But here is what makes it okay for me: Newt wouldn’t be a dictator. He would still have to get support from Congress to pass anything into law. I agree that Newt does have some bold ideas that tip the scale into craziness sometimes, but I don’t think he’s a “Fuck it, let’s nuke Pakistan tonight, North Korea tomorrow” kind of crazy.
I have to agree with you about the TV punditry. They have been idiot shills throughout the campaign, totally distracted by each new dog with a fluffy tail as it comes along, not keeping any sense of perspective t all. And I mostly watch MSNBC, which you would THINK would have some perspective on the matter, generally not being conservatives. But no, ratings are the god they must appease, and to do that they pump up every primary as if it were the election itself, so they do.
If Newt wins, it will be because Republicans come out to vote in large numbers. That means that House and Senate are likely to belong to them. If Newt has the house and a 61 vote margin in the senate, say goodbye to the world. He’d probably crash the world economy as a first step.
That’ll get her a Distinguished Service Cross! I thought Gaganthundar was the OP. Oops.
How much did Gingrich’s Southern roots play in the vote? Is he expected to carry most of the South?
I won’t vote for him. But I can’t vouch for my Southern neighbors. 
It’s fascinating that at the height of Conservative Christian domination of the right-wing of the Republican party, the ones most likely to vote in primaries, the three leading candidates left include two Catholics and a Mormon. Ron Paul is admittedly a Baptist and since he’s running to spread a message rather than to win, he’ll be there all the way through. But he’s the one who makes a point of not publicly proclaiming his faith. And every contender who loudly pandered to the CC vote is out of the race. Who could have imagined that at the start?
Do you watch sports? Being a choker is worse, way worse, than being overmatched in the first place. Nobody praises the Yankees when they lose.
I can understand Newt’s appeal. Romney is a corporate suit. Corporate suits don’t have much credibility since the crash. Newt, well, if you want a fire-breathing pit bull as your candidate, there you go!
I’m also shocked by 48% of Gingrich voters declare abortion “illegal in all cases” and I’m NOT shocked that 44% of his voters in SC are BAs or Evangelicals.
The mistrust of Catholics on the part of evangelicals/fundies went away 2-3 decades ago, when they got used to making common cause on all those ‘family values’ issues. One data point: the Supreme Court has had a Roman Catholic majority for several years now - all five of the Republican appointees are Catholics. Have you heard the least peep of objection to this situation from any evangelical leader? Me either.
They may go to different churches on Sunday, but evangelicals and conservative Catholics are thick as thieves the rest of the week.
Mormons are still a different matter, though. It’ll probably take another decade or two for evangelicals to get over their distrust of Mormons, even though they’re on the same side of most issues.
I realize Santorum’s fading, but he’s still in the race.
Every loudly conservative protestant is out of the race. There’s no such thing as a born-again Catholic.
Though the two groups aren’t overtly antagonistic, they aren’t the same either. The much talked about “Reagan Democrats” that have mostly stayed switched since have a large percentage of Catholics among them. My hunch is that as we get to states with larger Catholic populations, we’ll see them going more for Romney.
Well they can always point to King David…
Utah, Idaho, and Alaska but in such a landslide Arizon’s definiately going Democrat.
Sort of like Dewey and Truman in 1948-Romney unfortunately is just as dull as Thomas Dewey.
That’s aint gonna happen even if Newt’s POTUS.
Santorum’s pretty much indistinguishable from one, though. Besides, what you said was:
“every contender who loudly pandered to the CC vote is out of the race.”
Did he, or did he not, loudly pander to the conservative Christian vote?
Just like there are no Catholics who use birth control: RCC doctrine denies the one, and forbids the other, but there are lots of Roman Catholics who’ve been ‘born again’ - I knew more than a few in my younger days - just as there are lots of Catholics who use birth control.
The main difference between Gingrich and Romney is that Gingrich knows how to fake sincerity and Romney doesn’t.
That reminds me, I’m reading **Nixonland **right now and the similarities between Gingrich and Nixon are disturbingly creepy.
I actually think Nixon was more charming and personable. And far less crooked.
THAT is disturbingly creepy to me.
I dunno, they both have that permanent scowl line etched into their foreheads.
Yeah, but you know what? Nixon really loved his wife. They were apparently very close. RMN barely lasted 10 months after Pat’s death.
I’m pretty sure Newton sees the greatest love of his life every time he looks in a mirror.
Man, did you ever listen to those tapes, or read the transcripts? Nixon was filled with hate and rage; he was just better at controlling it in public. (As President, and as Presidential candidate in 1968, he handed over the job of attacking enemies publicly to Spiro Agnew.) And by all accounts, he was never charming or personable; he didn’t seem to know how to relate to other human beings because he wasn’t much of one himself.
I think one could have an enjoyable conversation with Newt Gingrich. But I can’t imagine having anything like a normal conversation with Nixon.