Posted on 12/11/2011 12:02:07 PM PST by Jim Robinson
"In a new NBC/Marist poll, Newt Gingrich has surged into the lead in Iowa, but Mitt Romney's big lead in New Hampshire remains. NBC's Mike Viqueira and David Gregory report."
Newt Gingrich’s surge in the polls isn’t limited to just the early presidential-nominating contest of Iowa. According to new NBC News-Marist polls, the former House speaker has now opened up commanding leads in South Carolina and Florida -- two states that historically have played important roles in deciding the eventual Republican nominee.
Fueled by the support from conservatives and the Tea Party, Gingrich is ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by nearly 20 points in South Carolina. The winner of that state's primary has gone on to capture each GOP nomination since 1980.
And he leads Romney by double digits in Florida, whose primary ultimately ended up deciding the party’s pick in 2008.
“You can see why the Romney people are getting a little itchy,” said Lee Miringoff, the director of Marist College’s Institute for Public Opinion, referring to the Romney campaign’s recent attacks on Gingrich. Gingrich ahead “any way you slice it”
~~snip~~
Tea Party power
According to the two polls, Gingrich performs especially well among the most conservative primary voters.
Among Tea Party supporters -- who make up about half of all likely primary voters in South Carolina and Florida -- the former House speaker leads Romney by more than 30 percentage points in both states (51-20 percent in South Carolina and 57-22 percent in Florida).
Gingrich also enjoys huge leads among “conservative” and “very conservative” voters.
(Excerpt) Read more at firstread.msnbc.msn.com ...
Newt has had his dirty laundry aired for years....which means most of his balloons have been popped....they are resorting to women from 1977 now.....so, me thinks he’s pretty well innoculated, plus he has the chutzpah to back the MSM into a corner....and fight to the death...metaphorically, of course....me, I still no not know who I support....still watching....but, NEWT IS intriguing.
I would surmise that those 82% know nothing about GingrichCare.
I would consider myself tea party. Have spoken at some events in fact. And Newt was way down on my list a few months ago for all of the reasons we all know. But he has earned his way back in with a solid presentation of tea party principles and vision for America.
And he’s reminded me why he was the original tea party type guy - with the Contract with America in 1994. And make no mistake, that was his revolution. He led the friendly forces and he was the target of the enemy forces. None of that is even in dispute.
So yes, it makes perfect since to me that Newt is getting huge tea party support. And anyone being honest with themselves would have to admit that down deep, they know Newt is the man to debate Obama.
“Gingrich also enjoys huge leads among “conservative” and “very conservative” voters.”
Not because he is conservative nor because he has Tea Party principles. Only because he stands up to the press and he’s not Romney.
Gingrich is not "cool" but he's substantive. Hopefully enough people will have changed their minds about how "cool" it is to vote for "The One."
That's exactly how I feel too... even down to wishing Palin would get in - and knowing it's too late. Newt's the man.
>> Tea Party Power my eye. Newts a Rino and NBC lies. Don’t believe it and not voting for him in the primary. I am Tea party and have not sold out my values to fake polls. >>
With due respect, I’d put my tea party cred up against yours any day. I’d put Jim Rob’s tea party cred up against yours any day. I’d take the cred of all the polls everywhere up against your cred. And all of that points to one thing: Newt is rocking with a lot of tea party support.
And the reason is simple: he is the inventor of the Contract with America and he spearheaded the 94 revolution - in a way a precursor to today’s tea party. He can accomplish a lot of what we want.
And we just don’t think MB and RS can accomplish that for us, and Perry doesn’t look like he can make it and HC has gone bye bye.
Newt and the Tea Party. Makes perfect sense to anyone who knows Newt, the contract, and history.
I agree, Jim.
And, for the rest of your young whipper-snappers here. Some of us are old enough to remember how effective he was during his tenure as speaker of the house. I am sure he rubbed some of the rinos the wrong way.
He certainly upset our dear little Mrs. Pelosi and her gang, who tried their hardest to get him, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the IRS, if I remember correctly.
My husband and I have decided that Gingrich gets our vote. But, we worry that Paul supporters will opt out/or that Paul will run as an independent, giving us Obama instead.
IBTZ......give me a break. You are not long here.
Ya hoo!!!!! Go Newt...Go!!!!
Jim, as you've no doubt seen by now, there is mixed reaction here on FR to your recent pro-Newt commentary.
I think this poll result indicates something I have felt for a long time: those who call themselves "conservative" in national polls are a few points closer to the middle of the road than are John and Jane Q. Freeper.
Huh?
Perhaps all of us should read his books in order to measure the depth of his probe into the beliefs and principles of America's Founders.
Some time ago, one of my posts included the following thoughts:
As to an examination of the necessary qualifications for the American presidency at this critical juncture in America's history, we might consult an excerpted portion of the 1801 Inaugural Address of Thomas Jefferson for guidance on the seriousness of the undertaking:
(Excerpt) "Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter—with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
"About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."
Now, the question is: which 2012 candidate possesses the intellectual qualifications and commitment to the Founders' ideas necessary to lead us to "retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety"?
My own personal belief is that Jefferson's advice is appropriate for all who love liberty and wish to help in restoring America as a beacon of liberty in the world.
The only antidote for the lies of communism and socialism--ideas which enslave citizens in every nation where they are tried--is truth, specifically the "self-evident" truths of the American Declaration of Independence which underlie its Constitution. Only a person who has studied those truths, as they were spoken and written by the Founders, can rebut the lies of those who believe they and their fellow oppressors are wise enough to make decisions for all the rest of us.
Is Gingrich the candidate who can articulate the ideas of liberty and rebut the ideas of those who rely on coercive power in government? If not, which candidate is adequate to the task? Listen carefully as we go forward. Check voting records and writings. Listen for the Founders' ideas of Creator-endowed life and individual liberty, freedom of individual enterprise, limited government power, and freedom for religion, and the rule of law. Then decide who will battle for liberty!
Prosperity, jobs, and freedom will follow if we "regain the road."
>> I think this poll result indicates something I have felt for a long time: those who call themselves “conservative” in national polls are a few points closer to the middle of the road than are John and Jane Q. Freeper.>>
Nope. I think it means that a lot of conservatives have a better memory of all that Newt did for conservatism in the 80s and 90’s than a lot of John Q Freepers.
Definitely. If conservatives genuinely believe that a consultant working the corridors of K Street in Washington, DC and getting paid by government funded institutions like Freddie Mac is the “private sector,” I’m staying home. The margin will be decided by Independents and disaffected Democrats in swing states.
Or if he is bawling again. LOL.
You won't have to bite your tongue at all......and you know "never" is maybe just for today. Whatch and listen....and go back a few years and listen to Newt....HE's definately a Reaganite...and he's on the march to shake and break Washington....let's get behind him all the way! Trust your gut as you go along..as most have...moreso trust even Jim's gut on this one.
That post was meaningless and nothing but a tantrum with absolutely no intellectual heft whatsoever.
The guy has a 45 year career and you pull out a part time gig for a few years as your defining point? Totally meaningless.
Indeed. And hopefully a more Conservative House, and Senate majority(?), will keep President Gingrich from reaching across the aisle too often.
“Karl Rove deeply saddened”
Karl Rove needs to be put on a suicide watch.
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