Scratch Newt

[woodchip]

Not sure how many of you feel about Newt Gingrich but my views have been on a downwards slide ever since I though highly of him with his Contract With America plan back in the 90's. Since then he has gotten a bit flip floppy on what he endorses and who he puts his arms around. So now that he has flung his hat in the ring, I have eliminated Newt from my list of considerations for the upcoming republican primaries. The clincher was Newts comments on Meet the Press.:

"Gingrich denounced House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan's plan to restructure Medicare, saying, "I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate."

Yet only a month ago Newt said:

"At that time, Gingrich was full of praise for the Ryan budget. "Paul Ryan has stepped up to the plate," Gingrich said. "This is a very, very serious budget and I think rivals with [what] John Kasich did as budget chairman in getting to a balanced budget in the 1990s, just for the scale and courage involved…"

"Paul Ryan is going to define modern conservatism at a serious level," Gingrich continued on April 5. "You can quibble over details but the general shape of what he's doing will define 2012 for Republicans."

So you see, Newt doesn't seem to care what he says other than what is expedient at the moment. If he wants to try the Sen. Kerry approach to statement making then he will fall by the wayside. As such I will no longer consider Newt a viable choice.

[Will Robinson]

Is disagreeing with a particular component of the proposal the same as turning against it as a whole?
I haven't paid any attention to much of it from either of them but from your quotes it looks like Newt could still see Ryan as on the right track but finding fault with the medicare component of his plan. Of course now that he has to run against someone he has to stand out so calculations are made to determine how he can differentiate himself from the pack to help him end up on top in the polls.

Either way it is always political expediency that the candidates gravitate towards because of the political process we have created. We quit paying attention over the last 100 years or so and the two parties have done what any business would do when they have a captive consumer base who isn't paying attention, they cut corners, reduce quality and hide the change. They simplified their workflow to make producing their product easier. They send out demagoguery sales agents manipulating the voters with a few key talking points and the media has joined in the process by capitalizing on drama they can stir up to gather ratings instead of trying to flesh out the issues and enlighten the public.
And we have accepted the end result, the staus quo, as the way it should be.

The declared platform of the two parties is just a pretty wrapper on the process but the process isn't designed to deliver quality representation for the people it is designed to maintain power for the party.

[woodchip]

Dunno Will. All i see is on the one hand Newt lavished praise on the Ryan plan and then after he declares his candidacy he has caveats.

[callmeslick]

Newt, I've come to fear/suspect, has fallen into the John McCain trap of desperation to be Elected. Newt was, at one point, one of the true Conservatives I had great respect for. He had ideas, he could debate and describe them with eloquence. I always wished to see a Gingrich debate with Bill Bradley, as the public would have had the opportunity(whether they availed themselves of it or not would be interesting) to hear
two radically different views of Government and the Nation.
Anyhow, forward to the recent past: Now Uncle Newtey seems given to bombast in the name of headlines,
tailoring positions to an audience and over-the-top nonsense that has eroded(at least for me) the image of a man of intellect.
That all said, Newt doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning the national election, or even a likely chance of surviving the GOP primaries anyhow, so it probably won't matter. He will, before dropping out, manage to make things interesting.......

[flip]

I just hope they throw up a real contender this time or I'm gonna really start wondering. The public opinion at the time of the election was so against Bush and the war, to put McCain up against Obama's Hope and Change was suicide. Add on top of that a controversial female candidate for vice-president. Hell of a gamble if you ask me.

[callmeslick]

I just hope they throw up a real contender this time or I'm gonna really start wondering. The public opinion at the time of the election was so against Bush and the war, to put McCain up against Obama's Hope and Change was suicide. Add on top of that a controversial female candidate for vice-president. Hell of a gamble if you ask me.

with the wing of the GOP that is driving Primary Elections at the present, someone with an IQ over 45 would be a surprise. Honestly, if the candidate is largely going to be selected from a pool of folks that think Christine O'Donnell, Michelle Bachmann and company seem like sensible choices, what do you think will result?

[Tunnelcat]

And you're all forgetting that this hypocrite social conservative, who blasted Clinton for all his indiscretions, cheated on and dumped both of his first 2 wives right after they got sick. One had cancer and the other developed MS. Nice guy Newt. Now do us a favor and go crawl into a nice, dark, far away place with your third wife of choice and stay there.

[Gooberman]

Newt, I've come to fear/suspect, has fallen into the John McCain trap of desperation to be Elected. Newt was, at one point, one of the true Conservatives I had great respect for.

I think there is alot of truth here, but while I respect his intelligence, I don't really respect him as a man. I find myself much more frustrated with who republicans field then democrats.

We have not had an intelectual conservative in my life time. We have not had a fiscal conservative in my life time.

A socially moderate fiscal conservative would sweep this country, but the right wing radio talking heads would never let that happen.