"Gingrich could benefit most from Cain departure; Others in GOP also courting his followers" December 05, 2011|By Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent
Political analysts say Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who has recently emerged in the polls as a more conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, could be the biggest beneficiary. Recent polls have put Gingrich at the front of the pack in Iowa.
Related: Cain Quits
Cain and Gingrich met last month in a two-person debate, characterized by a friendly tone that contrasted with the sniping in other debates. Gingrich also had an extramarital affair....
Gingrich holds the lead in Iowa where the first Republican presidential nominating votes will be cast next month, according to the Des Moines Register’s latest Iowa Poll, which was conducted Nov. 27-30 and released Saturday. He has the support of 25 percent of likely Iowa caucus participants, according to the poll, ahead of Paul at 18 percent and Romney at 16 percent....
So Ron Paul is in SECOND, huh?
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Related: Ron Paul Rising
"Gingrich amassing a pile of policy shifts; Rivals cite habit as he rises in polls" December 06, 2011|By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff
Among the latest twists in the Republican presidential campaign is this: Mitt Romney, long accused by foes of flip-flopping on issues, is now being given a run for his money by another candidate who shares the same liability: Newt Gingrich.
For years, Gingrich supported the idea that citizens could be required by mandate to buy health insurance, like in the health care overhauls initiated by Romney while he was governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and on the national level by President Obama last year. Now, Gingrich opposes such an idea.
In 2008, Gingrich filmed a commercial with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a liberal Democrat, urging action on climate change. But last month on Fox News he called it “probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.’’
Last May, he criticized as “right-wing social engineering’’ the proposal of Representative Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, to convert Medicare, the single-payer style health insurance program for the elderly, into a premium-support voucher program in which seniors privately purchase insurance.
If we could only get a good, decent system like the other countries in "Sicko."
After that ignited a firestorm of protest, he quickly backed off, apologized to Ryan, and said his “words were inaccurate and unfortunate.’’
And, in what may be the most notable example: In a debate Oct. 11, Gingrich said that Democrat Barney Frank, the former House Financial Services Committee chairman, should be jailed for lax oversight of Freddie Mac, the quasi-public mortgage underwriting giant. It was later reported that Gingrich was paid up to $1.8 milllion in consulting fees by Freddie Mac, up to the time it collapsed in 2008.
Related: Gingrich Got Rich From Freddie Mac
And the Tea Party Republicans are flocking to this guy?
As Gingrich’s once-faltering presidential primary campaign has picked up steam - he leads in polls in Iowa, and has gained ground in New Hampshire - Romney has begun to point out the Gingrich flip-flops. Meanwhile, the campaign of another GOP presidential rival, Ron Paul, issued a video last week accusing him of “serial hypocrisy’’ on several issues....
The flip-flop issue is not the only distraction for Gingrich as he emerges as the chief alternative to Romney in the GOP primary vote. After his quick rise in the polls, his business activities have also come under intense scrutiny.
He has been a principal or director of a network of consulting and media companies, and a for-profit think tank sponsored by many leading companies with health care interests. His net worth has increased by somewhere between 12 and 50 times what it was when he left Congress in 1999.
Gingrich also comes with the heavy political baggage of three marriages, past adultery, and a precedent-setting reprimand by his House colleagues that included a $300,000 penalty for ethical wrongdoing.
He maintains he has changed and learned from his mistakes, but a lesser candidate without Gingrich’s experience and GOP bona fides would probably be punished by voters for such transgressions.
At a recent campaign stop in South Carolina, Gingrich rejected a suggestion that he had cashed in on his status as a former legislative leader.
“I did no lobbying of any kind - period,’’ the Associated Press quoted him as saying. “I’m going to be really direct, OK? I was charging $60,000 a speech. And the number of speeches was going up, not down.’’
Rick Tyler, who was Gingrich’s spokesman for nearly 12 years before joining the exodus of staff from the campaign in June, said: “I’ve never seen Newt fret or worry over money… . I was on a conference call when Newt turned down a $1 million contract to be a spokesman for something he wasn’t interested in… . All of his efforts focus on large-scale change, and they are consistent with who Newt was when he was elected to Congress.’’
Rich Galen, who worked for Gingrich for about six years in the late 1980s and 1990s and admires him, said the candidate is driven by strategy and appreciates nuance.
“The first two times he ran for Congress as a moderate and lost. It’s never been clear to me whether some of these positions were taken because he needed a starker contrast with the Democrats or the president or if he really believed every semicolon that came out of his mouth,’’ said Galen.
“I don’t think he sees these things as black-and-white as his rhetoric would lead you to believe.’’
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"With primaries looming, Gingrich, Paul air ads
Two political ads released yesterday couldn’t be any more different from one another than the Republican presidential candidates they represent....
Newt Gingrich sticks with the tried and true patriotism of American flags and the Statue of Liberty....
Gingrich, trying to smooth over a reputation as a brash Republican leader, is promoting his newly resurgent campaign with a $250,000 ad buy in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. Gingrich now leads in some Iowa polls. The ad opens with a field and an American flag, then features such slices of Americana as factory workers and a florist; cowboys and classrooms; and US soldiers in dress uniform.
“Some people say the America we know and love is a thing of the past,’’ Gingrich says. “I don’t believe that. Because working together, I know we can rebuild America.’’
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The ads presage what is likely to be a large increase in television advertising in the final month before the early states start voting, with Iowa’s caucus on Jan. 3, followed by New Hampshire’s Jan. 10 primary.
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"Tea Party members get behind Gingrich; Movement leaders remain skeptical" by Tracy Jan, Globe Staff / December 8, 2011
WASHINGTON - He has surged to the top of the polls, having been crowned the latest Tea Party favorite by the movement’s rank and file. Newt Gingrich’sappeal is not universal among Tea Party conservatives, but for now he is their anointed warrior, boosted by his string of fiery debate performances filled with irreverent quips.
As Gingrich courts the group that will be so crucial to his success in Iowa and beyond, Gallup’s latest poll of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents has him winning 47 percent of voters nationally who say they support the Tea Party movement. (More than half of Republicans consider themselves Tea Party supporters.) A month ago, Gingrich garnered 18 percent of Tea Party support, behind Herman Cain and Mitt Romney.
The same poll says Ron Paul has less support amongst Tea Party than establishment Republicans and independents -- at a whopping 7%.
I'll say it again, readers: I think AmeriKan media polls are literally made up.
“Obviously, he’s really kind of taken over among that group,’’ said Jeff Jones, the Gallup Poll’s managing editor. “They’ve been casting about, looking for someone who is a better fit for them than Romney is. It looks like everyone’s had their chance and basically squandered it, so that leaves Gingrich.’’
Pffft!
Voters supporting the Tea Party movement, which favors smaller government and a balanced federal budget, have shifted from one candidate to another, with each candidate enjoying just a short run at the top.
That's Ron Paul, who hasn't been called a front-runner or alternative to Romney. It's been anybody but.
Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who formed the House Tea Party Caucus, was once the movement’s “it girl,’’ but that was back in the summer, when she won the Iowa straw poll, before she was overshadowed by the entry of Governor Rick Perry of Texas. Perry’s series of debate gaffes opened the door for pizza mogul Herman Cain, who quit the race last weekend following accusations of sexual impropriety. Cue the music for Gingrich.
All of them have been scripted tempests in a teapot that provided diversion for the masses and chatter for the political pundits.
Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, which conducts polls by automated phone calls and was founded by a former Democratic pollster, said Gingrich has a significant lead among Tea Party voters in at least eight states, including Iowa, Florida, and Arizona.
“The story with the Tea Party more than any other segment of the Republican Party is what is driving the instability in the race and causing the front-runner to shift so much,’’ Jensen said. “Right now, they’re in the infatuation stage with Newt Gingrich.’’
But not everyone in the Tea Party movement shares the infatuation. Many of the movement’s leaders remain wary of the former House speaker and cast a skeptical eye at his conservative credentials. In Gingrich, some see nothing more than baggage and a history of Romney-esque flip flops. Particularly troubling, they say, are his shifting views on global warming and health care overhaul.
“He’s got a long record that in some instances is difficult for Tea Partiers to follow,’’ said Mark Meckler of Georgia, a cofounder of Tea Party Patriots. “They see Newt as a political animal, but he is not alone in that problem. People are going to have to look at his record and decide what they believe: the previous Newt or today’s Newt?’’
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Gingrich has caught flak from Tea Partiers for changing his mind on several key issues. For years he had supported an individual mandate for health insurance; now he no longer does. Earlier this year, he had to retract his description of House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan to privatize Medicare as “right-wing social engineering.’’
Some Tea Party movement members also dismiss Gingrich for what he now calls perhaps his “dumbest’’ mistake: sitting on a couch with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi for a 2008 ad urging action on climate change.
Others feel he is soft on illegal immigration because of his statement at a debate last month that to keep families together, he would not deport those who have been in the United States illegally for more than a generation. They also find his criticism of Freddie Mac in conflict with his work for the agency as a consultant.
But Gingrich’s combative ways, libertarian impulses, and intellectual rhetoric seem to cater to the Tea Party movement’s demand for a strong, independent leader.
Dan Lucore, a retired bricklayer and member of the Cedar Rapids Tea Party, said he could easily vote for Gingrich, his second choice after Paul. He noted that during Gingrich’s tenure as House speaker, the size of entitlement programs shrank and the budget was balanced.
“I always kind of liked Gingrich, but I never felt he was going to get the nomination,’’ Lucore said. “Now he’s raced to the top, and I think that’s based on his debating ability plus the issues he stands on and his experience.’’
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You can throw that nomination in the rubbish pail:
"Republican old guard takes aim at Gingrich; Says he damaged the party in 1990s" by Michael Kranish Globe Staff / December 9, 2011
WASHINGTON - The wing of the Republican Party establishment that remembers Gingrich as a disruptive and destructive force, one who caused self-inflicted damage to the party and helped set up President Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection and other Democratic victories.
Now many members of the Republican Party establishment are watching Gingrich’s rise with trepidation, fearing a repeat may be at hand. In response, some Republicans have aligned with Mitt Romney....
While Gingrich is surging in the polls, he lags far behind in the most obvious measures of establishment support - endorsements and money....
To be sure, many Republicans warmly remember Gingrich’s success in becoming the first GOP speaker in four decades. But Gingrich suffered a series of reversals. He was fined $300,000 by the House Ethics Committee for making false statements regarding the tax-exempt status of a college course that he taught, and the full House reprimanded him by a 395-to-28 vote in 1997. Gingrich antagonized Republicans by his insistence that the government be shut down rather than compromise with Clinton on a federal funding issue, a move that proved politically unpopular. Then, Gingrich pushed the resolution to impeach Clinton for lying about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. Gingrich later revealed that he was having an affair at the time with a congressional staffer, who became his third wife.
By 1998, Gingrich’s actions had become so divisive that the party establishment decided he should step down. He held a conference call with other Republican leaders in which he blamed party members for his problems. “I’m not willing to preside over people who are cannibals,’’ Gingrich told his fellow Republicans, blasting the party establishment that had ousted him.
One of those who helped force him out was then-US representative Bob Livingston of Louisiana. Livingston said in an interview that he was upset with Gingrich for pouring party resources into a midterm election strategy that relied on attacking Clinton, after which Republicans lost five seats in 1998. Gingrich was forced to step down. Livingston was in line to become speaker but he lost the position after reports that he had had an extramarital affair.
What is with you pious politicians that lecture others on morality?
Today, Livingston provides evidence that Gingrich can win back one-time opponents within the party.
Livingston is one of Gingrich’s top supporters and he co-hosted a $1,000-per-person Washington fund-raiser on Wednesday for him.
The money spent on politics makes me sick when so many Americans are suffering.
“Newt had four tumultuous years,’’ Livingston said. “But if you look at the big stuff and weed out the noise, we cut and eliminated programs, we reduced taxes, brought in welfare reform, we balanced the budget. I think Newt can be very proud of that record.’’
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Debate comments:
Diane Sawyer asked Newt about his reprehensible comment about Palestinians and he went into this whole spiel about how we are not told the truth about poor, victimized Israel.
Beyond that the guy just exudes an off-putting arrogance that it is insultingly beyond belief as the media is trying to crown this cretin as the potential Republican nominee.
