# Gingrich, We Hardly Knew Ye. . **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898 "2011-06-09T19:14:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/41 "2011-06-22T22:10:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/42 "2011-06-22T23:58:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/43 "2011-06-23T00:30:56Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/44 "2011-06-23T05:02:25Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [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… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/45 "2011-06-23T17:17:54Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/46 "2011-06-24T07:51:25Z")
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. 😃 CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/47 "2011-06-24T09:08:27Z")
Where is Gingrich? Where is the GOP!?! [And, is anyone really looking for Palin’s disappearing bus tour? 😉] ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/48 "2011-08-02T13:47:32Z")
[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… ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/49 "2011-08-03T03:32:29Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/50 "2011-08-04T05:27:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/51 "2011-11-01T03:05:28Z")
[http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110310003?frontpage](http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110310003?frontpage) This is the Republican brain. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/52 "2011-11-01T03:34:06Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110310003?frontpage](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. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/53 "2011-11-01T03:35:01Z")
I just need some more Eye of Newt. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/54 "2011-11-01T03:54:56Z")
And where’s the link to the Republican Brain on Drugs? ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/55 "2011-11-03T06:53:38Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/56 "2011-11-03T07:00:57Z")
A zombie thread is a good match for a zombie candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/57 "2011-11-03T07:28:35Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/58 "2011-11-11T03:12:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/59 "2011-11-11T05:20:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/60 "2011-11-11T14:34:11Z")
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. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898.md?page=4)