Does Gingrich scare you?

[Farmer Jane]

Couldn't find any Gingrich threads.

Gingrich to Run for President

I can brush off Trump, Buchanan, and others, but Gingrich? Errrrm...do Republicans miss the party of yesteryear?

Here's a current poll that gives Trump the lead (wtf!) but it's too early to tell.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

He doesn't scare me as anyone who could be a serious challenger to Obama. He would scare me if ever actually got any power again. Gingrich is a has-been, though. It isn't 1994 anymore.

[Sampiro]

Two divorces, numerous infidelities, deadbeat dad, multimillion dollar book deals that don't bear close scrutiny (follow the money), recent convert to Catholicism, etc.- there's no way he could get the religious right and he has way too many skeletons in his closet to get anywhere close to the nomination. He'd be torn apart by the Democrats.

[GIGObuster]

Does Gingrich scare you?

Well, he turned me into a newt...




I got better.




He did not...

[Farmer Jane]

Gingrich-era Republicans scare me. I'm wondering how he's going to shape the race (if at all). The current contenders (save RP, who is not "Republican" enough for most) are, well, sort of silly.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by CitizenPained

I can brush off Trump, Buchanan, and others, but Gingrich? Errrrm...do Republicans miss the party of yesteryear?

If "yesteryear" = "Reagan Admin," Hell, yeah, they do!

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Their memories of Reagan are largely distorted, though. Reagan was a socialist by their current standards.

[Farmer Jane]

Even a losing candidate can shift the party (look at Howard Dean). I was hoping that RP would be the hey-government-get-out-of-my-personal-life shift in the GOP, but now I wonder.

[Oakminster]

Gingrich does not scare me. I suspect I'd be very comfortable with his economic and foreign policy. Pretty sure he won't turn out to be a gun grabber. I probably won't like his social agenda, but it is also unlikely to affect me in any material way.

[TruCelt]

Yes, yes, he does. I can't help noticing the congruence between his resurgence in the GOP and a second serious threat of Government Shutdown. I've been argued down on this, but it still tickles the back f my brain.

I think that Gingrich is a man of no scruples, and he causes others to act from fear rather than principle. He styles himself a negotiator, but he's actually just a threat machine.

[Mosier]

Originally Posted by Sampiro

Two divorces, numerous infidelities, deadbeat dad, multimillion dollar book deals that don't bear close scrutiny (follow the money), recent convert to Catholicism, etc.- there's no way he could get the religious right and he has way too many skeletons in his closet to get anywhere close to the nomination. He'd be torn apart by the Democrats.

The religious right doesn't vote for candidates. They vote against candidates. If the choice is Gingrich or Obama, they will vote for Gingrich.

The religious right is not the type of bloc that will just stay home.

[Mosier]

Originally Posted by TruCelt

I think that Gingrich is a man of no scruples, and he causes others to act from fear rather than principle. He styles himself a negotiator, but he's actually just a threat machine.

That wouldn't necessarily make someone a bad president, though. I am not sure that he's the type of liar George W. was, or the kind of pushover that George Senior was.

My measurement of current Republicans is whether they would have invaded Iraq if they were president in 9/11. That was the biggest, most wasteful and destructive unforgivably awful decision made by a president in decades. I don't think Gingrich would have invaded Iraq.

[Chefguy]

He only scares me in that the country doesn't need to go backwards. Even though his agenda was only 15 years ago, it's hopelessly outdated now. Retread politicians are like your grandmother trying to do hip-hop. It's sad, pathetic and laughable.

[Shodan]

Given that he was Speaker when the GOP balanced the budget and passed welfare reform (among other things), no, he doesn't scare me. Sounds like much of what we need now.

Regards,
Shodan

[Skald the Rhymer]

I'm pretty sure I could take Gingrinch in a fight, but as long as he doesn't start nothing, there won't be nothing.

[Chronos]

Gingrich himself doesn't scare me, as he's a has-been. But the fact that a has-been like Gingrich can be taken seriously does scare me.

His multiple divorces, infidelities, etc., don't make a difference to Republican voters, by the way. You see, he's really, really sorry for it, and won't do it again, and that's all that counts. I mean, when was the last time any of that stuff ever hurt a Republican candidate?

[Mosier]

Originally Posted by Shodan

Given that he was Speaker when the GOP balanced the budget and passed welfare reform (among other things), no, he doesn't scare me. Sounds like much of what we need now.

Regards,
Shodan

Didn't he and literally every other Republican vote against the spending bill that balanced the budget?

[Richard Parker]

Originally Posted by Mosier

Didn't he and literally every other Republican vote against the spending bill that balanced the budget?

The budget got balanced in the 1990s for three reasons: (1) the internet; (2) Gorbachev; and (3) sensible budgeting including PAYGO rules.

The GOP did not invent the internet (Al Gore did!). And they did not win the Cold War (or, at the very least, Newt Gingrich had nothing to do with it). So we're left with who gets credit for the Clinton-era budgets.

It is true that the critical budget in 1993 got no GOP support. The alternative they supported would have tried to cut $355 billion in spending, including over $100 billion in entitlement cuts, and would not have raised taxes. So it was both a political dead-end, and would not have reaped the revenue benefits of the booming late-90s economy like Clinton's budget did.

So Shodan is wrong. Newt played very little role in balancing the budget in the 1990s. To be fair though, neither did the Democrats. Most of the surplus is attributable to post-Cold War defense cuts and the booming economy. Whoever you think is responsible for those (and I think no American politician was), it was not Newt Gingrich.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

I think he lacks the charisma to be a serious candidate. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him take the VP slot. Personally he's obnoxious, and his politics suck, but he's a brilliant political strategist.

[Kolak of Twilo]

Originally Posted by CitizenPained

Does Gingrich scare you?

As long as he doesn't take his shirt off, then no, he doesn't.

[Little Nemo]

He's better than some of the alternatives. Gingrich sort of reminds me of Richard Nixon - he'd be immoral but competent.

[China Guy]

He was part and parcel of the moral majority. And yep, he'd scare me if he actually took office.

[Icerigger]

Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic

Their memories of Reagan are largely distorted, though. Reagan was a socialist by their current standards.

Indeed, at the end of his term he was being called "A Useful Idot" for the Soviets
by the Conservative Caucus.

[L. G. Butts, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Richard Parker

The budget got balanced in the 1990s for three reasons: (1) the internet; (2) Gorbachev; and (3) sensible budgeting including PAYGO rules.

The GOP did not invent the internet (Al Gore did!). And they did not win the Cold War (or, at the very least, Newt Gingrich had nothing to do with it). So we're left with who gets credit for the Clinton-era budgets.

It is true that the critical budget in 1993 got no GOP support. The alternative they supported would have tried to cut $355 billion in spending, including over $100 billion in entitlement cuts, and would not have raised taxes. So it was both a political dead-end, and would not have reaped the revenue benefits of the booming late-90s economy like Clinton's budget did.

So Shodan is wrong. Newt played very little role in balancing the budget in the 1990s. To be fair though, neither did the Democrats. Most of the surplus is attributable to post-Cold War defense cuts and the booming economy. Whoever you think is responsible for those (and I think no American politician was), it was not Newt Gingrich.

I was just going to post this exact thing. Shodan likes to give the credit of the balanced budget to the Republican controlled legislature, but it is complete bullshit. We have hashed this over many times here. I guess if he thinks that if he just keeps saying it, maybe someday everybody will forget it's wrong. That said, people who try to give Clinton the credit are off base also (though less so); sure he signed the 1993 bill with its pay-go rules (that not a single Republican voted for) and again in 1997, but more importantly he re-appointed and listened to Greenspan (and look how that worked out!). I would be willing to concede that President Bush the first deserves more credit with the pay-go rules in 1990 (supported by the Democratic legislature), but he got voted out of office for signing it (read my lips!). It wasn't until 97' that the congressional Republicans got in the game with the bi-partisan support of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Of course as soon as President Bush the Second was in, they trashed all the pay-go rules, cut taxes, passed the drug benefit, started a couple of wars, and got us in the mess we are in now. But I'll bet this is not how Shodan sees it, so YMMV.

[Shodan]

Originally Posted by Mosier

Didn't he and literally every other Republican vote against the spending bill that balanced the budget?

A little thought will show that this is not possible - if the GOP has a majority in both the House and Senate, no bill can pass if every Republican votes against it.

Clinton's baseline budget in 1995 had $200 billion deficits as far as the eye could see. Then Gingrich and the GOP took over, based mostly on their Contract with America, and the budget was balanced in 1998.

Regards,
Shodan

[Ca3799]

I know this is petty, but his wife's nose scared me the other day. I saw her turn to her husband during the White House correspondents Dinner and was taken aback. Later, I tried to look her up on Google images to see if she really had that big a nose, and there are not very many side views of her. Thank goodness!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1016&bih=576

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Originally Posted by Ca3799

I know this is petty, but his wife's nose scared me the other day. I saw her turn to her husband during the White House correspondents Dinner and was taken aback. Later, I tried to look her up on Google images to see if she really had that big a nose, and there are not very many side views of her. Thank goodness!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1016&bih=576

That's a nose that looks like it should have a pair of novelty glasses attached to it.

[Ca3799]

EEK! http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1016&bih=576

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Chronos

Gingrich himself doesn't scare me, as he's a has-been. But the fact that a has-been like Gingrich can be taken seriously does scare me.

What? Talk all you like about how America "worships youth," but politics remains a field where a man of 50 is a baby. It has always been so.

[Two Many Cats]

Gingrich doesn't scare me. He nauseates me.

[Chronos]

I didn't say that he was old; I said that he was a has-been. His political career already reached its zenith, then went into decline and ended, over a decade ago. John McCain, by contrast, despite being older, is still active in politics, and in as high a position as he's ever held.

[pravnik]

Does Newt Gingrich scare me? Man, the only thing that scares me about Gingrich is that some o' his ugly might rub off on me in the ring! I'm tellin' you that I am great, Gingrich will drop in eight! The man used to be speaker, but I will prove that he is the weaker! If you wanna lose your loot, just bet it on Newt! Rumble, young man rumble!

[Beware of Doug]

Are y'all talking about the Gingrinch? The Gingrinch that Stole Congress?

[Farmer Jane]

Originally Posted by Chronos

I didn't say that he was old; I said that he was a has-been. His political career already reached its zenith, then went into decline and ended, over a decade ago. John McCain, by contrast, despite being older, is still active in politics, and in as high a position as he's ever held.

Hey, Nixon had highs and lows.

Sometimes the losing party misses the old guy and wants a comeback kid, too. Look at how popular Al Gore was in 02 when the polls were trying to gauge potential candidates. Lieberman had good numbers, too, but that's because he was linked to AG. As soon as the updated AG candidate was in the media, Howard Dean rose to fame (and unfortunately fell, but anywhoo). I think if AG had run in 2004, that would would've been in the bag.

Not saying that Newt Gingrich is the equivalent or whatever, but if he runs his campaign properly, I'll get nervous. He is *the* antithesis of Obama and there are enough critics out there to sway some.

[Farmer Jane]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

He's better than some of the alternatives. Gingrich sort of reminds me of Richard Nixon - he'd be immoral but competent.

Exactly.

It's the competent Republicans you need to be weary of.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by CitizenPained

Hey, Nixon had highs and lows.

Sometimes the losing party misses the old guy and wants a comeback kid, too. Look at how popular Al Gore was in 02 when the polls were trying to gauge potential candidates. Lieberman had good numbers, too, but that's because he was linked to AG. As soon as the updated AG candidate was in the media, Howard Dean rose to fame (and unfortunately fell, but anywhoo). I think if AG had run in 2004, that would would've been in the bag.

Not saying that Newt Gingrich is the equivalent or whatever, but if he runs his campaign properly, I'll get nervous. He is *the* antithesis of Obama and there are enough critics out there to sway some.

Gingrich is a lot further out of politics than Gore or Nixon were. Gore had been Vice President and a Presidential candidate in 2000; recent history in 2002 and 2004. Nixon was the Vice President and Presidential candidate in 1960 (along with his ill-considered run for governor in 1962); his comeback was 1968.

But Gingrich has been out of office since January 1999 - twelve years is a long time in politics and a Congressman (even a Speaker) doesn't have the historical name recognition that a Vice President or Presidential nominee has. Gingrich was part of the same crowd as Phil Gramm and Steve Forbes and Pete Wilson.

[Fear Itself]

Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic

That's a nose that looks like it should have a pair of novelty glasses attached to it.

No, that would weaken her Hypno-Vision.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by CitizenPained

Hey, Nixon had highs and lows.

Come to think of it, bipolar disorder would explain a lot about Nixon.

[Locrian]

It scares me that Newt will get about 35% of the popular vote, and it would scare me if he got 1% of the popular vote. That should scare anyone.

[shiftless]

It is scare to me that he is only in it for the money. Gingrich and Trump are both in it for the publicity and the money that brings. Plus the very faint hope that a dozen better candidates might drop out for some reason, Obama will decide against running for some reason and they might get to be POTUS with no effort.

[Voyager]

If Gingrich got elected, we might see his competent and more or less rational side come out. Now, we'd have a disaster just like the Bush disaster, but we'd survive. Compared to crazy nutjobs like Ron Paul and Bachman, Newt doesn't scare me at all.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Gingrich shouldn't have caved into the teabaggers on the Paul Ryan flap. He wasn't wrong. Ryan's proposal is a grotesque, inhuman monstrosity, and Gingrich should have stuck to his guns on that and said, "even as a psychopath myself, I can see how brutal and anti-human this budget is, and once again, I say that as someone is is an unfeeling monster myself."

That would have put him on the map with independents. Instead he insensed the moron base while simultaneously making himself look like a pussy to indies.

If none of these Republican candidates are going to have the guts to stand up the teabagger zealots, Obama is going to have an easy reelection.

[Ca3799]

Why do all the politician's wives look like Stepford wives? Puffy haired bleach blonds with pearls and business suits. Creepy.

[gonzomax]

Newt was the master of K Street. He made no bones about gathering as much corporate money no matter how bad it looked when when was the Repub leader.
Since he has been out ,he has represented Astra Zeneca, Blue Cross, Freddie Mac, IBM, Microsoft UPS and the ethanol industry. They have made him rich, but he claims he does not have to be registered as a lobbyist because his activities "benefit the country at large".
No ego there. That is what the Repubs call an idea man.

[Farmer Jane]

^^ That sort of cronyism never seemed to bother VP Cheney.

[StusBlues]

He reminds me just a bit of Nixon in '68. A firebrand in his day, effectively removed from the game for a while, then a comeback as an outsider in a situation rent with crisis. Nixon didn't have quite the baggage the Gingrich has, though, and so far 2012 doesn't look much like 1968. Under extraordinary circumstances, he might have a shot, but I wouldn't put the odds any better than 100,000-1 at this point.

[boytyperanma]

The guy with the dancing queen ringtone doesn't scare me.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Originally Posted by StusBlues

He reminds me just a bit of Nixon in '68. A firebrand in his day, effectively removed from the game for a while, then a comeback as an outsider in a situation rent with crisis. Nixon didn't have quite the baggage the Gingrich has, though, and so far 2012 doesn't look much like 1968. Under extraordinary circumstances, he might have a shot, but I wouldn't put the odds any better than 100,000-1 at this point.

Gingrich doesn't have anything close to Nixon's actual substance either. Nixon was paranoid and corrupt, but had substance under the warts. Newt is warts to the bone.

[a35362]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

Come to think of it, bipolar disorder would explain a lot about Nixon.

Gingrich is bipolar, isn't he? Remember the crying jags in his office when he was Speaker?

I can't believe his wife is three years younger than Sarah Palin!

[MacCat]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

No, that would weaken her Hypno-Vision.

Yikes!