After three years of being governed by a Hawaiian social worker, America needs substance

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Newt is a veritable behemoth in American conservative politics. He turned the GOP into a party of congressional government in the 1990s and forced a balanced budget on Bill Clinton. In a shrinking field of libertines and flakes, he stands out as man of experience and ideas. There’s something about his sea-lion swagger and professorial scowl that screams substance. After three years of being governed by a Hawaiian social worker, America needs substance.

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But what has actually caught the media off-guard has been Gingrich’s ineptitude as a candidate. Last month, he said that he backed Congressman Paul Ryan’s effort to repeal Obamacare and added that, in his opinion, Ryan didn’t go far enough. This weekend, he said Ryan had in fact gone too far, too fast and, in a zeitgeist-defying twist, said he favoured an individual mandate to purchase insurance. On Monday, he put out a video denouncing individual mandates. He has likewise reversed his positions on Libya and cap-and-trade.

This is not a good start for a man who has tried to define himself as the candidate of ideas. But it shouldn’t come as a shock to longtime Newt watchers. Despite his well-earned status as a colossus on the right, Gingrich has always been a divisive figure who has clung on to power by luck.

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Gingrich has always knelt at the altar of free-trade, putting distance between him and the anti-New World Order crowd. His conservatism is technocratic and concerned with government-driven incentives to aid the poor: federal funds for education, free-trade zones and now (maybe) mandated health insurance. His preferences were spelt out a proposed Republican manifesto he wrote in 2006, which contained handouts to energy groups, a national ID card scheme and tougher federal standards for schools. Gingrich might not think that government should throw money at problems, but he does essentially think that government is there to help.

In short, the Gingrich candidacy does not match the mood of the contemporary conservative grassroots. The Tea Party ethic is anti-establishment and harbours little nostalgia about the pre-2008 Republican Party. Newt is in danger of looking like a cautious old man in an age that belongs to young fanatics.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100088378/is-newt-gingrichs-presidential-campaign-already-over-if-so-sex-has-played-a-big-part-in-it/

[웃 910]

McCain 2.0

[Ironman140 45]

McCain 2.0

Newt would be a good president , but he's toast now

[_Simpson_ 250]

Newt would be a good president , but he's toast now

Newt has too much baggage, he will never be elected.

[웃 910]

Newt would be a good president , but he's toast now

If it was the 1950s maybe...The day of old-looking white men as presidents are behind us..

But, to be fair, if he did go head to head with Obama he'd probably only lose by 2-4 percent popular vote considering McCain lost by 6% when Obama was at his peak.