Steyn: Newt ‘like Teddy Roosevelt mixed someone sort of novelty-crazed futurologist’(Nails it!)

The Daily Caller ^

[indianrightwinger]

Steyn: Newt ‘like Teddy Roosevelt mixed someone sort of novelty-crazed futurologist’ By Jeff Poor - The Daily Caller 9:19 AM 12/07/2011

In an appearance on “The Michael Berry Show” on KTRH in Houston on Tuesday, a disappointed Mark Steyn, the author of “After America: Get Ready for Armageddon,” declared the 2012 Republican nominating process a failure and chalked up the proliferation of cable debates as a substitute for campaigning in the early primary states as the reason.

“I think the nomination process failed last time around when John McCain wound up as the nominee and I think it is heading for failure this time around,” Steyn said. “I’m speaking to you from my home in New Hampshire … but in my state of New Hampshire, one reason we like the primaries is its all supposed to be about swinging by local diners and county fairs, and the annual pancake breakfast and all this kind of thing. And we know the clichés — the woman who tells the Washington Post, the New York Times every four years, you know, ‘I won’t vote for any candidate I haven’t danced with at least three times.’”

[re_nortex]

He's more of an observer who has interesting and entertaining opinions.

Thanks for the feedback and it is appreciated. Where in the world did Mark Steyn get that British accent? He's from Toronto and most of them speak like, well, Americans albeit with an occasional "eh" thrown in. :-)

[Pelham]

Newt was a big fan of “futurist” Alvin Toffler, for those old enough to remember “Future Shock” and “The Third Wave”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave_(book)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Toffler

[Sudetenland]

He couldn't "nail it" if "it" was strapped down. For all I like Mark Steyn as a sub for Rush, he has demonstrated an amazingly superficial understanding of Newt's record beginning with his incorrect characterization of the CWA during his last stint on Rush.

As for the debate process, it has given us the best race for the nomination I have witnessed. The large number of debates that Steyn bemoans has given candidates with very little in the way of resources exposure well beyond their ability to purchase air-time.

There is a reason for Newt's rise and a reason for Cain's demise. Newt has repeatedly demonstrated an in depth knowledge of the issues confronting American and that he has spent more than a little time considering solutions to those problems.

On the other hand, Cain repeatedly demonstrated an astonishingly narrow and uninformed world view. It was clear that Cain had not even spent much time considering foreign policy issues until he began to rise in the polls--he even said as much in his interview with Neil Cavuto when he said he was "a work in process and I am learning as I go . . .and I am becoming more knowledgeable on a lot of these topics." Anyone who enters the arena of national politics should already know at least as much about it as we who discuss it on this forum--not the detailed information that one relies on to make policy, but just a general well rounded understanding of the various issues facing us.

[x]

Mark Steyne was born in Canada but educated in Britain and started working over there before moving to the US.

A lot of Brits emigrated to Canada right after WWII. Steyne's parents may have been among them; I don't know.

[5th MEB]

not necessarily, I voted for the lieing, thieving, senile old bastard in hopes that he would win the election and then drop dead and leave Sara in charge.

[BfloGuy]

So it seems like this Canuck fellow is telling we [sic] Americans how to vote.

You sound just like the feminazis who used to tell me I had no right to an opinion on abortion because I wasn't a woman. It was a stupid argument.

[re_nortex]

You sound just like the feminazis who used to tell me I had no right to an opinion on abortion because I wasn't a woman. It was a stupid argument.

You were born a man, not a woman. You can't change biology (regardless of what liberals might claim).

Mark Steyn was born a Canadian. He can't change that. But he can change his citizenship and become an American.

[CommieCutter]

At this point I almost wish ... almost ... that Obama wins so that when the dust clears after the apocalypse all of the blame will be laid at the feet of the liberals.

That was supposed to happen in his first term...

I'm not a Ron Paul zealot by any means, but we need someone to stick the establishment in the eye..

[myrabach]

I am sick of the idea that we are “stuck” with Newt and Romney without 1 stinking vote being cast! Looks to me like there are still others on the ballot and here we are braying like donkeys about the front runners selected by some mysterious polls or msm hacks. What is wrong with us? We are supposedly the electorate. Are we that swayed by these bogus polls? If so, then we are simply no better than those with whom we are against. Get up and fight for the candidate you want, it’s the only way we are going to get the best of the best.

[Twinkie]

But you forget how good Obama is at shifting the blame onto someone else. It’ll be “Bush’s fault”.

[shhrubbery!]

Steyn is absolutely right, Gingrich is a "a 'big government' compromiser branded as a right-wing extremist."

But I disagree with Steyn that the debates have been a bad thing.

The debates were invaluable in flushing out a couple of unworthy candidates (much as it pains me to say this): Perry and Cain.

Steyn seems to have forgotten that the GOP nominee, whoever he or she is, will have to debate the Dem nominee next fall. Ability to handle a debate is crucial, even if the Dems throw up Obama again.

If the only way we had to evaluate candidates was Steyn's preferred process (actually I'm not sure he's being serious here) -- i.e. the ol' pressin' the flesh in Iowa diners and dancin' with the ladies shtick -- we would probably have stayed bowled over with Herman Cain's charm .... and would not have discovered that he was a fraud ... until too late.

[pepsi_junkie]

Steyn seems to have forgotten that the GOP nominee, whoever he or she is, will have to debate the Dem nominee next fall. Ability to handle a debate is crucial, even if the Dems throw up Obama again.

I disagree. The debate with Obama will be a sham, as the McCain/Obama and all other presidential debates in my memory have been. McCain was lackluster in the debates, but so was Obama. Both were too afraid to make a mistake to really score any points. If you don't make some really bad mistake (like Gore sighing and shaking his head every time Bush spoke) you get through it with a bunch of people saying "The dem won" and a buch saying "the republican won". It won't be a deciding factor, it never really is (Kennedy/Nixon perhaps being the exception that proves the rule).

All that said, it would be nice to for once have a candidate we didn't have to defend as "not a dummy".

[CommieCutter]

He’s not good at it.

He has the media on his side.

[Huck]

Steyn was GREAT on EIB last week. It was so refreshing to hear intelligent, honest analysis and commentary about the GOP race instead of the brain dead, pom-pom waving, lipstick-on-a-pig SPIN being ladled out by the big three of talk radio.

[itsahoot]

Care to guess how many of our news casters are American Citizens? Sadly the ones that are, are traitorus fools.

[Antoninus]

I like Mark Steyn, but he’s out in left field when it comes to US electoral politics. He’s a Romney guy—I can’t take seriously anyone who’s a Romney guy.

[balls]

Agree completely. I also agree that anybody is preferable to 0. Giving 0 another four years will put at least one more liberal on the Supreme Court, maybe two.

[PieterCasparzen]

Romney’s support has been the same set of voters all along - everyone else is anti-Romney.

At the end of the primary, all anti-Romney’s will outvote the Romney people (only between 20% to 25%).

It’s highly doubtful that Romney will be the nominee, much to the chagrin of the establishment.

Newt is trying to capture not all but enough from both the establishment and anti-establishment Republican camps.

Over the next few months I guess we’ll see if there is not a “revolt” amongst the anti-establishment to rally around one of the other candidates if they’re still in the race.

I personally hope Michele Bachmann resurges, but of course at this point Newt looks to be doing very well.

I don’t think Steyn is a Romney guy (I don’t think any many serious conservatives are); this link, for example shows some text from Steyn revealing that he’s not enamored with his politics:

http://www.steynonline.com/4226/mittle-ground

IMHO.