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I'd support anyone (including Newt) who has demonstrated the communication skills and killer instinct to bring the House Republicans into line and strike terror into the hearts of leftist slugs like Pelosi and Murtha. Newt understands how the system works and can get results. For a time he was so powerful he even had Slick licking his boots instead of Monica's dress, until the press deemed him a threat to the Dems agenda and hounded him out of office.

That's what everyone on this thread needs to understand. It's not enough to be good at the job: a viable candidate must be able to manage the Fifth Column effectively.

The press is operating like a third political party; they will never back Newt. Reagan was extraordinary in his acting-honed ability to override them at their own communications game. It would take another person similarly gifted. Intellect is not enough; presentation is very important. This is where Bush could not measure up, much as I love the guy and understood his verbal shorthand. He and I are from a similar walk of life and have a compatible frame of reference. Other ethnicities and subgroups simply could not understand the man.

"This is where Bush could not measure up, much as I love the guy and understood his verbal shorthand."

- I think that this too, is press manipulation. The MSM have consistently presented Bush as "verbally challenged" and try to draw the inference that this equates to being stupid. For example, they constantly point out his pronunciation of the word "nuclear" as being the hallmarks of an uneducated dummy. On the other hand, they found JFK's constant pronunciation of Cuba as "Cuber" as being rather charming.
I don't think LBJ, another Texan, was any more well spoken than Bush.

"The press is operating like a third political party; they will never back Newt. Reagan was extraordinary in his acting-honed ability to override them at their own communications game. It would take another person similarly gifted. Intellect is not enough; presentation is very important. This is where Bush could not measure up, much as I love the guy and understood his verbal shorthand. He and I are from a similar walk of life and have a compatible frame of reference. Other ethnicities and subgroups simply could not understand the man.

You got it! Bush realized his lack of skill in verbal communication altho he is getting much better lately. So he had Art Fleicher as his spokeman to the press and he didn't do too badly. McClellan was terrible and I blame him for his communication that drove his poll downward. Tony Snow is excellent in this. He should have had Tony from the beginning.

Communication is all-important. It establishes the mindset of the President and direct it to the voters.

Newt is excellent in this game and he can do the job very effectively. As for his "baggages", I believe he paid very dearly for this. He lost just about everything and yet he did not complain. I don't know what was going on between him and his ex-wife but that's their business. There was obvious problems. Now he spent years in making a living as an advisor to several agencies so he could stay on top of the political world. He recently wrote a book about God.