"Newt is a guy who can, out of the blue, suddenly latch on to Global Warming as an issue, to show his “moderation.” His wives thought he was on their team, when suddenly, out of the blue, he would demand a divorce to marry a woman he had been seeing all along."
You are no doubt aware that you are conflating, right?
You might consider there is an alternate perception, regarding divorce in general and Newt's marriages in aprticular. The other night, someanti-Newt poster posted quotes from a liberal liar's character assassination book, quoting disgusting details about the author's supposed or ficitonalized sexual preferences. If folks cannot see that such posting at FR is designed to inflame and in the end destroy conservative moemntum, then the Republic truly is doomed, because the imaginary perfection none can achieve is allowed to murder the needs of the nation. Just as the DNC and their operatives have designed.
May I ask, which candidate do you support at FR? ... and please point me to the postings you've made detailing that candidates positives.
“You are no doubt aware that you are conflating, right?”
The question is, does the analogy hold. I think it does, and that both issues are realted (by an individual saying things and giving impressions which bear no reality to his underlying state of mind). I think Newt is unreliable. Would you trust him with your lifesavings, if nobody would ever know if he stole it? Is he that principled? Especially if it would get him another hot young babe? Cain, yes, Perry, Maybe, Bachmann yes, Romney, no, Paul, who knows, dude’s whacked. Newt? Probably not.
I know guys who are rock solid. If they were to get divorced, it would happen after their relationship unraveled, openly. It would not happen out of the blue, because they were getting progressively unhappy, and yet still giving their wife the impression everything was fine.
And if they were Conservative, and on a stage with Pelosi or Gore, or Hillary, they would not let the compliments fly. You either believe that what those people support is wrong, and they are personally detestable and corrupt (in which case you keep your mouth shut), or you let the lauding compliments out, in which case you can’t be that true of a believer with respect to Conservatism.
I just see Newt as another one of these guys who go throughs the motions becasue it’s a job. He is good at the motions, I give him that, but because he is not a true believer, every so often, his skill ends up being used to laud our enemies.
My preferences, I like Cain best, but think Perry is a good guy, although he is undoubtedly part of the machine, and may come off too much like W to win. I have said this elsewhere, check my posting history. I detest Romney, think Paul is crazy, and accept Bachmann cannot win, though I like her as a person and politician. I am not even violently anti-Newt, I just think he will get killed in the general, and will be unreliable if he did make it through. I’d still vote for him, but I wouldn’t like it, becasue I don’t really like him as a person, or trust him to lead our movement. I could see him suddenly move on amnesty or something else to show his bipartisanship, after the Global Warming thing.
I judge candidates a little differently. Of course they need to be reliably Conservative, and not prone to go bipartisan by supporting the left. But I think in order to win, you need all that, plus likability. I think a lot of people waste time worrying whether their candidate is an expert on this issue or that, and whether the media will be able to attack him here or there.
In the end, every Republican will be subjected to character assasination by the media. The one who will survive is the one who is most likable, on a personal level, providing they show any modicum of competence. Politics is a popularity contest above all, because most voters are uninformed idiots.
Last time, what little people knew indicated that Obama was more likable than McCain, so he got elected. If a candidate is unlikable, for any reason, personally, the media attacks will stick, and his followers will defect from him.
Too often, we look for a policy expert, or a media darling, and end up with McCain’s, or Romney’s, or people who are just unlikable for some reason. Often they are particularly unlikable to Conservatives. Think Bush I banning assault rifles, McCain stabbing us in the back on immigration, or Romney’s inherently untrustworthy countenance.
I fear Newt is just unlikable enough (over the way he has treated his women, the hypocrisy of saying his affairs were different from Clinton’s, and his periodic leftward shifts) that the media attacks will stick to him, people will defect, and we will get Obama II, which will be much worse than Obama I.
And yes, I like Cain best, because I think his personality and demeanor are likable enough that when the media turns on him, the public will take his side over the media’s. At least enough to get him elected. That I think Obama fears him the most doesn’t hurt either.
For the record, I generally won’t post my support of any one candidate on another’s thread because it seems impolite to turn a thread about one candidate into a pitch for another. I only did it here because you asked.