Over the last two years, I’ve had my fill of candidates being compared to other people. I wish folks would just give it a rest. Good grief!
A person rises and falls on their own merits, their own deeds or misdeeds.
While Newt probably isn’t being compared directly here, the comparison is nauseating.
So Newt is the new Grant? Seriously?
He will throw conservatives under the bus at the first opportunity that suits him. That said, so will Romney. At this point we will end up with one of them.
Newt also knows how to 'get the job done' when necessary...that's good. Would love to see him debate Obama and his teleprompter... That said, he needs to beef up on his conservatism - maybe chat with Palin...
Newt: The Liberal Cause Sympathizer.
I love that phrasing.
Like Churchill “Newt is a fighter of rare courage, and they value his consistent focus on American exceptionalism ...”
Newt even looks like Churchill. Both were historians and scholars. Both effective communicators and debaters in parliament/congress as for the general public. The bombastic Churchill, for a long time written off, was the perfect leader for his time, just as Newt may be ideal for ours.
Newt is like Grant only in that critics were proven wrong about making him general. He was a great general despite short comings. But, Grant is considered to have been a poor President. Let’s hope the analogy between Newt and Grant doesn’t go too far.
Careful, mention of Lincoln may call forth the undead zombie John Wilkes Booth brigade ...
It's only a matter of time ...
I’d love to have General Grant back in charge.
Regardless of his faults, he knew his enemy, and “he fights”.
Boring angry badger.
Now that Herman Cain has gone the way of Sarah Palin, I am left with Gingrich(untrustworthy a**hole), Perry(makes Bush sound like Clinton), Santorum(Eddie Haskell), and Bachmann(lying nutso)
Someone give me someone to VOTE FOR!
The folks at Club for Growth have white papers on all the GOP candidates summarizing their public records and does a pretty objective job. Looking at Newt’s I really was struck by how conservative Newt’s actual voting record was (which of course was mischaracterized by Jennifer Rubin, who I think must have been offered a post in a Romney administration. How else do you explain her going full spittle in support of Romney and anti-Newt?)., with most of the worrisome aspects of his record coming from speeches AFTER he left public office. This is pretty much the exact opposite of Romney, who has a very questionable record from his limited time in elected office, with most of his conservatism coming from campaign speeches. Anyway, let’s look at Newt’s actual record:
Voted YES on the Reagan tax cut of 1981
Voted YES on the Reagan tax reform bill of 1986
Voted NO on the George H.W. Bush “Read My Lips” tax hike in 1990.
Voted NO on the Clinton tax hike in 1993.
Voted YES on the capital gains tax cut in 1997.
Voted NO on the Chrysler bailout in 1979
Voted YES on the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget bill in 1985
Voted YES on a balanced budget amendment (as part of the “Contract for America” effort that he led) in 1995
Led the effort and voted YES to cut $16.4 billion from the budget in 1995.
Voted YES on welfare reform in 1996
I also decided to look myself at how much federal spending increased while Gingrich was Speaker of the House (1995-1999). By my calculations, Federal spending rose an average of 3.1% a year while he was speaker. When you compare it to the Presidential terms from Reagan on, this is the lowest rate of spending growth over the last 30 years. Under Reagan, spending grew an average of 7.6% a year. Under George H.W. Bush, 6.7%. Under Clinton, 3.3% (it would have been much more if he got his single payor health care plan through, also he was restrained by Newt later). Under W., it as 6.6% and under Obama, a whopping 8.6% a year. Also, under Newt, Federal spending as a % of GDP fell from 21% to 18.5%, a whopping decline in 4 short years.
Is his record perfect? Nope. Not even close. But the point is that on the big issues, he voted Conservative and helped champion balanced budgets and tax reform. Focusing on that actual voting record really makes me more comfortable with him. Especially when his main opponent is someone whose main accomplishment is a massive government healthcare program.
I will vote for Newt if he is the nominee!
Newt would be Grant only if Grant awoke from hibernation during WWI, not realizing the Civil War was over and that we were fighting a different enemy on a differenct continent, and proceeded to commandeer a division of Marines and initiate a scorched-earth campaign to capture Atlanta.
Newt is hopelessly out-of-touch, fighting the wrong battles, and has a nasty habit of opening the portcullis for the other side when there’s something in it for him personally. He also alienates independents in a way few other politicians do. Us running Newt for prez would be about as bright as the Dems putting Pelosi at the top of their ticket.
"Newt: The Sybil Warrior"