Posted on 01/13/2012 9:39:30 PM PST by Steelfish
January 13, 2012 Gingrich and Santorum Vie to Be the Conservative of Choice By RICHARD A. OPPEL JR.
DUNCAN, S.C. — Conventional wisdom dictates that for either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum to vault past Mitt Romney and win the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21, they must handily win the vote of upstate social conservatives, like the ones who packed a high school lunchroom here Friday night. But if the reactions of the 500 or so people here were any indication, these voters remain split.
Mr. Gingrich, a former House speaker, asked the crowd to vote for him because he is the only candidate, he suggested, who can both outperform President Obama in a debate and provide a clear enough conservative break with Mr. Obama’s policies, making him a safer choice to win the general election.
“If Barack Obama, with the disaster he has been, can get re-elected, the level of radicalism he will impose in his second term will be beyond anything you can imagine,” Mr. Gingrich said. “Defeating him is central to everything we are doing.”
He added that if he won both this state and Florida’s primary at the end of the month, he would have the momentum he needed to win the nomination. And in what seemed to be a veiled swipe at the front-runner, Mr. Romney, he warned that conservatives might split their vote. If that happens, he said to applause, “we are going to stumble into nominating somebody that 95 percent of the people in this room are going to be very uncomfortable with.”
Mr. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, likened himself to Ronald Reagan, and called on voters to make him the winner of their primary, as they did for Mr. Reagan in 1980.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
No problem. There was a story yesterday said few single women turn out to vote.
Where in the He// did you get that?
What’s the matter with you?
Look at your comments on this thread!
You’re all over the place.
Really? I do not see such. Remember Todd went rouge.
I’m just thinking Todd didn’t go “roque”— I doubt that Todd doesn’t do much that doesn’t further Sarah. She resigns, campaigns for Newt, acepts Sec of Energy, serves for 2 years, helps Alaska with energy percs— then, beats that Dem who is coming up for Senator in 2014.
How’s that for rose-colored optimism, Onyx. -:)
Most of these early primary states no longer have the "winner take all" and even though Romney was close to tying in IA and went on to win NH, he failed to draw 75% in IA and a bit more in NH, he still only has about 12 delegates - and that's a very long way from winning this nomination.
NH should never be referred to as a "Republican" Primary as everyone who showed up to vote got a ballot so this really isn't a "Republican" Primary at all. Witness NH giving it to McLame last time to push him ahead of the rest of the pack, that after Huckabee took IA. Why should only two tiny divergent states determine a candidate for the entire Republican Party?
Thankfully no longer "winner take all" primaries around the country and even on Super Tuesday, it'll be difficult for one candidate to sweep everything, and that's not until March!
A clean family man with no management experience and a lack luster career -- who got tossed out by voters in his own state last time -- will be hamburger when put through Obama's viscous, billion dollar meat grinder.
We need someone who has a record of surviving in the mine field and live fire range to come.
We need a tough, Ginghis Khan like warrior.
Call him Gingrich Can.
Santorum had his day in the sun.
Conservative? Rick may be that at home, but his record states differently.
Well, all right!!! We like optimism, particulary late at night.
Helps bring on the sweet dreams!
There could be a conservative in the White House, but conservatives need to make up their mind. Voting for Perry is throwing a vote away. Sorry, but he’s not coming back and even if you agree with him, most people don’t want to go back into Iraq. If you vote for Perry, that’s one more vote Romney doens’t have to get to beat Newt or Rick. So it’s either Newt or Rick. I am for Newt. We know he’s going get pummeled with negative ads from Obama, but so is Romney. With Newt we already know it. With Santorum, they’re going to try to scare everyone that he’s too extreme and it will work unfortunately. In the end, we’ll be happy we have Newt on that stage debating Obama. He’ll be talking about Saul Alinsky and educate the country on what kind of radical they elected.
At least Snarlin' Arlen voted to confirm Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. What did Newtie get for his endorsement for Scuzzyflava??? Oh yea...ZIP, ZERO, NADA!
Perfect!
Thats a good one. But not even in the top 20 of what he has said.
You can’t bury Newt’s flip-flop record deep enough to make him an equal to Santorum’s strong, steady record on conservative values.
I know...he’s made some seriously outrageous statements that should shock voters when/if they sift through the campaign spin and find out for themselves.
Newt’s “Top Twenty”....
1. Right to Life -
Asked in an interview on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” whether he agreed with Republicans who oppose Federal abortion payments in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of a mother, Mr. Gingrich said: “No. First of all, I think you should have funding in the case of rape or incest or life of the mother, which is the first step.”
http://rightonlife.org/2011/11/24/pro-life-groups-should-say-no-to-newt-and-pooh-pooh-perry-2/
2. Newt is all for big government spending...earmarks SPIKED under his “leadership”. He’s not a fiscal conservative.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/newt-gingrich-big-spender/story?id=15163688
3. Newt supported and promoted the same government one-payer mandate supported by Obama:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/05/13/newt-gingrich-long-time-supporter-of-health-insurance-mandates/
4. Newt pushed for a Department of Homeland Security 5-days after 9-11, proof that it was conceived long before 9-11:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKo6HQBjyzY
5. In 2003, Newt wanted the limit the Patriot Act....
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/2003-newt-rein-patriot-act
But recently, he wanted the powers of the patriot act expanded:
6. Newt supported aid to ALL the good commies...
- Big supporter of Foreign Aid — even to Soviets through the Export-Import Bank.
- In one year (1994-1995) Gingrich voted for nearly $45 billion in foreign aid.
- He helped push through Federally-funded loan guarantees to Communist China.
http://www.redstate.com/steve_foley/2011/11/24/newts-tea-party-comparison-should-put-newt-in-tea-party-kettle/
7. Newt endorses Dede Scozzafava (at least Snarlin’ Arlen voted for conservative judges)...
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/newt_gingrich_endorses_dede_sc.html
8. Newt supports AMNESTY for illegals...
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/rick-santorum-hits-newt-gingrich-on-amnesty-for-illegal-immigrants/
9. Newt was fined $300,000 for ethics violations (lying to the investigators and asking others to lie for him and fraud - funneling money through a PAC). He later made a deal to make the charges dissappear...
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/26/us/couple-fined-1000-on-gingrich-phone-call.html
Don’t forget about the affair (During Clinton’s impeachment) with a staffer while his former wife was going through cancer treatment:
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/08/143333594/revisiting-newt-gingrichs-1997-ethics-investigation
10. Newt was illegally for Federal ethanol subsidies, lobbied for Medicare drug subsidy, and took several million from Freddie Mac.
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/newt-gingrich-was-lobbyist-plain-and-simple
11. Newt “supported spending $30B for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 that shackled gun owners with new restrictions, federalized a number of crimes, and handed the feds police powers that the Constitution reserves to the states.”
http://www.redstate.com/steve_foley/2011/11/24/newts-tea-party-comparison-should-put-newt-in-tea-party-kettle/
12. 04/02/1987 – Newt cosponsored the 1987 Fairness Doctrine (anti 1st Amendment legislation)
13. Self Defense -
“In 1996, Newt Gingrich turned his back on guns and voted for the anti-gun Brady Campaign’s Lautenberg Gun Ban, which strips the Second Amendment rights of citizens involved in misdemeanor domestic violence charges or temporary protection orders –- in some cases for actions as minor as spanking a child or grabbing a spouse’s wrist.(1)”
14. Newt Gingrich: Hillary Clinton ‘Terrific’ Defense Secretary
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/11/newt-gingrich-hillary-clinton-terrific-defense-secretary/
15. Newt: Hillary Is the ‘Most Effective’ Candidate
http://archive.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/newt_hillary_is_the_most_effective_candidate
16. Newt: Hillary shows courage, integrity
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7851.html
17. Oddly, Hillary and, Yes, Newt Agree to Agree
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/nyregion/13hillary.html
18. Newt & Nancy....Gorebull Warming
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a0f_1322697042&comments=1
19. Newt Gingrich Al Sharpton Education Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UPuhr8eqn0
20. Political Chameleon Newt Gingrich Has a History of Working with Democrats
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/02/political-chameleon-newt-gingrich-has-a-history-of-working-with-democrats.html
” I was at the event tonight. “ <<<
” Santorum went around the room shaking hands like he didnt care if he was in the room or not. Not even a smile or a thank you for coming. “ <<<
Santorum had a talk with Reality, perhaps, and is getting the picture. Gingrich is now the non-Romney with the surge, not Santorum, and finally Newt has the money to defend himself against Romney for awhile; not so much for Santorum. Gingrich was destroyed by Romney $$$ in Iowa leaving the weak three (Huntsman, Perry and Santorum) the run of the pasture, in which Rick had been doing all the grazing for a year. An easy win for him over those three and Newt listing in the bay.
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