# Romney or Gingrich? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 21, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178 "2012-01-21T00:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/81 "2012-01-27T03:44:57Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > We know – the question is, can space be **profitable?** Doubtful. What item is worth transportation costs above $1,000/pound? That we can’t get on Earth easier and cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/82 "2012-01-27T04:32:50Z")
> [@](#): > > “Weird” is the word I hear most from Republicans who have worked with him. Scott Klug, a former Republican House member from Wisconsin, who hasn’t endorsed anyone yet, says “Newt has ten ideas a day – two of them are good, six are weird and two are very weird.” [Robert Reich in Salon.com](http://www.salon.com/2012/01/26/dont_wish_for_a_newt_nomination/) So, he’d make a great Doper. But is that really what we want for President?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/83 "2012-01-27T04:42:37Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Doubtful. What item is worth transportation costs above $1,000/pound? That we can’t get on Earth easier and cheaper. Well, Moon rocks on the souvenir market. But only in the short run. Eventually they’ll lose their novelty. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/84 "2012-01-27T05:31:39Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > I lived in NW Indiana bordering the infamous town of Gary. I’ve seen this stuff my whole life so I do know the majority of non-addicts party on the taxpayer dime simply because they can - and it’s actually feeding into the potential to become addicts. “I’m from near that one town!” has got to be the least convincing credential I’ve ever seen proffered to support a public policy opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/85 "2012-01-27T07:03:36Z")
I think everyone can get on board the idea “I don’t want my tax dollars funding drug use”. Where we diverge is when it becomes “I don’t want my tax dollars funding drug use and I’m willing to pay ten times more than we do now and cause significantly increased misery, especially to those whose drug use is minor, to prevent it.” The merits of the plan are far outweighed by the demerits. That’s why it’s a dumb idea. It’s right up there with the “We should have nuked Tehran in 1979” school of thought. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/86 "2012-01-27T19:09:34Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > No, obviously. You could do that with any trait you are looking at. If you mention a trait, I can find a leader who has that trait, and was a bad leader. Doesn’t mean that the trait itself is not good. > > In Berslusconi’s case the major problem is that he is corrupt. He was most probably also corrupt in his business life. There is no sign that Romney is. > > Yes, sure. What I’m arguing for is not exactly that what he did was impressive. It was more that he showed skill at exactly the thing that would be useful for a leader. But you are identifying a single trait and saying, gee that would make him a good president. Is Romney competent? Sure, but what makes him acceptable to the electorate is that he pretty much lines up on the Center Right with Obama on a lot of issues from TARP to stimulus to Obamacare/Romneycare to saving the auto industry to a whole bunch of social issues. > [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Doubtful. What item is worth transportation costs above $1,000/pound? That we can’t get on Earth easier and cheaper. Well, the $1000/pound cost is based on the very expensive space shuttle program is it not? If we found a gold mine on the moon, I suspect the cost of buildinga moon mining base and shooting capsules full of gold back to the earth would cost less than $1000/pound. Also unobtainium is worth $20,000,000 per kilogram. (which apparently would make it uneconomic to mine in a distant galaxy un less you had stargates) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/87 "2012-01-28T03:15:25Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > Mommy shouldnt be doing drugs with taxpayer money, silly. Granted. That don’t put food in the kids’ bellies, though. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/88 "2012-01-28T03:25:40Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Doubtful. What item is worth transportation costs above $1,000/pound? That we can’t get on Earth easier and cheaper. There are vast quantities of metals available in space. Nor do I see any reason why space travel won’t become easier and cheaper as time goes on. It’s gonna be us, or it’s gonna be Russia, or China, or the EU. Somebody’s gonna grab a bucket and head out to where it’s raining soup. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/89 "2012-01-28T03:44:15Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Well, the $1000/pound cost is based on the very expensive space shuttle program is it not? If we found a **gold mine** on the moon, I suspect the cost of buildinga moon mining base and shooting capsules full of gold back to the earth would cost less than $1000/pound. So. . . whoever we turn out to be claim jumping, are we to expect them to greet us as liberators? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/90 "2012-01-30T15:14:30Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > When do the sane, rational grown ups declare? This is American politics, those qualifications keep them out. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Anyway, Newt can get some cheap applause by playing to his audience’s dislike of the “liberal” media, i.e. it’s not Obama that’s wrong with the country, it’s reporters who concentrate on questions about my personal life. Am I right? C’mon, give it up! What’s really amusing about that is it coming from the party that impeached Clinton over a blow job. > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Maybe he is planning to have poor inner city school children build the moon bases after class. The kids would actually do work; they’d have cash. They could also be put into service installing giant mirrors to reflect ambient light so it covers entire areas reducing the current danger of criminals lurking in the darkness. Mirrors could be arranged to light given metropolitan areas only during particular periods, so there would be darkness late at night for sleeping. [It sounds like genius.](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/26/us-usa-campaign-gingrich-ideas-idUSTRE80P06920120126) Thanks for that link. OMG, he actually proposed orbital mirrors that could simultaneously light up the dark spaces to make it harder on criminals, and be turned off at night so people could sleep. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Well, the $1000/pound cost is based on the very expensive space shuttle program is it not? Name a program that is cheaper. > [@](#): > > If we found a gold mine on the moon, I suspect the cost of buildinga moon mining base and shooting capsules full of gold back to the earth would cost less than $1000/pound. What basis do you have for that suspicion? > [@Frank](#): > > There are vast quantities of metals available in space. Nor do I see any reason why space travel won’t become easier and cheaper as time goes on. It’s gonna be us, or it’s gonna be Russia, or China, or the EU. That was the premise behind the Shuttle. Didn’t work. Will the next big idea in space travel lead to cheaper access to space? I hope so, but we’re kinda not there yet. The biggest problem with mining space is getting the stuff back down here. Even if you can round up an asteroid, and move it from whatever orbit it’s in to a stable orbit near the Earth, getting the stuff down here still is going to take a hell of a lot of effort and cost. Unless maybe you want to drop “city killer” sized asteroids into the Australian outback or something? Future space mining will be most useful when we have the resources to build things in space with those materials. Don’t bring them to Earth, build a factory on the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/91 "2012-01-30T17:36:38Z")
Prediction: If Romney gets the nom, look for attack ads against Obama that paint him as an elitist, out of touch with the common working man, unlike Romney who had to work his way up in life the hard way. If Gingrich is the nominee, look for attack ads against Obama that paint him as a poor family man, a man with no sense of morals, unlike Gingrich, who knows the true meaning of family values. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/92 "2012-01-30T19:44:16Z")
My prediction: Santorum will drop out of the race next month and endorse Romney. Nothing else of interest next month except for a debate on CNN, February 22nd. The turning point will be March 5th, when Gingrich, Paul, and Romney debate on NBC, the night before Super Tuesday. It’s too soon to tell what will happen on Super Tuesday; however, Gingrich will win Florida, partly because of his performance in the previous debate on CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/93 "2012-01-30T19:50:00Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > My prediction: > > Santorum will drop out of the race next month and endorse Romney. Nothing else of interest next month except for a debate on CNN, February 22nd. The turning point will be March 5th, when Gingrich, Paul, and Romney debate on NBC, the night before Super Tuesday. It’s too soon to tell what will happen on Super Tuesday; however, Gingrich will win Florida, partly because of his performance in the previous debate on CNN. You held me until “Gingrich will win Florida…” Nothing anywhere on this planet gives any indication that Gingrich will do any better than finish a distant second in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/94 "2012-01-30T22:10:08Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > however, Gingrich will win Florida, partly because of his performance in the previous debate on CNN. I don’t think he will. Romney currently has a [14 point lead in the polls](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-poll-shows-romney-surging-in-fla-gingrich-looks-to-future-primaries/2012/01/30/gIQAiC1TcQ_story.html), probably due to him taking the gloves off and running a lot of negative ads directly attacking Gingrich’s past ethic violations. I live in Georgia, but I am just over the state line so I get all the Jacksonville TV stations and the ads run quite a bit. One of them [in particular](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x6BwCStq6ol) is very effective in its simplicity. It’s just a 1997 clip from NBC Nightly News. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/95 "2012-01-31T20:08:52Z")
As usual, [Tom Tomorrow nails it.](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/30/1058729/-State-of-the-primary?via=user) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/96 "2012-02-01T02:21:59Z")
Gingrich is addressing a crowd in Orlando holding “46 States to Go” signs. And he’s doubling down on the crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/97 "2012-02-01T14:45:41Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Name a program that is cheaper. The pre-Callenger disaster space shuttle program. > [@](#): > > What basis do you have for that suspicion? It is cheaper to achieve escape velocity from the moon than from Earth. > [@](#): > > That was the premise behind the Shuttle. Didn’t work. Will the next big idea in space travel lead to cheaper access to space? I hope so, but we’re kinda not there yet. Space shuttle didn’t work because we didn’t have the stomach for dead astronauts. But sending unmanned rockets form the moon to the earth is much much cheaper. > [@](#): > > The biggest problem with mining space is getting the stuff back down here. Why do you say that? I would think that getting the stuff back here is pretty cheap if not easy. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Gingrich is addressing a crowd in Orlando holding “46 States to Go” signs. And he’s doubling down on the crazy. So has Mitt become inevitable? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/98 "2012-02-01T15:09:41Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Why do you say that? I would think that getting the stuff back here is pretty cheap if not easy. Getting stuff back to earth is cheap and easy. Getting stuff back to earth in a manner which prevents it from squishing whatever it lands on, less so. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/99 "2012-02-01T15:45:50Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > So has Mitt become inevitable? I’d say so. Even though Newt was vowing to fight it all the way to the convention-floor, saying he can still win if he sews up all the not-Romney delegates. I hope it plays out that way. I want Republican **riots** in the streets of Tampa in August! 😃 “The whole world is laughing! The whole world is laughing!” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178/100 "2012-02-01T17:14:01Z")
Hmm. Seems I underestimated the power of negative advertising. Looks like Romney has it in the bag. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-or-gingrich/610178.md?page=6)