He's not dead yet?

Grand_Moff_Joseph: I don't think Newt was the only thing that ruined the GOP's chances in 1996.

Yeah, that was Perot's doing, just like 1992.

In other news... Bob Dole is still alive.

Grand_Moff_Joseph: Dole failed and moved on to selling ED pills. What will Romney/Newt try and sell after they lose?

At his Presidential run, yes, but I have enormous respect for the man as a legislator.

Wendy's Chili: In other news... Bob Dole is still alive.

Also this. I honestly had no idea. I thought all the decent GOP Senators had shuffled off this mortal coil.

He's just jealous of how well Newt is doing.

As a Democrat/progressive, I'm terrified that the Republicans will nominate Gingrich; we better hope that Romney wins Florida and goes on to win the GOP nomination.

Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand-that was a symbol of some sort for him-and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.

Wh...what?

Bob Dole was a pretty good guy, all things considered. He would compromise and negotiate, but was otherwise a pretty straight forward old-school milq-toast business friendly Republican.

Right now he'd be run out of the party as a RINO capitulator for daring to speak with the Muslin Kenyan Socialist Usurper.

jasimo: He's just jealous of how well Newt is doing.

As a Democrat/progressive, I'm terrified that the Republicans will nominate Gingrich; we better hope that Romney wins Florida and goes on to win the GOP nomination.

You should be.

Gingrich will energize the conservative base, as he already has. He will turn the tide of voter anger against the Democrats, as he did in 1994. And he has a realistic chance of scoring one or more knockout punches in debates against Obama.

Romney, by contrast, will depress the conservative base, as he already has. He has demonstrated no ability to harness voter anger, in a year where voter anger is unprecedented in modern history. And he has no demonstrated ability to decisively win debates in a way that affects the momentum of the election. He has, however, demonstrated the ability to decisively lose them.

Gingrich really is the more dangerous candidate this year. Progressives should cheer if Romney wins, because he's the weaker candidate.

oh Newton, the old empty ice bucket in hand trick? really?


kinda played out don't you think?

Newt wouldn't even be in the race anymore if John King didn't fail at his job

Grand_Moff_Joseph: Dole failed and moved on to selling ED pills. What will Romney/Newt try and sell after they lose?

Magic underwear and divorce services for men only.

HotWingConspiracy: Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand-that was a symbol of some sort for him-and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.

Wh...what?

Perhaps the ice bucket symbolized his head, and the emptiness symbolized how devoid of intelligence, reason, and basic human decency he is.

Nah, on second thought, maybe the ice bucket had a hole in the bottom for his dick, and he'd go around asking female staffers to "fetch some cubes" for his drink.

jasimo: He's just jealous of how well Newt is doing.

As a Democrat/progressive, I'm terrified that the Republicans will nominate Gingrich; we better hope that Romney wins Florida and goes on to win the GOP nomination.

I've always said you underestimate Gingrich at your peril. The dude is smart, motivated, and completely evil.

Wendy's Chili: In other news... Bob Dole is still alive.

Is that you Bob?

HotWingConspiracy: Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand-that was a symbol of some sort for him-and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.

Wh...what?

Apparently, Speaker Newt stopped the delivery of bags of ice to each Congressional office, instead making Members use ice buckets.

Instead of the delivery, "each lawmaker can send a staffer trooping to one of five distribution centers Newt has set up, where they can pick-up ice twice a day and haul it back to the office."

Newt claimed this saved $400,000. Per year.

GleeUnit: A Newt nomination will be the best thing to happen to a democrat since Clinton was getting bj's from Lewinsky

That's certainly what the elites are saying. But those same elites are saying pro-choice, moderate Romney is more conservative than Gingrich. They've no credibility.

Grassroots conservatives like Sarah Palin and Rick Perry, by contrast, have endorsed Gingrich. Just like the GOP base, they know who the real conservative is in this race.

The ice-bucket thing is what stood out to me, too. Maybe it was the promise of a champagne bottle to fill it in victory?

/Mysterious are the ways of The Newt

Wendy's Chili: In other news... Bob Dole is still alive.

Holy crap! He's doing pretty good for a guy who was severly wounded at Gettysburg.

ignatius_crumbcake: bugontherug: Gingrich will energize the conservative base, as he already has. He will turn the tide of voter anger against the Democrats, as he did in 1994.

The conservative base is not enough to elect a president, and those are the only people who will vote for him. And those angry voters? They're in the conservative base, at least the ones that are angry at Obama. Newt doesn't get you anyone who isn't voting (R) anyway.

Evangelicals will not turn out to vote for a Mormon. Pro-lifers will not turn out to vote for a candidate with a pro-choice background, and a history of appointing pro-choice judges. Conservatives will not turn out to vote for a Massachusetts moderate.

Gingrich's problems with independents are repairable. Once he gets a national party nomination, voters will give him a second look. Romney's problems with the Republican base are not repairable. Romney will always be Mormon, he will always have a pro-choice background, and he will always be a Massachusetts moderate.

bugontherug: ignatius_crumbcake: bugontherug: Gingrich will energize the conservative base, as he already has. He will turn the tide of voter anger against the Democrats, as he did in 1994.

The conservative base is not enough to elect a president, and those are the only people who will vote for him. And those angry voters? They're in the conservative base, at least the ones that are angry at Obama. Newt doesn't get you anyone who isn't voting (R) anyway.

Evangelicals will not turn out to vote for a Mormon. Pro-lifers will not turn out to vote for a candidate with a pro-choice background, and a history of appointing pro-choice judges. Conservatives will not turn out to vote for a Massachusetts moderate.

Gingrich's problems with independents are repairable. Once he gets a national party nomination, voters will give him a second look. Romney's problems with the Republican base are not repairable. Romney will always be Mormon, he will always have a pro-choice background, and he will always be a Massachusetts moderate.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh on a long drive today and a dude called in and accused Romney of being a socialist

residentgeek: The ice-bucket thing is what stood out to me, too. Maybe it was the promise of a champagne bottle to fill it in victory?

/Mysterious are the ways of The Newt

im thinking that either;

a. the ice machine in his hotel was broken.

b. it was his lunch pail & he accidentally ate the whole thing on the way in.

c. he forgot he was holding it.

bugontherug: jasimo: He's just jealous of how well Newt is doing.

As a Democrat/progressive, I'm terrified that the Republicans will nominate Gingrich; we better hope that Romney wins Florida and goes on to win the GOP nomination.

You should be.

Gingrich will energize the conservative base, as he already has. He will turn the tide of voter anger against the Democrats, as he did in 1994. And he has a realistic chance of scoring one or more knockout punches in debates against Obama.

Romney, by contrast, will depress the conservative base, as he already has. He has demonstrated no ability to harness voter anger, in a year where voter anger is unprecedented in modern history. And he has no demonstrated ability to decisively win debates in a way that affects the momentum of the election. He has, however, demonstrated the ability to decisively lose them.

Gingrich really is the more dangerous candidate this year. Progressives should cheer if Romney wins, because he's the weaker candidate.

You forgot to mention how high Newt scores on likability and how he's unlikely to drive progressives/moderates to vote against him. Also, his even temper, lack of skeletons in the closet, uniformly rational plans, how much past colleagues respect and back him, etc.

Dr Dreidel: HotWingConspiracy: Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand-that was a symbol of some sort for him-and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.

Wh...what?

Apparently, Speaker Newt stopped the delivery of bags of ice to each Congressional office, instead making Members use ice buckets.

Instead of the delivery, "each lawmaker can send a staffer trooping to one of five distribution centers Newt has set up, where they can pick-up ice twice a day and haul it back to the office."

Newt claimed this saved $400,000. Per year.

Ah. I guess it's possible, harvesting children's tears for ice cubes can get expensive.

bugontherug: ignatius_crumbcake: bugontherug: Gingrich will energize the conservative base, as he already has. He will turn the tide of voter anger against the Democrats, as he did in 1994.

The conservative base is not enough to elect a president, and those are the only people who will vote for him. And those angry voters? They're in the conservative base, at least the ones that are angry at Obama. Newt doesn't get you anyone who isn't voting (R) anyway.

Evangelicals will not turn out to vote for a Mormon. Pro-lifers will not turn out to vote for a candidate with a pro-choice background, and a history of appointing pro-choice judges. Conservatives will not turn out to vote for a Massachusetts moderate.

Gingrich's problems with independents are repairable. Once he gets a national party nomination, voters will give him a second look. Romney's problems with the Republican base are not repairable. Romney will always be Mormon, he will always have a pro-choice background, and he will always be a Massachusetts moderate.


You guys should go with Gingrich. Seriously, just do it.

Newt is is polling pretty well with the first MN Primary poll. He was up 38% to Romney's 17% in a poll I saw over the noon hour. He has a big following in rural MN and the Twin Cities suburbs. He is a force for the convention right now.

jasimo: You forgot to mention how high Newt scores on likability and how he's unlikely to drive progressives/moderates to vote against him. Also, his even temper, lack of skeletons in the closet, uniformly rational plans, how much past colleagues respect and back him, etc.

All of Gingrich's problems can be fixed with an image makeover. Romney's problems--his lack of appeal to evangelicals, his lack of appeal to pro-lifers, and his lack of appeal to conservatives, cannot be fixed. We know that because he's spent four years and multiple millions of dollars trying to fix them, and hasn't made any headway with them since 2008.

Grand_Moff_Joseph: Dole failed and moved on to selling ED pills. What will Romney/Newt try and sell after they lose?

Easy answer: same as before this, his books etc.

Better answer:



Moon-o-rails!!!!

undflickertail: Newt is is polling pretty well with the first MN Primary poll. He was up 38% to Romney's 17% in a poll I saw over the noon hour. He has a big following in rural MN and the Twin Cities suburbs. He is a force for the convention right now.

Especially if Crazy Eyes steps up and endorses him. Good times.

I might go to CPAC this year just to soak up the sweet, sweet rage of the electorate. And hit on conservative chicks. Who's with me?

/semi-serious

ignatius_crumbcake: But independents will.

Even if independents prefer Romney, they're not going to turn out to vote for him in enthusiastic droves. If the Republicans learned anything from 1992, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2010, it's that Republicans win when they energize the base. They lose when they move to the center.


You think Wall Street is gonna choose Newt over Obama?

Absolutely yes.

GleeUnit: jasimo: He's just jealous of how well Newt is doing.

As a Democrat/progressive, I'm terrified that the Republicans will nominate Gingrich; we better hope that Romney wins Florida and goes on to win the GOP nomination.

A Newt nomination will be the best thing to happen to a democrat since Clinton was getting bj's from Lewinsky

Well it depends on what the goal is - Romney is liked more by moderates but the conservatives really don't seem to like him, whereas Gingrich is hated by anyone that's not already a Republican but will excite the base.

I.e., n terms of the presidency, Gingrich is probably the better hope as I think Obama defeats him so heavily among independents that basically unless the economy implodes in the next 6 months it won't be a question... whereas Romney will most likely be a much closer call, and it will be harder for Obama unless the economy keeps improving.

However, Gingrich will definitely excite the base more, which helps down-ballot races more than Romney's "eh, I guess I'll vote for him" supporters... so I could see Gingrich losing to Obama by double digits but still enabling the GOP to pick up a few House/Senate seats that they otherwise shouldn't have

Pappy Bush is in the courner mumbling about Newt stabbing him in the back in 90 causing him much damage going into 92.

I wonder how many times Newt can turn a republican swing into reverse?

bugontherug: jasimo: You forgot to mention how high Newt scores on likability and how he's unlikely to drive progressives/moderates to vote against him. Also, his even temper, lack of skeletons in the closet, uniformly rational plans, how much past colleagues respect and back him, etc.

All of Gingrich's problems can be fixed with an image makeover. Romney's problems--his lack of appeal to evangelicals, his lack of appeal to pro-lifers, and his lack of appeal to conservatives, cannot be fixed. We know that because he's spent four years and multiple millions of dollars trying to fix them, and hasn't made any headway with them since 2008.

Man, that's gotta be one industrial-strength makeover. Does everyone have to look into a hand-held flashing gizmo held by a man in a black suit as well?

Rent Party: I've always said you underestimate Gingrich at your peril. The dude is smart, motivated, and completely evil.

All true. He is also incapable of not sabotaging himself. Spectacularly.

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Why all the outrage? Dole's opinions are 'armless enough.

Thread over. You win.

Oh, research and Dr. Dreidel point it's far more mundane. Symbolism is everything to a narcissist, I s'pose, because it requires the people around him to engage in his little game of "What does it mean?"

jasimo: Man, that's gotta be one industrial-strength makeover. Does everyone have to look into a hand-held flashing gizmo held by a man in a black suit as well?

Nah. His "I've gone to God for forgiveness" bit will win him a second chance in most peoples' eyes.