The Case for Newt Gingrich

The Tucson Citizen | February 22, 2012 | Bob Quasius

[2ndDivisionVet]

Link only due to copyright issues: http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-lincoln-republican/2012/02/22/the-case-for-newt-gingrich/

[2ndDivisionVet]

Comments?

[2ndDivisionVet]

Link to article:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-lincoln-republican/2012/02/22/the-case-for-newt-gingrich/

[Son House]

Best case scenario for economic recovery is Newt’s economic plan, and that is all the people need to know! No really, the article has little new insight, and the argument is kinda weak against the others.

[marron]

I essentially agree with the article. Any of the guys running would be better than the guy currently in the White House, in fact you could pick a name at random from the phone book and have a better president than what we have suffered through the last several years.

But Newt is more than just better than O, he is the right man for the job. He was born to do this job, and he has prepared for it his whole life. He is a philosopher and a visionary, but he is also a mechanic who knows how the machineworks operate, and he has been in the loop long enough to know where all the bodies are buried.

I’d gladly vote for Santorum, and as much as I don’t like the other two, they’d be far better than what we have now. But Gingrich will turn this ship around.

[Flotsam_Jetsome]

Comments?

Okay. "I don’t agree with Newt’s immigration solution, but his solution comes closest, and knowing Newt’s ability to get things done with Congress I am confident in the end we will have a workable solution."

This worried me, when I read it. The problem is that, if Newt's solution comes closest to being a reasonable, workable solution, then it will ipso facto be unacceptable to the Dems from the word Go home! and by the time all of the handshaking across the aisle is done, we'll somehow still find ourselves being invaded, and with the bonus of the Left taking credit for it (Shamnesty of any kind) and pandering to the newly minted voting block with all sorts of enticing additional public assistance, thereby growing even more, the entitlement class.

"During the only four years in my lifetime that we had a balanced budget, Newt Gingrich was speaker of the House! Obama has failed to even introduce a budget, and government expenditures have been authorized through omnibus spending bills and individual bills. Spending in Washington has clearly spiraled out of control, and needs decisive and experienced leadership to rein in spending and make painful cuts."

That sounds like a good ad.

Out of the group that's still in the mix for the GOP nomination, Newt, warts and all, is by far the best of them. I voted for Newt a month ago via the Arizona early absentee ballot, have no regrets, and wish him well in my home state's primary next Tuesday. Given that the Citizen is considered to have the more conservative editorial leaning between itself and Tucson's other notable paper, the Star, the budding idiotorium in the comments section doesn't inspire confidence in the political education of the GOP electorate, at least in Tucson, and perhaps more widely, Arizona itself.

[PRePublic]

Bump for later.

[org.whodat]

Newt said he voted for amnesty and Reagan signed the bill, then the government flailed to live up to the agreements. Noot was one of those that did not do crap. And I will not kick the football for for Lucy again.

[presently no screen name]

He was born to do this job, and he has prepared for it his whole life.

I agree. There are many who chose careers because of different reasons but those who excel are those who found what they are really called/equipped to do. It's just second nature to them.

Yes, turning this country around for Newt will be like a top notch surgeon doing his thing. He knows where all the pieces go, what's out of order. His comment about the border - he said it would cost 1/10 of what some report said. He already 'sees' what needs to be done and knows the 1st to the last step. I do not think it's easy being Newt as he watches inept people toy w/our country and WeThePeople. Like watching an inexperienced surgeon with a shaky hand operating on your loved one.

[rambo316]

When a leftist moderates the debates they never speak up in defense of the girly boy in the white house when Newt or one of the other debators speak out on what an utter failure the ineligible fraud in the white house truly is. We hear day in and day out about what a great leader the fraud in the white house is, but then when Newt or one of the others speaks the truth during a debate about the fraud in the white house and all his policy failures, there is a silence from the leftists.

[rambo316]

When a leftist moderates the debates they never speak up in defense of the girly boy in the white house when Newt or one of the other debators speak out on what an utter failure the ineligible fraud in the white house truly is. We hear day in and day out about what a great leader the fraud in the white house is, but then when Newt or one of the others speaks the truth during a debate about the fraud in the white house and all his policy failures, there is a silence from the leftists.

[LibLieSlayer]

They cannot defend the indefensible and obama cannot run on his record... they both (the press and obamao) attack the opposition and lie about their past... but only where and when no one exists to rebut.

LLS

[nathanbedford]

As one who can claim to be among the first on FreeRepublic to support Newt Gingrich, I echo virtually every sentiment on this thread the effect that he is the man for the times and there is no one else on that debate stage last night with the capacity to divert the Republic from its headlong rush toward the cliff.

We conservatives have long been familiar, going back to a time before his inauguration, of the Manchurian candidate phoniness of Barack Obama. If Gingrich is denied the nomination that leaves another phony, Mitt Romney or someone who was simply not ready for the job, Rick Santorum.

If we have an Obama-Romney race I will emphatically support Romney but I will do so in the knowledge that I have no idea whom it is I am supporting. If the race is between Obama and Santorum I fear the drive-by electorate will watch performances such as that rendered up last night by Santorum and conclude that, as bad as Obama is, Santorum is simply not up to the job.

When the persuadables among the undecideds come to actually decide how to vote they will do so based mostly on word-of-mouth and television image. They will watch the presidential debates to determine whether or not the Republican nominee is actually presidential timber. They will want to know not so much what his policies are but whether the potential replacement for the man whom they want to replace makes them feel secure that it is safe to put him in the job.

Judging Santorum by his performance last night alone and not on his courageous campaign so far, the drive-by electorate will stay with Obama.

I don't think it's necessary to debate Romney's forensic skills. It is clear that he will be able to stand on his feet and debate Obama. He can take a punch and he can land a punch and he seems to be reasonably unflappable. In other words, he will appear presidential and he will pass the drive-by test. Nor is it necessary to evaluate Newt's forensic skills. His ability to debate Obama is unquestioned. But electability is only one of my three leg test for supporting a nominee. Electability, of course, comes first. As John F. Kennedy said, "first you gotta get elected." I don't think there is much to choose from between Gingrich and Romney on the electability issue. Each has strengths and weaknesses and it is impossible to predict now how the actual dynamic of the election will play out six months hence.

The second leg of the stool his conservative bona fides. I have no question that Gingrich trumps Romney all day long on this test.

The third leg, vision, also belongs to Gingrich. And this is the reason why we conservatives really should rally behind Gingrich now. If we do not turn the Republic around now it is inevitable that we slide off the cliff. If we do not defeat Obama the fall will simply come sooner. If we defeat Obama with Romney we will have put in place a Rockefeller-Bush-Romney Republican and we will get half measures which will simply not do because this is Europe 1939 and with Chamberlain we will lose this existential struggle.

There is another part of Romney that disturbs me, it is becoming increasingly clear that the man is a ruthless prick. He is a hypocrite who sends surrogates out to do his slanders and turns a smiling face to the mothers of America and poses as the picture of innocence and succeeds in getting the women's vote while they react against Gingrich. Whatever transgressions Gingrich has made, I believe they're mostly of the intellectual sort and not so Nixonian in character as I increasingly see in Romney.

For Gingrich to prevail now either Romney or Santorum must disintegrate and it looks like Santorum is in some danger after last night's performance. If he fades markedly, Gingrich still has a chance in a one-on-one against Romney.

[VRWC For Truth]

Newt has more baggage than he can carry. Pass.

[panaxanax]

Good post. Thanks

[sodpoodle]

Good analogy.

In the blue-collar world of car maintenance -

Romney would have the Dealership pick up his Volvo - where an oil change will cost $500.

Santorum would ignore engine trouble and take the family car to the Car-Wash so that it would be all clean and sparkly.

Newt would follow a thorough maintenance schedule and find the most qualified mechanic to prevent problems or find solutions.

[Marguerite]

I have my own response to anyone talking disparagingly about “Newt’s baggage”.

If you want to look at his “baggage”, HERE WE GO!

If at 68, a man has not “baggage”, that means his life was empty and his achievements were nil.

Talk about a “baggage”:

10 uninterrupted terms serving in the House of Representatives (1979 - 1999)

The House Republican Minority Whip (1990 - 1994)

The first Republican Speaker of the House in 40 years (1995-1999)

Author of 23 books, including Lessons Learned the Hard Way (1998), Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America (2005), Rediscovering God in America (2006), and To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine (2010). He also co-wrote an alternative history series on the Civil War and World War II.

In 2003 he founded the Center for Health Transformation to develop a 21st century healthcare system that is centered on the individual.

Served on the Hart-Rudman Commission, formally known as the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century

Gingrich has taught at the United States Air Force’s Air University, where he is the longest-serving teacher of the Joint Flag Officer Warfighting Course.

Honorary Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at the National Defense University where he teaches officers from all of the defense services.

Guiding coalition member of the Project on National Security Reform.

Created the production company Gingrich Productions, and religious educational organization Renewing American Leadership.

Fellow at conservative American Enterprise Institute and Hoover Institution.

Quite a “baggage” indeed!

NO OTHER candidate present or on the sides is more qualified and ready for the huge task than Newt Gingrich to become the next President of the United States of America.

[dt57]

They all have baggage. It is called living and leading. Get a grip. I’ll carry his baggage any day. No one else, save Newt, has the experience and the ability to turn our country around. That should matter most.

[RFEngineer]

“Newt would follow a thorough maintenance schedule and find the most qualified mechanic to prevent problems or find solutions.”

No, Newt would have a sports car on the side, that his mechanic didn’t know about.

[Bailee]

An accomplished elder statesman - Exactly what we need for the next 8 years.

[dforest]

I will take Newt or Rick. I am also done flaming either of them.

That said, Romney may well run away with it now. He is even packing the debate audiences. You could tell that at the beginning when they were introduced.