Romney adviser: We could lose South Carolina

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ^ | 1/20/2012 | Peter Hamby

[TBBT]

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With Newt Gingrich creeping up in the polls and potentially on the cusp of a South Carolina victory, one of Mitt Romney's senior advisers sought to change expectations ahead of Saturdays' pivotal presidential primary.

Though his campaign has competed aggressively in the state and is hungry for a win here, Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said the idea of a loss to Gingrich on Saturday is not far-fetched.

"Do I think we could lose South Carolina? Sure. Of course," Stevens told CNN after Thursday's presidential debate in Charleston.

"The very idea that we are sting where two days before South Carolina, having won New Hampshire, having done very well in Iowa, and the question is 'Could Romney lose South Carolina,' is such an absurd question."

"The idea should be does he have a chance in South Carolina," Stevens claimed.

When it was noted that Romney had a 10-point lead over Gingrich as recently as Tuesday, Stevens shook his head.

"These things were always going to close," he said. "I think it's very competitive. I think it's a four-way race. The whole race is very fluid."

[Sacajaweau]

Daddy...Daddy...Help me.

[Vendome]

That's where a record comes in. Not just the record of votes, which is often a meaningless toll of positions taken for political reasons on bills that were always going to pass or were never going to pass, but a record of actions taken that actually mattered.

A record of actions taken that actually mattered.  Newt is the man who fits that description to a "T".

He can identify what is most important to the country, develop a plan to overcome that challenge, articulate the the merits of overcoming the challenge and why the plan will work.

I hadn't been for Gingrich initially and spent plenty of energy excoriating him, these last several years, for any number of sins he committed against the Republican/Conservative ideals.  He seemed a turncoat of sorts, particularly when he babysat Pelosi on the couch.

On reflection, Newt is an attention whore seeking relevancy for his ideas and I guess I take him at his word that he made a few mistakes in his life and he has at least some regret for those decisions.  God knows I am no angel and so I have to reflect on the man's ability to get things done.

Newt gave us the Republican majority, the Contract with America and completed 2/3rds of his agenda while in office.

He now has a new plan for America and with what is likely to become a Congressional Super Majority and a Senate Majority, if not Super Majority, I believe he will absolutely accomplish his agenda.

Say goodbye to ObamaCare the single biggest scam and travesty foisted upon a free people who, by right, ought to have been given the opportunity to read the bill and debate it.  Instead, a win at all cost, cheating agenda was developed and it was signed with most people never laying eyes on at least page 2 of this utopian dreck.

Executive Orders Positions:

The following are all within the executive powers to simply order and with the exception of securing the border within one year, they are all easily accomplished with the stroke of a pen and no way to challenge them in the legislature.

Keystone may be challenged in the courts but I think the Executive can order the EPA to approve, under National Security Priorities and it is a National Security issue, as well, a jobs issue.

As President, Newt, could actually have a very busy 1st week or month just on these initiative alone.

1. Eliminate the thirty-nine White House "Czar" positions created during the current administration. The president does not have the authority to appoint bureaucrats to power who are not accountable to the Congress.

2. "Mexico City Policy" of Respect for Life. Reauthorize President Ronald Reagan’s policy – also known as the "Mexico City Policy"— to stop tax payer dollars from being used to fund or promote abortions in foreign countries.

3. Restore conscience clause protections for Healthcare Workers.No American working in a medical environment should be forced to perform any procedure that he or she finds morally or ethically objectionable based on religious teaching. This protection should include, but not be limited to abortion. Existing conscience clause protections need to be strengthened.

4. Respect Each Sovereign Nation’s Choice of its Capital. Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own Capital. Accordingly, the U.S. State Department should be instructed to respect the choice of each sovereign nation and place the American embassy in their Capital.  (Israel is the only country the United States discriminates against in this regard. The people of Israel have designated Jerusalem as their capital. Yet the United States retains its embassy in Tel Aviv.) 

5. End the Attorney General's Assault on the States. Instruct the Attorney General to withdraw all immigration-related lawsuits against states immediately, including those pending in Arizona and South Carolina. The Obama Administration refuses to enforce federal immigration laws, and instead sues states who are merely trying to enforce the laws that the federal government neglects. The Gingrich Administration will secure the border by Jan. 1, 2014 by any means necessary. 

6. The Keystone Pipeline

Unleash American Energy by Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline. Instruct the State Department to approve a Presidential Permit immediately for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that will send 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Great Plains and Southwestern states to Gulf Coast refineries lower staggering energy prices, and create up to 120,000 American jobs.

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

 Now we get into the details of an inclusive agenda that brings the people(you and me), through their representatives, into process.  The TEA Party and conservatives are going to have a majority in both houses.

Let’s elect an Executive who will absolutely fulfill the promise of our ideals.

Executive Summary

1. Repeal Obamacare and pass a replacement that saves lives and money by empowering patients and doctors, not bureaucrats and politicians.
2. Return to robust job creation with a bold set of tax cuts and regulatory reforms that will free American entrepreneurs to invest and hire, as well as by reforming the Federal Reserve and creating a training requirement for extended federal unemployment benefits to encourage work and improve the quality of our workforce.
3. Unleash America’s full energy production potential in oil, natural gas, coal, biofuels, wind, nuclear oil shale and more, creating jobs,  stimulating a sustainable manufacturing boom, lowering gasoline and other energy prices, increasing government revenues, and bolstering national security.
4. Save Medicare and Social Security by giving Americans more choices and tools to live longer, healthier lives with greater financial independence.
5. Balance the federal budget by freeing job-creators to grow the economy, reforming entitlements, and implementing waste cutting and productivity improvement systems such as Lean Six Sigma to eliminate waste and fraud. Pass a balanced budget amendment to keep it balanced.
6. Control the border by January 1, 2014 and establish English as the official language of government; reform the legal visa system, and make it much easier to deport criminals and gang members while making it easier for law abiding visitors to come to the US.
7. Revitalize our national security system to meet 21st century threats by restructuring and adequately funding our security agencies to function within a grand strategy for victory over those who seek to kill us or limit American power.
8. Maximize the speed and impact of medical breakthroughs by removing unnecessary obstacles that block new treatments from reaching patients and emphasizing research spending towards urgent national priorities, like brain science with its impact on Alzheimer’s, autism, Parkinson's, mental health and other conditions knowledge of the brain will help solve. 
9. Restore the proper role of the judicial branch by using the clearly delineated powers available to the president and Congress to correct, limit, or replace judges who violate the Constitution.
10. Enforce the Tenth Amendment by starting an orderly transfer of power and responsibility from the federal government back “to the states, respectively, or to the people,” as the Constitution requires. Over the next year, state and local officials and citizens will be asked to identify the areas which can be transferred back home.    

Newt gave us the three most important victories of the 90’s Welfare Reform, Balanced Budget and Reduced Taxes.  I hope I don’t need to describe the benefits of those victories.  They ought to be obvious to everyone by now.

Lastly, there have been some reports that Newt shouldn’t get all the credit.  Really?  Then perhaps we marginalize the accomplishments of Washington, Roosevelt, Kennedy and ….wait for it… Reagan.

Do we really want to go down the road with that kind of adolescent sophistry and parsing of what happened?

Newt is the guy who thought of these big things, proposed them and shepherded their implementation?

Newt has once again identified what is important to us now, at this time and described how we can get there with our representative majorities. He has done it before and I declare Newt Gingrich was then and is Now a leader.

We should elect Newt Gingrich to the Presidency of the United States

[from occupied ga]

He prefers that Obama win, Scott....

I see I'm a magnet for morons today. You as a self confessed liberal republican (according to your handle) should not try to discuss anything truly conservative. You don't have the intellectual capacity or viewpoint for it.

[Christie at the beach]

Newt gave direct answers at the debates.

Romney mostly repeated Newt's comments.

Newt answers to no one. Romney answers to the establishment.

Romney is a nice guy though he is not showing he can even win this now. The establishment ( the blue bloods-the elites, those who look down on us regular citizens as hicks; they are truly, like I posted days ago, are on suicide watch->they fear the conservative agenda is coming to D.C.-we must admit that the moderate libs/dems/repubs are grounded into the GOP now-which they control now -those groups will do anything to stop Newt-I say those fractions were in the bed with Newt's wife to try to take him down in SC) They are talking brokered convention, I would agree that's not a rumor. They are afraid Mitt can't win and we know what they think of Newt. I say Palin had at one time thought of a brokered convention ( I had those thoughts too for a floor fight) until Newt took off so there's hope to stop Mitt. Who wanted Romneycare Mitt. I think Newt of the candidates we have is the floor fight for us. Who will be their guy for the insiders, people like Rove? This push back from the insiders will make Newt even stronger. I am sending more donations and offering my time to him. This is a perfect example of the elites picking the candidate that they want.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

I see you point. How about the Juan King Effect?

[Qbert]

""Do I think we could lose South Carolina? Sure. Of course,"

Some might even say that it's... "inevitable".

[Servant of the Cross]

and you are a self confessed old f@rt. Hateful and angry is so unbecoming in a senior citizen.

[jpsb]

I have noticed that the thought of nominating a real conservative seems to scare republicans.

[G Larry]

And Mitt, you will have earned the loss!

You don’t know how to fight.
You are the preppy in the alley trying to take on the Chicago machine.
They don’t play by your rules and you’d get your butt kicked.

We need bare knuckles Newt to fight this battle.

hmmm...my new tag line?

[COBOL2Java]

[ohioWfan]

Bwahahaha!!

I'm a conservative Republican. Have been all my life, always will be. And I guarantee that, as a conservative Republican, I'm a heck of a lot more conservative than you are.

And obviously I have you topped in the IQ department, since you can't see the long term effects of your political pov....that is, the reelection of Barack Obama.

[cpray]

tell us how you really feel!!

[Antoninus]

If he loses South Carolina, he should drop out. He will then have lost two of the first three primaries/caucuses.

[blueunicorn6]

I’ve been to South Carolina......beautiful state......not as big as Texas or Alaska, but how can Romney lose the whole state of South Carolina?.....did he just misplace it?......try looking under North Carolina.

[Lady Lucky]

He even got booed.

They all seemed rather weary, but I'm still wondering at Romney's poor performance. At one point he entirely lost his train of thought, and looked to Gingrich for help (and got none!) Then they booed him, quite appropriately, for that asinine reply about releasing multiple years of taxes: he uttered a high-pitched "maybe" and then chuckled. Nothing funny to the audience about financial disclosure, Mitty. Nothing funny about taxes. Especially coming from a very rich fellow paying a very low percentage.

To me this was Romney's worst performance by far.

[Berlin_Freeper]

You have potty issues?

[ohioWfan]

I have noticed that the thought of nominating a real conservative seems to scare republicans.

As the devoted Paulite that you are, I find that comment most amusing, seeing as Paul (and his followers) are far less conservative than we are.

It seems that RP isn't the only one who is delusional....

[Thane_Banquo]

The death blow has come simply because he is not forceful enough in responding effectively to his rival critics and he is simply not proactive at tearing the political heart and soul out of POTUS Barack Hussein Obama with gusto and determination!!!

How can Romney tear the political heart and soul out of Obama when there's no material difference in their policies?

[from occupied ga]

I'm a conservative Republican.

An old man was wandering through a cemetary reading the inscriptions on the headstones. "In loving memory," etc. He came upon one that said "Not dead, but sleeping." The old guy mumbled, "That old boy ain't fooling nobody but his own self." Likewise your enthusiastic worship of Bush means that you ain't fooling nobody but yourself if you think you're conservative.

Or maybe you have it right Republicans have not been particularly conservative as of the last 25 years or so. So maybe you are a "conservative, Republican" when the Republicans come up with Bush, Mclame, Mittens, Neut, etc. Not a conservative by any means, but conservative for a Republican.