Category: Newt Gingrich

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Republican United States

Mitt Romney Changes His Position On Whether He Changes His Position

Apparently Mitt Romney thinks the people in the Republican party are fools, or maybe he think they’re easily fooled. Why else would he make this statement?

“I’m not going to change my positions by virtue of being in a presidential campaign.”

That statement smacks the truth about Romney’s record dead in its face. Mitt Romney has changed his posting on every single major issue discussed in today’s politics. From the Individual Mandate,to gays in the military, to immigration, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heck,even name represents his changing – from Willard to Mitt because politically,Mitt may be more accepted.

Changing position is what Mitt does. He’s not called Mitt the flip flopper for no reason.

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Barack Obama Health insurance Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Republican

Newt Gingrich Teaching The Benefits Of The Individual Mandate – Video

Once upon a time, in a world far far away… it must have been somewhere around 200… there lived a man called Newt Gingrich. This man was a Republican politician who actively advocated for the individual mandate – requiring that everyone must have some kind oh health insurance.

Then magically, a Democratic president was sworn into office in 2009. He enacted the individual mandate that Newt wanted and Republicans, including Newt, turned their backs against everything they once held dear – including the individual mandate.

The end… of a Republican party that once stood for something.

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Newt Gingrich Politics Republican

Rick Perry Does The George Bush – Ask Court To Put Him On Virginia’s Ballot

Hey, if it worked in the 2004 presidential election, when George Bush got the courts to hand him the presidency on a platter despite what the electorate said, why not try it again?

That was what came to mind, as I read about what one of the Republican candidates are trying to do in Virginia. Rick Perry has filed a lawsuit, demanding that the courts put him on the ballot.

“Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election. We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support.”

Perry was unable to get the required amount of signatures necessary to be included in the Virginia Republican primaries, and apparently, he’s not happy.

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Iowa Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican

We Hardly Knewt Ye!

That was close.

And scary.

The idea that Newt Gingrich might actually win the GOP presidential nomination sent shivers down the spines of enough Republicans that they actually came to their senses this week and  began to support Ron Paul in the Iowa caucus polls. As for the national trends, it looks like Mitt Romney is the betting favorite on Internet sites.

The Gingrich flirtation lasted only as long as voters knew little about what he might do in office. His tirades against the federal judiciary might play well with the ultra-conservatives, but they seem to be non-starters among the more moderate voters who will come out in later primary states. Also, his lack of organization is showing, but that shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. Gingrich never seemed to be in the race for anything other than to get his ideas in the marketplace. He succeeded. Now there’s a 50% off sticker on them and they’re not long for the discontinued bin.

Republican voters have sampled all of the candidates over the course of the last few months and they seem to be coalescing around Romney, despite conservative suspicion that he’s not fully committed to their causes. There’s a good reason for this; he’s not, but he’s the only electable candidate in the field. So that leaves us with a volatile race in Iowa with Romney, Paul (my favorite to pull out a win), Bachmann and Perry able to cobble together enough caucus voters to move on to the next set of states. Rick Santorum is getting a little love this week from evangelicals, but that will all come to naught after Iowa.

Then the serious race will begin in earnest. Depending upon what happens in the next few days, Romney will have to defend Republican obstruction that led to the end of the payroll tax cut, or he’ll have to run against it as flawed policy, despite the cut being popular among voters and economists. He’ll also have to harness the Tea Party faction that doesn’t want to compromise on anything, and is losing support, even with Republicans. Add on the fact that President Obama’s poll numbers are improving, and Mitt suddenly has a more daunting task ahead of him than he did in October (did he just announce his first major policy decision?).

But that’s all in the future. Right now, we should be thanking Newt Gingrich for a spirited campaign that ultimately showed his best days to be behind him. His rise and fall was swifter than Herman Cain’s and the reality of a Gingrich presidency was always going to present problems in a world that’s moved beyond the 1990s. Perhaps Romney can find room for Newt in his administration as, say, ambassador to Libya?

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics

The Search For The Biggest Flip Flopper – Gingrich Challenges Romney To A Debate

“I’ll tell you what,” Newt Gingrich said when responding to a question posed at an NBC interview,  “if he wants to test the heat, I’ll meet him anywhere in Iowa next week, one-on-one, 90 minutes no moderator, just a timekeeper. He wants to try out the kitchen? I’ll debate him anywhere. We’ll bring his ads, and he can defend [them].”

The question Gingrich was responding to, was in reference to a previous statement made by Mitt Romney, that suggested Gingrich couldn’t stand the “heat” of negative ads. Romney told NBC’s Chuck Todd, “If you can’t handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that’s going to come from Obama’s Hell’s Kitchen is going to be a heck of a lot hotter.”

Gingrich continued;

“And we can bring the Washington Post indication that his ad is filled with lies and he can defend it. So let’s test this kitchen. I’m happy [to]. I’ll go in this kitchen. Go back and ask Gov. Romney, would he like to come and play in the kitchen? I don’t think so. I don’t think he wants to do anything except hide over here and pretend it’s not his fault that he is flooding the people of Iowa with falsehoods.

“That’s his money and his staff. And it’s his responsibility. I can take the heat plenty well. There were 121,000 ads run against me in 1995 and 1996. I went through two government shutdowns. I actually stuck to my word. I opposed Republican tax increases in 1982 and 1980. I think I’ll do just fine with the heat from Barack Obama because frankly, it’ll be a fair exchange. He’ll get a fair amount of heat in the process.”

Like the others before him who once led the group of Republican misfits charge up the hill to become president of the United States, Newt Gingrich has fallen by the wayside. Recent polls now have him in third position behind Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics South Carolina

And Here’s Mitt Romney – The “Ideal” Teapartier

Mitt Romney is the ultimate politician, although he will be the first to tell you that he “lived his life in the private sector.” I call him the ultimate politician because he has mastered the hustle of knowing his audience and pandering to them to get their vote. And like it is for any politician, votes are the number one priority, so telling your audience what they want  to hear is a sure way to get them to nod in your direction.

Well – now he’s catering to the Teaparty. Speaking in South Carolina on Saturday, Romney told the audience (some were teaparty members) that he is the “ideal” teaparty candidate, as he tried to cast doubt on the Teaparty’s present favorite candidate, Newt Gingrich.

“I recognize that the speaker has a big lead here,” Romney said of Gingrich in a press conference in South Carolina. “But I think as people take a closer and closer look, they’ll recognize that I reflect more effectively the positions which they hold on key issues.

“I think Tea Partiers may have listened to the first debate where we discussed the speaker’s compensation from Freddie Mac, for instance. And he said, I think he said that he got $300,000 from Freddie Mac and it was to work as an historian. And as time has gone on we find out it’s $1.6 million and he worked as a spokesman for, in providing support for Freddie Mac,” Romney said. “I think as tea partiers concentrate on that for instance, they’ll say, wow, this really isn’t the guy that would represent our views.”

The tea party, Romney said, is “anxious to have people who are outside Washington coming in to change Washington, as opposed to people who stayed in Washington for 30 years.”

“And I believe on the issues, as well, that I line up with a smaller government, a less intrusive government, regulations being pared back, holding down the tax rates of the American people, maintaining a strong defense, and so many Tea Party folks are going to find me, I believe to be the ideal candidate,” Romney said. “I sure hope so.”

Because of his constant drive to be accepted by all political factions and and his inability to stick to any one position, Romney has gained the status of  flip flopper: skilled in the art of moving from one policy to another at the drop of a hat.

Imagine for a moment, a Romney administration making the dreaded announcement that America will go to war with Iran. Most assuredly by the next week, while the troops are in the air flying to drop the first bombs, Romney decides that war may not be the answer to Iran afterall, only to change his mind once again the following week.

Leadership…not!

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics

Flavor Of The Week – The Gingrich Lead Quickly Evaporates

But no one should be surprised. This is just part of the Republicans “Anyone But Romney” strategy. We all expect that when it’s all said and done, Republicans will put the future of this country into the hands of someone who can’t decide where he stands on any issue, on any particular day.

To quote Christine O’Donnell when she endorsed the man Republicans will be forced to accept, “That’s one of the things that I like about him — because he’s [Romney] been consistent since he changed his mind.”

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican

Pot and Kettle – Mitt Romney Calls Newt Gingrich “Unreliable”

When an inconsistent flip-flopper calls you an inconsistent flip-flopper, you know you’ve got problems. This is Mitt Romney’s next message for the Republican voters, that Newt is like a chameleon experienced in changing his colors to match his surroundings.

Defending himself against charges that his own conservative credentials are suspect, the former Massachusetts governor turned the question in Gingrich’s direction and said that it is the former speaker who has strayed repeatedly from embracing conservative doctrine in recent years.

“He has been an extraordinarily unreliable leader in the conservative world—not 16 or 17 years ago but in the last two to three years,” Romney said. “And even during the campaign, the number of times he has moved from one spot to another has been remarkable. I think he’s shown a level of unreliability as a conservative leader today.”

And who’s better equipped to talk about being a switch hitter than Ol’ Mitt Romney. His flip-flops are well documented here,  here, here,  here… and we could keep going, but you get the point. So, Mitt calling Newt “extraordinarily unreliable” and moving “from one spot to another” is – to borrow a phrase from Ed Shultz – Psycho Talk!

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Newt Gingrich Politics

Obama’s Team On Gingrich – “The Higher A Monkey Climbs… The More You See His Butt!”

Words of wisdom coming from David Axelrod, the top strategist and adviser to President Obama, suggesting that the more Newt Gingrich leads in the polls, the more scrutiny he’ll get. And with scrutiny, the skeletons come falling out!

Discussing the GOP primary electorate, Axelrod said, “All the energy is on the side of the Tea Party folks. And Gov. Romney comes from that other tradition of the Republican Party. And ya got to give him credit for trying. He’s done everything but light himself on fire for the last eight weeks trying to win.”

Then Axelrod turned to Gingrich–who has resurrected his candidacy after nearly tanking earlier in the year.

“Now Newt is back. Last week you all left him for dead at the checkout counter at Tiffany’s and now he’s back, a lion in winter,” Axelrod quipped. “That’s L-I-O-N by the way, I don’t want to stir up any trouble here.”

The Obama team has been tying Gingrich to the Tea Party movement, and Axelrod reinforced this messaging at the briefing.

“In certain ways [Gingrich] fits the role for this, because as we pointed out earlier in the week he is the original tea partier. You know, he brought that kind of politics to Congress in the early 90s, he led three government shut downs in order to try and roll back environmental protection…roll back the Department of Education and education programs, he wanted to cut Medicare, he wanted to give more tax cuts to the wealthy. He was really a forerunner of what we see today.”

Axelrod also noted that Gingrich has a long record that will be scrubbed and scrutinized.

“So the question is, can he sustain this over time?,” Axelrod said.

“I told my colleagues yesterday a bit of homespun wisdom that I got from an alderman in Chicago some years ago when one of his …colleagues wanted to run for higher office and he was really dubious. He said, ‘just remember the higher a monkey climbs on a pole, the more you can see his butt.’ So, you know, the Speaker is very high on the pole right now and we’ll see how people like the view.”

Just what you need – a vision of Newt’s monkey butt. Hope you’re not having dinner. 🙂

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marriage Newt Gingrich Politics

Oh, Now Newt Gingrich Pledges To Be Faithful To His Third Wife

This could be for a number of reasons. Maybe Newt is really sincere about being faithful to his third wife after cheating on the first two, or maybe Newt’s just being Newt – pandering to the masses, telling a specific group exactly what they want to hear at that specific moment.

With the Republican nomination elections set to begin in just a few weeks in Iowa, Newt Gingrich signed his version of a pledge to the Christian Conservative Evangelists of that state, promising to “uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others.”

Gingrich made the pledge to The Family Leader, a socially conservative group based in Iowa. The organization has its own Marriage Pledge that other 2012 White House hopefuls have signed, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Gingrich did not sign The Family Leader’s pledge himself, but did provide a lengthy written response to the organization. The former House speaker said he was fully committed to defending traditional marriage, including enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act and supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and woman.

And apparently, the Conservative group bought it. The issued this statement;

“We are pleased that Speaker Gingrich has affirmed our pledge and are thankful we have on record his statements regarding DOMA, support of a federal marriage amendment, defending the unborn, pledging fidelity to his spouse, defending religious liberty and freedom, supporting sound pro-family economic issues, and defending the right of the people to rule themselves.”

Maybe this group is just a glutton for punishment, or maybe they’re just willing to believe anything Gingrich says because they just cannot support Romney, or maybe Gingrich really has changed and is willing to do the right thing. Who knows, only time will tell if Newt can really uphold his pledge.

But this we do know. Using ‘Gingrich’ and ‘do the right thing’ in the same sentence should never be done. EVER!

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Newt Gingrich Politics republican candidates

Ron Paul Attacks Newt Gingrich – “It’s About Serial Hypocrisy” – Ad

Out of all the candidates running for the Republican nomination, Ron Paul is the only one going all out. His campaign is bringing out these ads faster than Newt Gingrich can tell you the name of his present wife.

The new ad is called “Serial Hypocrisy,” and in it, Gingrich, the present leader in the Republican race who is now trying to sell himself as a Washington outsider  tagged to clean up the Washington game, is heard saying, “if you’ve been Speaker of the House, you’re always an insider.”

But pay no mind to the 84 ethics violations brought against Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker of the House. Christian Conservatives – Newt’s your man!

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Iowa Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics presidential

My Kingdom For $10,000: Mitt Goes Gilded Age

So, how much damage did Mitt Romney do to his presidential campaign after offering Rick Perry a $10,000 wager on his health care position?  We’ll find out in the next few days after the pollsters have had a chance to wade through their data, but my sense is that it will do damage to what’s left of Romney’s standing as a regular guy who happens to be rich.

The damage control has already begun.

Political campaigns have turned on worse gaffes, as Perry, Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain can tell you, but this one will stand out as Romney’s low point. It also comes at a bad time, with voting set to begin in Iowa a day after you’ve returned that last questionable holiday gift.

Of course, Newt Gingrich has harvested the most media attention over the past few weeks, and this trend continued last night. This AP article described Newt as having a “steely calm” and as:

defending his most controversial stands without appearing to be the thin-skinned hothead his critics often describe.

The former House speaker seemed to accomplish that goal in Saturday’s debate in Iowa. His challenge will be to sustain the strategy while rivals attack him on the airwaves and the ground, and to convince conservative voters that he’s their champion despite his occasional departures from orthodoxy.

But Newt’s already had to backtrack on his comment describing the Palestinians as an invented people, which will do nothing to help his foreign policy credentials. And he did a bit of constitutional reinvention when discussing his views of the mandate that would require everyone to buy health insurance. It seems that he supported it in 1993 when he was fighting Bill and Hillary’s program, but explained it this way on Saturday:

“I frankly was floundering, trying to find a way to make sure that people who could afford it were paying their hospital bills, while still leaving an out so libertarians could not buy insurance,” Gingrich said. “It’s now clear that the mandate, I think, is clearly unconstitutional. “

So I guess the Gingrich constitutional test has an 18 year time limit. He’ll need to work on that one.

Overall, Mitt did not do poorly aside from the bet, Bachmann’s reference to Newt Romney was amusing, and Ron Paul’s message continues to be the most consistent of all the candidates. It won’t get him the nomination, but you can’t accuse him of flip-flopping. He’s my pick for second place in Iowa.

What now then? Thankfully, Donald Trump’s mega-disaster debate has been exposed for what it truly is: an opportunity for him to be the star in a political game that only he can win. The GOP field will continue to try and get their messages out while the rest of America goes shopping, and President Obama will try to paint each and every one of them as against the middle class. The latest polls show Obama ahead both nationally and ahead of Gingrich specifically in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Six months ago, it would have been madness to predict the Republican state of affairs as it exists today. Six months from now, I think that Mitt Romney will stand as the eventual nominee. I don’t have $10,000 to back it up, though.

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