Posted on 11/27/2011 7:25:45 PM PST by Steelfish
Gingrich’s Endorsement And The Failings Of The Conservative Media By Jennifer Rubin The conservative punditocracy is all aflutter today about the Union Leader’s endorsement of Newt Gingrich. Both the newspaper’s publisher, Joseph McQuaid, and those chattering about the endorsement offer the latest evidence to the conservative media being downright daft in this primary — a result, I suspect, of their increasingly self-segregation, which abets tone-deafness.
Let’s start with the endorsement itself. The editorial board’s rationale is based on the conviction that Gingrich is “bold” — I kid you not — and that he should be recognized for “bringing in the first Republican House in 40 years and by forging balanced budgets and even a surplus despite the political challenge of dealing with a Democratic President.” In short, this is another case of selective conservative amnesia.
The endorsement includes no recognition that Gingrich was creamed by Bill Clinton in the budget standoff. No mention of the ethics violations and the penchant to compromise away conservative principles. No mention of the House Republicans’ attempted coup against Gingrich’s leadership. And no mention of his post-speakership, which consisted primarily of feathering his nest by shilling for causes and interests the Union Leader opposed (e.g. ethanol subsidies, Freddie Mac, Medicare Part D, immigration reform).
Even sillier than the ill-reasoned endorsement is the reaction of right-leaning pundits who find this development meaningful — decisive, even! Good grief. While the newspaper is New Hampshire’s largest, it has a lousy track record of picking winners. (It has previously endorsed Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan.) Moreover, conservative pundits are usually the ones warning Republicans that newspaper endorsements are declining in value in recent years.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The Union-Leader is “conservative media”... how much of their content is from the AP or Reuters?
WaPo sounds scared.
I used to live in NH and the Union Leader, when the Loebs were in control, was a great paper. It’s still great compared to its regional competition, The Boston Globe. Sadly the Union Leader has swung rightward in response to the migration of Massholes who left to escape the high taxes but brought their Liberal leanings with them.
All of the political insiders are determined to have a dyed in the wool pure political insider running. They ever so blythly allowed Herman Cain to be villified by those who have no crawled back into the woodwork, now they totally ignore him and the millions who want a non politician. Congress is already full of slick Willys, we don’t need more.
Mitt Romney.
It’s just New Hampshire being New Hampshire. Their only intention is to bring the front runner (whomever that may be) down. My SIL is a liberal in that state who votes in the republican primary all the time.
Did you mean ‘leftward’?
As if Jennifer Rubin and the WaPo know anything or care about the conservative movement. What a bunch of rubbish in that article.
Gingrich's "ethics violations" may be bogus but he did have to give up being Speaker at the time of Clinton's impeachment because his own past affair came to light. He has plenty of vulnerabilities for the media to attack.
There is no perfect conservative candidate running. The 3 conservatives that have some chance of getting the nomination are Gingrich, Perry, and Cain, but whether any of them would be able to beat Obama is uncertain. If Romney gets the nomination, the election will be another "lesser of two evils" choice, but most elections are. We can't afford another 4 years of Obama.
I rarely vote for a candidate. Usually I'm voting against his opponent.
Rubin. Sounds like the temper tantrum of a petulant RomneyBot bemoaning the loss of a coveted endorsement...
Clinton had alot of help beating Newt, from Newt.
Newt just had to complain to the MSM about getting a crappy seat on AF in the middle of the 1995 budget standoff/government shutdown so it could get made fun of by SNL and those in popular media and be made to look like the whole reason why Republicans were doing it. Newt is the gift...
Any conservative can beat Obama. Can some one name me 2 items conservative and centrist voters are happy about what Obama has accomplished?
How about that “misery index”?
How about Obamacare with mandates?
How about $15 Trillion national debt?
How about Trillion+ yearly budget deficits with no end in sight?
How about 47 million on food stamps?
How about 23 million can’t find full time jobs?
How about $500 billion cuts in military?
How about that $875 Billion Stimulus with borrowed money?
How about killing the oil pipeline from Canada?
How about 99 weeks of unemployment checks?
How about gargantuan trade deficits year after year?
How is Barack Hussein Obama going to defend on so many fronts? Unless Willard is the opponent, Zero is toast.
I happened to catch most of the interview this AM with McQuaid on CSPAN Wash Journal. I don’t recollect many callers of any persuasion supporting this decision.
http://www.c-span.org/Events/Washington-Journal-Sunday-November-27/10737425796/
I wish you were correct. When you have a poor record and $1B in campaign funds, and with the MSM as a willing tool, you bring out all the dirt on your opponent. No matter what they say about the politics of personal destruction, it works and Newt has explosive baggage tied to his waist.
Jennifer Rubin is nothing more than a token Conservative working at a liberal publication. Her job is to ‘eat her own’ by critiquing Conservatives from a ‘Conservative point of view.’ She’s ‘Joe Scarborough’ in drag.
Rubin is pushing hard for Romney. She pushed hard for Rudy in ‘08.
Just sayin’...
I see the WaPo is all wee wee’d up. Thats always a good thing. LOL!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.