# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/122 "2011-11-28T19:55:11Z")
> [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](#): > > 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. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/123 "2011-11-28T19:55:43Z")
> [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lago_Ys-Transform)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/124 "2011-11-28T20:25:47Z")
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. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/125 "2011-11-28T20:47:28Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/126 "2011-11-28T20:57:40Z")
> [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](#): > > 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. ---
**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 28, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/127 "2011-11-28T20:59:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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). Generally conservative? That’s like calling Stalin generally Communist. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/128 "2011-11-28T21:17:17Z")
> [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](#): > > 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. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/129 "2011-12-01T23:21:35Z")
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](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? ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/130 "2011-12-01T23:45:14Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/131 "2011-12-02T00:35:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/132 "2011-12-02T01:19:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/133 "2011-12-02T02:45:14Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > 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](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. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/134 "2011-12-02T03:18:28Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > 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 … so… you’re saying he’s got a chance with you?! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/135 "2011-12-02T16:55:59Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/136 "2011-12-02T17:00:53Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > [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!_ ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/137 "2011-12-02T23:50:12Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > [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. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/138 "2011-12-02T23:50:31Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/139 "2011-12-03T01:22:20Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > 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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/140 "2011-12-03T04:13:16Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > 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. 😃 In 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. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898/141 "2011-12-03T05:24:23Z")
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. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-we-hardly-knew-ye/584898.md?page=8)