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Why a Newt Gingrich Candidacy Would Doom the Tea Party
The Altantic ^ | 120611 | Conor Friedersdorf

Posted on 12/06/2011 7:35:10 PM PST by Fred

Gallup finds that 82 percent of Tea Party affiliated voters deem Newt Gingrich an acceptable Republican presidential nominee in 2012. They don't seem to realize that if he wins the nod their movement is doomed, regardless of how the general election goes. The Tea Party cannot support Gingrich without betraying its core principles. But the movement also cannot disclaim him once he is the Republican nominee.

Tea Partiers with a better instinct for self-preservation would see that none of the Mitt Romney alternatives still running would be as corrosive to their cause as the former Speaker of the House.

Why?

The Tea Party wasn't just a reaction to President Obama or the financial industry bailouts. As Jonah Goldberg puts it, "a major motivating passion of the tea-party movement was a long-delayed backlash against George W. Bush and his big-government conservatism." Support for the War on Terrorism and the invasion of Iraq caused many conservatives to stay loyal to Bush. But that didn't mean they liked No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, the attempt at a guest worker program, TARP, or the Harriet Miers nomination. Especially after the defeat of John McCain, many on the right insisted they'd never again support Bush-Rove conservatism.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 0bamavsgingrich; 0romneypost; 0stealthmitt; biggovt; corporatewelfare; eyeofnewt; gingrich; influencepeddler; lobbyist; mandates; newtgingrich; teaparty
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To: montag813
A pity Bachmann isn’t able to perform better. Is it the accent? Or did she sacrifice herself when she helped take down Perry? She seems to be the real deal on every issue. Why don’t Republicans like her?

I think it s her inexperience and lack of gravitas.

She just hasn't ever done anything that seems very difficult or important.

41 posted on 12/06/2011 7:58:53 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: Fred

The Tea Party, not being a PARTY, is made up of many different mindsets, both Reps, Dems & Inds., and it looks like the majority are with Newt, count me among them.


42 posted on 12/06/2011 7:59:07 PM PST by annieokie
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To: doc1019

yeah that makes sense. /s


43 posted on 12/06/2011 7:59:38 PM PST by Williams (Honey Badger Don't Care)
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To: bigjoesaddle
I just saw Newt on Gretta, and his brain makes Romney look like a pimple on a retards butt.

Ohhh rotflol...that's sooo good!

44 posted on 12/06/2011 7:59:49 PM PST by caww
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To: rogue yam

“Tea party types who back Newt do so because they prefer him to Mitt and don’t think any of the others has a chance.”
___________________________________________

I have to agree with that. Newt is, indeed, a smart cookie.
I had great respect for him in the Gingrich revolution
back in 1990?..my memory fails me. He has, however, taken on a lot of baggage, not just in his belly.

Romney, in my opinion, is nothing more then a poster-child.

The only priority now is to defeat the Communist and get rid of Obumbo.
I do not care who does it.


45 posted on 12/06/2011 7:59:59 PM PST by AlexW
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To: montag813
Why don’t Republicans like her?

It's a debate performance issue. Republican see Newt wowing them in debates with Obama. But Obama ain't debating anybody.

46 posted on 12/06/2011 8:00:09 PM PST by writer33 (Mark Levin Is The Constitutional Engine Of Conservatism)
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To: bigbob
Unless you think Newt would appoint the same kind of activist liberals to the Supreme Court that Obama would

I'm not sure, are you?

I know that if amnesty becomes reality, none of these other issues like taxes, obamacare etc. will make any difference, we will permanently be a Democrat controlled, entitlement society. I know Obama cannot get amnesty passed. I fear that Gingrich can, and would get amnesty passed.

Who should I fear the most?

47 posted on 12/06/2011 8:00:31 PM PST by Prokopton
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To: Tzar

whatever it is, we need to beat Obama at all costs.


48 posted on 12/06/2011 8:01:21 PM PST by GlockThe Vote (The Obama Adminstration: 2nd wave of attacks on America after 9/11)
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To: TitansAFC

A Paulbot, you think?


49 posted on 12/06/2011 8:02:30 PM PST by deweyfrank
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To: BillyBonebrake
It's odd, but this election cycle is bringing up more and more FReepers with signupdates which date from pre-2000 to early 2002 (a couple years at least before my signup) -- who, despite everything else, I *never* recall having seen before.

And if your excuse for Newt's poor ratings is that his wife is a creeper, then does it follow that Palin was *too* good looking?

Kind of a Laffer curve of attractiveness.

Cheers!

50 posted on 12/06/2011 8:05:36 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Fred

Doooooomed!


51 posted on 12/06/2011 8:06:11 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Stop BIG Government Greed Now!!!!)
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To: Fred
Will an Obaama defeat doom the OWS crowd and its goals, in the minds and hearts of the pundits?

Cheers!

52 posted on 12/06/2011 8:07:54 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Prokopton

....Newt was appalled and disgusted at the amount of dictatorial power that Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson tried to grab for himself at the outset of the financial crisis....... However, he reluctantly supported a scaled-down plan AFTER Paulson told the country that the world financial system was going to collapse without this emergency support......and so did many others who intitially would not support it.

Newt says... that the reckless, secretive and opaque way in which the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department administered the bailouts has been an affront to democracy..... The Fed was picking winners and losers, using several emergency lending facilities to make all types of loans to connected parties, including to a bank owned by the Libyan government.


53 posted on 12/06/2011 8:08:30 PM PST by caww
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To: deweyfrank

The Paulistinians are out of full force in recent weeks here at FR.

Yes, Fred is among them. They are doing most of the griping these days, trying to take out Newt or anyone else who looks like they have a chance to win in the hopes that if everyone else gets destroyed, Paul can win with 7%.

Ron Paul is a professional Presidential candidate. He is the only candidate whose following is genuinely religious - and that’s in a list of candidates which includes Bishop Mitt Romney.


54 posted on 12/06/2011 8:09:26 PM PST by TitansAFC (Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry are not your enemies, my fellow Freepers!)
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To: AlexW; Perdogg

Newt wins the Republican nomination, and we have an Obama landslide victory. Newt has more baggage than would fit the undercarriage of a 747. Obama has always had luck on his side and he will be lucky again if Newt wins the nomination.


55 posted on 12/06/2011 8:09:56 PM PST by Steelfish (ui)
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To: Fred

As a big-time Tea Party guy, who felt totally revitalized by the whole movement, getting a genuine sense of optimism for the first time virtually since the Reagan era... having gone through all that and then wind up with Newt friggin’ Gingrich as the nominee is rather... surreal. And depressing. Better than Romney, admittedly. By a thin hair. But, good gravy! What the hell is the point of anything anymore???


56 posted on 12/06/2011 8:10:24 PM PST by greene66
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To: Prokopton

Amen. People here don’t understand the danger of Newt’s amnesty. His legalization plan is the starting point when he McCain and Harry Reid sit down to draft the compromise bill.

This is the biggest threat. Obamacare is second one and Newt supports the mandate.


57 posted on 12/06/2011 8:11:09 PM PST by heiss (heartless and inhumane (radical rightwinger))
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To: Fred

The Tea Parrty is not driven by personality but by principle. If Gingrich doesn’t toe the line I for one will turn on him.

But probably not till after the election.


58 posted on 12/06/2011 8:12:32 PM PST by DaxtonBrown (http://www.futurnamics.com/reid.php)
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Comment #59 Removed by Moderator

To: GlockThe Vote
we need to beat Obama at all costs.

And everything comes at a price....some need to put aside their seeking a PERFECT-O candidate and pick the one who can and will remove Obama from our house. That's the game plan no matter how snorty we all get toward each other getting to that point...lol.

60 posted on 12/06/2011 8:12:53 PM PST by caww
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