder politically.  thinking that maybe since everyone hates him he might have done the right thing for the American people.

But, in all honesty I think Santorum is great too..... So I"m not sure.  And a lot of people you wouldn't expect like ron paul.

156

Baggage be damned; pick the best candidate, and we know that isn't Romney. Who, by the way, just got tripped up by the same topics (his taxes, Bain Capital) that tripped him up 18 years ago when he ran his one successful campaign (loser of two others).

Ever notice how anytime anyone gets close to Mitt, shit starts happening to them? I know, it's politics and all, but...

Bachman in the lead: vaccines, crazy husband, etc.

Cain in the lead: What do you know? Old, thin, previously confidential sexual harrassment complaints. ("How many more women will come forward," etc. Sound familiar?)

Santorum--well, not in the lead, but in the spotlight of the hour: hey, where did he get those kids, anyway? And did you hear, he took the dead one home; ooh, creepy.

 

157 I love the smell of corbomite in the morning ...

158 Look, if we time it just right we can have the meteors hit at the moment the Mayan catastrophe peaks, all while Cthulhu consumes us by the billions. It will be epic and we won't have to have 4 more years of the SCOAMF.

159 "Among the worst in history"? Who was worst?


Still Buchanan.

But the gap is narrowing.

160 Not only has Newt insulted Reagan, he has desecrated his grave on numerous occasions.

161 Ahh, let the bitter recriminations commence in earnest.

Stupid Party FTW!

162 Newt would be an awful president.

Romney would be worse.

Obama ranks among the worst in history.

We're screwed.


Newt is a loose cannon.
Romney is a cannon that doesn't shoot.
Obama is a cannon that reliably shoots at the US Economy.

163 I dislike everyone still in the race, but in policy I think Romney=Gingrich, but Romney is more electable.
So I've moved to acceptance and I'm dead inside for the next 10 months.

Ditto.  Now, is that hose long enough to reach the tailpipe?

164

after seeing the shit storm that mitt,the msm and the establishment rinos have unleashed on newt gingrich,i`m sure that santorum is glad that he`s hanging back at the moment.....

after seeing this trash,i won`t vote for romney.....i`m going to e mail the paul campaign and let them know that i`ll support them if they decide to run 3rd party.....or in the unlikely happenstance that the santorum campaign finds some legs,i`ll gladly vote for rick...

i`m hoping that the tea party is ready to declare war on the republican establishment..they don`t seem to get the message...might be a good time to tear this shit down and start over....

165 So, a piece of corbomite walks into a bar ...

166

I always thought Perry should have resigned as Govenor after the first few debates.  Could have used that to reset his campaign.  It would provide a plausible narrative for his poor debate performances, they even could have worked in that he was recoverying from back surgery then.  The campaign could have said that this election is too important and Perry needed to devote his full effort to the campaign and give up his govenorship (and yes, I know it is a weak govenor position, and yes, I know as president you to show you can multitask).  But it would have shown people that he was truly serious about running.  Also, he really had nothing politically to gain from continuing as govenor.  He was always unlikely to ever win another term (and I doubt would have run) simply because he had been there for too long.  He is the longest-serving govenor by far.  A certain fatigue just sets in after 12 years - even relativly good ones. 

But he didn't.  And who knows if it would have made any difference or not.

167 I'm a Romney guy 55/45.  Yeah it sucks but we are where we are.  Gingrich will get fucking killed.  Look at all of the polling out there ... Romney competes but Gingrich cannot.

168 Have you seen Mitt interact with voters...good lord the man is awful. He's got the political ware-with-all of a 12 yr old. He started the whole mitt/obamacare BS...and could not even beat McDooDoo last time. If MITT wins Repub nom...we are doomed. Why no one is seeing that is bey...wait...o right...now the MSM is being honest with us...right Drudge says and Coulter say and Dole says...OMG Dole? really?

169

I don't understand why anyone thinks iWon is a good looking guy.  'Cause he's skinny?  WTF, people?  His face is stuck on arrogant petulance.  That alone is unattractive.  It's like when people were fawning all over Clinton as being "such a handsome man!"  eugh.

The Political areana is Hollywood for the ugly people.

I can honestly say that we have no good options for our candidate, but the Romney lovin' press is pushing me towards Newt and Santorum (not that it matters... all you east coasters get to choose the candidate anyway).  The more a candidate is pushed at me as the "right choice" by the media, the more I'll not want them.

Oh, and I'll vote for anyone except BO, unless it's Ron Paul.  If RP vs BO happens, I'm staying home and looking for a bunker to hide in for the next 4 years.

170

That thing in Virginia has yet to be played out. .....How is that going to sit with folks across the nation, when they see that the only candidates allowed to be voted on are Mitt and Luap Nor? .....It will look bad that Romney's campaign people were in charge of that.

.

"Romney is trying to buy the election" <----the Dims will use this against us, if Romney is the nominee.

171 I was always conservative.  Even before I was born.  But now I decided to flip over to the Romney side!

That way I can join other conservatives bashing Newt for not being a pure conservative 25 years ago!

Smart, eh?

172

Say hello to my little friend ...

173

Newt is not consistent and will go wherever the TV cameras will give him face time. I have watched him since 1997, and like Bob Tyrell, I refuse to get sucked in.

 

 

He goes where all the tv cameras are.  You mean like all the rest of the candidates do?

174 #11135  John Bolton endorsed ROMNEY.  Gingrich said he would make him secretary of state,  but Bolton went with Mitt.

I am not in the habit of posting falsehoods.  Please check your facts,  as I am sure that you got the impression that Bolton was endorsing Newt from Newt's interview.  It ust isn't true.

175 I always thought Perry

F* Perry he's gone now. Don't waste your neurons on what might have been if. His candidacy is dead, let it go.

176 Newt is a loose cannon.
Romney is a cannon that doesn't shoot.
Obama is a cannon that reliably shoots at the US Economy.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose Camellia Sinensis Operative at January 26, 2012 04:51 PM (0q2P7)

 

Viagra can help the first two.  We're doomed on #3.

177

You know there is something to be said about Newt's feaux insiderness. He really does know how all the cogs and circuits work in congress and where the bodies are buried. He's ruthless and manipulative maybe he is what the country needs to swinf the pendulum in the other direction.

   

178 this is gonna empower newt ? seriously ? like bill was empowerded by the blue dress, perhaps

179 What hurts the most about all this is winding up on the same side as JeffB ... FML

180

q) What leaves the office intact and flattens the people standing?

a) The Newtron Bomb

181 Quick, tell me the difference between the policies put forth by Romney while he was Governor and Obama since he has been President. 

182

Posted by: SH at January 26, 2012 04:52 PM (gmeXX)

 

He would have been hit with "QUITTER!!!" from all sides, left and right.  Trust me.

183 I wonder if Gov. Brewer wants to run?

184

84 I am starting to believe that Newt is the middle finger candidate.

 

-----------

 

So.... that makes Mitt the crossbow candidate?

 

185 Romney competes but Gingrich cannot.

Where Romney makes a few points (And it's only a few not OMGZ! Romney) in electability, he loses in the political courage department.

186 It is always dangerous to base decisions on polling so far out in front the election.  I don't factor it in at all, because I know polling changes and just because Newt polls less favorable now, doesn't mean that will always be so.  But that is just me.  We all have our different reasons for supporting one candidate over the other. 

187 I'm a Romney guy 55/45. Yeah it sucks but we are where we are. Gingrich will get fucking killed. Look at all of the polling out there ... Romney competes but Gingrich cannot.

Posted by: Blacksheep at January 26, 2012 04:52 PM (8/DeP) 

...

...

Except for those pesky "primary election" things.

188 Of course, there's a risk with all the over-the-top coverage. I don't think people like it very much.

My friend, who maxed out her donations to Romney last cycle but who has been casting about for an alternative this time (b/c of Masscare) said that she had to turn off the last debate when Romney kept going after Newt.  She normally watches all of them.  I'm sure if push comes to shove she'll vote Romney, but if an alternative comes along, she'll grab it . 

Unfortunately, she also watches Fox News so I doubt she's hearing much positive coverage on Newt. 

189 I was always conservative. Even before I was born. But now I decided to flip over to the Romney side!

That way I can join other conservatives bashing Newt for not being a pure conservative 25 years ago!

Smart, eh?

25 years?  Closer to 25 minutes ago.

190 If I'm going to be forced to eat this Republican shit sammich I want Miracle Whip on the bread.

191  I'm a Romney guy 55/45. Yeah it sucks but we are where we are. Gingrich will get fucking killed. Look at all of the polling out there ... Romney competes but Gingrich cannot.

Posted by: Blacksheep at January 26, 2012 04:52 PM (8/DeP)

 

 

You're paying attention to the polls.  How miserable your life must be. 

 

For myself, I pay attention to the final voting poll.  And the last one taken says Newt is doing pretty well.

192 I come from the land down under ...

193 Of the candidates remaining, which is more moldable? Paul? Ha! Santorum? Nope. Remember, he has convictions. So it boils down to Romney and Gingrich.

Moldability matters right now because we aren't going to be getting a small government conservative. The grassroots are going to have to work their asses off and we'll need help in the House and Senate to check the Executive. So, between Romney and Gingrich, which will be most willing to change his mind in our favor under pressure? I'm inclined to say Gingrich since he's at least willing to come out and admit he's made mistakes on policy. IOW he's proven to be teachable. Both Romney and Gingrich are selling their skills of being able to reach across the aisle. I'd prefer the one who didn't reach quite so far and will bend to conservative pressure and, ultimately, adopt and defend our POV.

Right now, Gingrich seems the better advocate. He has been massaging his message to fit a smaller government theme even as he sticks at least some toes of his foot in his mouth (e.g. immigration charge and then a walkback). Romney seems to be having difficulty defending his conservative bona fides even when critics give him the answer (e.g. Bain/venture capitalism and bailouts and ObamaCare).

Neither of these frontrunners are going to be anti-technocrats, but Gingrich has been more adept at messaging. And, for all his warts (and everyone has them), he actually did some good stuff for conservatism in his Speakership. He was NOT disgraced though it's a narrative that will be difficult to overcome. But for relative performance, who accomplished more? Gingrich under Clinton or Boehner under Obama? Yes, Boehner doesn't run the Senate, but he's been pretty weak in really pitching Tea Party reformism. Gingrich did much better with the Contract with America, a pre-Tea Party platform.

I'll take the guy with the obvious warts at the moment. He seems to respond to ointment.

194 >>>Wrong. Bolton endorsed Newt.

Soona, are you living in an alternate dimension?  Bolton full-throatedly endorsed Romney a week or two ago.  Dude, Google is your friend.

195

Sarah - I think there is a difference in quitting after 2 years v. 12, and quitting to focus on a Presidential run v. quitting to become a fox news anchor. 

But MikeTheMoose doesn't even want us mentioning Perry anymore.  So sorry for this post.

196 which candidate has better odds of winning Iowa, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico? that is teh queston

197 Hmmm...my coffee has bit of Newty aroma this afternoon.

198 193 If I'm going to be forced to eat this Republican shit sammich I want Miracle Whip on the bread.

Posted by: mpfs at January 26, 2012 04:58 PM (iYbLN)

 

Miracle Whip on shit sandwich = Gingrich

Grey Poupon = Romney

199 Soona :
Jan 12, 2012 Â· Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has officially endorsed Mitt Romney. He announced his decision in favor of the former
@ HA

200 We are a bitter bunch of fuckers, aren't we?

201 >>>For myself, I pay attention to the final voting poll. And the last one taken says Newt is doing pretty well.

You apparently don't pay attention to the news, though, because you thought John Bolton had endorsed Newt.  He's repudiated him quite strongly, in fact.

202 I'm getting tired of voting against the opposition. Wouldn't it be refreshing to be voting FOR someone for a change?
Are there no conservatives left in the GOP?

203 I am slowly (and I mean slowly) starting to come to the acceptance of Romney for one reason and only one reason. I suspect Romney will be more susceptible to pressure from the right.
Romney knows that if elected, he was neither loved nor admired from the right. Conservative votes were given to him not because of anything he said or did, but merely because of who he ran against. As such, I suspect he will stay on the straight and narrow for at least the first term if for no other reason than to avoid a conservative challenge in 2016.
Newt, on the other hand, has shown himself to be one of the most unconvential candidates around. As evidenced by some of his more wonkish policy pronouncements.
But, yea, it ain't much of a choice.

Posted by: Mallamutt, RINO President for Life at January 26, 2012 04:50 PM (OWjjx)

......  ..................

I don't find that a logical position at all.  If Romney owes little to conservatives, and doesn't want to placate them when he needs them, then why do anything for them when he no longer needs them.   You might get wildcard Newt to do something conservative out of his penchant for 'making history'. Or not.

204 186 I wonder if Gov. Brewer wants to run?

Posted by: nevergiveup at January 26, 2012 04:56 PM (i6RpT)

No way. Brewer's as bad as the rest of them. She raised taxes within a few months of taking office.

Just because she's done a popular thing like supporting SB1070, that doesn't mean she's some great conservative leader. Oooh, she stuck her finger in the President's face when he was an ass to her. Big f'n deal.

205

RNC adviser #1 - man, Obama has become one of the biggest failures ever.

RNC adviser #2 - so that's the Democrat's game now, eh?  Well, we'll show them!  We'll find candiates that would be even BIGGER failures!  HAHA!

206 204 We are a bitter bunch of fuckers, aren't we?

Posted by: mrshad at January 26, 2012 05:00 PM (Xqfwb)

 

You haven't seen anything yet.  Ace needs to include anti-depressants in all the member kits.

207 #176  No,  I am no talking about the campaign.  How do you think he wound up on that sofa with Pelosi?  Spouting off about Reagan?  On Fox attacking Bush over Katrina?  On TV trashing Paul Ryan?  Attacking Bush over the surge?

Do you see a pattern here? 

He is as bad as Chuck Schumer in looking for a camera,  only he isn't as consistent as Schumer. 

Like I said,  I am not going to hate people for supporting him.  I am confident that you will eventually be smarter about Gingrich  than I was about Cain and Palin.

208

raising taxes? how dare she violate the only true conservative principle! everyone knows that once taxes are down they can never go back up, deficits be damned.

immigration? meh, who cares. Diversity!

209 Who was worst?

Buchanan, Obama, Carter in that order.

210 But MikeTheMoose doesn't even want us mentioning Perry anymore. So sorry for this post.

I don't mean to be too brash. It's just going back and discussing what candidates could have done differently isn't all that helpful to where we are at right now. I liked Perry and was rooting for him right until his candidacy was declared dead.

211 yeah, I'll need a morphine drip soon.

212 >>>What hurts the most about all this is winding up on the same side as JeffB ... FML

Look, for all the issues people might have with my tone, it's not like I'm stupid, or hold unacceptably outrageous political positions, or am really any less conservative than most people here.  I just want to be the guy who fights for the "non-suicide" option as hard and as loud as a lot of other people here who clamor (with group support and nobody to call them out) for the opposite. 

213 I'll take the guy with the obvious warts at the moment. He seems to respond to ointment.
----
Yeah.  That's my take.  Agree with Oldcat's comment at 207 too.

214 184 Quick, tell me the difference between the policies put forth by Romney while he was Governor and Obama since he has been President.

Posted by: Not an Artist at January 26, 2012 04:56 PM (fOPv7)

-

So, none of you reluctant Romney supporters are going to answer my question above?  Hopefully, you get the point I'm trying to make.  Why should anyone vote against Obama in the general election when Romney would basically be just another liberal in the white house? 

215 Dude, Google is your friend.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 04:59 PM (23Ios)

**********

How sweet.  Jeff B. thinks he has a friend.

216 "You haven't seen anything yet"
Oh, I have seen it all.  I just don't usually bother to comment on any of it.

217 Jan 12, 2012· Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has officially endorsed Mitt Romney. He announced his decision in favor of the former
@ HA

Posted by: willow at January 26, 2012 05:00 PM (TomZ9)

 

 

I stand corrected.  BUT...like so many here have asked; how important are these endorsements anyway?  The average voter probably has no idea who John Bolton is.

218

Look, for all the issues people might have with my tone, it's not like I'm stupid,

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 05:03 PM (23Ios)

 

Funniest thing you've ever said.

219

You know who else endorses Romney? Jeff Friggin' Flake, the most tight-fisted congressman bar none. Out in front on entitlement reform, pork, debt--all of it.

 

Do you think we could assume Flake believes Romney will undertake entitlement reform? Could one be forgiven for reading that into the endorsement? Could Romney be planning on keeping quiet on entitlement reform through the election, which would be the smart thing? Could that be why you don't get the red meat you want from him?

 

Sorry, I know that's a lot of thinking for the Ovarian wing of the conservative movement.

220 Newt has pulled it off before with the Contract for America, the Speakership, the Republican majority, and the balanced budgets.  Regardless of what he's said or done since, he did those things.  Romney has never done done anything like that.

221 Romney knows that if elected, he was neither loved nor admired from
the right.

Yes and easier than one can imagine him being beholden to the right because we don't like him, he could easily be pushed to the middle, by believing it was the middle and not the right that got him elected.

Try again. 

222

Well, I get to pull the lever down here on Tuesday. And I will be pulling the one that says "Newt." With Perry gone and my feeling that Mitt is a Dim, I feel like putting a big ol' burr under the saddle of the GOP Establishment. Since I'm officially Dead Inside too, I've almost resigned myself to the fact that Mittens will wind up being the nominee anyway. My only hope when that happens is that Mitt will find some gonads from somewhere, even if he has to borrow Newt's, and finally go after the SCOAMT, although I'm certain that he'll do it in the nicest way possible. Mitt has folded under friendly fire (see the B Baier interview, which turned me off of him), governed like a true Dim and even declared himself a "Progressive" back in "02.

.

We are boned beyond all recognition.

223 I just want to be the guy who fights for the "non-suicide" option as hard and as loud as a lot of other people here who clamor (with group support and nobody to call them out) for the opposite.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 05:03 PM (23Ios)

.............

It just seems odd that the non-suicide option is the one who keeps losing all the elections.  It hardly matters if we fill the blog with love for Mitt if other candidates beat him senseless as happened in 2008 and sure seems to be happening again.

224 I seem to remember Obama being unelectable at one point.

225 Look, for all the issues people might have with my tone, it's not like I'm stupid,

We'll be the judges of that.

226

191....Unfortunately, she also watches Fox News so I doubt she's hearing much positive coverage on Newt.

.

Y-not, I think that the over the top bias in favor of Romney, is starting to turn off even some Romney supporters.

.

We all watched what happened in 2008, when the same sort of thing in favor of the JEF, resulted in the formation of the pissed off PUMA's. .....The GOP royalty and Fox apparently don't think that such a thing could happen within conservatives.

.

Btw, from what I have seeing in reading around.....the Puma's are still out there, they still hate the JEF, and they seem to be supporting Newt on this, since Palin seems to be liking Newt. 

227 >>>You might get wildcard Newt to do something conservative out of his penchant for 'making history'. Or not.

I'll bet Newt thought he was making history when he crossed partisan lines to sit down with Nancy Pelosi and endorse Cap & Trade.

See, that's actually the problem with Newt: for all his talk about being "a historian," what he's really obsessed with is some inchoate idea of "The Future"...and he wants to be the guy who's ahead of that curve.  So when he thought cap & trade and global warming was "the future" he was way out in front pushing for legislation -- who cares if it wasn't conservative?  Newt's logic is that it *would be soon* because it was the unstoppable wave of the future.  Same thing with the healthcare mandates: he thought it was the new zeitgeist, so he wanted to buy-in on the ground floor.

Romney's biggest flaw is that he's a pragmatist, who will work to get things done constructively and in doing so abandon conservative principle.  But Newt's biggest flaw is that...well, he's not really a conservative when you get right down to it.  Not temperamentally.  He's a revolutionary, and what's more important to him is riding whatever he perceives to be The Next Big Wave Of The Future rather than standing athwart history and yelling "stop!" if that wave turns out to be an awful fucking idea.

Oh, and compounding that problem is that his judgment on what is and isn't "The Future" turns out to be pretty fucking awful.  Just look at his big AGW/Obamacare picks, or his criticism of Reagan, for evidence of that.  He talks a big game, struts and grunts with arrogance, but he's wrong more often than not.

That's not a guy who I want as President.  Romney is way preferable to that.

228 Y'know, he does have a very attractive slate of enemies.

229 Yeah...PUMAs will get him 3 or 4 hundred votes.

230 I'll stand with the imperfect man who looks leftists in the eye and says, "You're wrong.  Suck it, bitch."

231 If the more bad stuff that comes out about Gingrich causes some people to be more for him , then that says more about them than can be described sufficiently in the the latest volume of Dumb Ass Voters. Hate Romney. Vote Santorum.

232 I'm an ABO at this point who leans toward Newt.
Here's the thing about this Romney attack BS, instead of trying to convince us Newt is evil.
How about trying to nail Newt down on positions like global warming and energy and illegal immigration?
Those are the answers I'd like to know about Newt.
Same goes for Romney. How about nailing him down on some positions? How about asking him why he doesn't fire Norm Coleman- since Coleman is not on board with killing Obamacare?
How about that?
and Romney-
How about attacking the Corruption of Obama? How about talking about how his $6 trillion in debt is stealing from ur children? How about showing me some fire and gumption instead of telling me what a good guy he is?
Give me a reason to want to vote for you.

233 That's not a guy who I want as President. Romney is way preferable to that.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 05:09 PM (23Ios)

....so if they both abandon principle, who gives a shit who wins?

234 Maybe Big Bill will factor into this. I can see Newt talking about his relationship with Bill and using it as a weapon against Obama.

235 Jeff B. Calling people who disagree with you dishonest and hacks... iz the smart, no?

236 I like Newt. I like his in-your-face attitude. I like the fact that he's smart and quick on his feet. But the fact that those who support Newt have to use this kind of double-reverse psycho-fu to promote him is telling. Yes, you and I, dear Morons and 'ettes, who are the decrepit crack whores of the political junkie world, have accepted Newt's flaws. In fact, the fact that he is flawed will redound to his benefit! Ha ha! Wheels within wheels!

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. The electorate will look at this smart but fat, conservative but debauched, interesting but-not-in-a-good-way candidate and either stay home or pull the lever for the SCOAMF. I don't like Mitt and I haven't supported him, but you go to war with the army you've got, and Mitt is the army we've got.

237 I think that the over the top bias in favor of Romney, isstarting to turn off even someRomney supporters.
---
At least Rush provides some balance (and she listens to him regularly). 

Looks like he took exception to the "coordinate avalanche" of anti-Newt stuff re the Reagan years: http://tinyurl.com/6vd4v7o

238 conspired to block them from running.

Conservatives in the party might have been given the "It's not your turn" look so they would know that the party was going to support someone else in the primary. It doesn't take much to realize the Georgette Mosbachers of the party have a lot of pull.

"I think tomorrow, weÂ’ll be contacting one another and probably put something together with Romney."
"And we do believe Romney, in terms of independents, will be a strong candidate. We will coalesce behind him now."
"The time has come. With the primaries being moved up, the time has come to get behind him,"

Keep in mind she said all of that in the beginning of October.

239 80 Gingrich/Perry 2012, aka MasterBlaster.
Who runs Bartertown now, bitches?

Yeah, I'm dead inside but I can accept this.

At least Newt won't make Bartertown a Commie Bartertown.

240 But the fact that those who support Newt have to use this kind of double-reverse psycho-fu to promote him i

************

Last week.  The ex-wife.  Think about it.

241 I don't like Mitt and I haven't supported him, but you go to war with the army you've got, and Mitt is the army we've got.

Posted by: joncelli, who just wants it over with at January 26, 2012 05:12 PM (RD7QR) 

.......

not if he keeps losing primaries he won't be the army we've got.

242 If Reagan were still alive, he would be taking pretty much every single one of us out behind the woodshed.

At this point, I'm pretty sure we have lost the general by painting such a lousy picture of our own goddam candidates that the Democrats and the media have had their work done for them.

Somewhere Soros is chuckling, thinking "They just saved me 10 million dollars"".

243 Salamander wants to be prez because he thinks he's the smartest guy of all time and wants to have the ultimate platform for running that big mouth of his all the time, he'll do shit just because he thinks it's what smart people do regardless of whether it's liberal or conservative.

Mittens wants to be prez so his great great grandkids can stand up in school and say their great great grandfather was prez, so he'll just be a pointless caretaker prez who constantly placates the media so they won't write bad things about him that the friends of his great great grandkids can talk about at school.

244 Polynikes is here now. I guess Jeff B. finally came.

245 Posted by: Mallamutt, RINO President for Life at January 26, 2012 05:04 PM (OWjjx)

Yep. Any of those answers makes as much sense as the reality. This shit depresses me.

246 I will vote for Newt just to off piss people who fucked my candidate(s) over.  Payback, bitches.

247 Newtpocalypse 450 Degrees Fahrenheit. Burn it down to the ground bitches.

And Palin's problem was...
And Perry's problem was...

Youse jerks have been all about style and "electibility" and chasing the flashes of the light... the two executives with actual free-market pro-growth accomplishments...boring.. or perhaps you were worried Jon Stewart would make fun of you.... so this is what you get...this is what you get...I'm enjoying the bonfire myself. Goin to be maken me some greasy s'more doodles for sure!!!!

The biggest psychopath wins. Luckily our psychopath is stronger than theirs.

248
The only problem with Willard is that he eats my shorts. Literally.

Just listen to him try and talk: "Mmffph mphff Romneycare fhmmmpfh pro-choice mpmfhhh progressive tax structure fmphfmhpph."

See what I mean?

249 More corn sombrero. Less Jeff B pissing.

250 What's getting really bad is the Conservative media swearing to not vote if the nominee is Gingrich. S.C. Cupp or whatever her name is did it this morning, Beck did it. Guess what that does? It calls into question everything they ever said about how bad Obama is. They are instantly losing credibility and they can't even figure that out. Plus I see a lot of Romney fans making that threat-i don't see too many Gingrich fans making that threat. The conservative media has been obfuscating on mitt Romney with the base for two election cycles and it looks like we might all have to pay for that.

251 Well yes Palin wasn't in the race, but that's because she knew you farts better than anyone else (there's those instincts again).

Fucking Perry was by far the overwhelmingly best candidate who was actually a candidate. Fuck you Iowa. Fuck you New Hampshire. Fuck us, America!

252 Give me a reason to want to vote for you.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 26, 2012 05:10 PM (XBdI0)

---

I am trying to collect links to good summary comparisons of them.  So far I have tax links and health care links.  Also found a brief comparison at Natl Right to Life and the (evil) Emily's List (pro-abortion site) of the candidates. 

253  but you go to war with the army you've got, and Mitt is the army we've got.

Posted by: joncelli, who just wants it over with at January 26, 2012 05:12 PM (RD7QR)

 

Riiiggghhhht.  Without any armor and no ammunition.  But if that works for you.....

254

I doubt Newt is slipping due to the Newtzilla business.

 

I think I "called it" before. Newt impressed some people when he gave it back to a couple of jerky media guys, but there was no way he could keep that sort of thing up, and it was only going to be good for a "bump". I assumed the media would adjust their questions so as to avoid getting slammed, but what actually happened was worse - censoring the studio audience. Hitler would be so proud.

 

As far as Romney being caught unawares, I could play the Devil's advocate and say that it may have been unpredictable as to when that stuff was going to come up, at least. No, everybody agrees it wasn't well played, including Romney, himself. But before we get too critical, didn't most of the other candidates screw up so bad with their organizational campaigns that they didn't manage to get on the VA ballot? Seems like the other candidates are a lot less competent than Romney's team, to me.

 

A "brazen and dumb liar"? Maybe. Perhaps a list of such things would make a good post - I don't dispute it, but can't think of anything off hand.

255 >>>....so if they both abandon principle, who gives a shit who wins?

Actually, it does make a difference.

1.) Only one of them can actually WIN.  With the other you get all the dangers of 'selling out' with none of the actual chances of unseating Obama.

2.) A guy who will tend to compromise for non-ideological pragmatic reasons is vastly preferable to a guy who sells out conservative values because *he is truly convinced that the liberal position is a winner on the merits*.  THAT is Newt.  Newt's AGW and pro-Obamacare mandate moves weren't "hard choices" he had to make in order to govern a blue state, or any sort negotiated compromise....no, the horrifying thing about them is that he made those calls freely and without any compulsion whatsoever.  He did it because he genuinely believed it was the right thing, either that the zeitgeist was shifting permanently away from the Right, or because he wanted to secure political advantage, or because he believes it in his heart.

THAT has always been the key difference to me between Romney and Newt.  For all the attacks on Mitt as being "too liberal" or whatever, the fact is that he never took a non-conservative position that wasn't forced upon him by the realities of MA politics (and in fact risked -- and hurt -- his popularity in major ways to stand up for several conservative ones).  Whereas Newt just did all this horrible shit as a free-agent, when he was out of office.  Because he could.  Which suggests to me that Newt is the one who's far more likely to betray us, just because he'll wake up one day and think he knows better.  Romney just approaches things like he has a job to do.  I dunno, maybe I'm a boring guy at heart, but that approach strongly appeals to me, especially when contrasted to Newt.

Because the challenges we face right now actually DON'T call for "visionary" responses.  They call for a shitton of miserably hard, slogging work, endless negotiations, and (ultimately) some kind of compromise.  One of these two guys is temperamentally and experientially perfect for that sort of thing.  One of them has a proven track record of being awful at it.

256 258 What's getting really bad is the Conservative media swearing to not vote if the nominee is Gingrich.

S.C. Cupp or whatever her name is did it this morning, Beck did it.
---
I simply cannot understand what they think they're accomplishing.

257 The conservative media has been obfuscating on mitt Romney with the base for two election cycles and it looks like we might all have to pay for that.

Posted by: tasker at January 26, 2012 05:16 PM (r2PLg)

--

Yeah, S.E. Cupp had to do that to please her boss (Beck) - who knows if she really means it anyway.  She has been struggling for years to be taken seriously and without success - for a reason.  Beck has fallen off the cliff.  I can't even stand to listen to his radio show anymore. 

258 Chris Christie, Paul Ryan and Jim DeMint

DeMint is conservative but still an establishment guy and needs those folks to fund his re-election. Senate re-elections cost a lot of money. Say what you want, DeMint is not going to buck the Republican big money to run for President.

I truly believe the establishment did want Christie to run, but he's not really conservative either, though he is a site better candidate than either of the two we have left. I take him at his word in that he didn't want to run this time. Ryan was given the thumbs down by Cheney.

259 What I've found really funny is how some people pushing Romney are attempting to get people against Gingrich by pointing out the times he has supported Romney's policies.  Yeah that's genius.  "You can't support Guy X look at the times he's spoken favorably about the policies of Guy Y.  Vote for Guy Y who has actually implemented the policies you don't really like"

260

More Tranya?

261

To Newton: You claim to be pro-family but you've fucked two wives.

262 Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 05:19 PM (23Ios)

....winning a primary is the kind of slogging work Romney has to do first.

263 S.C. Cupp or whatever her name is did it this morning, Beck did it.

Guess what that does?

It calls into question everything they ever said about how bad Obama is.

They are instantly losing credibility and they can't even figure that out.
Plus I see a lot of Romney fans making that threat-i don't see too many Gingrich fans making that threat.

The conservative media has been obfuscating on mitt Romney with the base for two election cycles and it looks like we might all have to pay for that.

Posted by: tasker at January 26, 2012 05:16 PM (r2PLg)

 

 

I agree.  I don't think Beck or any one of these people can see the contradiction.  They've become totally awash in their own self-seriousness.  It's sad, because I really used to like Beck. 

264 No Buzzion they are pointing out that he supported policies he is now saying he doesn't support or implying he never supported.

265 Spotted on Twitter: 
"300,000 Ninjas Stealthily March Past Reporters During the 39th Annual March for Life"

266

"...you go to war with the army you've got, and Mitt is the army we've got. ..."

 

That's a relavant quote. I heard another, applied to Gingrich: "I can not spare this man - he fights!" I can aprreciate that about Newt, but the problem is that sometimes he's actually fighting AGAINST us. No candidate is always in line with everything you want, but when the Cloward-Piven is being successfully applied to destroying our country, spouting the class warfare populism of Obama - even in desperaton - is COMPLETELY unacceptable.

267 Just like Romney.

268 Newt is, as they say, battle hardened. He's not the best candidate by any measure, but he may be the only candidate who has the fortitude and cussedness to survive the gauntlet of negative stories which await any Republican challenger. I like Romney, but it's very frustrating that the man either cannot or will not defend himself.

269 Jeff B singlehandedly exemplified the point of this thread

270 Newt has pulled it off before with the Contract for America, the Speakership, "the Republican majority, and the balanced budgets. Regardless of what he's said or done since, he did those things. Romney has never done done anything like that."

contract with america - reagan's ideas not newt's, newt just jumped on the bandwagon
balanced budges - heck, romney did that in Massachusetts, and left a surplus (a rainy day fund )
republican majority ? what brought republican majority to congress in 2010? the spoeaker of the house ?
newt takes credit for a lot, inclusive of bringing Reagan into the oval office (which he did not, obviously)
What a a great leader - not a single person with a brain, who know him personally is  willing to work with him or for him and goes to great length to disavow him

271 well not congress but the house (wishful thinking)

272 tasker who on aos said they would not vote for Gingrich in the General? I've got a long list of posters who've said they wouldn't vote for Romney.

273 >>>Jeff B singlehandedly exemplified the point of this thread

Have you read my posts?  I'm really trying to make serious points in the last few, instead of just snarking.

274

All this fighting saddens me.

Huntsman-Chafee '12

275  Ryan was given the thumbs down by Cheney.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose Camellia Sinensis Operative at January 26, 2012 05:21 PM (0q2P7)

 

 

I tend to agree with Cheney.  We will really need Ryan in the House during this next session.  We also very much need Rubio in the senate. 

 

More than likely, they'll be the spearheads of conservatism no matter who we get in the WH.

276  I am done with Drudge. His attacks on Newt the past few days are just over the top.

Posted by: Tasmaniac at January 26, 2012 04:43 PM (YfcON)

 

 

Super duper mega DITTO!

 

Go Newt!

277 I just don't see why I or anyone should care about Mitt until he shows he can actually win the nomination.  He flamed out like a disaster in 2008 and so far is showing most of the signs of doing so again.
.
If  Fresh Ideas Mitt cannot fend off fossils like McCain and Newt, who the base basically scorned from the start, what makes anyone think he won't be as miserable a campainer in the general as McCain, Dole, Bush I.  I can certainly see how his mansion in the Hamptons will look pretty dreamy once the MSM starts to throw shit at him.

278   267 What I've found really funny is how some people pushing Romney are attempting to get people against Gingrich by pointing out the times he has supported Romney's policies. Yeah that's genius. "You can't support Guy X look at the times he's spoken favorably about the policies of Guy Y. Vote for Guy Y who has actually implemented the policies you don't really like"

Posted by: buzzion at January 26, 2012 05:21 PM (GULKT)

 

Brilliant and spot on!

 

Go Newt Go!

279 My friends, we are Republicans, and that means we must make sure to lose with honor.

280  Newt is, as they say, battle hardened. He's not the best candidate by any measure, but he may be the only candidate who has the fortitude and cussedness to survive the gauntlet of negative stories which await any Republican challenger. I like Romney, but it's very frustrating that the man either cannot or will not defend himself.

Posted by: GalosGann at January 26, 2012 05:25 PM (T3KlW)

 

 

He's HW Bush, but with better hair. 

281 Oldcat you must not be too old. It took Ronald Reagan three tries to win the nomination. And we all know Romney is no Reagan.

282

225

 

 

 

 

exactly....i`m not voting for a guy who says obama(i`m paraphrasing) is a great guy and wants what`s best for the country,but he`s just misguided...and in the next breath says that a guy(who you can argue) did more for conservatism than anyone since reagan is a disgrace....

 

no more squishes...

 

 

283 Bring out the stick again, Ace.  Yoshi's back.

284

rdbrewer, I'll bite on positive things Romney has done and is doing.

1. He turned around a failed and corrupt Olympics.

2. He successfully ran a state.

3. He was very, very very successful in business. It's not that easy champ. That is why they only number 1%.

4. He doesn't resort to progressive populist OWS talking points when he get's in trouble.

5. He vision for the country is the same as the rest of the republicans.

6. He's a good family man from all indications.

7. He beleives in capitalism, not populist, OWS rhetoric.

8. He gives as good as he gets when attacked. That is why all Newt can talk about is Romney.

9. He polls better nationally against Obama than Newt does.

10. He polls better by 11 points in Florida against Obama than Newt does.

11. He has people he worked and served with supporting him, Newt does not.

12. He has become more conservative as time passes. You can call that BS if you want. The same thing was said about Reagan. Reagan said signing Californias abortion bill ( that is so liberal it still hasn't changed) was the worst thing he did. A bunch of conservatives used that against him in the primaries.

285 Oldcat, I agree with you that all this shit is moot if Romney can't win the nomination.  But I thought we were arguing over why Romney is preferable to Gingrich FOR the nomination.  Me, I may think Romney's a squish on a lot of things, but ultimately I trust the man far more than I trust Newt. 

I often worry that Mitt in office would be weak.

But I have no doubt whatsoever that Newt in office would LIE to us and willingly betray us.

I never said the choice we face wasn't a shit sandwich.  But I'll take a little bit of shit over a giant runny turd. 

286 Because the challenges we face right now actually DON'T call for "visionary" responses. They call for a shitton of miserably hard, slogging work, endless negotiations, and (ultimately) some kind of compromise.

So you can "compromise" with Nan and Reid? Really?

That's good to know. I start working on it right away.

287

pointing out that Newt's spoken favorably of certain Romney policies is just showing the flaws in "Newt's more conservative" thinking, which is entirely based on emotion.

granted Gingrich vs. Obama would certainly be a more exciting race for that reason, but...

288 Obama/Newt/Romney

Vanilla/Chocolate/Strawberry - If the ice cream has a turd in the middle, I'm not sure it matters much what flavor it is.

We're fucked every which way.

289 @281 Jeff, the general idea is that you think you know the future. We get that. There's little point addressing your aphorisms.

290

@263

 

Very well put, Jeff B., and Mitt has a proven track record of success with "miserably hard, slogging work, endless negotiations, and (ultimately) some kind of compromise."

 

But as far as "vision", keep in mind that the common-sense stuff that has worked so well (for the last 200 years!!) is actually considered "visionary" by popular culture these days. Kind of like how people who are concerned about TRILLION dollar deficits and actually following the Constitution are literally called "radical" and "obstructionist". Hell, they were elected specifically TO "obstruct" the insanity!!

291 Oldcat you must not be too old. It took Ronald Reagan three tries to win the nomination. And we all know Romney is no Reagan.

Posted by: polynikes - Texan for Romney at January 26, 2012 05:31 PM (fuUYY)

.....I am that old.  I also did not spend the 70s screaming that everyone should stand aside so that Ron could get in without competiton.

...

In 1976 Ron won a bunch of states, not zero.  I backed Mitt in 2008.  I'm not investing anything in him until I see him show me something, anything that tells me he will fight hard enough in any campaign to pull it out.

292 Romney's entire campaign now centered around charge that Gingrich is as liberal, disloyal, and unprincipled as Romney is.

293 mmmmmmmmmm tastes like chicken ...

294 Guys...?

295 Actually, it does make a difference.

Actually it doesn't. Nothing in Romney's background suggest that he has the political courage to stand up against what will be a popular upheaval when he starts futzing with entitlements, and nothing in his record suggests that he can build a consensus with the electorate against the populist appeals of Democrats. He might have a slight advantage in electability but whatever that slight advantage might be (and it is not OMGZ!!!! ROMNEY CAN WIN NEWT CAN'T large) it is counterbalanced by a history of impotence against the "Realities of MA politics" and what will be a party who would rather see America crash than recover using conservative principles.

In short we are DOOMED and Romney, like Newt has virtually 0 chance of averting it for different reasons. If you have some sort of real Zeal that your guy is clearly clearly the best choice, you are inflating your candidate beyond reality.

296  Romney's entire campaign now centered around charge that Gingrich is as liberal, disloyal, and unprincipled as Romney is.

Posted by: CarolinaPunk at January 26, 2012 05:35 PM (tUgSx)

 

 

 

I've always said that the candidate who knows me best is Mitt Romney.

297

I never said the choice we face wasn't a shit sandwich. But I'll take a little bit of shit over a giant runny turd.

----

Bullshit. You've had Romney's dick in your mouth for 2 years.

298 >>>@281 Jeff, the general idea is that you think you know the future. We get that.

>>>There's little point addressing your aphorisms.

That's not fair to me at all.  "Little point in addressing your aphorism" is simply code for "you're making a serious argument for a position I don't like, and therefore I don't want to have to engage it." 

And what is it with this "think you know the future" bullshit?  EVERYBODY makes choices based on their assumptions and beliefs about what "the future" will be.  Look at all the people who say "Romney won't fight Obama in the general!  He'll pussy out! He can't win!"  What possible rational analysis could allow you to say that those people don't "think they know the future" and yet I do when I say that Romney is more electable than Newt, or that Newt would betray us, etc. etc.  In both cases we're pointing towards past behavior to justify our predictions.  You simply disagree with mine.  Which is fine, but don't be intellectually dishonest and label MY position as somehow beneath acknowledgement or contempt.

By the way, I don't want to hear any more bullshit about how I never try to "advance the ball" or make serious arguments.  When rdbrewer dropped that shit on me earlier, my instant thought was that I try to do that, a lot, but I always get ignored or dismissed by the same people who then claim that "nobody can make a case for Romney blah blah blah."  Well here it is, happening again.  And what's the response?  People like Bevel doing exactly what I'm talking about, saying "there's little point in responding to you."

And you wonder why I sometimes don't even feel compelled to do anything but snark.

299 /pedant
Late to the party here, but RD?

That's not Frankenstein you've so kindly incorporated into the post.

It's the Monster. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist.
/pedant

300

If Newt does pull off a win in Florida can we expect the Mitt-bots that were screaming that we have to stop attacking Romney after New Hampshire and support him because its obvious he's the nominee after two primaries, to do the same thing for Newt?

 

Positioning yourself for the general election well before even a single primary vote has been cast sure is the winner Romney thought it would be though, isn't it?

301 >>>Bullshit. You've had Romney's dick in your mouth for 2 years.

Fuck you.  You are more than welcome to go back and search my comments (either by name or hashtag) on this blog.  I've never had a hate-on for Romney the way you apparently do, but I considered him a completely unacceptable candidate as recently as the summer of last year.

Sorry, but you're a lying cunt to say this.  If you had even a shred of intellectual honesty you would retract it. 

Again: fuck you.  Don't fucking lie about my positions or my record.  You know full well that people around here primed to believe you when you say something like this, which makes it doubly irresponsible.

302 It's the Monster. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist.
/pedant

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 26, 2012 05:41 PM (/jOyr)

 

 

And he was a liberal scientist too.  OMG!  We're all so stupid. 

303 "Romney won't fight Obama in the general! He'll pussy out! He can't win!" What possible rational analysis could allow you to say that those people don't "think they know the future" and yet I do when I say that Romney is more electable than Newt, or that Newt would betray us, etc. etc. In both cases we're pointing towards past behavior to justify our predictions.

...
...
Romney did that in the Primarys in 2008 and is doing it again now.

304 "In short we are DOOMED and Romney, like Newt has virtually 0 chance of averting it for different reasons."

I can't get real jazzed about this election for precisely this reason. There's unstoppable bad shit gonna rain down on us over the next few years, and I'm perfectly OK with the Democrats taking the blame.

The last time we had a truly vile 2+-term Dem president was FDR, but he had a world war and depression to distract the public away from the real damage he was causing.  Obama has the depression, but he doesn't have the world war.

The down side is it may take 50 years to recover from Obama, if that's even possible at all.  A Newt or Romney might lower that to 40 years.

305 Wet cut, the meaning has evolved.

306 Once again with gusto. As Governor Romney started with over a billion dollar deficit and ended with over a hundred million dollar surplus without raising taxes. He vetoed almost a thousand pieces of liberal legislation including in state tuition for illegals, the morning after drug and embryonic stem cell research. He submitted legislation to reinstate the death penalty. He issued an EO to allow State Troopers to inquire about resident status, he opted out of the NE Greenhouse Initiative. Since being Governor hisPAC helped elect conservatives across the Country. Not bad for a liberal RINO.

307 Have you read my posts? I'm really trying to make serious points in the last few, instead of just snarking.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 05:27 PM (23Ios)

*********************

Honestly I just read the first few and scrolled to the end.

308 >>>Romney did that in the Primarys in 2008 and is doing it again now.

Did we watch a different primary race in 2008?  Romney was a vicious bastard in the primary.  He was a knife-fighter, completely unafraid to attack anyone.  It's why the other candidates hated his guts.

This is why I never understand it when people say Romney won't go after Obama hammer & tongs.  Oh yes he will.  He won't attack Obama STUPIDLY, or SELF-DESTRUCTIVELY (which I think is the problem for some people here...the things they want to see a candidate saying about Obama would destroy a Republican's chances of actual victory), but he'll be relentless, and vicious, and extremely well-funded.  That's only way Mitt Romney knows how to roll.

309 I don't care. The more they beat the shit out of each other now, the better later. They just better bring this level of hate for the main event, and not pussy out like McLame did in 08.

310 Did we watch a different primary race in 2008? Romney was a vicious bastard in the primary. He was a knife-fighter, completely unafraid to attack anyone. It's why the other candidates hated his guts.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 05:50 PM (23Ios)

.

.

Guess so, because he quit after the first three or five.  And you know what they say about quitters on this blog.

311 JeffB Romney called to tell you thanks for the vote of confidence. He especially liked the part as being completely unacceptable. Seriously why let these unknown Internet people make you run down the candidate you are now supporting.

312 @314
That's not quite true.
Romney significantly raised fees and some taxes with very few cuts to balance the budget.

313

You are more than welcome to go back and search my comments (either by name or hashtag) on this blog.

 

-------

 

Oh sure, let me just go load up the Comment Archive search engine and search by commentor name...

 

Oh wait we don't have that.

 

As far back as I can remember you've been one of the most consistent and persistent romneybots on the whole damn blog.

314 #320 What taxes did he raise? And raising fees are not taxes no matter how much it's said. Ask any Governor, including Perry about that. He had budget cuts of about 400million. Not a small amount.

315 @307 There is another way Jeff. You can base your decisions on people's records as opposed to nebulous concepts like future electability. It's like how the Mittbots were talking about how Mitt was going to be the nominee because there was 'nobody else.' This conclusion was based, not on any prior record of Mitt Romney (considering his poor election record, none of this should be surprising) but on political future-casting where everything breaks for Mitt because he's talented and awesome and saved the Olympics. And each other candidate was dismissed in turn as impossible to win the primary. And of course, one of them caught on. Just like in 2008. And when you consider how both Newt and McCain were politically dead six months before their respective iowas, it should be clear future predicting is frequently wrong. What will happen in the general election? Nobody fucking knows. I sure as hell don't.

316 There's essentially 2 choices at this point that both suck. Newt and Mitt. I mean let's be honest. Everyone here laughed when Newt announced he was running. I don't remember anyone saying much positive about him. The same can be said about Romney. And yet sadly that's who we have left to pick from essentially. So now someone is a Romneybot if they are deciding he's the least smelly turd? I'll vote for either vs. SCOAMF in the general. IMHO Newt and Mitt are essentially the same when it comes to RINOish qualities. They've both had their moments for sure. But my gut tells me that Newt can't win the general based on mainly and honestly his likability. It's the only thing that slightly tips the scale in favor of Mittens. Sadly too many voters decide whom to vote for based on that. It's a personality contest for some And while Mittens doesn't generate warm fuzzies when you compare him to Newt it's a no brainer. I can't beleive it's come to these two. But I'll votefor Mittens (shudder) in the primary or if he doesn't get the nod I'll vote for Newt in the general. Neither vote will be enthusiastic.

317

"I don't like Romney...therefore Newt MUST be more acceptable. MUST BE."
Posted by: Jeff B. at January 26, 2012 04:20 PM (23Ios)


Like you arrived at supporting McCain over Romney 4 years ago to the date? Declaring that Mitt cannot garner support of the conservatives or the independents? "A socially liberal phony that flip flops more than a fish on the dock."

***************** **************** 8*******************8 8*************
Just wanted to repeat it.

Thanks for the detective work, buzzion

318

Did we watch a different primary race in 2008?
Romney was a vicious bastard in the primary. He was a knife-fighter,
completely unafraid to attack anyone. It's why the other candidates
hated his guts.

 

-------

 

Yes, we did.

 

Romney was a boring also-ran who nobody payed attention to until everyone else dropped out. He then showed himself incapable of being the Not-McCain and lost.

 

Everyone said the dude had a personality problem and couldn't seem to connect with voters. He was made of cardboard.

 

At that point, no one knew shit about his record.

319

Like you arrived at supporting McCain over Romney 4 years ago to the
date?

 

----------

 

LOFL seriously?

 

NICE. Good job Jeff.

 

You think you should get to pick again huh? Cuz Sarah Palin fucked it up on you?

320 Entropy at least the part about Romney running in 2008 was accurate. The rest of your post not so much.

321 Entropy at least the part about Romney running in 2008 was accurate. The rest of your post not so much.

Posted by: polynikes - Texan for Romney at January 26, 2012 06:02 PM (fuUYY)

....so Mitt won in 2008?

322 polinikes @ 314: Those are good enough reasons to accept Mittens if he actually gets the nomination.  ABO and all that.

But right now schooling the Party that they can't just cram a northeastern progressive republican down our throats just because he is, like most of the Party Elders. a northeastern progressive is job one.  The Tea Party revolt hands the party the biggest gains in most folks memory and they get shunned and ignored.  No.

If the country is going to be saved from the crapstorm that is coming as the bill for a century of socialism/progressivism/liberalism/whatever it ain't going to be by Romney.  At best he could do his managerial thing and hold it together for a few years and we could try again at electing the sort of leader who could turn it around.  And if it comes to that, I'd vote for him on just that hope.

But he wouldn't get elected.  Obama will utterly destroy him and he won't even struggle a lot, not nearly as much as he is fighting every other Republican who has threatened his coronation.  Because just like Juan McLame he needs the approval of the northeastern progressive establishment... just for different reasons.  McLame because of Stockholm syndrome making him need the approval of his enemies and for Romney because, when push comes to shove, those are his peeps.

Newt is a frickin' wild card.  Almost equal odds of epic win or epic fail but SOMETHING would happen and it would upend the current trajectory.  Since the current trajectory of the country is for utter ruin and the odds of a reasoned fix is kinda low,  why not?  So if he gets nominated I'll vote for him.

But I hope we get a miracle.  That Newt & Romney destroy each other's electability such that we get Santorum.  But to get there Romney can't keep winning primaries so for now, Newt & Chaos!

323

You know, the real scary thing about this election is that they keep quoting a comforting statistic about how no president has gotten re-elected with unemployment numbers this bad, but it's crap. First of all, it's one of those deals like the Super Bowl predictors, where the history is short enough that you can always find some other function that has the same pattern - so far. There isn't necessarily predictive value there. Actually, Bible codes works similarly.

 

Now, unemployment SHOULD be a relevant factor, and so this stat should have more credibility, but there's a problem. The people who are unemployed - being hurt the most bt Obama - are also, mostly, the people who are likely to vote for him no matter what. 97% of blacks voted for him, and their unemployment rate is way worse than average - but most will probably vote for him again anyway, because they're racist and liberal. Other victims will vote for him because they are now more desperate for a hand-out.

 

You know - it's those Low-IQ types who can't comprehend the destructive, soul-crushing nature of communism, and sometimes act in racially-motivated ways.

324

@43: "Newt is Newt, he's flawed, but he's usually pointing his guns at the right targets."

 

There's one hell of a campaign slogan for ya: Gnoot 4 Prez - Now With Even Less Friendly Fire.

325

Just like to remind everyone that bastard Romney tied me to the roof of his Rolls.

And sniped off my nuts.

Posted by: Mitt Romney's Dog

326 Santorum? A conservative fantasy. For cryin' out loud, if you asked 10 people on the street who he even IS, 7 or 8 probably couldn't even tell you.

327

But I hope we get a miracle. That Newt Romney destroy each other's electability such that we get Santorum. But to get there Romney can't keep winning primaries so for now, Newt Chaos!

 

----

 

I'll take Santorum. How bout Newt and Romney both drop out at the same time?

 

If Newt's not on board, Romney drop out and all his bots can support Santorum and turn him into NotNewt.

 

Or we can continue to go all Mutually Assured Destruction on each other. Whatever.

328

"Gnoot 4 Prez - Now With Even Less Friendly Fire."

 

LOL - Yeah, that (unfortunately) just about sums it up.

329

There's one hell of a campaign slogan for ya: Gnoot 4 Prez - Now With Even Less Friendly Fire.

 

-----

 

As opposed to the alternative : Technically, that's not "friendly fire" because he hates you.

330

"If Newt's not on board, Romney drop out and all his bots can support Santorum and turn him into NotNewt."

 

Are you high?

331 Are you now or have you ever been NEWTral?

332 Better chance of a space alien invasion than any miracles...then again a space alien invasion isn't looking all that bad these days.

333

No but I wish I was.

 

Compromising on Santorum would be way too sane to be a remotely plausible option at this point.

 

He wouldn't be a very good candidate but at least it would end the Jihad.

334 No but I wish I was.

Compromising on Santorum would be way too sane to be a remotely plausible option at this point.

He wouldn't be a very good candidate but at least it would end the Jihad.

Posted by: Entropy, Racism Delenda Est at January 26, 2012 06:16 PM (Ci0JG)

...seems like Jihad is an end to itself round here.  There was one against Space travel just yesterday.

335 Drudge leads with 11 links to anti-Gingrich pieces today. Is there a conservative elite, and if so, are we morons the orc-horde of Mordor or something?

336

To hell with "around here", this particular Jihad (and not the space travel one) is raging everywhere.

337 340 Better chance of a space alien invasion than any miracles...then again a space alien invasion isn't looking all that bad these days.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 26, 2012 06:14 PM (Y1O3v) .........///////////////////////////Are you talking Super Hot colony of green or purple chicks wearing leather boots that Capt. Kirk use to schtoop or scary Sigourney Weaver type rip your heart out aliens?  

338

"Comproming on Santorum"?

 

Yeah, like I suppose it would have been a "compromise" when they couldn't tell if Bush or Gore won, if they just went with whoever came in 3rd (Ron Paul?). "I do not think it means what you think it does."

 

Don't you think you're getting a little desperate in your fantasies?

339

He's a brazen and dumb liar. He says things that are easily falsifiable. With Newt, his negatives are also baked in the cake.

Um, hello?

 

http://politi.co/z3Vjgj

 

Newt straight up lied in an incredibly easy way to falsifiy in one of the most dramatic moments of the year politically.  That's incredibly stupid and risky.

340

Don't you think you're getting a little desperate in your fantasies?

 

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

 

Don't you think you're getting a little overconcerned with other people's fantasies?

 

I know hope springs eternal, but there's very little chance you'll show up in any of them.

341

Newt is Newt, he's flawed, but he's usually pointing his guns at the right targets.

Capitalists, immigration conservatives, anyone who breathes CO2, opponents of Medicare expansion and individual mandates, anyone who opposed Newt on anything.  "Right targets" is correct, except you forgot to insert the "wing" there in the middle.

342

117 The number 1 issue in the general should be getting rid of ObamaCare. I don't know how anyone can think that Romney could make a legitimate case for getting rid of ObamaCare when/if he gets the nomination.

 

You don't have to make a case for something 70% of the population supports.  You just do it, is all.

343 The number 1 issue in the general should be getting rid of ObamaCare. I don't know how anyone can think that Romney could make a legitimate case for getting rid of ObamaCare when/if he gets the nomination.

This.

344 You don't have to make a case for something 70% of the population supports. You just do it, is all.

Posted by: Emperor of Obama at January 26, 2012 06:32 PM (epBek)

.....

.....

.if he won't say it now when it would help him politically, why would he do so later when it will not?

345 Draft Palin.

346 Emperor of Obama @ 350: Getting rid of Obamacare will be hard.  Can't just use reconcilliation(sp) to do it because that can only deal with bugetary things and can't last beyond ten years.  See Bush Tax Cuts for the time bomb that tactic leaves behind.  And unless we get sixty Senators that is that unless we have a political climate so favorable several Ds get frightened enough to vote to eliminate a program that long term gives the fricking country to them forever.  This is a hill every D will die on, on this issue there ain't no such thing as a Blue Dog.

If the Supremes don't do it it won't get done.  And I can tell ya what they are going to do, exactly what Obama and Soros want: Declare the mandate illegal but severable.  That leads directly to single payer which was what they wanted in the first place.

That is why I don't like the idea of Romney.  He is the last guy to whip up a perfect storm of voter anger that might push a few wobbly Ds to do something stupid (from their p.o.v.).  Yet that is exactly what we need... or really kicking over the table and removing a few Supremes and replacing them with people who can actually read and running Obamacare back by em and see if they can find the lack of a severability clause on a second try.

347 If  you have very liberal FB friends, you'll see they're pretty damned confident that the JEF is going to win. Depressingly so.

They're excited they get to run against either Romney or Newt.

So, go Team GOP, you really came through for the country again.
I can't help but think that if Romney had not been so selfish, so "it's my turn" and not ran, we would have had a far better field. Because when he declared he had such an advantage in money, organization and endorsements that better men may have decided it was too much to overcome. So, we got the vanity campaigns of Newt, Cain, Bachmann and Paul.

If I had to choose, I'll go with the guy that at least has shown he can make the left batshit angry: Newt.
Romney may eventually drive them crazy but I know Romney wants two terms. I don't know if Newt cares if he is a one-termer.

348 I've been analyzing this for weeks now, and my conclusion is they both suck giant hairy donkey dicks.

349 It's the OFA-fed palace media's reverse black-hole anti-matter universe jiu-jitsu "You're-pissing-people-off-and-galvanizing-support-for-Newt" plan.  So they get the opponent they want in the General.  Then they pull Newt's pin and wait for him to go BOOM.

350 352 You don't have to make a case for something 70% of the population supports. You just do it, is all.

Posted by: Emperor of Obama at January 26, 2012 06:32 PM (epBek)
...........if he won't say it now when it would help him politically, why would he do so later when it will not?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Uh he has.  take it for what it's worth but he has committed to it. Granted, he's a politician but he has said it FWIW

351 Glenn Beck used to say that a fat slob would be our next president because Obama was so clean cut and managed. The teleprompters, the secrecy. People would turn off of that. Newt is nothing but dirty laundry and fat slob. To attack Newt successfully, his politics need to be the issue, not his personality flaws.

352 Translation: I HATE HATE HATE Mormons, Rich Guys, and Alpha Males. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Obama, and not only want to see him win another term, but Pelosi back in the Speakership. And Harry Reid with 66 votes in the Senate. Because I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Lightworker.

Polls show Romney has a bigger lead over Newt against Obama in Florida. A must-win state for Republicans. Newt has all sorts of stuff coming out, courtesy of San Fran Nan, that is toxic. About 56% of the wider electorate HATE HIM.

Newt's a pal of Al Sharpton's, yet independents and soft Dems HATE him (as do plenty of Republicans). Newt lied about Open Marriage alibis -- he has no "friends" who will say that never happened. And believe CNN will double down on that.

Ann Coulter, Bob Dole, VDARE.com (Newt is in favor of open borders and illegals), and National Review, people and institutions that hate each other (VDARE and National Review would each launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on each other) say Newt Gingrich is a disaster.

Because he is. Romney might well lose. If he does, Republicans AT WORST lose a few seats in the House and maybe a few in the Senate. If NEWT LOSES, and he's a slam dunk certainty to lose, Nancy Pelosi takes the House, and there is NO CHECK ON OBAMA.

NONE. NONE AT ALL.

So if you don't like Obama, voting Newt hands him a blank check to "fundamentally remake America." Want a "Whitey Tax" aka Reparations? [Newt's probably in favor of that one, he's a Sharpton pal.] Well voting Newt makes that happen. Along with a unionized Military turning into the Armed Wing of SEIU. Instant Citizenship for Illegals. Spanish as the official language of the US. A "peace summit" with Ayman Al-Zawahari in the White House. TSA randomly groping you up on the street, outside Nanny Bloomberg's city. All of that.

Yeah, Romney may lose. He won't lose the House. Newt will -- because most of America HATES him.

353

Anybody who forgave Newt for his OWS-style outburst a while back should feel officially stupid. He was spewing more of it today.

 

At the same time, he was whining about the "Republican Establishment" being against him. It's just sad. You Newt-lovers in here should really start coming to grips with the more conservative candidate not winning (again). You might also give up the crap about if someone isn't a Conservative, they're not really Republicans, when I doubt even half of Republicans call themselves Conservatives.

354 You know what I love? How it's only January and we already know more about EVERYTHING in the past of two men who might be our nominee, whereas we know virtually nothing similar about Obama.

355 And since I have given pro-Mitt stuff, I would point out that R. Emmett Tyrell, long-time editor of the American Spectator, has a devastating piece on Gingrich today. Calls him a huckster and says there are more women stories that he has heard, and democrats probably have more. You guys going to call him an elitist too?<<< Why not? Huckster?! a congressman??!! The DEUCE you say! Read the article, nothing special. I'm sure it plays to the biases of a particular set, but it didn't exactly rock my world. I haven't seen so many panties in a wad since grade school.

356 if he won't say it now when it would help him politically, why would he do so later when it will not?

Posted by: Oldcat

 

It's a standard feature of nearly every one of his stump speeches.  He said it after Iowa and he said it after New Hampshire.  Not my fault if you aren't paying attention.

357

Can't just use reconcilliation(sp) to do it because that can only deal with bugetary things and can't last beyond ten years.

------

El Wrong.  Reconciliation is legit for anything that (1) affects the budget and (2) doesn't increase the deficit within a ten-year window.  Since the revenue-enhancing measures have been stripped from Obamacare already, an Obamacare repeal meets the requirements for reconciliation.  There still might be odds and ends that would survive, but the Big Mama itself is going down.  If a Republican gets elected, which ain't looking too likely right now.

358 Actually, Romney did go after Obama in each and every debate. Most likely he was coached to do this, in order to try and frame the situation as being a battle between Romney and Obama rather than Romney and the other candidates.

I think the main question is this: Can Gingrich change enough minds about him? Because as it stands now, he has very high negatives for the general election. Mitt has a better chance in the general. So, do you go with the guy who will bring a better fight but turns off a lot of voters OR do you go with the guy who doesn't turn off a lot of people, but doesn't inspire either?

I think they BOTH suck (for different reasons). But they would be far better than Obama.

359

he has very high negatives for the general election. Mitt has a better chance in the general

 

 

You do know that Mitt's negatives are currently at about the same level as Newt's right.

360 If Newt is so horrible, and has no chance of being elected vs. Obama, then why are the Dems so afraid of him? Look at all the attacks. They want Mitt so badly. That's a strong reason to go with Newt.

I do think Newt is an uncontrollable nightmare in a lot of ways. Romney is a much more honourable man (actually sleeps with his own wife! can you imagine that?!?). But it sure seems like the Dems view Newt as the greater threat.

They called McCain the Maverick, but actually, it's Newt who is the Maverick. That has pros and cons. Too many ideas, some crazy ones. Sure. But at least he HAS bold ideas. Romney caves all the time. He stands for nothing. Even when you watch Romney on stage. He is so eager to please - to agree - to not offend.

Look at all the establishment Republicans lining up to attack Newt. That tells you a lot too. These are the same Republicans who made a mess of things in DC and lost bigtime. Those aren't the people who regained the house in 2010. They are the ones who lost their way, spent money like liberals, enacted huge programs, bloated govt, etc. They aren't conservatives. They are just the other head of the two-headed beast in DC.

It seems bizarre to entrust an insider like Gingrich to take on the status quo - yet that's where we are. Ron Paul would seem to be the natural anti-DC, but we know that isn't going to happen.

Romney has had how many years to run for POTUS and yet his message is still so weak and muddled? Give Romney treasury secty.

America needs a bold change. A bold leader. Someone with vision who will RADICALLY change things. Newt might not be that man, but we know for sure that Obama will continue making things worse, and Romney will go along to get along.

361 Backlash Frankenstein? Would that be John F'n Kerry?

362 Ohhhh Nooooo! There goes Romney-o! Newtzilla!

363 Newt is MegaMind to Romney's MetrosexualMan

364 The truth about Newt is the truth.  Why not tell it?

I know, it's nice there is a candidate for the immoral, unethical, two-faced, lying, adulterous, backstabbing fans of Washington insiders and influence-peddlers, so they can have a candidate who reflects their values or lack thereof.

The fact is the only way Gingrich wins a general is if the economy is so bad anyone could beat Obama.  And he is the worst for the down-ticket races because even the disaffected on the left will get off their butts to come out against him when they might have stayed home.

If you want to swallow Gingrich's lies and semen, help yourselves.  Choke on them.

365 "If you want to swallow Gingrich's lies and semen, help yourselves. Choke on them."

Thanks for providing such a clear example of the moral, ethical, one-faced, truthful, faithful,....

You can't make this stuff up. Here's a guy criticizing everyone else for theri lack of whatever, and then ends it with a comment like that. lol.

366 Gee rd brewer....if your theory is true they should crown Gingrich president after the brutal anal rape he received from Romney in tonight's debate...