Tag: Presidential election
“He can’t run on his record. What’s he going to say – ’Vote for me because of the failed stimulus, all those deficits I piled up and a health care bill you hate?’”
The Gingrich gamble
Another perspective: The Gingrich Gamble.
Yet for the all sloganeering and invective, the truth is that voting for Gingrich or Romney is not so much an ideological as a personal choice, and one that says as much about the psychological make-up of the individual conservative voter as it does about the choices before him. The risk-takers, romantics, and ideologically pure have concluded that Gingrich unleashed is worth the gamble, and that it is better to win big or lose big than to plan on just squeaking by. They welcome the unending contact sport that we could expect from a President Gingrich, who would not just beat Obama, but repudiate Obamism itself. These are the guys who like passing on third down on their own ten-yard line with a seven-point lead; to them, going on fourth-quarter defense is not only not smart, it is a sure way to lose. In contrast, the more calculating know that romance and rhetoric can often disguise reality, and that it is always wiser to down the ball and run the clock out when you’re ahead.
And I must admit, I prefer the gamble. I’ve had enough of “safe” Republican candidates designed to please the moderates who only end up losing because they can’t express what they believe in with any clarity or force.
Explaining Newt
[W]e have a president who wants us to stay there, who is banal, irritating, humorless, reactionary, self-righteous, and narcissistic all at once. He hasn’t said one interesting thing or proposed one creative idea since being in office.
Unfortunately, the Republican candidates aren’t much better. Romney, Perry, Santorum, Bachmann, Huntsman, even Paul, are no more than critics of a system gone moribund. They do not inspire us. Their ideas, even when worth investigating (flat tax, etc.), are no more than rehashes of proposals we have heard for decades.
Only Newt dances. Only Newt, on occasion, is original. Only Newt — and here is the important part — has the capacity to wake us up. What attracts me about the man is the very thing that Romney criticized, the part that wants to explore the moon and stars, maybe even mine them.
Sure Gingrich has an idea a minute, many of which are bad, but at least he has ideas. At least he is thinking. And — guess what — he says what he thinks. Politicians aren’t supposed to do that.
Read the whole thing.
President Obama is trailing against both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in 12 swing states that Obama won in 2008, according to a poll released today.
More evidence that the 2010 landslide was a trend, not an event: President Obama is trailing against both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in 12 swing states that Obama won in 2008, according to a poll released today.
“For a moment, Newt Gingrich succeeded in making me feel sorry for President Obama.”
Jazz Shaw on tonight’s Gingrich-Huntsman debate: “For a moment, Newt Gingrich succeeded in making me feel sorry for President Obama.”
Why Washington is shocked, shocked by Newt Gingrich’s rise over Mitt Romney
Why Washington is shocked, shocked by Newt Gingrich’s rise over Mitt Romney.
Look, Gingrich is by far not a perfect candidate. He has clearly taken positions in the last few years that made my socks roll up and down in horror. And when he was Speaker there were times I thought he was too willing to agree to bad deals.
Yet, he did mastermind the first Republican takeover of Congress in forty years. Yet, when he was Speaker the federal budget was brought under control, producing surpluses for four years in a row.
Finally, unlike every other Republican candidate for President since Reagan, Gingrich can debate. He not only knows how to articulate conservative ideals, he has shown himself capable of effectively pointing out liberal foolishness. In the Presidential debates to come, the country needs that as it will give strength to the conservative candidates running for the House and Senate. And that is where we really need victories. If we get a Congress that is willing to seriously cut the federal budget, it won’t matter that much who is President.
A new Rasmussen national poll: Gingrich 45% Obama 43%
A new Rasmussen national poll: Gingrich 45% Obama 43%.
Last week, Gingrich trailed the president by six. Two weeks ago, he was down by twelve. Earlier in the year, both Rick Perry and Herman Cain followed a similar path to take a slight lead over the president. However, in both cases, their time as frontrunners quickly came to an end. Neither man led the president more than a single time in a Rasmussen Reports poll. It remains to be seen whether Gingrich follows that path or is able to retain his status as the leading alternative to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Note that every candidate has polled ahead of Obama at one time or another, suggesting to me that the public wants Obama out, and is fishing for the candidate to do it.
New conservative website: Not Mitt Romney
On another campaign note, a new website, put together by some noted conservative Republicans, has just appeared called Not Mitt Romney. An explanation can be found here.
Remember how Nancy Pelosi said we need to pass Obamacare “so you can find out what’s in it?” Well, is it any different with Mitt Romney? Does anybody really have the slightest idea what he’d do as President? Nobody can even reasonably predict where the guy will be on any issue six months from now, much less what he’ll do if he becomes the leader of the free world.
Some background on Rick Perry
Pawlenty calls for Medicare and Social Security reform — in Florida
Now Tim Pawlenty has called for Medicare and Social Security reform — in Florida.
Once again, I don’t know how sincere Pawlenty really is, but he certainly has started his Presidential campaign challenging the voters to face hard realities.
Pawlenty calls for phasing out ethanol subsidies — in Iowa
Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty today called for phasing out ethanol subsidies — in Iowa.
We need more candidates like this, willing to say these kinds of things face-to-face with the very people who benefit from the funding.