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At Republican debate, Newt Gingrich rolls on with steady performance
politico ^ | December 11, 2011 | JONATHAN MARTIN

Posted on 12/11/2011 4:31:00 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper

In a campaign that has been chiefly shaped by debates, Newt Gingrich demonstrated Saturday night why he tops the polls — and why he won’t easily be dethroned.

Facing tough questions from his Republican rivals and debate moderators in Des Moines, Gingrich parried blow after blow without losing his cool or showing the much-discussed undisciplined side of his personality.

It was the former House speaker’s first debate as the undisputed frontrunner and not only did he stand up to the fresh scrutiny, he reminded Republican primary voters of his command of the issues, his intellectual dexterity and his self-assured, forceful arguments.

When Mitt Romney scolded Gingrich for his provocative claim that Palestinians are an “invented” people, the former Georgia congressman concisely captured why his brand of bombast is playing so well with a roiling GOP electorate.

“I think sometimes it is helpful to have a president of the United States with the courage to tell the truth, just as was Ronald Reagan who went around his entire national security apparatus to call the Soviet Union an ‘evil empire’ and who overruled his entire State Department in order to say, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,’’ said Gingrich, calling himself a “Reaganite” and then adding a memorable kicker: “ I will tell the truth, even if it’s at the risk of causing some confusion sometimes with the timid.”

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


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: gingrich; hillbuzz; kevindujan; martin4obama; martin4romney; politico4romney; pollutico
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To: Erik Latranyi
Who else on that stage would have the cojones to say what Gingrich says about Obama and the Palestinians? This is why Gingrich leads....he will take the fight to the liberals, just like he did in 1994.

Yes he will, and he's the first GOPer to actually seek a dogfight with the libs in a long, long time. They're not used to getting pushback.

21 posted on 12/11/2011 5:44:47 AM PST by ScottinVA (I miss America.)
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To: ScottinVA
It seems a bit empty without Cain in the mix.

Bachmann was channeling him all night.

After all of her previous attacks, suddenly she just luuuuuves her some Herman!

22 posted on 12/11/2011 5:47:36 AM PST by PalmettoMason ("The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.")
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To: Erik Latranyi
Yeah, real incendiary......now they might fly planes full of people into building full of people.....oh, nevermind.

You beat me to it.

23 posted on 12/11/2011 5:49:03 AM PST by PalmettoMason ("The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.")
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To: avital2

How does throwing a match into a burning building make it incendiary?


24 posted on 12/11/2011 5:49:55 AM PST by Solson (The Voters stole the election! And the establishment wants it back.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

“One thousand countries”, and abc kept Michele off camera as much as they could, but she scored high regardless of their bias in my opinion.


25 posted on 12/11/2011 5:51:57 AM PST by chainsaw (Sarah Palin would be my first choice. .)
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To: ScottinVA

Just as the Washington insiders know what’s in Newt’s closet, Newt knows what’s in theirs. We saw how quickly Pelosi backed down a couple of weeks ago. I’m starting to enjoy this.


26 posted on 12/11/2011 5:54:02 AM PST by ryderann
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To: Berlin_Freeper

From what I saw (missed the last half hour), Newt did admirably. Even his handling of the character question aimed at him. Romney looked weak at times, don’t think he has the cajones for a Chicago style election. Newt on the other hand will give as good as he gets to theO and his minions. I took one more step toward Newt last night. The debate and JimRob’s assessment have reawakened a liking for Newt.


27 posted on 12/11/2011 5:54:21 AM PST by tioga ( Holder lost the guns, Corzine lost the money, Obama lost the jobs....a dem trifecta.)
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To: avital2

“but i also agree with Romney that that was incendiary”

Newt isn’t president. He holds no office. As a free citizen, he can say whatever he wants to. The truth trumps PC every time. FPC.


28 posted on 12/11/2011 5:57:45 AM PST by faucetman
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To: Berlin_Freeper
We've been waiting a long tome for a conservative with some cajones...now we have one.

We can either back Newt or go back to being wimps!

29 posted on 12/11/2011 6:00:25 AM PST by capt. norm (Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never run out of material. c)
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To: PalmettoMason
Bachmann has become an embarrassment. She has gone 100% political. She mentions Cain, Co-opts 999 into win, win, win, because she so respects him? NO, she is trying to grab his supporters. Attack Newt, praise saint Herman, just a political ploy to try and grab back some of his supporters from Newt. Shameless.
30 posted on 12/11/2011 6:03:43 AM PST by faucetman
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To: avital2
"i agree that Gingrich was right on the Palestinians being invented as a people, but i also agree with Romney that that was incendiary."

There is not, and never has been a nation called Palestine. Israel has existed for thousands of years. Muslim radicals want to create a new country called "Palestine". on exactly the same land as Israel, destroying Israel in the process. Why is it "incendiary" to state this?

31 posted on 12/11/2011 6:14:34 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: savedbygrace

Lord, help us now convince ourselves that Newt is a true Conservative.


32 posted on 12/11/2011 6:15:30 AM PST by asa asa
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To: faucetman

I give Michelle credit for FINALLY attacking Mittens in a debate. Perhaps her minions have been trolling here at FreeRepublic and noticed the growing trend of conservatives suspecting her as a minion to Romney and wondering if that’s why she’s stuck in the 5% rut.

I don’t know if it’ll help her, but at least she did the right thing in hammering on Newt.


33 posted on 12/11/2011 6:18:23 AM PST by Buckeye Battle Cry (Mittt Romney - he lacks the courage of his absence of convictions .)
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To: avital2

“i agree that Gingrich was right on the Palestinians being invented as a people, but i also agree with Romney that that was incendiary.”

Its impossible to be incendiary with people who never stopped lobbing rockets and committing acts of terror worldwide.

Romney promised us that if elected President he would never make a move without calling somebody for permission first. Not a great quality in the Leader of Free World.


34 posted on 12/11/2011 6:22:56 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Having lived in "Palestine" I believe that Newt was correct, even if the argument could have been made a bit clearer. There have, of course, been inhabitants of the Palestinian territories, "Judea and Samaria" - or whatever you choose to call it - for many centuries. However, they lived in small, impoverished villages in a backwater of the Ottoman Empire and earlier overlords, going back to the Roman Empire.

However, many "Palestinians" migrated into the area during the past century after the Jewish settlement of the land presented economic opportunities. Most of the families of our Arab friends originally came from places like Egypt and Syria.

In any case, Newt is correct that there has never been a sovereign, independent country named "Palestine." The Romans called the land after the ancient Philistines, but even then it was part of the Roman province of Syria. After the Romans came the Byzantines and various Arab Caliphates, none of which accorded the land an independent status as a sovereign state.

35 posted on 12/11/2011 6:49:31 AM PST by tjd1454
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Pretty accurate article. Gingrich is just too strong a force to be reckoned with. It's almost unfair watching him on stage. Every time the other candidates jabbed him with their knives, he'd retaliate with a gun. Obama is going to have his hands full as he tries to win the people over with rhetoric while Newt argues with historical context and substance.

This was in the Politico comments section. Gives a good summary of why the Dems prefer going against Mitt.

36 posted on 12/11/2011 6:51:26 AM PST by Donald Rumsfeld Fan ("Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." Richard Feynman father of Quantum Physics)
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Pretty accurate article. Gingrich is just too strong a force to be reckoned with. It's almost unfair watching him on stage. Every time the other candidates jabbed him with their knives, he'd retaliate with a gun. Obama is going to have his hands full as he tries to win the people over with rhetoric while Newt argues with historical context and substance.

This was in the Politico comments section. Gives a good summary of why the Dems prefer going against Mitt.

37 posted on 12/11/2011 6:51:41 AM PST by Donald Rumsfeld Fan ("Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." Richard Feynman father of Quantum Physics)
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To: Solson
How does throwing a match into a burning building make it incendiary?

lol...it's just that the sissies don't want to p!ss off the pyromaniacs.

And Romney and Steffi are both sissies.

38 posted on 12/11/2011 6:57:23 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: Berlin_Freeper

The author is bonkers, IMO.

I kept a +/- talley during the debate and Newt came in fourth, behind Perry, Bachmann and Paul.

I graded on whether the candidate responded to the questions and the good and bad comments in the responses.

Santorem was 5th and Romney was last. Mitt is now publically showing his sleaziness and tendancy to be a snake oil salesman like Huckabee.


39 posted on 12/11/2011 7:02:10 AM PST by octex
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To: norwaypinesavage

believe me, i know the history. i’m Jewish and a Zionist. however, i do believe this makes Bibi’s job harder by riling the P’s up. after 63 years, i’d like a solution, even if it is detente.


40 posted on 12/11/2011 7:09:29 AM PST by avital2
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