Gingrich, We Hardly Knew Ye. . . [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board

RTFirefly

06-09-2011, 02:54 PM

I set his chances at zero from the very beginning (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13783375&postcount=37), but even I'm astonished at how quickly Newt's campaign has self-destructed. Almost overnight, he went from being a total joke in the eyes of some of us, to being a total joke in the eyes of pretty much everybody.

Meanwhile, speaking of total jokes that nobody gives a shit about anymore and have only a marginally greater chance of winning the GOP nomination than you or I do, Bill Kristol says Rudy 9/11 is running (http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/rudys-running_573998.html). I know the other candidates will be losing immeasurably minute amounts of sleep over the challenges that Rudy presents as a rival.

Rex Goliath

06-09-2011, 03:31 PM

"Fuck it, we'll do it live!"

China Guy

06-09-2011, 03:41 PM

How much you want to bet that Newt's campaign staff saw the contributions weren't going to make payroll through Friday?

River Hippie

06-09-2011, 03:41 PM

This will free Newt up to head the Weiner probe.

Captain Lance Murdoch

06-09-2011, 04:00 PM

I wish the title of this thread were true.

Balance

06-09-2011, 04:05 PM

Are you implying that McCain is going to be the White Knight of the Republican nomination ;) :confused: :eek:
I would guess that Voyager's referencing a joke/meme from the 2008 election campaign. In response to some particularly ridiculous attempts by the McCain campaign to spin bad news, people took to proclaiming every event as "GOOD NEWS for John McCain", especially if it was irrelevant (or even disastrous) to McCain.

Profound Gibberish

06-09-2011, 04:06 PM

Has-been politicians are like vampires--they rise from the dead, scare the crap out of people, and then go away when light is cast upon them. Only to return, again and again. . . . .

Dewey Finn

06-09-2011, 04:55 PM

Manduck

06-09-2011, 05:49 PM

Apparently they quit because of his wife: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/problem-was-wife_574027.html (the cruise was her idea).

Dewey Finn

06-09-2011, 05:54 PM

Well, that's a dumb reason to quit his campaign. I'll bet if they had just waited, there would have been a new wife.

waterj2

06-09-2011, 06:12 PM

I don't understand the vacation break, mentioned in the article as a Greek island cruise, and in the New York Times as a two-week absence from the campaign trail. That seems like a crazy long time to step away after announcing your bid for the presidency.Well, it's not like Gingrich's presence was actually helping his campaign. I mean, their best shot was probably to have him be on cruise until the convention, and hope that people figured that if he'd gone that long without making an ass out himself, it's really impressive by Gingrich standards.

JimH52

06-09-2011, 06:58 PM

Mister Morality has lost his staff. He is toast.

R. P. McMurphy

06-09-2011, 07:18 PM

How long before Newt is looking for a 4th wife? This one struck me as a "Dragon Lady" that was in it for ambition and Tiffany's. That has all crashed and burned. Newt is now radioactive.

Let's check back in a year or so.

Least Original User Name Ever

06-09-2011, 07:33 PM

I didn't get why they left from the article. Was he not crazy enough? Too crazy? Or was it clear that he didn't really care. Going on a cruise after you announce, which is when the spotlight is on you, is just nuts.

But this is good news for the McCain campaign.

They figured they get out while the other campaigns are still staffing and moving. I'm guessing Gingrich might have told them in a staff meeting that he wasn't as serious about the run as he should be. It's almost like he's playing for a vice presidential nomination, and that may even be a wise goal.

Romney/Gingrich marks a reunion of some of his staffers that leave and come back and help out because they're working for Romney. Enter the drama.

Least Original User Name Ever

06-09-2011, 07:40 PM

They figured they get out while the other campaigns are still staffing and moving. I'm guessing Gingrich might have told them in a staff meeting that he wasn't as serious about the run as he should be. It's almost like he's playing for a vice presidential nomination, and that may even be a wise goal.

Romney/Gingrich marks a reunion of some of his staffers that leave and come back and help out because they're working for Romney. Enter the drama.

Edited to add: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/09/newt-gingrich-aides-rick-tyler_n_874452.html

Really edited to add: Shit. I quoted myself. I hate the inability to edit posts at will here.

The Hamster King

06-09-2011, 08:36 PM

Well, that's a dumb reason to quit his campaign. I'll bet if they had just waited, there would have been a new wife.LOL.

Death of Rats

06-10-2011, 08:54 AM

Mister Morality has lost his staff. He is toast.

He could borrow Anthony Weiner's. I understand he is willing to share his staff with anyone who follows him on Twitter!

<rimshot>

Profound Gibberish

06-10-2011, 09:13 AM

Apparently Callista wanted him to run a slower campaign. And I have a feeling that if you disagree with her she will eat your face and incorporate it into her own.

Boyo Jim

06-21-2011, 12:28 PM

His two top fundraisers have now quit. (http://beta.news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-gingrich-campaign-finance-team-quits-163648732.html)

Lucky for me, he can still be amusing for very little money. And perhaps he can pawn some jewelry.

Merijeek

06-21-2011, 02:09 PM

Look man, you only see an historic* campaign like this once a century!

-Joe

*for certain values of "historic"

gravitycrash

06-21-2011, 06:38 PM

Onomatopoeia

06-21-2011, 08:40 PM

And also Newt, your new wife appears to be a real piece of work.And he should consider himself lucky to have that harpie. I'm mean, look at him. He's utterly repulsive. I don't blame her one bit for expecting compensation for having to live with, and be touched {shudder} by that pig.

Merijeek

06-22-2011, 07:27 AM

And he should consider himself lucky to have that harpie. I'm mean, look at him. He's utterly repulsive. I don't blame her one bit for expecting compensation for having to live with, and be touched {shudder} by that pig.

Plus, thanks to his Clinton obsession blow jobs are much more common now. Or so I've been told by an old conservative boss of mine. Basically, women give blow jobs now because of Clinton - and presumably Newt, since he was all tied up in that.

(feel free to bleach your brain liberally)

-Joe

Fear Itself

06-22-2011, 08:01 AM

Steve MB

06-22-2011, 08:47 AM

Gingrich's people have a plan (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/06/newt-gingrich-loses-two-more-campaign-staffers-the-fundraisers.html):

"The campaign will continue to reorganize," Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told the Washington Post. "We are going to duct-tape together one coalition of Americans after another that believe in his large, bold vision of change."

Yeah, maybe he should get to work duct-taping his remaining staff together before any more of them get away.

Dewey Finn

06-22-2011, 09:14 AM

Gingrich had a second line of credit at Tiffany's for up to a million dollars. (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/06/newt-gingrich-tiffanys-debt-presidential-campaign/1) Just like all his constituents.
How rich is that guy? And that USA Today article said, "Gingrich staunchly defended himself on the first line of credit, dismissing inquiries about it as part of a 'gotcha game' in Washington and saying the 'revolving charge account" was a "normal way of doing business.'" OK, it's a normal way of doing business, but not a normal way of doing one's personal finances. Few middle-class Americans can relate to the idea of having a six-figure charge account at a jewelry store. Most of them wouldn't think of spending even $10,000 on a piece of jewelry.

Merijeek

06-22-2011, 10:29 AM

How rich is that guy? And that USA Today article said, "Gingrich staunchly defended himself on the first line of credit, dismissing inquiries about it as part of a 'gotcha game' in Washington and saying the 'revolving charge account" was a "normal way of doing business.'" OK, it's a normal way of doing business, but not a normal way of doing one's personal finances. Few middle-class Americans can relate to the idea of having a six-figure charge account at a jewelry store. Most of them wouldn't think of spending even $10,000 on a piece of jewelry.

I'm far more interested in finding out who was paying off that revolving account. Bet it somehow violated the hell out of some kind of law. Maybe it was a 'business expense'. Has to keep her happy to keep her putting out to keep him from ruining his career and wrecking his income.

See?

-Joe

Onomatopoeia

06-22-2011, 11:20 AM

Merijeek

06-22-2011, 11:38 AM

You know, I've been trying to wrap my brain around all the fuss being made about Gingrich's personal credit lines. Why does anyone care about this? Is he doing anything illegal? Did Gingrich take an oath of poverty that I missed somewhere?

There are oh, so many reasons to castigate Gingrich, but his Tiffany account? The man's wealthy. Big deal.

Please. Someone explain this to me.

Probably because he pretends to be an everyman trying to save America from Washington when in fact he's part of Washington and is trying to fleece the rest of America as hard and fast as he can.

More importantly, though, if it's actually investigated they will find something illegal about it. If a journalist actually starts investigating (not that they do that anymore) I'll happily start laying out money on bets for what they'll find.

-Joe

Profound Gibberish

06-22-2011, 12:56 PM

I am only half joking when I say that this may all end in a murder-suicide.
Creepy as it sounds, I would not rule it out.

MPB in Salt Lake

06-22-2011, 01:12 PM

I am only half joking when I say that this may all end in a murder-suicide.
Creepy as it sounds, I would not rule it out.

Who are you planning on killing?

Profound Gibberish

06-22-2011, 01:30 PM

Who are you planning on killing?

Oh, touche'!

mlees

06-22-2011, 02:08 PM

I really think Gingrich is beginning to lose it, for real.

I almost ran off the road when I heard him claim on the radio that he wasn't a Washington insider, Bwaaa? What the hell Newt, you are the very definition of an insider.

And also Newt, your new wife appears to be a real piece of work.

Maybe he thinks that since he hasn't held an elected political office in some time (since '98?) that he gets to claim he's not an insider.

I would have laughed in his face, too.

I imagine he still stays in touch with all of the allies he made during his terms, mingling (golf, lunches, whatever) with policy shapers of the beltway.

Chronos

06-22-2011, 04:25 PM

Why does anyone care about this? Is he doing anything illegal?We care about it because we intend to find out if he's doing anything illegal.

Fear Itself

06-22-2011, 05:01 PM

There are oh, so many reasons to castigate Gingrich, but his Tiffany account? The man's wealthy. Big deal.

Please. Someone explain this to me.Since this is apparently your first presidential campaign, you need to understand this is how it is always played. If the other guy can successfully torpedo Howard Dean by deliberately misinterpreting an exuberant yell, we would be damn fools not to capitalize on every little slip or inconsistency Gingrich makes. There is plenty of room for reasoned debate, but I am not going to pretend that I should be above cheap shots when my adversaries exploit them whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself.

Dewey Finn

06-22-2011, 05:10 PM

Even though in recent decades almost everyone elected to or even ran for the presidency has been wealthy, it's still an issue. People don't like it if a candidate is seen as flaunting his wealth. It makes them seem out of touch with mainstream, middle-class Americans. John McCain was criticized for being unable to answer the question of how many houses he owns. John Edwards was criticized for a $400 haircut. Sarah Palin for an expensive wardrobe paid for by the Republican Party. Etc.

Onomatopoeia

06-22-2011, 06:58 PM

Guess I'm out of touch then.

I thought there was something more to the Tiffany credit line story than was immediately evident, because the fervor seemed so, er, fervent, but apparently it's as shallow a non story as it seems. And no, I don't care that the other guys do it, or did it first.

Look, I think Gingrich is a buffoon. He never had a chance at the nomination in the first place, and he made himself look more foolish by attempting a run, especially with all his 'real' personal baggage. I also, however, believe all the hullabaloo about his personal finances is ridiculous, the interest in which probably says more about us than him.

Fear Itself

06-22-2011, 07:30 PM

And no, I don't care that the other guys do it, or did it first.Fine, you don't mind losing elections; we get it. The rest of us know that, given an opportunity to step on the other guys throat, you take it. Politics ain't for the faint heart, nor fair minded.

CaptMurdock

06-23-2011, 12:02 AM

Gingrich's people have a plan (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/06/newt-gingrich-loses-two-more-campaign-staffers-the-fundraisers.html):

Yeah, maybe he should get to work duct-taping his remaining staff together before any more of them get away.

He'd better hurry then... Now his campaign finance team is jumping ship: (http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110621/ts_yblog_theticket/newt-gingrich-loses-his-campaign-finance-team)

A Gingrich spokesman confirmed to the Associated Press's Shannon McCaffrey that fundraising director Jody Thomas and fundraising consultant Mary Heitman have quit the former House speaker's struggling presidential campaign.

He's gonna have to use more duct tape than Dexter... :cool:

Rhythmdvl

06-23-2011, 12:17 PM

There are oh, so many reasons to castigate Gingrich, but his Tiffany account? The man's wealthy. Big deal.

Please. Someone explain this to me.

The implications are more than "oh look, Newt is gluttonous and rich!"

During the time of the debt, was Tiffany lobbying a congressional committee that Callista was serving on as Chief Clerk? Are Tiffany's and Gingrich's claims that the no-interest loans were standard practice (the Washington Post gives those claims three Pinocchios (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/newt-gingrichs-dubious-claim-of-a-normal-no-interest-charge-account-at-tiffany/2011/05/23/AFGPJ69G_blog.html))?

While there is political hay to be maid of Gingrich's spending habits, there are actual, significant issues.

Note: I make no claims as to the veracity of the charges or implications, only that there may be more afoot than merely gross consumption.

crowmanyclouds

06-24-2011, 02:51 AM

Criswell predicts, Newt Gingrich will buy a dog . . . name it Checkers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech) and buy his wife a respectable Republican cloth coat.

:D
CMC fnord!

Jinx

06-24-2011, 04:08 AM

Where is Gingrich? Where is the GOP!?! [And, is anyone really looking for Palin's disappearing bus tour? ;) ]

Steve MB

08-02-2011, 08:47 AM

Gingrich Sock Puppet Theater (http://gawker.com/5826645/):

Yesterday Newt Gingrich laid out a new argument for why he should be the GOP presidential nominee: He's got the most Twitter followers. But according to a former Gingrich staffer, he bought them.

Gingrich complained yesterday (http://gawker.com/5826477/newt-gingrich-brags-about-his-twitter-followers) that the press is ignoring his prodigious Twitter audience: "I have six times as many Twitter followers as all the other candidates combined, but it didn't count because if it counted I'd still be a candidate; since I can't be a candidate that can't count." Which is true! Gingrich currently boasts 1,325,842 followers, whereas competitors Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann have yet to crack 100,000.

But if Newt is winning the Twitter primary, it's because of voter fraud. A former staffer tells us that his campaign hired a firm to boost his follower count, in part by creating fake accounts en masse...

paperbackwriter

08-02-2011, 10:32 PM

Startup PeekYou verifies Gawker claims (http://mashable.com/2011/08/02/newt-gingrich-twitter-followers/):
The startup uses an algorithm to determine how many of your followers are consumers, i.e. actual identifiable human beings, as opposed to spam accounts, business accounts and private accounts. (The company is so maniacal about making sure it has correctly identified spambots, it bought access to thousands of them on eBay.)

When it came to the GOP field, what stood out was the percentage of verifiable humans that follow Newt Gingrich: just 8% of the total.

“At first, we actually thought it might have been a bug,” says Michael Hussey, PeekYou’s CEO and Founder. “We have seen some pretty low consumer ratios in our testing, but Newt’s was the lowest we had ever seen.”

neuroman

08-04-2011, 12:27 AM

It's like getting a lady's shirt off and discovering that instead of a couple of pineapples, there's only a lot of newspaper stuffing and a pair of bing cherries.

gonzomax

10-31-2011, 10:05 PM

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110310003?frontpage This is the Republican brain.

jsgoddess

10-31-2011, 10:34 PM

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110310003?frontpage This is the Republican brain.

That link is to a story about Pat Buchanan, not Newt, for those who Need More Newt.

Boyo Jim

10-31-2011, 10:35 PM

I just need some more Eye of Newt.

Chronos

10-31-2011, 10:54 PM

And where's the link to the Republican Brain on Drugs?

Lantern

11-03-2011, 01:53 AM

Voyager

11-03-2011, 02:00 AM

A zombie thread is a good match for a zombie candidate.

Boyo Jim

11-03-2011, 02:28 AM

It appears (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/pollster-potential-cain-downfall-could-helpnewt.php?ref=fpblg)that Gingrich is well placed to benefit from a potential Cain collapse. The wheel of bufoonery has turned full circle!

Interesting. It's just an argument that it's Newt's turn to be the front runner. Everybody else has already had their chance at it.

gonzomax

11-10-2011, 09:12 PM

I saw an interview with Gingrich . You could have a drinking game around how often he says "profound". You will have to have several bottles if you try it.

Lantern

11-10-2011, 11:20 PM

I am increasingly warming to the idea of a Gingrich resurgence. The fundamental fact of this primary is that Romney's support seems to tops out at 25% which means that 75% of the primary electorate is searching for someone else. Most of them want someone more conservative than Romney. They also want someone who is at least plausibly a Presidential candidate. For the last few months Perry seemed to fill that role but he has blown it. Cain and Bachmann are still as ridiculous as ever. If you proceed to rank the conservative candidates from highest to lowest levels of bufoonery you end up with Gingrich. Yeah the guy is still a bufoon but he has at least held high-level public office and he passes for an intellectual in conservative circles. He will the last desperate hope that conservatives will flock to though they will probably have to resign themselves to a Romney candidacy.

Fear Itself

11-11-2011, 08:34 AM

Newt will flame out before the primaries. He is too easy to bait to provoke rash statements that he then has to spend time walking back. His temper is his fatal flaw.

Huntsman is the dark horse. He is Romney without the flip-flops.

Dewey Finn

11-11-2011, 09:15 AM

I am increasingly warming to the idea of a Gingrich resurgence.
I can't see how he will be able to overcome his marital record. Too many voters, including evangelical Republicans, mainstream Republicans and even mainstream Democrats, are going to have a problem supporting a person who has been repeatedly unfaithful to his wives.

Marley23

11-11-2011, 09:24 AM

The fundamental fact of this primary is that Romney's support seems to tops out at 25% which means that 75% of the primary electorate is searching for someone else.
Romney's next slogan: "You're stuck with me. Get used to it." I know Gingrich is polling a little better, but I don't see him getting all of Cain's supporters (they don't like Washington insiders and he's Newt Gingrich) or posing a serious threat when he passed his expiration date 15 years ago.

Huntsman is the dark horse. He is Romney without the flip-flops.
He's more of an invisible horse. The moderate pro-evolution, pro-global warming, ex-Obama ambassador is having trouble gaining traction in the Republican primaries for some reason. He's been campaigning a long time and I think he's still polling around one percent. If Obama picked Huntsman as an ambassador to make sure he couldn't compete in the 2012 primaries, it worked perfectly. Although Huntsman might not have had a shot anyway.

Jas09

11-11-2011, 10:33 AM

Interesting. It's just an argument that it's Newt's turn to be the front runner. Everybody else has already had their chance at it.Santorum hasn't!

Clothahump

11-11-2011, 10:55 AM

I can't see how he will be able to overcome his marital record. Too many voters, including evangelical Republicans, mainstream Republicans and even mainstream Democrats, are going to have a problem supporting a person who has been repeatedly unfaithful to his wives.

Apparently, that isn't a problem. I mean, Horndog Bill was unfaithful to his wife in a massive manner and people still think he's the cat's ass.

Lemur866

11-11-2011, 11:13 AM

How many of those Clinton-loving adultery-excusers are Republican primary voters, though?

We're talking two sets of people here, with different values.

Marley23

11-11-2011, 11:16 AM

How many of those Clinton-loving adultery-excusers are Republican primary voters, though?

We're talking two sets of people here, with different values.
Yes. Can you imagine the Republican who spearheaded the charge against Clinton in '98 voting for a cheat like Gingrich? I forget what that Republican's name was. I'm sure it'll come to me.

Boyo Jim

11-11-2011, 11:23 AM

Santorum hasn't!

Yes, but Santorum is all about following up in the rear. :p

Lemur866

11-11-2011, 11:24 AM

Yes. Can you imagine the Republican who spearheaded the charge against Clinton in '98 voting for a cheat like Gingrich? I forget what that Republican's name was. I'm sure it'll come to me.

I should have said "ostensibly different values".

GIGObuster

11-11-2011, 12:14 PM

Mmm, new polling shows Gingrich at 15% tied with Romney among Republicans, Cain is ahead with 18% but within the error margins they are tied with "Undecided/Don't know" and close to the other great choice of "Someone else"

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57322894-503544/poll-cain-tops-3-way-race-with-romney-gingrich/

I do agree with the posters that mentioned that while Romney is the most likely to get ahead in the end, the volatility of the race so far does point at most of the Republican tea partiers and extreme conservatives disliking Romney and they continue to look for someone else.. anybody but him.

jsgoddess

11-11-2011, 06:34 PM

Two new polls show a resurgence of Newt:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is experiencing a mini-surge in November – an apparent sign that voters are sampling the wider field as their affections for some alternatives to Mr. Romney, particularly businessman Herman Cain and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, begin to diminish. The new national CBS survey of Republican primary voters shows Mr. Cain at 18 percent, a modest advantage over Romney and Mr. Gingrich, who are tied at 15 percent. (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1111/Newt-Gingrich-Will-his-mini-surge-in-the-polls-last)

In this national McClatchy-Marist Poll, Newt Gingrich has joined the top tier of candidates vying for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Among Republican and Republican leaning independents, here is how the contest stands:

23% for Mitt Romney
19% for Newt Gingrich
17% for Herman Cain
10% for Ron Paul
8% for Rick Perry
5% for Michele Bachmann
1% for Jon Huntsman
1% for Rick Santorum
17% are undecided
(http://maristpoll.marist.edu/1111-romney-edges-gop-contenders%E2%80%A6gingrich-and-cain-battle-for-second/)

Damuri Ajashi

11-13-2011, 11:41 PM

Interesting. It's just an argument that it's Newt's turn to be the front runner. Everybody else has already had their chance at it.

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Obama should throw his hat in the ring suggest that the President might have been born in Kenya.

gonzomax

11-15-2011, 11:16 AM

Newt was pushing for as much damage as he could do against Clinton at the same time he was involved in ugly affairs of his own. He built the escalator between congress and the lobbyists.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/ Rude does not think highly of the hypocritical lying ,bought and sold Gingrich.

pseudotriton ruber ruber

11-15-2011, 11:34 AM

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Obama should throw his hat in the ring suggest that the President might have been born in Kenya.

And very well said, too.

WTF does your second sentence mean?

Steve MB

11-15-2011, 01:36 PM

Former Speaker Gingrich says he's a Washington outsider (thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/193615-former-speaker-gingrich-says-hes-a-washington-outsider)

:confused: :dubious: :rolleyes: :smack: :rolleyes:

jayjay

11-15-2011, 01:53 PM

And where's the link to the Republican Brain on Drugs?

There's no perceivable difference.

gonzomax

11-15-2011, 05:44 PM

Rude Pundit story, you have to slide down to the second story about the disgusting Newt. Todays came after i posted.

Steve MB

11-15-2011, 06:58 PM

Newt shows his aw-shucks humility (http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/15/politics/acosta-gingrich-surges/):

"Because I am much like Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, I'm such an unconventional political figure that you really need to design a unique campaign that fits the way I operate and what I'm trying to do."

The Great Sun Jester

11-16-2011, 03:48 PM

Apparently, that isn't a problem. I mean, Horndog Bill was unfaithful to his wife in a massive manner and people still think he's the cat's ass.Slick Willie was unfaithful because he was the cat's ass.

Damuri Ajashi

11-16-2011, 05:00 PM

And very well said, too.

WTF does your second sentence mean?

Obama should throw his hat in teh ring for the Republican primary and insinuate the President was born in kenya and he would be tied with Romeny for the lead.

Fear Itself

11-16-2011, 05:00 PM

Gingrich took $1.6 million from Freddie Mac (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/newt-gingrich-to-release-freddie-mac-records-denies-lobbying/)as a lobbyist:Bloomberg News (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-16/gingrich-said-to-be-paid-at-least-1-6-million-by-freddie-mac.html) reported Tuesday that the former House speaker made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consultation fees in a nine-year span. Sources told Bloomberg that in 2006, Gingrich was asked “to build bridges to Capitol Hill Republicans and develop an argument on behalf of the company’s public-private structure that would resonate with conservatives seeking to dismantle it.”
That's lobbying, no matter what Newt calls it.

pseudotriton ruber ruber

11-16-2011, 07:14 PM

Obama should throw his hat in teh ring for the Republican primary and insinuate the President was born in kenya and he would be tied with Romeny for the lead.

We're drawing closer and closer to English all the time.

gonzomax

11-16-2011, 09:33 PM

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68547.html Even Abramoff calls Newt corrupt. But is there anyone who thinks he is not?

Balance

11-16-2011, 10:39 PM

We're drawing closer and closer to English all the time.
If I may, Damuri Ajashi?

The insinuation is that the anti-Romney Right is jumping so blindly from not-Romney to not-Romney that if Obama put on a hairpiece, signed up as a Republican candidate, and mouthed one or two of the Tea Party's articles of faith, he'd get the same sort of surge as various other not-Romneys have.

Is that English enough for you?

gonzomax

11-16-2011, 11:11 PM

Apparently, that isn't a problem. I mean, Horndog Bill was unfaithful to his wife in a massive manner and people still think he's the cat's ass.

Kinda like Newt.

John DiFool

11-17-2011, 10:19 AM

If I may, Damuri Ajashi?

The insinuation is that the anti-Romney Right is jumping so blindly from not-Romney to not-Romney that if Obama put on a hairpiece, signed up as a Republican candidate, and mouthed one or two of the Tea Party's articles of faith, he'd get the same sort of surge as various other not-Romneys have.

Is that English enough for you?

Not-Mitt-Romney cartoon. (http://images2.dailykos.com/i/user/2722/TMW2011-11-16colorKOS.png)

JoelUpchurch

11-17-2011, 11:01 AM

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68547.html Even Abramoff calls Newt corrupt. But is there anyone who thinks he is not?

You really want to use Abramoff as a source? What if comes back tomorrow and says President Obama is corrupt? Abramoff is just trying to make everybody else look dirty, so he looks better. At this point nobody has accused Gingrich of even making an improper phone call.

I have some reservations about Gingrich's temperament, but he is probably the smartest person running for president.

Damuri Ajashi

11-17-2011, 04:41 PM

Apparently, that isn't a problem. I mean, Horndog Bill was unfaithful to his wife in a massive manner and people still think he's the cat's ass.

Yeah but he didn't try to impeach someone else who was also being unfaithful to their wife and his base was not the same base that Newt has to try and appeal to.

Damuri Ajashi

11-17-2011, 04:46 PM

If I may, Damuri Ajashi?

The insinuation is that the anti-Romney Right is jumping so blindly from not-Romney to not-Romney that if Obama put on a hairpiece, signed up as a Republican candidate, and mouthed one or two of the Tea Party's articles of faith, he'd get the same sort of surge as various other not-Romneys have.

Is that English enough for you?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. How far we have come. I remember a time when Newt was so extreme that Democrats were hoping and praying that he would be the nominee and now we realize that Newt may be one of the strongest not-Romney candidates on the field.

jayjay

11-17-2011, 04:48 PM

Yeah, that's pretty much it. How far we have come. I remember a time when Newt was so extreme that Democrats were hoping and praying that he would be the nominee and now we realize that Newt may be one of the strongest not-Romney candidates on the field.

Sliding on down the rat-hole.

Fear Itself

11-17-2011, 04:48 PM

I remember a time when Newt was so extreme that Democrats were hoping and praying that he would be the nominee and now we realize that Newt may be one of the strongest not-Romney candidates on the field.Kind of like being the prettiest girl in the leper colony, isn't it?

gonzomax

11-18-2011, 10:50 AM

You really want to use Abramoff as a source? What if comes back tomorrow and says President Obama is corrupt? Abramoff is just trying to make everybody else look dirty, so he looks better. At this point nobody has accused Gingrich of even making an improper phone call.

I have some reservations about Gingrich's temperament, but he is probably the smartest person running for president.

Yes he has learned the word profound and uses it over and over. If he repeats it often enough, people begin to think he is profound instead of crooked. He got run out of congress by his own people. He has no principles at all. But unlike most Repubs on the stage, he speaks in complete sentences.
Abramoff is like Canseco in baseball. He came clean and people distrusted him until it was shown he told the truth. I am well aware of Gingrich and his fostering the Repub right and Lobbyist connections. It is hard to believe anything he says.

a35362

11-18-2011, 11:02 AM

Kind of like being the prettiest girl in the leper colony, isn't it?

Zing!

StusBlues

11-18-2011, 11:09 AM

Kind of like being the prettiest girl in the leper colony, isn't it?

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

jayjay

11-18-2011, 11:11 AM

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

And if you try it, don't knock it at all. In fact, don't jar, jostle, stub, stumble or stove it, either. It's not pretty.

gonzomax

11-19-2011, 10:59 PM

Last couple days Newt has played to his narrow base, by claiming there is no such thing as a 99 percent and that they should get a job and take a bath. This is your man of depth in the Repub party.

CaptMurdock

11-20-2011, 12:15 PM

Oh, it gets better...

Newt feels child labor laws are "truly stupid": (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/19/gingrich-laws-preventing-child-labor-are-truly-stupid/)

Newt Gingrich proposed a plan Friday that would allow poor children to clean their schools for money, saying such a setup would both allow students to earn income and endow them with a strong work ethic.

Speaking at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the former House Speaker said his system would be an improvement on current child labor laws, which he called "truly stupid."

Mind you, this seems less about kids earning a little pocket money and more about breaking the janitors' union. Still, it's a half-step from here to having underprivileged fourth-graders helping out in the coalmines.

gonzomax

11-20-2011, 12:32 PM

Gingrich is so rich and so privileged that he can not relate to the problems of the people. He has had his pockets filled by the wealthy for so long, that he thinks they are the people .
His remarks about the Occupations is proof of how out of touch he is.

RTFirefly

11-20-2011, 01:29 PM

Last couple days Newt has played to his narrow base, by claiming there is no such thing as a 99 percent and that they should get a job and take a bath. This is your man of depth in the Repub party.Funny, part of the point of the OWS stuff is that the 1% have fucked things up so bad that there are hardly any jobs to be had.

I bet even a lot of GOP primary voters are aware of how tough it is to find work these days.

Fear Itself

11-20-2011, 01:38 PM

FI bet even a lot of GOP primary voters are aware of how tough it is to find work these days.Nonsense. The reason jobs are scarce is because good Republicans have three, each (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/21/1028664/-Paul-Ryan-calls-Pell-Grants-unsustainable-and-tells-students-to-work-three-jobs-to-pay-for-college)!{Rep. Paul Ryan}
Look, I worked three jobs to pay off my student loans after college. I didn’t get grants, I got loans, and we need to have a system of viable student loans to be able to do this.

a35362

11-20-2011, 05:21 PM

Frostillicus

11-21-2011, 12:30 PM

Steve MB

11-21-2011, 02:02 PM

jayjay

11-21-2011, 02:06 PM

Newt's latest argument: people who criticize his lobbying deals have "a socialist bias that you shouldn't earn money" (http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-11-20/newt-gingrich-tops-republican-field/51324928/1).

No, Newt. It's a socialist bias that you shouldn't earn money by subverting democracy. It's only when you turn good and evil into empty electoral slogans that you start believing that getting rich is the greatest possible good and should be completely inviolable, by word or deed.

RTFirefly

11-21-2011, 02:38 PM

Newt's latest argument: people who criticize his lobbying deals have "a socialist bias that you shouldn't earn money" (http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-11-20/newt-gingrich-tops-republican-field/51324928/1).That reminds me of a bit of dialogue from A Night at the Opera:
Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont): Mr. Driftwood, three months ago, you promised to put me into society. In all that time, you've done nothing but draw a very handsome salary.

Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho): You think that's nothing? How many men do you think draw a handsome salary?And that's really Newt's story in a nutshell: he drew a handsome salary by trading on the connections he earned by being elected to represent his fellow citizens.

Fear Itself

11-22-2011, 09:08 PM

In tonight's Republican debate, Newt reiterated his desire to create a path to legal residency for illegal aliens who have been here for decades and have children who are US citizens. Pretty enlightened for a Republican, but he cannot get the nomination if he refuses to hew to the right wing orthodoxy that demands that all illegals must be thrown out, no matter what the circumstances. Looks like Rick Santorum will get his chance after all.

Qin Shi Huangdi

11-22-2011, 09:39 PM

I think Gingrich had a very good night today. He's on quite a roll.

Fear Itself

11-22-2011, 09:42 PM

I think Gingrich had a very good night today. He's on quite a roll.Really? You think the Tea Party wants to give illegal aliens a path to legal residency?

jayjay

11-22-2011, 09:50 PM

I think Gingrich had a very good night today. He's on quite a roll.

You're an optimist. This was the death knell of his candidacy. Insufficient hatred of brown people...illegal aliens are people, too? What is he, a Commie?!

Kolak of Twilo

11-22-2011, 09:59 PM

Yep, I just went and looked and the Freepers (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2811255/posts) are starting to lose there shit about Newt's immigration comments tonight.

elucidator

11-23-2011, 02:15 AM

Weird. Usually, when somebody posts a link, it's blue, but that one is brown.

RTFirefly

11-27-2011, 04:54 PM

Back near the beginning of the thread, I gave Newt no chance of winning the nomination. I don't know if he'll win it or not, but he definitely has a real chance right now, because a lot of GOPers want someone who's not Romney, and he's the last semi-credible not-Romney standing.

Back then, my logic was that Gingrich had always been one of these characters who Beltway pundits swoon over, but only trivial numbers of actual human beings ever seem to get behind. And there seemed to be plenty of candidates for GOPers of any stripe to prefer over Gingrich.

But now that the Teahadists's support has left Palin for Bachmann, and Bachmann for Perry, and Perry for Cain, and Cain for...Gingrich (head explodes here), all those alternatives have pretty much hit the wastebasket. Newt could actually wind up getting real votes. Who'd'a thunk?

Onomatopoeia

11-27-2011, 05:03 PM

Vinyl Turnip

11-27-2011, 05:38 PM

Pistol lodged in my ear canal, I guess I'd rather have a President Romney than a President Gingrich. Newty has always struck me as the type of amoral, vindictive son-of-a-bitch that should never be allowed within a flaming poo-bag's distance of the power of the Presidency. And Jesus, there's not enough Rushmore left to accommodate that fat fucking head.

Before you start slapping your own dandruffy shoulders, Mitt, understand that my enthusiasm can be measured roughly as follows:

Satay skewers in my testicles > Romney Presidency > Gingrich Presidency

Dewey Finn

11-27-2011, 05:47 PM

FYI, here (http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111127/NEWS/711279999) is a link to the editorial from the New Hampshire Union-Leader, which endorsed Newt Gingrich in today's paper. It's the most prominent newspaper in New Hampshire and is generally conservative. Previously, they've endorsed Steve Forbes (in 2000) and Pat Buchanan (in 1992 and 1996).

waterj2

11-27-2011, 05:48 PM

Yep, I just went and looked and the Freepers (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2811255/posts) are starting to lose there shit about Newt's immigration comments tonight.You think that's bad, check out these morons on Twitter (http://gawker.com/5862798/twitter-deeply-confused-at-union-leader-endorses-gingrich-headline) who got all upset that the Manchester (NH) Union Leader endorsed Gingrich. Simply brilliant.

Kolak of Twilo

11-27-2011, 11:15 PM

You think that's bad, check out these morons on Twitter (http://gawker.com/5862798/twitter-deeply-confused-at-union-leader-endorses-gingrich-headline) who got all upset that the Manchester (NH) Union Leader endorsed Gingrich. Simply brilliant.

That was hilarious!!! Thanks.

CaptMurdock

11-28-2011, 08:38 AM

RTFirefly

11-28-2011, 12:38 PM

:smack:
Good grief. These people have the cultural literacy of a cheese sandwich.The cheese sandwiches of the world feel you've unfairly insulted them.

Lago Ys-Transform

11-28-2011, 01:43 PM

I still want to know: what does Gingrich has that Romney doesn't? I could see Romney voters abandoning him to vote for Gingrich, but Bachmann/Perry/Cain voters lining up for Gingrich? The hell kind of sense does that make?

I know that I've asked this before, but goddammit I want to know. It doesn't make any goddamn sense. I can't think of any advantage that Gingrich has that Romney doesn't except for shoring up Georgia.

Knorf

11-28-2011, 01:55 PM

I still want to know: what does Gingrich has that Romney doesn't?
None of the other candidates seem viable at the moment except Romney, and Gingrich isn't Mormon. End of story.

Steve MB

11-28-2011, 01:55 PM

I know that I've asked this before, but goddammit I want to know. It doesn't make any goddamn sense. I can't think of any advantage that Gingrich has that Romney doesn't except for shoring up Georgia.
It could be the "Mormon" thing.

Lago Ys-Transform

11-28-2011, 02:25 PM

Dewey Finn

11-28-2011, 02:47 PM

Forget the Mormon thing. I think Romney's problem will be that he seems willing to change his opinion on issues depending on what's expedient (not that that's terribly unusual for a politician).

Simplicio

11-28-2011, 02:57 PM

I think that Romney's Mormonism 'problem' is way overplayed. If you press me I'll look for a poll, but I do remember seeing on Gallup that well over 80% of Republican voters would vote for a Mormon to national office.

Well, if that means that 20% of Republicans won't vote for Romney in 2012, that is kind of a big problem for his candidacy. Agree it won't matter in the primaries so much, where the GOP vote is going to be split several ways, but loosing a fifth of your party in the general is kind of a big deal.

That said, I suspect a sizable chunk of that 20%, when faced with a choice between Romney or Obama, will show up at the polls and vote for Romney anyways. At least, Romney better hope thats the case.

Voyager

11-28-2011, 02:59 PM

Knorf

11-28-2011, 03:17 PM

I think that Romney's Mormonism 'problem' is way overplayed. If you press me I'll look for a poll, but I do remember seeing on Gallup that well over 80% of Republican voters would vote for a Mormon to national office.

That's not good enough to get a Mormon Republican elected president.

Forget the Mormon thing. I think Romney's problem will be that he seems willing to change his opinion on issues depending on what's expedient (not that that's terribly unusual for a politician).
Certainly, this is a non-trivial problem he is facing in addition to being Mormon.

GIGObuster

12-01-2011, 05:21 PM

Well, it looks like Gingrich has gotten the lead by a wide margin.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican-newt-gingrich-tops-president-obama-poll-article-1.985272#ixzz1fKOgPhB8

Gingrich, whose campaign has risen from the dead to the top of most Republican leaderboards, led Romney 38%-17% in a Rasmussen survey of 1,000 likely voters.

How long this "not Romney" will last? Or will the Republicans will have to do with him?

amarone

12-01-2011, 05:45 PM

Well, it looks like Gingrich has gotten the lead by a wide margin.
And so the lesson is that it is clearly better to have had an affair that is public knowledge than to be accused of one that is not.

ElvisL1ves

12-01-2011, 06:35 PM

The lesson is that it's better to have had your crap out in public long ago, so by now it's old news that the undecideds have either forgotten or stopped caring about. It also lets you claim to have learned and grown from it, if it does come up.

The freshness of a story matters more than its substance in campaigning.

River Hippie

12-01-2011, 07:19 PM

If Romney really wanted to teach the Republican party a lesson he would drop out right now and stick them with the shitbags they have left.

"You want anyone but me? Fine...wish granted, bitches!"

Yeah, I'm dreaming.

Finagle

12-01-2011, 08:45 PM

Well, it looks like Gingrich has gotten the lead by a wide margin.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican-newt-gingrich-tops-president-obama-poll-article-1.985272#ixzz1fKOgPhB8

How long this "not Romney" will last? Or will the Republicans will have to do with him?

So I guess Ron Paul is attacking Newt for supposed flip-flopping. (http://news.yahoo.com/ron-paul-hits-gingrich-serial-hypocrisy-093416908.html) It's not really all that well done. Actually, the clip makes me like Gingrich slightly better. Its theme seems to be "Newt is evil because he's occasionally agreed with the Democrats on some positions." At least he didn't dismiss climate change and single payer health care out of hand (at least until he started running and had to toe the party line). Yeah, he may be a cheating, money-grubbing dirt bag, but at least he doesn't seem to be a closed-minded money-grubbing dirt bag.

I suspect Newt dates back to a time when politicians still occasionally worked together to compromise rather than the knee jerk obstructionism that the current generation has been brought up to.

Death of Rats

12-01-2011, 09:18 PM

Knorf

12-02-2011, 10:55 AM

I suspect Newt dates back to a time when politicians still occasionally worked together to compromise rather than the knee jerk obstructionism that the current generation has been brought up to.

Here's a article for you (http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/gingrich-and-the-destruction-of-congressional-expertise/?scp=6&sq=gingrich&st=cse), to clear up part of this misconception.

Jackmannii

12-02-2011, 11:00 AM

So I guess Ron Paul is attacking Newt for supposed flip-flopping. (http://news.yahoo.com/ron-paul-hits-gingrich-serial-hypocrisy-093416908.html)Yeah! At least Ron Paul is consistently insane.

I had an old Slade song come up on Ipod shuffle last night that I was going to propose for Mitt Romney's campaign theme song, but it's really a better fit for Newt:

See chameleon
Lying there in the sun
All things to everyone
Run, run away!

waterj2

12-02-2011, 05:50 PM

[I suspect Newt dates back to a time when politicians still occasionally worked together to compromise rather than the knee jerk obstructionism that the current generation has been brought up to.Just out of curiosity, were you around during Clinton's presidency? Yeah, Newt got elected to a Congress where bipartisan compromise was a respected norm. Then he worked tirelessly to abolish it. I've seen it pointed out that the roots of the Senate's current dysfunction lie in the election of former House members that had followed Gingrich's lead in turning that chamber into a bastion of partisan scorched earth tactics. Seriously, I don't think there's a single person that has done more to make knee-jerk obstructionism an inevitable fact of life than Newt Gingrich.

Lemur866

12-02-2011, 05:50 PM

How long exactly is it going to take before Newt implodes...again? Wow, he's the front runner for a week. Is he going to make it two weeks? Or as long as three weeks?

In other questions, what the hell is going on with the Republican Party? We're past the point of arguing whether the Republicans have gone insane, the question now is how far they're going to fall.

I suppose the best possible outcome is if the Republicans nominate Gingrich, and lose spectacularly. If they nominate good old safe moderate Romney, we'll have another four years of "we should have nominated a REAL conservative".

Frank

12-02-2011, 07:22 PM

I suppose the best possible outcome is if the Republicans nominate Gingrich, and lose spectacularly. If they nominate good old safe moderate Romney, we'll have another four years of "we should have nominated a REAL conservative".
I'm not sure that Gingrich counts as a REAL conservative by today's standards.

That said, the GOP does seem to by shying away from the Bachmann's and Perry's of the world, from which I can only conclude that the Republican Party is filled with RINO's. :D

OttoDaFe

12-02-2011, 10:13 PM

I'm not sure that Gingrich counts as a REAL conservative by today's standards.

That said, the GOP does seem to by shying away from the Bachmann's and Perry's of the world, from which I can only conclude that the Republican Party is filled with RINO's. :DIn that case, the teabaggers might be inclined to form their own "real" Republican party — thereby dooming the conservative movement to irrelevance until the Democrats overreach to the point of alienating the centrists. Which could be anywhere from twenty minutes to ten years: with the Dems, it's hard to predict.

Lantern

12-02-2011, 11:24 PM

Cain's implosion has come at the perfect moment for Gingrich. He already had the momentum and was up a few points over Romney and at least some of the Cain voters will switch to him. If polls show him 5-10 points above Romney it's going to give him an enormous boost just when he needs to raise money and build an organization in Iowa and New Hampshire. Are there any recent polls btw. The latest I have seen are around November 20.

Edit:I didn't read the above post with the Rasmussen survey ( which doesn't seem to be covered by Pollingreport).
Apparently the boost has already happened. Will be interesting to see how Romney reacts.

Fear Itself

12-03-2011, 07:59 AM

I am puzzled that the supporters that jumped from Bachmann to Perry to Cain have apparently now jumped to Gingrich. Bachmann/Perry/Cain are pretty much interchangeable Tea Party clones, but Newt is a Washington insider with a lot of baggage, both personal and professional. He has never been a big favorite with the Teahadists until now. So do they just have short memories, or are their principles just not that important in light of "anyone but Mitt" and "beat Obama" ?

ElvisL1ves

12-03-2011, 10:09 AM

I suspect Newt dates back to a time when politicians still occasionally worked together to compromise rather than the knee jerk obstructionism that the current generation has been brought up to.Absolutely wrong. Gingrich was the central figure in creating this period of childishness. Check (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOPAC#GOPAC_memo) this (http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/GopacMemo.html) out. (http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2008/09/21)As you know, one of the key points in the GOPAC tapes is that "language matters." In the video "We are a Majority," Language is listed as a key mechanism of control used by a majority party, along with Agenda, Rules, Attitude and Learning. As the tapes have been used in training sessions across the country and mailed to candidates we have heard a plaintive plea: "I wish I could speak like Newt."
...

Often we search hard for words to define our opponents. Sometimes we are hesitant to use contrast. Remember that creating a difference helps you. These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party.

abuse of power
anti- (issue): flag, family, child, jobs
betray
bizarre
bosses
bureaucracy
cheat
coercion
"compassion" is not enough
collapse(ing)
consequences
corrupt
corruption
criminal rights
crisis
cynicism
decay
deeper
destroy
destructive
devour
disgrace
endanger
excuses
failure (fail)
greed
hypocrisy
ideological
impose
incompetent
insecure
insensitive
intolerant
liberal
lie
limit(s)
machine
mandate(s)
obsolete
pathetic
patronage
permissive attitude
pessimistic
punish (poor ...)
radical
red tape
self-serving
selfish
sensationalists
shallow
shame
sick
spend(ing)
stagnation
status quo
steal
taxes
they/them
threaten
traitors
unionized
urgent (cy)
waste
welfareGet the picture?

kaylasdad99

12-03-2011, 11:10 AM

If he appears in Doonesbury cartoons, I wonder if Trudeau will use the same icon that he gave Newt in the 90s...

jayjay

12-03-2011, 11:13 AM

If he appears in Doonesbury cartoons, I wonder if Trudeau will use the same icon that he gave Newt in the 90s...

That was the bomb, wasn't it?

BrainGlutton

12-03-2011, 12:07 PM

Look, Gingrich really does project everything America hates about the GOP, all the very worst nastiness of it -- in fact, he probably will remind people of Cheney and Rove, whose memories are yet fresh, and sore -- and if the American people are given a choice between embracing that and rejecting it, a majority will reject it. Newt couldn't beat Lyndon LaRouche. Romney's really the Pubs' best hope. At least he doesn't inspire visceral revulsion (nor much of anything else) in all warm-blooded vertebrates.

jayjay

12-03-2011, 12:10 PM

Romney's really the Pubs' best hope. At least he doesn't inspire visceral revulsion (nor much of anything else) in all warm-blooded vertebrates.

Except dogs. They remember. Theeeey remember...

kaylasdad99

12-03-2011, 05:40 PM

If he appears in Doonesbury cartoons, I wonder if Trudeau will use the same icon that he gave Newt in the 90s...

That was the bomb, wasn't it?Yup. Maybe he'll draw Newt as a a fizzled-out firecracker.

Fear Itself

12-05-2011, 07:58 AM

Newt Gingrich is much like what Churchill said about John Foster Dulles: "He is the only bull I know who carries his own china shop around with him."

RTFirefly

12-05-2011, 09:31 AM

Get the picture?Yes, we see.*

TPM reporter Eric Kleefeld had a brilliant tweet (http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2011/12/eric-kleefeld-is-cruel.html):

Just got tip that a woman who had affair with Newt is going to surface — Callista is hitting the campaign trail.

* ETA: bonus points for getting the reference.

RTFirefly

12-05-2011, 09:37 AM

Newt Gingrich is much like what Churchill said about John Foster Dulles: "He is the only bull I know who carries his own china shop around with him."
Please keep your bull outside the china shop,
no bulls allowed, that's where they stop. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYoxNh4D1J8)

jayjay

12-05-2011, 09:39 AM

Yes, we see.*

* ETA: bonus points for getting the reference.

My folks were always putting him down... (down, down)...

Finagle

12-05-2011, 10:58 AM

Absolutely wrong. Gingrich was the central figure in creating this period of childishness. Check (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOPAC#GOPAC_memo) this (http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/GopacMemo.html) out. (http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2008/09/21)Get the picture?

Speculation withdrawn, then.

Steve MB

12-07-2011, 02:19 PM

A smoking gun from The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstage/politicians/newt-gingrich) (emphasis added):

The standard Gingrich "contract addendum" stipulates that a client has to provide the politician with a "non-smoking one-bedroom suite." It also notes that the Gingrich accommodation should be outfitted "preferably with two bathrooms."
:dubious:

a35362

12-07-2011, 03:10 PM

Eh. So he and his wife don't like to share a bathroom if they don't have to.

...His wife does travel with him, right?

RTFirefly

12-08-2011, 04:18 AM

My folks were always putting him down... (down, down)...They said he came from the wrong side of town (he came from the wrong side of town)

...

That's when the GOP fell for
this month's Leader of the Pack. (vroom, vroom)

ElvisL1ves

12-08-2011, 05:33 PM

...His wife does travel with him, right?Does she scream at him "Look out! Look out! Look out!"? Orr does she feel so helpless, what can she do?

And I'm pretty sure it's "Leader of the PAC" in his case, anyway.

RTFirefly

12-09-2011, 10:25 AM

Orr does she feel so helpless, what can she do?Nah, she'll save that for when he eventually divorces her for Wife #4.

BobLibDem

12-09-2011, 10:36 AM

Newt's wives are like city buses- don't like the looks of one, don't worry cause another will be along shortly.

Swords to Plowshares

12-10-2011, 10:13 AM

Here's some fodder for the foreign policy debate.

"Remember, there was no Palestine as a state — (it was) part of the Ottoman Empire. I think we have an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and historically part of the Arab community and they had the chance to go many places
source (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-12-10/Palestine-Gingrich/51781624/1)

jayjay

12-10-2011, 10:30 AM

Diplomacy, motherf'er! Do. You. Speak it?

ElvisL1ves

12-10-2011, 11:03 AM

Next time this opera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_It_Ain%27t_So,_Joe) comes to town, check it out.

Composer's view

"When watching the US Vice Presidential debate in 2008, I was struck by the extraordinary musical contrasts between the voices of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, as well as the convergence of two such fascinating life stories, both containing tragic, heroic, and comic elements. The audience for my opera Say it ain't so, Joe will experience a surreal and fractured vision of that remarkable encounter, as well as brief glimpses of other contemporaneous events and political figures, with some fantastical digressions." – Curtis K. Hughes

Lantern

12-10-2011, 12:28 PM

Gingrich has gotten a huge boost since Cain imploded and is up 37-23 in the latest Gallup tracking poll. It's crunch time for Romney. The race will soon freeze over the Christmas break and the Iowa caucus is on Jan3. If Newt can win that and come a strong second in NH he will have a lot of momentum going into SC and Florida where he is already polling well. After that it will be a long hard slog and it's not clear whether Newt can raise the money and organization to pull through but ideally Romney doesn't want to find out.

He would like to knock back Newt right around now and needs to spend a big chunk of his war chest on negative ads. There are two major lines of attacks: Newt is too erratic and has too much baggage. And second, attack Newt from the right on issue where he has strayed from conservative orthodoxy. There are lots of Republicans who don't like Newt including some hardcore conservatives; it would really help Romney to get some of them to attack him openly. It would also help Romney if Perry got some traction especially with religious voters. It's probably too late for Perry to become a serious contender again but he has the money to become a spoiler siphonong off some evangelical votes from Newt in Iowa and muddying the result.

Knorf

12-10-2011, 12:50 PM

And the "ideas" keep coming (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/us/politics/gingrich-suggests-a-reversal-of-mideast-policy.html?ref=politics&gwh=3DF0EDD9DE52ADC2C0096D89FE3F9ABA).

Palestinians are an "invented" people:
...I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places.

You people, whose parents and grand parents and countless generations who have lived in the region: you're just Arabs. Go to Arabia where you belong, or one of these other "many places."

You Christians who have lived there for countless generations as well? What? There are Palestinian Christians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Christians)*? Who knew? But who cares, since Palestinians are an "invented" people. And you're just Arabs anyway. Go away.

(*Palestinian Christians are about 9.8% of the non-Jewish Arab population in the Palestinian territories, according to the CIA Factbook in the Wiki article linked above.)

Boyo Jim

12-10-2011, 01:33 PM

I too have had a chance to go may places. I grew up not far from an airport!

Swords to Plowshares

12-10-2011, 01:37 PM

And they had a chance to go many places.

I wonder if that's a subtle jab at the Dome on the Rock.

John Mace

12-10-2011, 07:33 PM

Does anyone else think his wife looks eerily similar to McCain's wife?

Boyo Jim

12-10-2011, 07:43 PM

Does anyone else think his wife looks eerily similar to McCain's wife?

I hadn't, but now that you mention it, is there a factory somewhere churning them out? Cindy McCain (http://stupidcelebrities.net/wp-content/old_pictures/cindymc3.jpg). Callista Gingrich (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cCYw2H3DVUI/TfPA7ooSG-I/AAAAAAAAEhw/hZakrXSVMS4/s1600/Callista+Gingrich.jpg)

Callista particularly has a real Stepford look to her. Cindy looks more like a dominatrix.

PhillyGuy

12-10-2011, 07:47 PM

Callista particularly has a real Stepford look to her. Cindy looks more like a dominatrix.

In view of recent events, I needed a reminder why it's just as well that I remain a Republican. Thank you for providing it.

Kolga

12-10-2011, 07:49 PM

Callista Gingrich (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cCYw2H3DVUI/TfPA7ooSG-I/AAAAAAAAEhw/hZakrXSVMS4/s1600/Callista+Gingrich.jpg)

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Can't sleep, it will eat me!

UFC Is Sux

12-10-2011, 08:32 PM

CaptMurdock

12-11-2011, 08:02 PM

I hadn't, but now that you mention it, is there a factory somewhere churning them out? Cindy McCain (http://stupidcelebrities.net/wp-content/old_pictures/cindymc3.jpg). Callista Gingrich (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cCYw2H3DVUI/TfPA7ooSG-I/AAAAAAAAEhw/hZakrXSVMS4/s1600/Callista+Gingrich.jpg)

Callista particularly has a real Stepford look to her. Cindy looks more like a dominatrix.

GGAAAAAHHHH! Warn me when you're going to be posting scary stuff like that! Christmas on a cracker! (And to think, Ann Coulter once had the nards to say that the Repubs have "all the pretty girls." Hoo-boy. :rolleyes:)

Callista reminds me of the Martian hit woman (http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Mars%20Attacks) who tries to kill Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks. Same plastic hair, same plastic expression.

Yeah, Callista looks like she's about to bite Martin Short's face off.

a35362

12-11-2011, 08:50 PM

Callista Gingrich in that picture looks like a cross between Christie Brinkley and Hillary Clinton.

jsgoddess

12-11-2011, 09:03 PM

Callista Gingrich's hair freaks me out. It's like snap-on hair.

Lantern

12-12-2011, 01:39 AM

I have been reading a bit about the debate and clearly Romney did not have a good night. Why on earth did he attack Gingrich about the Palestinian quote. It was indeed inflammatory rubbish which no serious candidate would say but it was also exactly the kind of thing which conservatives lap up. Romney needs to attack Gingrich from the right, the way he attacked Perry on immigration.

And he obviously shouldn't have offered that silly 10,000 bet to Perry. What kind of person bets 10,000? And why is he attacking Perry anyway? Perry is his best hope for siphoning off conservative votes from Gingrich.

Simplicio

12-12-2011, 02:53 AM

And he obviously shouldn't have offered that silly 10,000 bet to Perry. What kind of person bets 10,000?

I kinda liked the idea of the betting bit, but he should've saved it for some actual factual disagreement and then pressed it harder. The debates could use a little more "put-up or shut-up", but on some topic that they could've actually built a bet around. So far as I could tell (it wasn't super clear), Romney wanted to bet on Perry's ability to prove what Romney meant by changing some of the wordings in his book, which is way too subjective, there's no way anyone could arbitrate that objectively.

I don't think the 10k thing is that big a deal. Its no big secret he's rich, and it would look kinda weak for a millionaire to be offering to bet 50 bucks.

And why is he attacking Perry anyway? Perry is his best hope for siphoning off conservative votes from Gingrich.

He was responding to an attack from Perry. Its not like he could just say "yea your right, I'm a flip-flopper".

Lobohan

12-12-2011, 03:02 AM

That pic of Callista nearly made me poop.

pseudotriton ruber ruber

12-12-2011, 04:12 AM

That pic of Callista nearly made me poop.

When you wanted to poop, or wanted NOT to poop?

BobLibDem

12-12-2011, 06:40 AM

Callista's eyes make me long for the serenity of Bachmann's eyes.

Lantern

12-12-2011, 11:43 PM

Its no big secret he's rich, and it would look kinda weak for a millionaire to be offering to bet 50 bucks.
Everyone knows he is rich but he doesn't have to go out of his way to remind everyone that he can afford to throw away money frivolously. Many politicians are rich and could afford to bet 10,000 but wouldn't do so in a public debate. Aside from the amount of money, evangelicals often disapprove of gambling and while they aren't Mitt's primary constituency, he doesn't need to gratuitously drive them away either. The whole thing just seemed clumsy and gimmicky. He should just have defended himself directly and moved on.

Kolak of Twilo

12-13-2011, 12:36 AM

...Aside from the amount of money, evangelicals often disapprove of gambling and while they aren't Mitt's primary constituency, he doesn't need to gratuitously drive them away either.

Evangelicals don't approve of gambling.

Mormons, really don't approve of gambling. (http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/doctrines/gambling_eom.htm#_ftnref1)

The Church has been and now is unalterably opposed to gambling in any form whatever. It is opposed to any game of chance, occupation, or so-called business, which takes money from the person who may be possessed of it without giving value received in return. It is opposed to all practices the tendency of which is to encourage the spirit of reckless speculation, and particularly to that which tends to degrade or weaken the high moral standard which the members of the Church, and our community at large, have always maintained. We therefore advise and urge all members of the Church to refrain from participation in any activity which is contrary to the view herein set forth.

Care to 'splain that one Willard?

Chronos

12-13-2011, 12:38 AM

Or he could have made a symbolic bet, like for a bottle of scotch or the like. The press loves to follow things like that, and it'd be sure to be a story when the bet was settled, and realistically, the publicity is worth more than the money in a case like this. But at the same time, it would feel more like the sort of bet an "ordinary guy" would make.

BobLibDem

12-13-2011, 06:50 AM

If Romney had the political instincts of a hamster he would have said something like "I'll bet you a bowl of Boston baked beans against a bowl of Texas chili".

Jack Batty

12-13-2011, 08:39 AM

I can't believe this "I bet you $10k" shit is what my brethren on the left are flogging. People - Romney wasn't actually expecting to either put up or win ten thousand dollars. It was fucking rhetorical.

Going after this is pretty weak tea.

BobLibDem

12-13-2011, 08:41 AM

Bob Ducca

12-13-2011, 09:23 AM

So far as I could tell (it wasn't super clear), Romney wanted to bet on Perry's ability to prove what Romney meant by changing some of the wordings in his book, which is way too subjective, there's no way anyone could arbitrate that objectively.

I don't think the 10k thing is that big a deal. Its no big secret he's rich, and it would look kinda weak for a millionaire to be offering to bet 50 bucks.

He was responding to an attack from Perry. Its not like he could just say "yea your right, I'm a flip-flopper".

How subjective would it be to look at two copies of a book and compare the passages in question to see if it was changed? Sounds pretty cut and dry to me, either it was changed or it wasn't.

Steve MB

12-13-2011, 10:42 AM

Every time I think it can't descend any further into theater of the absurd, it does (thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/198831-radio-host-offers-gingrich-1-million-to-drop-out-of-the-gop-race):

Conservative radio host Michael Savage is offering Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich $1 million if he drops out of the GOP race within the next 72 hours, according to a message on his website....

(One million? Pffft! Get in touch with Newt's people when you have some real money!)

Simplicio

12-13-2011, 10:51 AM

How subjective would it be to look at two copies of a book and compare the passages in question to see if it was changed? Sounds pretty cut and dry to me, either it was changed or it wasn't.

It was changed, and Romney wasn't contesting that point. He was contesting his motivation in changing it, which is pretty much impossible to prove either way.

If he'd actually contested some claim that was actually provably false, then I think the headlines would've focused on the contents of the bet a lot more (presumably to Perry's detriment) and less on Romneys wallet.

BrainGlutton

12-14-2011, 09:16 AM

Why Newt Gingrich Hates the State Department: (http://www.thenation.com/blog/165114/why-newt-gingrich-hates-state-department)

Why does Gingrich harbor such strange antipathy for the nonpartisan, apolitical analysts in Foggy Bottom?

It is an often overlooked aspect of Gingrich’s history that he was a leading advocate of the disastrous Iraq War. In April 2003 he delivered at broadside against the State Department at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. (USA Today described Gingrich at the time as “a close associate of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board.”) The State Department produced honest intelligence assessments in the run-up to the invasion, rather than the politicized fear mongering about imaginary weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda that the Bush-Cheney White House wanted. Secretary of State Colin Powell was also more cautious about invading Iraq than his colleagues in the White House and Defense Department.

In June 2003 Gingrich wrote an article for Foreign Policy that scathingly attacked the State Department for failing to back the Iraq invasion. FP’s Josh Keating recounts that Gingrich’s piece “accused the department of undermining the Bush administration’s foreign policy and argues that it needs to ‘experience culture shock, a top-to-bottom transformation that will make it a more effective communicator of U.S. values around the world.’ ” As Keating notes, “Published just weeks after Bush’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ speech, the piece feels a like a bit of a relic of the short-lived triumphalism of the early Iraq war.” Gingrich’s recent statements suggest he has not rethought his discredited worldview.

The ideological roots of Gingrich’s views go back quite a bit farther than 2003. “It’s a critique we’ve heard periodically from the right since the McCarthy witch hunts,” says Jeffrey Laurenti an expert on international affairs at the Century Foundation. “They want to ensure that only people loyal to supposed ‘Americanist’ values work in the State Department and that it should not be contaminated by understanding the way others think.”

When implemented, these ideological purges have damaged the effectiveness of the State Department and American foreign policy. “It blinded American policymakers to what was happening in China [in the late 1940s and early 1950s],” says Laurenti. According to Laurenti, John Foster Dulles chased out the analysts who best understood the civil war that was going on China because their correct analysis, that the communists would win, was not what politicians wanted to hear. Some would argue that the resulting chilling effect on the way civil servants approached their job had terrible reverberations in years to come, possibly causing Washington to misunderstand the situation in Vietnam in the 1960s by believing that Hanoi was a puppet of Beijing. “This is a formula for blinding America’s leadership to what is happening on the outside,” says Laurenti. “When the State Department has been cowed by the political class in Washington to not report what it sees, we’ve had catastrophic failures: not just China in ‘49, but Iran in ’78–’79.”

neuroman

12-14-2011, 02:01 PM

Evangelicals don't approve of gambling.

Mormons, really don't approve of gambling. (http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/doctrines/gambling_eom.htm#_ftnref1)

Care to 'splain that one Willard?

It's not gambling if you know you're going to win.

BrainGlutton

12-14-2011, 04:25 PM

It's not gambling if you know you're going to win.

Yeah, try that one on your wife . . .

Lamar Mundane

12-14-2011, 05:07 PM

Do you think Fox News is cheering for Gingrich? (http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201112140011)

Lantern

12-15-2011, 01:02 AM

I have to say this is shaping up to be a fascinating race. A month back the conventional wisdom was that Romney was going to win in a cakewalk but I was skeptical and believed that a serious challenge had to come from someone on the right. Newt was the last conservative standing so it was him. But can he actually go all the way? A whole range of right-wing commentators like George Will are setting their targets on him and that has to slow him down. What's going on behind the scenes in the "invisible primary". Are the more conservative GOP moneymen and operatives moving to him or is he still running a shoe-string campaign?

Gingrich is a target-rich environment but Romney has to be disciplined in his attacks and should mainly attack Gingrich from the right. This makes Romney looks more conservative and in Rovian fashion helps undermine Gingrich's biggest strength: that he is the last conservative who can stop Romney.

Romney has the money to launch a massive barrage of ads at Gingrich and the weight of mainstream Republican commentary is also against him. That has to to hurt him in the next few weeks ,especially since debates become less important, but how quickly and how much?

Boyo Jim

12-15-2011, 01:15 AM

I'm wondering why Santorum isn't getting his week at the top. Sure he's bonkers, but so what? Pretty much all of them are.

I feel bad for him. But Republican voters apparently don't like the taste of santorum. Go figure.

Lantern

12-18-2011, 05:07 AM

Gingrich is fading according to the daily Gallup tracking poll; his lead is just 28-24 compared to 37-22 at the beginning of the month. Not surprising since the debates are over and he is facing a massive ad barrage as well as massive attacks from mainstream conservative commentators. But note that Romney hasn't moved up much and his support seems to have a ceiling of 25%. If Gingrich can hang on and win Iowa and knock out Perry or Bachmann he could still make a race out of it.

But he needs to change the current trajectory of the race where he is completely on the defensive. Either he needs to raise money quickly online and fight back with more ads or he needs a big endorsement from someone like Rush Limbaugh.

RTFirefly

12-18-2011, 05:44 AM

Why Newt Gingrich Hates the State Department: (http://www.thenation.com/blog/165114/why-newt-gingrich-hates-state-department)No offense, but I think that was just more fuel on the fire. Hating the State Department is a traditional Republican pastime going back at least as far as Joe McCarthy. I remember when Nixon was gearing up to run for President in 1968, he said he was going to clean up the State Department. The State Department's reasoned assessments of what's going on with the various nations tends to work against the perennial desire of conservatives to declare that a given Third World strongman is at the right hand of God, and that another is evil incarnate. And works even more against their desire to have the U.S. take strong action based on those opinions.

Hating on the State Department is simply in the right wing's blood, and I'd bet a metaphorical $10,000 that Newt's on record across the decades with plenty of State Department hate.

Voyager

12-19-2011, 02:36 PM

The Republican old pols seem to be scared of Newt, and they are trotting out the old House veterans to testify as to what a poor leader he was. Be interesting to see if this backfires.
Some Tea Party person was quoted in the Times yesterday as wanting a brokered convention to get a "real" conservative nominated. Both frontrunners have had heretical positions in the past so I can see why the Tea Partiers are having a fit.

I still have this sneaking suspicion that somewhere in Alaska Sarah Palin is plotting to be the dark moose candidate.

GIGObuster

12-19-2011, 05:33 PM

Latest buzz is that that seems to be working Voyager, but not as they expected it seems, pollsters are reporting that at least in Iowa Ron Paul is the new "not Mittens Romney"

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/1219/What-if-Ron-Paul-wins-Iowa
Two new polls show that Ron Paul is the leading Republican candidate in Iowa. If Ron Paul wins Iowa and finishes strong in New Hampshire, he could change the election's calculus.

John DiFool

12-19-2011, 06:41 PM

I like how this thread (regarding its title) was started when ol' Newt was way down in the polls; he then skyrocketed to a (brief) peak, and now has come back down again.

Grumman

12-19-2011, 06:50 PM

Boyo Jim

12-19-2011, 07:40 PM

Be still my heart -- could my Republican dream ticket of Paul-Palin happen?

Voyager

12-20-2011, 11:39 AM

Latest buzz is that that seems to be working Voyager, but not as they expected it seems, pollsters are reporting that at least in Iowa Ron Paul is the new "not Mittens Romney"

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/1219/What-if-Ron-Paul-wins-Iowa

*cackles evilly* Yes!
I read in the Times that various Super PACS have spent $3 million on anti-Gingrich ads. Perhaps he might change his mind on the benefits of unlimited corporate spending?

The interesting thing is that no one moving from Newt moved to Romney.

Voyager

12-20-2011, 11:40 AM

*crosses fingers*

You and me both. An Obama -Paul race would make LBJ - Goldwater look like a squeaker.

Fear Itself

12-24-2011, 10:03 AM

Gingrich fails to meet requirements to be on the ballot in his home state of Virginia. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/24/us-usa-campaign-virginia-idUSTRE7BN09E20111224)Leading Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has failed to meet the requirements to be in the primary election in his home state of Virginia, the state's Republican Party said.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives defiantly pledged to run a write-in campaign for the March 6 primary.

...

Despite Gingrich's last-minute effort to submit his petitions by Thursday's deadline, the state party said on its website on Saturday that a verification process showed he had not submitted the 10,000 signatures required to qualify for the primary.

Ca3799

12-24-2011, 10:19 AM

That pic of Callista nearly made me poop.

OK, I usually don't like to make fun of how folks look, but Callista's nose in quite impressive. This is a very unflattering picture of her: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=585&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=DscJz0Uc_6u8vM:&imgrefurl=http://bildungblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/ive-been-meaning-to-say-something-about.html&docid=TcXvhULsS4uqJM&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sW65ilskOC8/TVG4rK8kGdI/AAAAAAAAjBs/2o23pbvpi04/s1600/NewtGingrichCallistaGingrichBigNose.jpg&w=594&h=395&ei=Nfv1ToIRxYuyAt-48agB&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=701&sig=110657561488756428792&page=1&tbnh=126&tbnw=183&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=145&ty=67

a35362

12-24-2011, 10:25 AM

He's 23 years older than she is. She's 45 and he's 68.

That is some beak she's got.

2nd Law

12-24-2011, 10:51 AM

Gingrich fails to meet requirements to be on the ballot in his home state of Virginia. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/24/us-usa-campaign-virginia-idUSTRE7BN09E20111224)

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives defiantly pledged to run a write-in campaign for the March 6 primary.

Afraid not, Newt. Write-in votes aren't allowed in primaries in Virginia (cite (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+24.2-529)).

Snowboarder Bo

12-24-2011, 10:53 AM

I like how he's blaming the system for his failure.

That's exactly the kind of guy I want in the White House.

:rolleyes:

Lobohan

12-24-2011, 11:20 AM

Fear Itself

12-24-2011, 11:26 AM

That is some beak she's got.Others have noticed. (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1UsFUc_wdLQ/TgPDvgkHC7I/AAAAAAAAHyo/yiwONROM8_s/s1600/Huffaker2011-06-23.jpg)

Marley23

12-24-2011, 11:56 AM

I like how he's blaming the system for his failure.
What else would he do? Admit fault and gracefully accept defeat? I wouldn't be surprised if he tried a lawsuit next, or if the other candidates who couldn't get on the ballot try to lobby the state to extend is deadline. At first I thought this was just going to be an embarrassment for him, but Virginia is a big state and its primary is on Super Tuesday, so if the race is still competitive at this point, it would really hurt.

Frank

12-24-2011, 12:19 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if he tried a lawsuit next, or if the other candidates who couldn't get on the ballot try to lobby the state to extend is deadline. At first I thought this was just going to be an embarrassment for him, but Virginia is a big state and its primary is on Super Tuesday, so if the race is still competitive at this point, it would really hurt.
It'll hurt Rick Perry as well, if his next turn as not-Romney should roll around again.

The CNN story I read noted that Gingrich, Perry, Romney, and Paul all filed at the deadline without mentioning whether Bachmann, et al, had already qualified or didn't even bother to file, instead choosing to inform us of scintillating shit like this:
Callista is active in Northern Virginia organizations, including playing the French horn in a Fairfax, Virginia band.

Marley23

12-24-2011, 12:56 PM

The CNN story I read noted that Gingrich, Perry, Romney, and Paul all filed at the deadline without mentioning whether Bachmann, et al, had already qualified or didn't even bother to file, instead choosing to inform us of scintillating shit like this:
They should have included that, but it was reported the day before that Huntsman, Bachmann, Santorum didn't qualify. Like it matters. ;)

Snowboarder Bo

12-24-2011, 12:57 PM

jayjay

12-24-2011, 01:17 PM

Kolga

12-24-2011, 01:17 PM

OK, I usually don't like to make fun of how folks look, but Callista's nose in quite impressive. This is a very unflattering picture of her: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=585&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=DscJz0Uc_6u8vM:&imgrefurl=http://bildungblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/ive-been-meaning-to-say-something-about.html&docid=TcXvhULsS4uqJM&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sW65ilskOC8/TVG4rK8kGdI/AAAAAAAAjBs/2o23pbvpi04/s1600/NewtGingrichCallistaGingrichBigNose.jpg&w=594&h=395&ei=Nfv1ToIRxYuyAt-48agB&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=701&sig=110657561488756428792&page=1&tbnh=126&tbnw=183&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=145&ty=67

Okay, that woman is MY AGE. And she looks old enough to be my mother. I just asked my SO to guess how old she was, and he actually guessed my mother's age just by looking at the picture. (he's politically apathetic and didn't know who she is)

WTF? Is Gingrich a vampire sucking the age out of her or something?

The fact that Gingrich and Perry are both not on the VA primary ballot fills me with lulz.

Marley23

12-24-2011, 02:22 PM

The amazing thing about Callista Gingrich playing French Horn is that she doesn't even need to use a French Horn!

Here she is with a distant relative (http://images.politico.com/global/click/110803_callista_twitpic_394.jpg)!
Like Newt Gingrich at a buffet, Snowboarder Bo will be here all week, folks. Don't forget to tip your waitresses - they have to get up early tomorrow and clean Ms. Henderson's classroom.

Frank

12-24-2011, 06:15 PM

They should have included that, but it was reported the day before that Huntsman, Bachmann, Santorum didn't qualify.
Ah, I missed that.

These are serious presidential candidates? Who can't get on the ballot in a state with a vigorous conservative population? For a primary on Super Tuesday?

How can anyone think it won't be Romney?

Boyo Jim

12-24-2011, 07:24 PM

And they only needed 10,000 signatures. I could get that for my cat over a few weekends.

Lobohan

12-24-2011, 07:54 PM

And they only needed 10,000 signatures. I could get that for my cat over a few weekends.What's your cat's position on gay marriage?

a35362

12-24-2011, 08:00 PM

*snort*

Boyo Jim

12-24-2011, 09:36 PM

What's your cat's position on gay marriage?

Whatever you want it to be! I'm thinking of renaming her to 'Romney'.

squeegee

12-24-2011, 11:49 PM

Dumb question, but who besides Rommeister did qualify to be on the ballot in VA? The news feeds are all about Newt, I'm having trouble gathering this tidbit.

Snowboarder Bo

12-25-2011, 12:03 AM

Like Newt Gingrich at a buffet, Snowboarder Bo will be here all week, folks.

Oh, I'll be here a lot longer than that. :D

I'll bet I'm here long after Newt is just a hazy memory 'round these parts.

MsWhatsit

12-25-2011, 12:15 AM

Dumb question, but who besides Rommeister did qualify to be on the ballot in VA? The news feeds are all about Newt, I'm having trouble gathering this tidbit.

Romney and Paul. Four candidates submitted signatures; two were DQed. (Perry and Gingrich.) Edit: I believe that none of the other candidates even bothered to submit signatures, although as you say, it's sort of hard to figure this out from the extremely shitty news reporting on this topic.

Rhythmdvl

12-25-2011, 10:06 AM

I like how he's blaming the system for his failure.

That's exactly the kind of guy I want in the White House.

:rolleyes:

Not just the system--theJapanese!

“Newt and I agreed that the analogy is December 1941,” campaign director Michael Krull said in a message posted to Facebook. “We have experienced an unexpected set-back, but we will re-group and re-focus with increased determination, commitment and positive action. Throughout the next months there will be ups and downs; there will be successes and failures; there will be easy victories and difficult days - but in the end we will stand victorious.” (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/newt-failing-to-get-on-virginia-ballot-is-our-pearl-harbor.php?ref=fpa)

If not them, I wonder who he is suggesting was behind the sneak 'attack'?

Captain Amazing

12-25-2011, 12:42 PM

Romney and Paul. Four candidates submitted signatures; two were DQed. (Perry and Gingrich.) Edit: I believe that none of the other candidates even bothered to submit signatures, although as you say, it's sort of hard to figure this out from the extremely shitty news reporting on this topic.

Not overly. New York Post says it straight out.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/no_newt_on_va_ballot_EGE4RMDmj6l6oGNfNcklsM

Newt Gingrich — who leads the polls in Virginia — can’t get on the Old Dominion’s Super Tuesday ballot because he failed to collect the required 10,000 signatures from registered voters, the state’s Republican Party announced yesterday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s bid to get on the ballot was rejected Friday.
Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman didn’t bother submitting petitions before the Friday deadline.

The only candidates now expected to appear on the ballot are Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.

Basically, these are the ballot access requirements in Virginia to appear on the primary:

1. 10,000 petition signatures statewide
2. At least 400 from each congressional district
3. Petition circulators must be registered or eligible to vote in Virginia
4. Signatures must be gathered using the Board of Elections form, or a doublesided reproduction (single sided stapled forms are not accepted)
5. Forms are specific to city, county, and congressional district
6. Only qualified voters may sign a petition
7. Every petition has to be sworn and notarized.

In short, Virginia has some pretty strenuous ballot access laws. From Ashby Law's description:

http://www.ashby-law.com/better-things-to-do/

They also point out this:

And then there’s the Republican Party of Virginia, which is tasked by law with the responsibility of certifying which candidates have qualified for primary ballot access. RPV has effectively raised the statutory requirement of 10,000/400 by a factor of 50% this year by offering this safe harbor: The Party first will conduct a facial review of all petitions, and candidates who submit at least 15,000 signatures and 600 from each congressional district will be presumed to have met the statutory 10,000/400 requirement. Candidates who submit 14,999 or fewer, however, will undergo signature-by-signature scrutiny of his or her petitions—something no statewide candidate in recent memory ever has had to endure.

a35362

12-25-2011, 12:51 PM

Does "qualified voters" mean people who might be eligible to vote in VA, even if they're not actually registered to vote? And how do they check this as they're collecting the signatures? :confused:

Captain Amazing

12-25-2011, 01:10 PM

It looks like it means "registered to vote in Virginia". And they check it by asking "Are you registered to vote in Virginia", I'd imagine.

Regarding Perry, according to one person:

The source said more than 1,000 of Perry’s 11,911 signatures were automatically invalid because the sheets they were turned in on had not been notarized, a requirement set forth by the Virginia Board of Elections. Furthermore the source said the campaign also did not follow ‘simple’ rules such using double-sided petition sheets or correctly licensed notaries.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/perrys-va-ballot-hopes-were-dead-arrival/274906

Here's a bulletin from the Board of Elections regarding gathering signatures.

http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/Cidates/Bulletins/20120306PrimaryBulletin.pdf

Must be signed by not less than 10,000 qualified voters in Virginia, including at least 400 qualified voters from each of Virginia's eleven congressional districts, who attest that they intend to participate in the primary of the same political party as the candidate named on the petition.

Because many people who are not registered to vote will sign a petition, it is recommended that 15,000 - 20,000 signatures be obtained with at least 700 signatures from each congressional district.

Rhythmdvl

12-25-2011, 02:01 PM

What I really want in a leader is someone who recognizes that laws aren't important and should be circumvented or put aside when the leader really really wants something.

Snowboarder Bo

12-25-2011, 02:41 PM

What I really want in a leader is someone who recognizes that laws aren't important and should be circumvented or put aside when the leader really really wants something.

I bet you were happy from 2001-2009 then.

ElvisL1ves

12-25-2011, 02:55 PM

I'll bet I'm here long after Newt is just a hazy memory 'round these parts.You were. But that was a couple of months ago.

Try2B Comprehensive

12-25-2011, 03:09 PM

Newt should've hired a community organizer.

InterestedObserver

12-25-2011, 07:27 PM

Be still my heart -- could my Republican dream ticket of Paul-Palin happen?

As a progressive Independent Obama supporter, that's MY dream too. A very wet one. :D

As I see it to date, Romney is the ONLY candidate who stands a chance (albeit still a remote one) of besting Obama. Which is why the Obama team has been focusing on him from day one; not "fear" of him, they simply know what the GOP strategists do...he is going to be the nominee (and even if not, by some fluke, he is the only one to beat...the others will self-destruct).

I mean, the GOP party elite have been wringing their hands over the (and I quote)"train-wreck" that is Gingrich. They will do everything in their power to prevent him from representing their party in 2012.

The Right is effectively SPLIT, with the moderate mainstream majority of the base rejecting the extremists and the Tea Party, lunatic fringe rejecting anyone slightly left of Hitler. Let's throw Trump in as a third-party candidate and let the bloodbath ensue. :cool:

Boyo Jim

12-25-2011, 07:37 PM

That Hitler guy was a socialist! He had labor camps to guarantee full employment! And free medical care, complete with Death Panels. What a pussy.

China Guy

12-25-2011, 07:42 PM

Newt should've hired a community organizer.oh, the irony, it burns :D

Try2B Comprehensive

12-26-2011, 01:10 AM

oh, the irony, it burns :D

I am glad you liked that one :)

Ca3799

12-26-2011, 05:52 AM

RTFirefly

12-26-2011, 07:10 AM

Looking here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_2012, it seems Virginia is worth 50 delegates. Won't Gingrich (and Perry, I guess) have a hard time winning the primary if he's heading in 50 votes in the negative? Did he not find this a significant concern?I think you mean "a hard time winning the nomination," since Gingrich and Perry now have zero chance of winning the Virginia primary with its 50 delegates, out of roughly 2,400 delegates chosen by state party primaries and caucuses.

It certainly doesn't help Gingrich or Perry, should their campaigns last that long, to lose those 50 delegates, but it's not exactly an insurmountable obstacle, should there be a sudden groundswell of support for either of them.

The sort of requirements the Virginia GOP put on getting on the ballot put a premium on having a viable campaign organization. Gingrich really hasn't had much of a campaign organization, and Perry's basically made a decision to toss all his resources into Iowa, figuring that if he doesn't do well there, his chances of breaking through later are minimal.

Snowboarder Bo

12-27-2011, 10:58 AM

Apparently Newt was for Mitt Romney's healthcare law before he was against it!

In an April 2006 memo, the former House speaker called it "the most exciting development of the past few weeks." Gingrich also said the law has "tremendous potential to effect major change in the American health system."
Gingrich went on to note that that "we agree entirely with Gov. Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100 percent insurance coverage for all Americans." (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GINGRICH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-27-11-47-43)

I'm thinking that for the yucks factor, a Gingrich-Cain ticket would be amazing. Mind you, not as much fun as a Palin-Bachmann ticket would be, but still worth the price of admission.

Marley23

12-27-2011, 11:19 AM

Apparently Newt was for Mitt Romney's healthcare law before he was against it!
I don't find that surprising. It was a bipartisan health care law that included some significant Republican ideas until the party tacked hard to the right and everybody had to pretend they'd never supported it.

Steve MB

12-28-2011, 09:13 AM

What else would he do? Admit fault and gracefully accept defeat? I wouldn't be surprised if he tried a lawsuit next

Perry sues to get on Virginia ballot (http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7BR05020111228).

Damuri Ajashi

12-28-2011, 12:51 PM

What else would he do? Admit fault and gracefully accept defeat? I wouldn't be surprised if he tried a lawsuit next, or if the other candidates who couldn't get on the ballot try to lobby the state to extend is deadline. At first I thought this was just going to be an embarrassment for him, but Virginia is a big state and its primary is on Super Tuesday, so if the race is still competitive at this point, it would really hurt.

This is what happens when a book tour turns into a presidential campaign. The Potomac priamry was not on super tuesday in 2008. I wonder why the change.

It looks like it means "registered to vote in Virginia". And they check it by asking "Are you registered to vote in Virginia", I'd imagine.

Regarding Perry, according to one person:

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/perrys-va-ballot-hopes-were-dead-arrival/274906

Here's a bulletin from the Board of Elections regarding gathering signatures.

http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/Cidates/Bulletins/20120306PrimaryBulletin.pdf

Perry sues to get on Virginia ballot (http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7BR05020111228).

These are the sort of shenanigans you see in local elections, where people try to get each other knocked off the ballot.

Marley23

12-28-2011, 01:03 PM

Perry sues to get on Virginia ballot (http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7BR05020111228).
Good for him. I'd hate to live the rest of my life not knowing if I would have finished fourth or fifth.

Simplicio

12-28-2011, 01:10 PM

Looking here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_2012, it seems Virginia is worth 50 delegates. Won't Gingrich (and Perry, I guess) have a hard time winning the primary if he's heading in 50 votes in the negative? Did he not find this a significant concern?

Here's (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/meet-the-reason-newt-gingrich-isnt-on-the-va-ballot.php?ref=fpblg) a decent explanation of what happened.

Basically VA puts the State parties in charge of vetting petitions to get on the primary ballot. Unsurprisingly, the GOP didn't spend a lot of time actually enforcing the rules until recently, when a lawsuit brought the practice into question and the state GOP decided to start actually checking signitures for fear the court would take the power to vet their candidates. Apparently Newt and Perry campaigns didn't get the memo that they had to actually make sure their signatures were legit, and so their petitions got tossed out.

RTFirefly

12-28-2011, 02:29 PM

Perry sues to get on Virginia ballot (http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7BR05020111228).Perry, a firm believer in states' rights, is suing in Federal court. :D

Apparently Newt was for Mitt Romney's healthcare law before he was against it!That's not the good part!

The good part is this (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:online.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052970204296804577123043147395330.html):

R.C. Hammond, a spokesman for Mr. Gingrich...said the Newt Notes essay [endorsing Romney's health care plan] wasn't written by Mr. Gingrich himself…First Paul, now Newt...

BrainGlutton

12-28-2011, 02:34 PM

Can't any high-level pol keep track of what goes out under his name?!

River Hippie

12-30-2011, 08:05 AM

Ginch not giving up yet. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/29/newt-gingrich-virginia-ballot-ineligibility_n_1175638.html)

Snowboarder Bo

12-30-2011, 10:41 AM

haha omg Let's go to the quarry and throw stuff down there!

Until I read that article, I didn't realize that Virginia is Newt's home state!

BWAHAHAHAHA! He missed getting on the ballot in his own fucking state! How awesome is that!

Frank

12-30-2011, 10:54 AM

haha omg Let's go to the quarry and throw stuff down there!
Where's this quote come from, and why are you so fascinated with it?

Until I read that article, I didn't realize that Virginia is Newt's home state!

BWAHAHAHAHA! He missed getting on the ballot in his own fucking state! How awesome is that!
Gingrich was a military brat, born in Pennsylvania. He lived in Georgia for a couple of decades before being elected to Congress, representing a Georgia district. He remained in Virginia after he left Congress. I don't think he's got much of a home state advantage there, any more than any of the others running for President who maintain residences in Virginia do.