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Newt up, everyone else down in the Cain fallout

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  November 11th, 2011 at 04:30 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Cain Romney

When I write about the polling, I hesitate to say more than I have to about the events going on that drive the numbers. I risk introducing unnecessary bias due to mixing the math with my own observations.

But the Herman Cain harassment story is the story right now. Two new pre-debate polls are out. Cain is down further, Rick Perry is back down after Cain attacked him, so guess who’s on the rise, in second or tied for second in both polls? Newt Gingrich.

These polls by McClatchy and Marist College for one, and CBS News look to me like polls of a race in flux. I say that because they’re inconsistent in the specifics, but show the same storyline.

The facts: CBS polled 382 GOP primary voters, MoE claimed at 5, mobile and land-line handling. Marist polled 374 Republican and Repubican-leaning reigstered voters. Mobile and landline. MoE 5.5.

CBS news’s poll is stunning. Cain leads, but he’s down to 18, another worst result in weeks. Mitt Romeny is also way down, at 15 and in a tie with Newt Gingrich for second. Rick Perry’s double-digit renaissance ends, as he falls back to 8.

Meanwhile, McClatchy and Marist show Romney steady as ever at 23, within his usual range. Gingrich again shows at second though, with a 19 point showing that’s his highest since some weird PPP polling in August 2010. Cain’s still down, to 17, which shows third place in this poll. Perry? Single digit oblivion.

Perry had better hope that “Oops” got people thinking kind thoughts about him again. Cain had better hope that somehow his bleeding stopped once his accusers came out into the open. Gingrich had better hope he survives the coming vetting process. Romney had better hope none of the above happen and he takes a default victory.

PS: My apologies to Newt Gingrich. I simply lack the time today create a graphic of him to put up with this post. I’ll get it next time.

Crossposted from Unlikely Voter

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COMMENTS

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  • bzip

    My prediction from the Cain down to the Newt up:

    The the Vetting of Newt starts:
    Assuming Newt survives it, it will be Romney and Newt but I doubt I don’t think the Newt supporters will hang on to Newt after the massive unloading of Newt baggage.

    Assuming everyone has given up on Cain (and sure hope so) then I predict it goes back to Perry again. Where it will stay a Romney Perry fight. There really is no other candidates to look at seriously.
    The other unknown is can Newt go the distance primary wise, money wise. should it come down to Newt and Romney.

    Now having said all that – I can at least understand the Newt attraction and support. Newt is very intelligent very well qualified for the job.

    What is wrong with Newt in my opinion is: Too much baggage and not conservative enough of you look at his overall record.

    I am with Perry till the very end – but at least I can understand and sleep better with a Newt Presidency compared to a Cain.

  • ihavehadit

    Does anyone know what the internal polls are saying about Cain and Gingrich?

  • kdubs

    I can’t pretend that this is good news. But doesn’t the CBS poll indicate that this is anyone’s (and I mean ANYONE’S (well except for Paul)) game right now? It seems like all of the Cain mess just caused a huge amount of uncertainty. I’ve got to think that there’s an opening in the next few weeks for anyone that performs particularly well… even Perry.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Internal polls get… finessed.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    CBS poll suggests a race heavily in flux, especially when combined with the other one.

  • congressworksforus

    Neil — I think the CBS poll is flawed. There are 14% supporting “someone else”. Not “don’t know” — that’s another 12%.

    So who the heck are the other 14% supporting? Is Gary Johnson now surging? :)

    I can understand people in flux, not necessarily supporting any candidate, but “someone else” being that high doesn’t pass the smell test.

    And I think that explains why both Cain and Romney are way down in this poll.

    Has the other polling group polled previously for comparison? I’m always a bit suspicious when polls present themselves as a measure of a race, but there’s no polling history by the group to back it up.

  • Common_Cents

    Should be in Newt’s wheelhouse. Pressure will surely be on Cain to perform well to stop the leakage. Secondarily pressure on Perry to reverse his gaffe. How is Perry on foreign policy?

    Probably advantage Gingrich, and Romney will play it safe again.

    Mods are Scott Pelley and Major Garrett. Not sure if I see them playing too many gotcha games, however it is sponsored by C-B.S.

  • federalfarmer1

    Do we want the best chance of winning? Romney is a good establishment, don’t shake the boat, moderate.

    do we want to transform government, make real cuts to spending, fix entitlements, but accept a greater risk of losing? That’s Newt.

    I say Newt, but it is a risk. The media will be savage, but the media environment is different now. And I think people are more ready for dramatic change than they were in 94.

  • Xasteius

    I foresee illegal immigration coming up again….

  • federalfarmer1

    Because otherwise you are just perpetuating a democratic meme.

  • bzip

    If you look at the CBS poll it shows several things:
    Perry is in 4th place:
    Herman Cain 18%
    Mitt Romney 15 %
    Newt Gingrich 15%
    Rick Perry 8%

    It shows that 70% of the primary voters haven’t really made up there mind, it is a wide open race”

    “Still, the race for the nomination remains fluid. More than seven in 10 Republican voters who pick a candidate say it?s too early to say whether their mind is made up”

    It shows Cain is in melt down mode:
    “Cain has lost support among women since late October. Then, he led among women, garnering 28% of their support. Now, his support among women is just 15%. He has also lost ground with conservatives, from 30% to 23% now. And there has been some movement among Tea Party supporters as well; their support for Cain has declined from 32% to 19%.”
    McClatchy and Marist College Poll:
    This poll says pretty much the same thing but has:
    ? 23% for Mitt Romney
    ? 19% for Newt Gingrich
    ? 17% for Herman Cain
    ? 10% for Ron Paul
    ? 8% for Rick Perry

    “The race is still very fluid. Only 30% of Republicans and Republican leaning independents are firmly committed to their choice of candidate while 42% somewhat support their pick. A notable 28% say they might cast their ballot for someone else.”

  • Xasteius

    The DNC has made a lot of youtube stuff that could hurt him. I’d give examples. but this is a conservative website.

  • bzip

    I think you need to do your own research and look over some of Erick’s material as well.

    Don’t take my word for it, do your homework!

  • lightspeed

    I wish that Governor Perry was all he was supposed to be, but he steps in it time and time again. He cannot recover from his latest gaffe. It would be like Cain forgetting what one of the 9′s was, Paul forgetting he wants to abolish the Fed, or Romney forgetting that he wants to…alright, forget the Romney example. Energy policy is at the core of Perry’s campaign, and he can’t remember that? He thought he could phone it in and he is stumbling badly. I expect him to poll below Huntsman soon.

  • Common_Cents

    Contract with America was a success. Gingrich deserves much more credit than he gets and he should be telling that story over and over. If slick willy can go out and brag about it, why can’t gingrich?

    IMHO, people will discount the old baggage if they hear coherent, consistent, common sense stuff that inspires confidence which he has been delivering in the debates. When you are out of a job, that stuff matters much less.

    Newt’s gonna get a tsunami of junk coming at him soon in the press. His turn is coming to run the gauntlet.

    However, I feel the public is getting media smear fatigue quickly, especially after the smear trial of Cain in the media. I sense some diminishing return backlash coming soon against the media and the left. Especially since Newt is the ONLY one to take on the media in the debates.

  • federalfarmer1

    From the media.

    The problem for dems with romney is a lot of it is him being liberal, which makes him appear more moderate. It worked for bush against Kerry, but only barely. Romney isn’t quite as unlikable as Kerry was and could respond better than kerry. Kerry was really a terrible candidate.

  • http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

    There is a long list of issues that will make you think twice about supporting Newt.

  • kdubs

    I happen to know that Perry spent some time at a prominent conservative think tank in California last week getting feedback on a host of foreign policy issues, with a focus on the European fiscal crisis. I also think Perry has shown aptitude in interviews on the Middle East and Central and South America. But, his performance seems to be less knowledge based than stage fright based. I still think there is a small chance that his huge gaffe on Wednesday will serve to loosen him up. I think some self-deprecation coupled with thoughtful answers could be the right prescription. In essence, I think the size of the mistake on Wednesday makes it easier to mount a comeback. The window’s closing quickly, though.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    .

  • circlegranch

    even if he’d given a stellar performance at the debate on Wed., the guy can’t buy a break with Fox or conservative talkers. It’s Cain, Cain, Cain, whom I think now shoots off a controversial statement every day just to get positive press from Rush and Hannity, who eat it up like candy. The LOVE his in-your-face disregard for the press. It’s cute now but its wearing thin. He still is not that well informed and has experience gaps and problems. He’s wearing thin.

    To his credit, I must say Rush has been somewhat kind to Gov. Perry after the debate, saying at least he’s not as off message as Biden and for that matter, Obama. Obama is twice the bumbler off his Teleprompter.

    We need to get engaged at other sites besides this: American Spectator, American Thinker, Des Moines Register, write responses to articles at RealClearPolitics, etc. Write letters to the editors of small Iowan newspapers and we’ll move on from there.

    The Washington elite hates Texas, period, so that’s always going to be a problem for him. As for poor debates, we can’t help that on his behalf. Bush wasn’t very inspiring either and I recall the media claimed he would wear a smal microphone and when he got asked a tough question, somebody would give him the answers. I’m beginning to think that some candidates may be getting the questions in advance, and will be very suspicious of that in the upcoming Fox debates. I will never forget watching Block sitting with Brett Baier and as Brett asked him questions, he’d glance down and read his answers. How would he know what answers to right down if he didn’t know the questions?

    The test for Perry will be whether or not the massive ad campaign in Iowa will work.

  • federalfarmer1

    Most is from the dnc.

    On conservative issues, he apologized for the pelosi couch snuggle. And he’s been married three times. You don’t disqualify the guy with the most conservative record, who us best able to articulate conservatism, because of divorces and a few small missteps for which he apologized.

  • benjaminz

    14% for ?someone else.?
    12% say they “don’t know.”

    That’s 26 percent who refuse to choose from the final list of candidates! This is a colossal failure on the part of the GOP in my honest opinion.

    But it also means that it is absolutely anyone’s race.

  • changeforrickperry

    CBS poll: 382 people. Marist poll: 374. Grand total of American population: millions and millions.

    Remember what Sarah Palin said about polls?

    Remember that Giuliani/Hillary race?

    Voting doesn’t start till January 3. Keep the faith, Perry supporters. It’s the whole hog or nothing.
    ______________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • cajunchosid770

    These polls are flawed. They take a National poll and we know that what counts is state by state and more importantly, what is happening in Iowa.

    I recommend for Perry is that he should campaign heavily in Iowa to win it. Without a win in Iowa I don’t see a path for his nomination. He should be there every week to Jan 3rd and be there at least 2 days a week. He should probably do a bus tour of all counties there. A win in Iowa will set him to go head to head w/ Romney and get the nomination as after Iowa and NH, Bachman and Huntsman and Santorum can all drop out.

    Perry should remind people over and over that he is CEO of the 15th largest economy in the world. He has CUT spending and really cut spending; not just fancy talk of slowing the increase in spending. His state has job growth that parallels no other. People are moving to Tx as our companies. There is no one else up there that has his experience of running such a company or state and have it do so well. If Perry was CEO of a Fortune 500 company and that company was the state of Texas the stock would have skyrocketed.

    The Gringrich storm will soon start and we will see what happens to Newt.

  • curtmilr

    Newt is up by default as Cain & Perry flounder.
    Saturday’s debate should favor Romney, Newt, & Perry, and further savage Cain.
    This is Perry’s remaining chance to seize the initiative. He had it going Wednesday until the brain fart, and undid it all. His humor offensive disarmed a lot of critics, and humanized him. Now he needs to show issue and debating credibility. If he does both, he’ll leap back into contention taking all of Cain’s fallout.
    Newt is liked by GOPers, but all with question marks regarding the baggage, ethics complaints forcing resignation, multiple adulteries, divorces, & remarriages, Pelosi’s couch, NY 23, etc.
    Romney is everybody’s fallback position, but lacks enthusiastic support.

  • federalfarmer1

    I grew up in the nineties watching Newt battle the media every day, there’s no questioning his conservatism.

  • izoneguy

    The lame stream media will keep tearing away at Cain, Perry & Grinrich….

    They will build Romney up as the one that no other Republican can beat and will be the man that will take on Obama….

    Romney wins a few states, loses a few but the steam starts building up and then wham – they will go all out to destroy Romney and put the whole Republican race in turmoil. The lame stream media wants the Republicans to fight each other all the way to the convention while their man Obama is saving America from the evil Republicans/

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    And I’m as committed to Perry for President as you can get.

  • bzip

    You are certainly entitled to your opinion but it doesn’t hold water. It appears your Cain-bot is in need of Bachmann’s shot and recharged off of Cain’s electric fence.

    Let me know when Cain stops yelling at reporters and trading GITMO terrorists for hostages.

  • changeforrickperry

    Branching out of RedState and dropping comments on some of those other websites would be good. RedState could be our “hub.”

    Read this afternoon that the Perry Campaign is saying they’re going to be more open to the press–and here’s the link: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/11/a-humbled-rick-perry-returns-to-south-carolina/248354/. I know it’s the Atlantic, but I saw the link on Twitter. Surprisingly, the article ends on a hopeful note. I think it’s worth checking out.

    Perry was doing interviews in South Carolina today, and he bought $1 million worth of ad time on Fox News. Good. He’s putting that $15 million to good use. I’m hoping that they had an unofficial money bomb yesterday, and that the donations are still coming. Heard here today as well that the “forgetmenot” email address is getting thousands of responses.
    ____________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • citizenkh

    is exactly what Perry has seemed to be doing for at least the last month. His “debate” performances are simple not at all what anyone who has ever been with him in a forum type setting where he answers questions from those gathered. One friend, a surgeon, has been in such a setting regarding medicine, where Perry has given great answers to very complicated questions.

    Perry is far from being unintelligent or uninformed on all of these issues.

    Notice that he has slightly added to some past statements as time goes on. One thing which sticks out to me is the Keystone XL where he has only just now begun to mention Venezuela by name. In fact, those are really the only crude imports which will be affected by this pipeline and only 11 refineries will benefit from it, because they are configured for such very heavy crude oils. Keystone will actually kick Chavez in the gonads as his oil can then only be used for blending and not the main feed for other refineries (exceptfor Hovensa in St. Croix).

  • changeforrickperry

    Governor Perry made a very human mistake and has been a great example of humility. Get a dose of it yourself if you can?t admit you?ve made embarrassing mistakes at least once in your life.
    __________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • Scope

    Right Scoop linked to a business insider article which yelled “Conservatives, please stop the insanity,newt gingrich is horrible

    I believe it was with one of Neil’s poll analyses, I predicted that Newt would be the next flavor of the month, but someone here said that that wasn’t likely as the “field was already set.” Wink wink.

    50 some days out from the Iowa caucuses, Newt is the new “flovor of the month.” Newt’s been vetted already many times, but, he is about to get the final big vetting of his life. The article linked above is only the start of it.

    For those that remember his time as Speaker, when he lead the Republicans back to a majority in a gazillion years, I remember reading that he had the great ideas with the Contract with America, but when push came to shove, he gave everything away with compromising. Perhaps some here could shed more light on that Newt period.

    In the end, even “oops” will be hopefully seen as the least of the conservatives problems, despite the ongoing calls for Perry’s immediate demise.

  • kdubs

    What happens if they successfully throw the race into turmoil and we get Paul Ryan at a brokered convention? Maybe I should be cheering them on? ;)

    Honestly, look at the Democrats in 2008. The fight went practically to the convention and their candidate was stronger for the protracted battle. That’s why I think it’s a bit premature for anyone to talk about dropping out now (regardless of my personal preference for a couple of candidates to never be heard from again.) I think whoever emerges from the primary will be battle tested, vetted, and better for the fight.

  • Common_Cents

    it would be “Wow, I knew Perry would be #1!, look at this poll!” hehe

  • lightspeed

    and may not recover. I am supporting him for now, but he needs to do well in the foreign policy debate as well as fire up a good ground game in Iowa to stand a chance. I may end up with Newt, but only because he is the best of the rest. I know quite a few women who would never vote for Newt. I am sad to say that it seems more and more likely that the Repulicans will squander this great opportunity and we will get 4 more years of Marxism.

  • Scope

    * He promoted the return of the Fairness Doctrine.
    * He was for a federal individual health-care mandate, the lynchpin of ObamaCare.
    * He was practically spooning Nancy Pelosi in commercials about the need for government action on global warming.
    * He supports green energy projects [Solyndras] and farm-subsidies.
    * Even as late as this year he was pitching for more government intervention in the health-care system at the progressive Brookings Institution.

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/conservatives-please-stop-the-insanity-newt-gingrich-is-horrible-2011-11#ixzz1dRAkZTn8

  • federalfarmer1

    To say any debate favors Perry. I do think he has responded perfectly though, and turned it into good press.

    And anybody referencing newts ethics should state what facts they are talking about or you are simply repeating David boniors smears from the nineties.

  • izoneguy

    I think he said he has been brushing up on Foreign Policy for a few weeks now…..LOL

    Cain is weak in understanding how the rest of the world works…..

    Obama understands how the rest of the world works – that is why
    he surrenders all the time – he is not a fighter, he is the appeaser.

    Perry has been in the military and has the guts to go fight for America.

    Will Ron Paul show up for this debate?

  • jakeofalltrades

    It’s how representative they are of the population you’re trying to hypothesize about.

    Which is why we use random sampling. 384 random samples in a population of 300 million gives you a margin of error of only 5%, according to the sample size chart.

    While not a valid confidence level for medical research, it’s quite sufficient for the soft sciences.

    Please do not opine on statistics if you don’t know how it works. Ignorance should be contained, not spread.

  • federalfarmer1

    Oh yes he intentionally destroyed his initial high support in the polls to fall back to single digits, garnering the highest disapproval numbers, his so he could… umm… do something and the march back into the lead!

    Rope a dope requires inviting others to do stupid things that you then use to your advantage. Not doing stupid things to your own disadvantage

  • lightspeed

    throwing around the words “brain fart” all over the web the last few days. I think it is an apt description of what people now think of when they think of him. If it is too crude for you, feel free to substitue the word “freeze.” Perry will need to do a lot to disabuse people of that notion.

    And, yes, I have made plenty of embarassing mistakes. I am not running for President. We should hold these guys to a higher standard. I feel sorry for the guy, but this was a HUGE mistake.

  • bzip

    That is a very good start Scope. Some other things:

    With the $300,000 mentioned in the debate that Newt got from Fannie stuff the “crony capitalism” charge is going to be made now.

    Newt: Describes Ryan?s plan as: Rightwing social engineering

    A good summary on: Newt Gingrich – Marital Affairs
    http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/rep_bios.php?rep_id=72471931&category=scandals&id=20110513100912

  • Common_Cents

    the only candidate he didn’t bash was, HUNTSMAN. In fact, the only two positive headlines were about Huntsman.

    The author has trashed Perry numerous times.

    You can scan all his articles on the business insider site.

  • izoneguy

    But darn these Americans voted for “brain fart” Obama anyway……

  • bzip

    It seems Cain’s answer to everything is 999. Once he gets out of that 999 bubble we get the China weapon flaps.

    I don’t want to get my hopes up at Cain’s massive disaster but so far Cain is proving all too well that he lacks substance and can’t think beyond 999

  • changeforrickperry

    but I don’t consider myself a candi-bot because my support is based on fact, not emotion. I know that polls aren’t the end-all-to-beat-all. That’s been proven time and time again. If I wanted to live and die by polls, I’d have given up on Perry a month ago. I don’t see why 400 people should be representative of the entire nation. My $0.02 (adjusted for inflation).
    ______________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • lightspeed

    but Obama has the media to cover his butt. No Republican will be afforded that courtesy.

  • sethellis

    I don’t think the poll is flawed but you do bring up an important point. We have direct explanations for most of these numbers. They confirm what we have said for the past two weeks. Cain is slowly fading from the scandal and Newt is picking up the support.

    But we have no obvious explanation for Romney’s drop, not do wrt know exactly where those numbers went. So I have a few theories.

    It’s random. The other polls don’t really show a change. It could just be a statistical error.

    “I’m running for office for pete’s sake”. This is about the time that I would expect the polls to fully reflect this gaffe.

    ABR crowd. The ABR story has been particlarly loud lately especially on places like Redstate. This could scare uncommitted followers to the sideline.

    So what does it have to do with the original comment? None of these scenarios point to a move towards any specific candidate. I believe these voters went to the other candidate or undecided columns. This seems to confirm the common analysis that Romney wins if he remains the default. It would indicate that the 30% of non committed voters are likely to lean Romney. The rise in uncommitted voters also shows that the race is as unpredictable as ever right now.

  • changeforrickperry

    If Perry was in the lead I’d act as though he were 20 points behind. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I do not live and die by polls. They aren’t always the most accurate indicators. If you look back on polls at this time in 2007, or two weeks before the 1980 election, you’ll see that that’s true.
    ______________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • congressworksforus

    Newt’s trangressions make him unelectable to many people.

  • congressworksforus

    And he’s done.

    People handle those 53 seconds one of two ways: either he realizes deep down that it can’t get any worse, loosens up (as you said), and is OK from this point onward… or it becomes something he’s always thinking about from this point onward and he continunes to screw up.

  • bzip

    Are we back to that again. Did I mention that every single candidate has a serious flaw that can be very damaging in the general election;

    Cain can easily be portrayed as:
    1) a womanizer, molester (Cain would lose the entire female vote at this rate, this is very damaging).
    2) a lose cannon that loses his temper yelling at reporters.

    Herman Cain Screams at Reporter at Right Online
    http://youtu.be/bFa6bz9jpEo

    Herman Cain When Asked About Anita Hill: “Is she Going to Endorse Me”
    http://youtu.be/XqaGa1HkMd8

  • congressworksforus

    You’re not in the slightest bit interested in who “someone else” is?

  • reggie182

    “baggage”.

    Over and over again. I think a little specificity would be nice in place of the incessant use of that word.

    What I really don’t understand is what this “massive unloading of Newt baggage” is supposed to consist of. Whatever problems Newt has are old news, and his supporters are well aware of, so I see no reason to believe that they will abandono him for Rick Perry.

    This is going to be a race between Newt & Mitt.

  • renl57

    Female Independent voters won’t vote for him because of his personal history.

  • jakeofalltrades

    Specifically since their primary argument in support of their candidate over the last couple weeks has been the bandwagon fallacy.

  • congressworksforus

    It’s VERY clear when you watch the whole thing that he knows full well they have nukes and he’s referring to on-going development.

    Not that any of this matters. All he has to do is pick a FP-wonk for a VP, and FP issues go away.

    At least whole primary process is exposing the campaign workers who have embedded themselves in RedState. Your obsession with Cain is, unnerving. You must be quite afraid that he might actually win…

  • jakeofalltrades

    Doesn’t go over well with most people. As proof, I offer Newt Gingrich and John Edwards.

  • Xasteius

    A lot of his domestic policy makes sense, and I want to vote for him…and then I hear his foreign policy, andenter the head-bang zone….

  • bzip

    You are speaking strictly by your opinion, you have no facts or data that suggest Newt’s baggage isn’t going to affect his poll numbers.

    I think it is completely screwy to think they won’t affect his numbers. To assume everyone knows and everyone doesn’t care is plain silly.

  • congressworksforus

    None of the states are winner-takes-all until the ones in April.

    New GOP rules instituted to stop early primaries.

    At least that’s the official story. We all know the reality is so that Romney can “hang in there” through the early conservative states and not quit like he did last time…

  • jakeofalltrades

    n/t

  • federalfarmer1

    Reagan was also divorced. Vitter hired prostitutes. I can make a huge list.
    Point: human beings are flawed. But you can throw stones if you want.

  • jakeofalltrades

    “You are speaking strictly by your opinion, you have no facts or data that suggest Newt?s baggage isn?t going to affect his poll numbers. ”

    Logic, people! We’ve got to use it if we don’t want to become Democrats!

  • federalfarmer1

    Maybe you could go troll kos for more talking points.

    Those attacking newts conservatism are just embarrassing themselves.

  • windwaker24

    So it will be front and center. I don’t think Obama will touch it, but the media will.

  • bzip

    You better believe I am scare of a Cain presidency – the guy is unfit, unqualified and a walking disaster. We don’t need another on the job training person who appears to be far more liberal than Romney.

    If you call a supporter a campaign worker – so be it. I guess you are a campaign worker for Cain since you seem to be out in full force too. Your logic is about as good as Cain’s.

    I can take most of the candidates in the white house but I can NOT take Ron Paul and Cain, period!

  • clintonformccain

    Newt Gingrich pretty much wiped out the gains the Republican Party had made with his unbridled arrogance as Speaker of the House. I would be surprised if many of his cheerleaders today were around to watch his dripping arrogance in the Contract with America days. In a way, he blew it for the Republicans in very much the same way that Barack Obama is blowing it for the Democrats.

  • jakeofalltrades

    Maybe you’ll be more comfortable at Kos. You won’t find many of those there.

  • federalfarmer1

    I’m literally gobsmacked. Were none of you alive in the nineties?

    After Ronald Reagan and justice Scalia, nobody has accomplished more for conservatives than Newt.

  • citizenkh

    to expend their energy. Cain and his campaign certainly have expended their energy on Perry in the last two weeks.

    The media has expended its energy on calling Perry not ready for the big leagues.

    He is gradually adding to his talking points in very subtle stages.

    His “stepped in it comment” was immediate spin without having to consult with staff after the debate.

    He has historically run from behind if not way behind.

    If this is a horse race for thoroughbreds, then how many of the great ones win wire to wire.

    Be objective now and look at the facts. Perry is gradually adding to his established out of the chute agenda and talking points. He has not strayed at all. He is, if nothing else, VERY disciplined.

  • jakeofalltrades

    sans codus

  • bzip

    Facts speak for themselves.

  • montrose

    Does personal baggage still mean anything? Give me Newt. I will take Newt and be happy with Newt.
    Obama had more personal baggage than a Kardashian honeymoon. Who cares about Newt’s baggage? Not me. Not now.

    I recall Ronald Reagan had too much baggage as well. “A divorced president??” they said. “Never.” 48 state landslide.
    I’ll have a double.

  • federalfarmer1

    Bob dole wanted to be president, and Newt was bad for his image.

    When Newt was pushed out, republicans sold out entirely. Compare the federal spending before and after Newt. And then name me one big conservative accomplishment from the house after Newt.

  • jakeofalltrades

    An argument has these elements:

    [assertion] is true because [agreed-upon principle]; [agreed-upon principle] applies here because [facts].

    All you’ve done is whine and deflect.

  • usedtobelib

    Women Indies and those who are willing to take a look at a GOP candidate (read Dem females who voted for Obama and are unhappy with his performance so far) will not vote for Newt–too prone to biting sarcasm, physically unattractive, a personal history of “betraying” the women he married, etc.

    It won’t matter that he can talk issues. Period.

    Many men willing to take a look at the GOP candidate will also find trouble pulling the lever for Newt. On the one hand, they’ll be impressed (or already are) that he was able to work with Clinton and get something done; on the other hand, during the campaign, they’ll see plenty of footage of a man who has accumulated hours of video which show him at his worst. He won’t then be seen as man who can unite this country.

    In short, too much baggage, political *and* personal, to withstand the opposition’s attacks which will be unrelenting. The old “the devil you know (Obama) is better than the one you don’t (Newt) will re-elect Obama.

  • texabama

    Newt is very articulate. That’s his stock in trade. He can articulate any belief he has at the moment. Newt is intelligent and learns about many things. He also becomes interested in a lot of things—like individual mandates (not just Romney’s Achille’s heel) and AGW. He got on that couch with Pelosi because he believed in it at the time. He can apologize about it now, but the facts were out there then as they are now. I’d also like to point out the Scazzafa(spelling at this point escapes me) endorsement and his jumping on the bandwagon in the Sarah Palin “tone down the rhetoric” meme after Gifford’s shooting. As far as I’m concerned Newt tries to keep his feet into two camps at once.

  • federalfarmer1

    I don’t think you are serious.

  • renl57

    The killer issue for Gingrich was that he apparently tried to get his wife to divorce while she was still battling cancer.

    Reagan didn’t do that. That sounds more like something John Edwards would have done. It’s sleazy to not stand by your wife while she’s battling for her life. What was his hurry, he couldn’t wait till she went into remission?

    Gingrich’s current favorability/unfavorability score is 35/51. That’s the worst of any of the leading 4 GOP candidates.

  • jimmyg

    Rasmuessen has Perry at 25% favorable, 61% unfavorable.

    http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/just_25_have_favorable_opinion_of_rick_perry

    Not only are his poll numbers in a hole, his favorables are in the same hole. Each debate has gone worse for Gov. Perry than the next, how he gets out of this hole is anybody’s guess.

  • Common_Cents

    nt

  • congressworksforus

    Not sure how many times I have to repeat that around here.

    I just love watching people go bat-**** whenever anyone mentions his name around here.

    I don’t see someone unqualified; in fact, given that the only thing that’s important right now is the economy, I think he is more than qualified.

    What I do see though is an outsider, and it sends you people up the wall.

    Love it.

  • gracie

    http://www.esquire.com/features/newt-gingrich-0910

    Someone linked it few days ago and although overlong it reminded me of a Newt I had truly forgotten. His intellect seems to clash with his temper and his energy. He has a huge problem with focus thus wasting people’s time and having great difficulty completing his numerous projects.

    Also his ego appears to be a concern; cannot imagine what tangents he would go off on taking the country with him. His temper is a problem as is his habit of belittling people. He reminds me of a highly intellegient hyperactive kid just spinning his wheels. These charactistics cause me more concern than his marriages and ethics violations although I do not love them either.

    I have just read a marvelous article by Dorothy Rabinowitz which describs his unique ability to connect and interest people also traits that are tremendously attractive!
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204190704577026041280212400.html

    The bottom line for me is I fear him at the top of the ticket, would much rather see him as VP where his his value could be enormous but he would have the Prez to put the brakes on him. Of course he is preferable to Romney or Cain.
    Perry/Newt?

  • texabama

    and that is exactly why I don’t want Newt as the nominee. We didn’t get where we are today just because Obama is President. We have been inching our way all along and it’s because of policies and people in Washington who were more worried about their personal popularity and circumstances than the country’s. Newt played along to get along. And along the way he did a lot of moral compromising.

  • congressworksforus

    But I do want him in the race, because his presence keeps everything on message: economics, and Obama.

  • lucasblack

    Every time I hear someone call Newt Gingrich a RINO, I feel like I’m living in Bizarro World. While Perry was supporting Al Gore, Newt was building the republican majority.

  • Scope

    If the Democrats are anything they are pretty disciplined. I don’t remember how many D’s started out in the 08 race, but the weakest dropped out pretty quickly, and Edwards didn’t stay in all that long either. It was mostly an early race between Clinton and Obama. Sure it went all the way to the convention, but if I am not mistaken it took Clinton agreeing to give up her delegates in order for Obama to clinch the deal. They don’t really believe in a Chinese menu where you have so many choices the vote gets split a bunch of ways. They have gotten “circling the wagon” down to a science.

    How many Democrat Senate and/or Representative races do you see 6-7 candidates running in? I propose, not many. They look for their strongest, and get behind him/her.

    The Republicans at one time didn’t even run anyone in many races, especially the smaller Rep. races, and the D won by default. That has changed in many cases, and now you can have 6-7 candidates, one or two moderates and the rest all claiming to be the best conservative. The conservatives vote gets so split that the moderate often times wins. Look at the 2010 VA 5th Dist. Rep race. I believe there were 7 R candidates. There was one more moderate running, backed by the Erick Cantor “Young Guns” group, with lots of financing, and the conservatives couldn’t decide who would be the best choice, and the moderate won.

    If we wind up going all the way to the convention, with no clear frontrunner, Romney is likely the winner, as the conservatives will still be fighting over who the real, best, and truest conservative is. Right now we’ve had Bachmann, Perry, Cain, and now Gingrich all fighting that battle. Not one of the anti-Romney’s have been able to take a commanding lead, with their supporters staying with them through thick and thin. Axelrod and Plouffe, leading the majority leftist media is doing their job perfectly.

  • federalfarmer1

    Go spend some time in the national review archives from the nineties. I could send you my back issues if you want.

    Or just start with Wikipedia. Try contract with America or 1994 congressional elections.

  • bzip

    My guess is that after the massive damage control, the massive media lights that Perry got yesterday and the focus on positive humor his numbers will greatly improve – that is my hopes and time will tell.

    Perry really hit the media hard yesterday, he got more air time yesterday than he has for the entire time he has been in the race and it was very strong interviews and humor. I don’t know how much it helps but I am sure it will help some

  • lucasblack

    Yea, only that’s not true. Please stop spreading this liberal myth.
    http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/correcting-the-record-newt-gingrich-didnt-divorce-his-first-wife-while-she-had-cancer/

  • Flagstaff

    this story is not accurate and it didn’t happen that way. But it’s out there. Just as the accusations against Cain will be out there even if they are never substantiated.

    And it is true that these thing matter to Republicans more than they matter to Democrats. I’m not sure about true independents. I’m not even sure that true independents exist.

  • lucasblack

    Tom Delay sold out the Gingrich revolution. He did more to damage the GOP brand than any other person.

  • federalfarmer1

    Laughing his head off

  • federalfarmer1

    Do some research before you go around smearing good conservatives.

  • jakeofalltrades

    cannot possibly be more probative than the wife’s account shortly after the event, in which she said:

    He walked out in the spring of 1980 and I returned to Georgia. By September, I went into the hospital for my third surgery. The two girls came to see me, and said Daddy is downstairs and could he come up? When he got there, he wanted to discuss the terms of the divorce while I was recovering from the surgery ? To say I gave up a lot for the marriage is the understatement of the year.?

  • lucasblack

    See I don’t think that Romney and Kerry are the same. With Kerry, he was painted as a flip-flopper but people thought he was a liberal pretending to be a moderate. With Romney, he’s painted as a flip-flopper but people think he’s a moderate pretending to be a conservative. Once he’s out of the primary, that actually has a positive side.
    And no, I’m a Newtbot, not a Romneybot.

  • federalfarmer1

    I must be in a parallel dimension.

    Enquire runs smear jobs on conservatives. That’s all they do with conservatives.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    … and is just something people cling to when they don’t like the results.

  • federalfarmer1

    Especially right after the papers are signed.

  • Scope

    or whatever else he has written. He has links to the 5 main charges against Gingrich, none of which I was unfamiliar with. I look at facts and records, not who is stating them. I really don’t care if Debbie Blabbermouth Shultz wrote the article, as long as it contains provable facts, and particularly backing it up with quotes as to the subject being addressed.

  • jakeofalltrades

    @congressworksforus

    Please give us an argument for why an extra category would invalidate the poll… though I don’t think you’ll find one.

  • gracie

    Also his daughter Jackie Gingrich Cushman states it is not correct; she should know, it was her mom.

    He and his first wife, also named Jacki,e were separated. She was recovering form an operation for a benign tumor. He did arrange a meeting while she was in the hospital through his daughter to discuss divorce. She was not dying,

    His second wife had developed MS when he told her. Neither pretty but hardly the stories that have been exaggerated.

  • jakeofalltrades

    :-)

  • jakeofalltrades

    … what with the way you keep deflecting.

  • Scope

    Yup the info has been around for a long time, some more recent, for example this year when he said that he backs ethanol subsidies, which is just a more recent statement backing his old green energy support.

    There is much “old news” about Romney, but that doesn’t mean that it should be ignored when looking for a candidates record. Isn’t “the record” how we judge candidates?

  • gracie

    Geesh! there was a ton of truth in that article. Newt has some negatives! If you don’t like the article prove it wrong!

    Did you even read it??

  • Scope

    The only thing that was a rumor was that he went to the hospital to ask the wife for a divorce. Newt did in fact leave his cancer stricken wife for his new babe. I’ve also read that he left his second wife, that he left the first one for, when she was diagnosed with MS. I haven’t heard anything yet if he supports “death panels.” That would be interesting.

  • jakeofalltrades

    for cheating on his wife during her fight with cancer. If he’ll do that after a solemn oath to preserve his marriage till death, I can’t trust him to preserve and defend the Constitution.

    I don’t care what he says at this point, since his oath is worthless.

  • federalfarmer1

    I don’t know how I missed that before.

    Governor Perry now has my support. I don’t care a about his support for algore, support for green energy, use of taxpayer money to pay campaign donors businesses, mandating std vaccines for little girls, increases in taxes and fees, doubling the states spending, objections to a border fence and everify, terrible debate performance, and rock bottom poll numbers. I know deep down he is really conservative and will lead this country into a new age of peace and prosperty. A veritable second coming of Reagan.

    I have to go now, I need to read esquire and atrios

  • federalfarmer1

    I don’t know how I missed that before.

    Governor Perry now has my support. I don’t care a about his support for algore, support for green energy, use of taxpayer money to pay campaign donors businesses, mandating std vaccines for little girls, increases in taxes and fees, doubling the states spending, objections to a border fence and everify, terrible debate performance, and rock bottom poll numbers. I know deep down he is really conservative and will lead this country into a new age of peace and prosperty. A veritable second coming of Reagan.

    I have to go now, I need to read esquire and atrios to dig more dirt up on that socialist Newt.

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil truth

    Anyone of reasoning age in 1994 will remember soon enough why they don’t want Newt once the video and advertisements start rolling.

    Key line of your, too often neglected in conversation but sure to emerge as a key issue in the general election:

    He won?t then be seen as man who can unite this country.

  • beric

    And right on. This happens far too often. It happened in 2008 as well, and unless we kick out more conservatives and focus on one candidate for this upcoming year, it will happen again.

  • jakeofalltrades

    since I’m not talking to you any more.

  • Common_Cents

    “PS: My apologies to Newt Gingrich. I simply lack the time today create a graphic of him to put up with this post. I?ll get it next time.”

  • daemonocracy

    When Perry first started to fall after his heartless comment and Cain surged after winning the Florida straw poll, I predicted Conservatives would flirt with Cain for a while until his political inexperience brought him down during the vetting process, then Newt would get a second and find it much more difficult to act “above it all” while he is being vetted and assuming Newt falters, the anti-Romney majority will give Perry yet another look.

    Memory lapse aside, Perry is doing much better today than a few months ago and has steadily improved. Right now Newt is my guy, I am eager to see how he handles the oncoming scrutiny, but if he hurts himself as he is known to do, Perry may see a late surge just before the Iowa caucus. Either Newt holds strong, Perry gets his own second look, or the base remains fractured and Romney sneaks away with the nomination.

    Expect Bachmann, Romney’s attack dog, to go feral on Newt in the next debate.

  • beric

    And was the grand age of 4 years in 1994, am I excused for supporting Newt at this point in the race?

    His “baggage” really doesn’t mean much to me, and I like both his numerous ideas and his articulation of them.

  • federalfarmer1

    In two days I’ve had to defend the ideas that Newt is conservative and that we should vote for whoever the republican nominee is.

    My brain hurts.

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil truth

    Good job there of proving your lack of analytic skills in the process two-ways: regarding those you support and regarding those you oppose.

    Not much one can say to a man hears what he want to hear and disregards the rest…

  • Scope

    You say the field is as wide open and unsettled as can be, but the 30% of non-committed voters lean towards Romney??????? Why?

  • tricianc

    What’s funny is we’re not to believe these women unless they come out in
    public and tell all. Why? So they can be further humiliated, and by conservatives no less. So they can be called liars again because they can’t prove it? Yet Cain has all the facts as well, but no one is asking why he won’t come out and tell all. There is no way he doesn’t know the allegations. The NRA even stated he did on the one in 1999. And it goes to reason then that he also knows them from the woman in 1998. Therefore, we KNOW he lied.

    Then Herman hires a lawyer, that comes out and basically threatens the
    women and others who may have wanted to come out with the “they’d better think twice” remark. This is the problem with power and money. If they are
    true, they can’t come out anyway as they don’t have the resources to fight. Now he’s publicly insulting women too.

    Oh and remember that I’ll take a lie detector test except I won’t remark? Now he’s stating he’ll take one if the woman do. The problem with this is
    he just made sure they won’t because of his lawyer’s threat of action if they do.

    Is this the kind of President we want? One who won’t let others speak out?
    One who when there are allegations, threatens them? We have that President now.

    Just as you say Herman shouldn’t have to disprove the claims, the women can’t prove them either. The irony is they probably couldn’t prove them even at the time they happened. People typically don’t harass people in front of others. They may banter, flirt or make a joke but they don’t have witnesses to an actual harassment. But with Cain’s arrogance and love of power, who knows?

    Just as other sexual crimes, they are usually done in secret. When assessing
    or investigating whether the person actually harassed someone, all a company can go by is a pattern of behavior if it isn’t in front of witnesses.

    The company has to assess with the information they have..

    Has he been accused before? In the case of the woman in 1999, yes he had…a woman made a formal complaint with the NRA and received a settlement in 1998.

    Did others witness the behavior? We don’t know the full story on this. But
    we do know many others have stated they witnessed some of his behaviors and the sadness and pain of the women afterwards. According to many, it was also a public joke that they called Cain’s apartment “the love nest”. Why is that since he was away from his wife 5-6 days a week?. It was also well joked about amongst those back then that Mrs. Cain “Madame X” as none of them had ever seen her. So how did he have a “love nest?.” (as a side note: I keep hearing people like Hannity and others who say I consider him a close friend, I’ve known Herman for years but we never really hung out and I’ve never met his wife)

    And why not believe THESE witnesses? You want them to show their faces.
    Why? So their lives can get torn apart too?. Yet it’s jumped on as truth
    when an anonymous person comes out and make remarks about the 2nd woman. Where’s the asking for proof from them on her? Or finding the real truth from the story?

    How many times have you heard I would have never thought that of them? He seemed so good and honest? The problem is that those who knew him well during that time did see it. Did feel the tension and the pain of the women.

    Maybe we’ll never know the truth but let’s at least ask some questions. Mr.
    Cain, did any of the allegations include physical contact? Mr. Cain, why did you leave the NRA right after the allegations and complaint was filed with the NRA in 1999?. Mr. Cain, the NRA says you knew about the allegations in 1999 and JD Gordon from your camp verified this, so how could you have then not known about the ones in 1998?.

    Etc.

    Additionally, I hear people saying if it’s true why nothing since. (Well there is the invitation to an audience member 3 years later.) But the problem with this
    theory is he worked alone. He ran a PAC that rasied money to lobby Congress, he lobbyied Congress, he was a self-employed motivational speaker, and he worked as a talk show host. All of these either have a limited exposure to others, mainly had contact exclusively with males, on a stage alone in front of audiences giving speeches, or on a radio station publicly aired.

    Put it this way: It’s hard to imagine anyone would sexually harass someone walking the halls of Congress lobbying etc.

    Maybe there has been something since but with, again, the threat of legal
    action looming over them, the tearing apart of their lives, etc. why would other women, or even witnesses come out?

    Without knowing, do we really want to put someone in the highest position in the land? And in one where, as we’ve seen with our current occupant, can do what he damn well pleases?

    I’m sorry but I, and many others need to know before we vote…and from Herman Cain.

  • citizenkh

    was all that I needed to cross Newt off the list. Newt has a LOT more baggage than the couch ad with Pelosi. Newt actually has a track record of supporting envirowhackos, and that ain’t all. He has even admitted to trying to help Hillary pass HillaryCare. Hillary dismissed his plan to get it passed piece by piece and went for the grand slam. Newt has admitted this in public.

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil truth

    …for you to research Newt’s record. The damage he did to the conservative movement we’re still feeling the consequences of – and it may yet prove to have been a fatal wound.

    Which means you have to look very critically at his present credentials. So far, all he brings to the table is the ability to skewer in debate. But even that has more of a negative correlation with ability to govern.

    I’m not convinced that he has reformed himself from his big government/crony capitalism history.

    Bottom line: Newt has a brilliant mind which is undisciplined and unfocused, a person who does not hold himself accountable and does not work well with others. Not what I want in a President

    But I would vote for him over Obama. Don’t think enough swing voters will, though.

  • conservativeparrothead

    With the following message:

    1. Do you want to create jobs and get the country working again, Im going to show you in several long debates why Im the candidate who can do that, Im not asking you to marry me, Im asking to to allow me to serve as President of the United States. If you are worried about divorces then Im probably not your candidate, if you are worried about issues, I will show you and convince you why Im the best man for the job.

    2. School and Education – its important to moms and Newt has some good ideas that will play well in the general on this, and Im telling you there are issues similar to the busing issue of the late 1970′s that I think is going to be a Conservative issue if brought into the light, which surely wont happen unless you are having longer debates like Newt is suggesting.

    3. National defense – I think there is a narrative there about the safety of this country, but again has to be done in a longer debate, not 30 second soundbites saying “I got Bin Laden”.

  • Scope

    Who would be considered the most/best conservative? The Cain supporters think their guy is it. The Perry supporters think their guy is it. Bachmann is a factor, as well as Santorum. By most accounts, and the positions that Gingrich has held, he is closer to Romney, and should be considered a moderate choice to run against Romney. It comes down to Cain and Perry being the most conservative anti-Romney. Then again, Cain said he could/would not support Perry, but would support Romney. It’s more than time to get back to Cain’s many months of misspeaks, jokes (today it’s the Anita Hill walk-back), lack of knowledge, which far surpasses brain freezes, or his lack of knowledge of the basic constitution, like saying that “gun rights” are a states issue.

    The Republicans have a notorious reputation for stealing defeat from the jaws of victory. We shall see if this time is any different.

  • bzip

    I can only agree with you 100% in your statements and your thought. I have been trying to say the same thing. You have said it much better and made a clear case. I don’t understand why Cain’s scandal isn’t taken more serious and the damage it will have in a general election. This is very serious, yet some wish to chalk it up as a laughing matter.

    It’s also a issue I am afraid will never be put to rest, there most likely won’t be a final story to this. It will be left to the voters to decide and that will clearly cuz a landslide victory for Obama,

  • Scope

    Because Cain has been so wonderful with his choice of staff, I wouldn’t be surprised. But hey, he’s been reading the writings of Bolton and Kissinger, while Perry has Bolton as one of his foreign policy advisers. Bolton is much to expensive for Cain to squander his money on.

  • center77

    aligations would come out, and he still blames Perry. This is unbelievable. He said today that his team did opposition research on itself and he told his team, which then said it didn’t matter, HE SAID HIS TEAM SAID IT DIDN’T MATTER, I had to say that loud so you candibots could hear it. Do I really need to say more, both Cain and his team are not ready. Perry may freeze up while trying hard in the debates, which was one time. He sure the heck is not inept like Team Cain, and I’m glad people are starting to point out as conservatives we should demand better than rally around a person who sounds guilty, we don’t know if he is, but we can deduct from the way he has acted that something is off. If it was any other democrat, all of us would have claimed guilt awhile a go.

  • citizenkh

    Newt really had a problem with following through. He often celebrated publicly before the job was done and Clinton played him like Nero’s fiddle.

  • jakeofalltrades

    is that I actually do think Newt’s a conservative. I was attacking poor argumentation, not his position.

    He was confronted with evidence that impeached Newt’s conservative credentials, and instead of making any of the 10 billion available arguments in support of Newt’s conservatism, he just huffed and puffed and got outraged, which I prefer to believe is something only Democrats do.

  • center77

    in the White House, Newt is not who some think he is. The only speaker to ever have been found guilty of ethics violation, that’s right, ETHICS, go figure its Newt. He called conservatives cannibals and hateful when he did not get his way as speaker. he had 84 ethic violation levied against him at one point, and that does not even touch personal baggage.

  • kdubs

    I concede your point, but I do think there were a fair number of Democrats through Iowa. Heck I think Kucinich was in it for a long, long while. I think consolidation will happen on the Republican end too, but I’m anxious to let everyone make their case up through the end of January, after some actual votes have been cast. I still think a tough fight to become the “not Romney” will result in an eventual winner, and then that Stage 1 winner will have to make the case against Romney in Stage 2. In that case, I’d argue that the campaign will be similar to Democrats ’08.

    Mostly because my man Perry has fallen well into the single digits, I’m discounting the “Perry should drop out.” “No. Cain should drop out.” “Nuh-uh. Gingrich should sign on as Cain’s VP.” Let ‘em each make the sale. The one who figures it out best wins, and is well positioned to take out Romney and ultimately Obama.

    But thanks for your well reasoned reply, I LOVED it! I am curious what would happen in a brokered convention. I take it Cain would throw his delegates to Romney. Wonder where the rest would go?

  • conservativeparrothead

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2719860/posts

    The one area I would say I would be disappointed in Newt, but I think this is partly the issue is that he is one of those guys that doesnt want to be “alone”. Not to play amateur shrink here, but remember that his parents were divorced prior to him even being born, his real name is not Newt Gingrich, its Newt McPherson, Gingrich was the name of his stepfather who adopted him when he married Newts mother.

    He has been married three times, originally to his high school teacher (the one who was supposedly “dying of cancer” but is still living 31 years later) and I think both his other wives were staffers.

    The other thing we are learning in this age of massive information media is we dont know any of these guys and the reality is that many of them, even though some werent “divorced” probably did actions that should of been. JFK comes to mind, so does “W”. If I told you to bet your life savings on whether or not W was always faithful to Laura, you gonna tell me a rinch single good looking guy who was son of the Vice President didnt make some poor choices during those drunken nights in Texas?

    If I had told you two weeks ago that “Joe Pa” would be fired because he essentially did nothing about one of his longtime assistants raping young boys, would you of believed that? Tiger Woods seemed like an OK family man until Thanksgiving 2009? The list goes on and on. Its like Bush and his DUI, Ive heard a stat that out of every 1 DUI, another 499 people drink and drive on the road and arent caught, so is he the only one who is bad because he was caught, no he is just as bad as the other 499, only they didnt get caught, so they get to play the morality card?

    Again it goes back I think to the “alone” thing. I’m married and have been faithful to my wife and for that matter on any girl I was ever in a relationship with, I was always faithful, but in my early and mid 20′s, when I didnt feel like being in a relationship and I felt like hanging with my buddies, “dating” here and there, doing “guy stuff” playing golf on weekends, watching football all day saturday and sunday and monday night…I did those things. I dont proclaim to be great, I had a lot of married friends right with me at the time which made me wonder “why are you married?”

    So while some may hold Newt accountable for some of the personal baggage and that is certainly their right to do so, I just dont see it because unless Ive been with all of these guys 24/7 365, you just dont know any of them. You might think you know…Tiger Joe Paterno, becaue of the image they want you to think you know them, but the reality is, we really dont, so lets get back to issues.

  • Scope

    somehow got the sealed divorce agreement out in the open when he was running for his Senate seat. Obama lives in the world of the politics of personal destruction on anyone opposing him. Don’t forget the fact that his team, as well as he, lies with impunity. It comes naturally to them. Whatever it takes. They will find many many more Sharon Bialek’s. This coming out now should be considered a gift. You know where they are going to attack Cain.

  • Bill S

    Because I was just about to warn you that if you don’t stop insulting other commenters without presenting any kind of substantive argument, I was going to make you go away, whether you want to or not.

  • tricianc

    Thank you for your comments.

    I also appreciate you mentioning the general election. Herman may get through the muck to the Republican nomination but I believe if the truth isn’t fully known before then, he will then fail in the General.

    The Democrats are not going to let this lie. And women that are Independents and Liberals will not be as forgiving to his actions, remarks and insults.

  • Scope

    We’ve read over and over again, including this year that the Iowans want to meet and shake hands with the candidates, all of them. They are reputed to be strong social conservatives. The Iowa GOP depends on the presidential race each 4 years for their funding by the candidates, the ads, the business they bring to the localities they visit, and especially the Ames event each 4 years with their straw poll.

    Bachmann spent her wad in Iowa. Santorum has now visited every one of the 99 counties in the state. Romney has not spent money or time there this year. Gingrich didn’t have any money to spend there. Cain has spent very little money there, or his time. They are all three at the top of the polls there currently? Has the whole Iowa thing changed drastically this election cycle?

    From what I understand, the Iowans more often vote for the Democrat for president. Why are the Republicans still being played for fools, and keeping them the first GOP caucus in the nation?

  • conservativeparrothead

    Which involved him teaching a college course…what a scandal!!!

    Its not like he cut a deal to put a man in the White House who didnt deserve it like Henry Clay did with John Quincy Adams and the corrupt bargain, now that would be an issue.

  • porkandcheese

    Wouldn’t he have polled higher when he announced? Instead he was caught at Tiffany’s before splitting for Greece, and he’s only polling this well because the other candidates are less perfect than conservatives hoped. Newt had divorces? Cain settled harassment suits. Newt is heartless? Great! Anyone who can serve their second wife divorce papers in a cancer ward can electrocute immigrants.

  • jakeofalltrades

    Apparently he supported the Fairness Doctrine and a federal, individual healthcare mandate, making him worse than Romneycare, according to businessinsider.com.

  • porkandcheese

    During a GE, Newt will not be accused of working with Clinton but GRIDLOCK. He is less popular than Pelosi and believed to have shut down the government. Gingrich is the poster child for Republican obstructionism.

  • tngal

    For some states it is tourism…. for Iowa its, “politics” every four years. The “media”, the “candidates” the “team”, the hype. For crying out loud, what else are they going to tout? Corn? Maybe crop circles. Sure they got ethynol, but other than that its politics….every four years. Its like someone opened up Six Flags over Iowa.

    Its like, up goes the rollercoaster, down goes the rollercoaster…who wants a deep fried twinkie?

  • clowngirl

    I think that’s part of why Newt’s numbers haven’t really bounced around (aside from right after that rough launch) there aren’t any surprises because folks started
    out already knowing his past faults- now they’re seeing the same brilliant, articulate guy being much more disciplined than people expected, running an ultra positive campaign and shining in every debate.

    And he’s seems to a changed man w/ regard to his private life.

    So you’ve got a guy with massive National experience, contagious enthusiasm, a history of stunning accomplishments – who has already played big time on the National stage – got some great things done – who has learned from his mistakes and is looking like the leader he’s once only had the potential to be.

    It’s no surprise more and more Republicans are starting to find that appealing. ( incidentally, Newt’s favorables have gone way up – more than any other candidates!

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    5 minutes more than I had.

  • Scope

    and discuss what happened to him? How about Foley? How about the guy with the wide stance, whatever his name was? And, Vitter ain’t gonna whether the storm.

  • Scope

    Newt has so many ideas because he is unfettered by any principles guiding him with his ideas. Newt should be known as the guy that throws stuff against the wall to see who will back it. If the conservatives don’t back his ideas, they are simply idiots because they just don’t understand how smart he is.

  • Scope

    all the while he was knocking his aide. Crude but true.

    How many here really see Calista as the epitome of a Republican first lady? She would most likely surpass Moochelle in the jewelry department.

  • dirlie

    to just the top 3 candidates. There is no more need for the other also rans to clutter the stage or the debate. We need to focus on who the true conservative representative of the Republican party is and they need to be grilled over the economy, illegal immigration, foreign policy and their visions for America. Just the top 3 from now on.

  • haumea

    He has already been vetted – unlike many of the other candidates.

  • haumea

    I said this on this site months before anyone thought Newt had a shot – he’s the only one who can get done what needs to be done.

    Romney will nicely manage the decline of the US, since he won’t attempt to do anything to reverse the Gramscian March. Newt at least understand that it’s the courts, academia and the media who are the real enemy.

  • tricianc

    I’d like to see it and pass it on.
    Thanks

  • Scope

    Newt has been in the single digits for as long as his campaign has been going on. If there was any fire in the belly of the electorate to look at him seriously, it would have happened long before now. He is the latest flavor of the month, that’s it. The field is so very unsettled it’s anyone’s game to win or lose, as the anti-Romney. Since the Grinch has recently risen in polling, he is about to meet the hardest vetting he will ever get. I remember him threatening to run for the presidency in the 08 election. He was on Hannity’s show frequently. He said that he needed to get a certain amount of support before he plunged into the water. Not even two weeks later, he told Hannity, he was not going to do it. He knows that he has a very tough and hard hill to climb with conservatives especially. Look at what he has supported, Net Neutrality, the single mandate, green energy, subsidies for ethanol. How can he even claim that he is even remotely a conservative. Then again, I don’t know if you are a conservative or a moderate.

    I put Romney, Newt and Christie in the same barrel. Their biggest champion would be Ann Coulter.

  • tricianc

    I tried to put out the case as best I could as to why Cain cannot win if the truth doesn’t come out.

    Here it is (Hope this works. If not you’ll have to use Ctrl-F and put in my name): http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2011/11/11/newt-up-everyone-else-down-in-the-cain-fallout/#comment-17437

  • Scope

    how important foreign policy is to the electorate as the world burns from the Obama totally incompetent policy keeps unfolding. If you think for a minute that foreign policy is unimportant, and doesn’t have anything to do with the economy, watch how the world unfolds, and it becomes a US problem. You are seeing that now in Europe for one, that is if you are paying any attention. It’s huge.

  • Scope

    Most Americans now know that they don’t want to become Greece, even if they don’t understand it all.

  • writescribe

    but once he got into a position of power, he became another inside-the-Beltway politician, cutting deals that accomplished nothing except to appear as if accomplishment was being achieved.

    I agree, the man can debate and has a good command of the language…but fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

  • jakeofalltrades

    My fair-mindedness has limits.

  • jakeofalltrades

    I realize the irony, so it’s not technically dramatic irony.

  • dcarter888

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/budget110798.htm

  • dcarter888

    That is not a conservative principle.

    That is why Pawlenty quit as early as he did! Many of these candidates are running on air running up debt just like OBAMA!

    NOT CONSERVATIVE !

  • changeforrickperry

    and startlingly so. I would never have thought Newt would come up after Cain, but it’s looking as though it’ll be that way for a few weeks, at the very least.

    So these are my questions:

    1) Why would Newt “hurt himself?” What has he done in the past, besides marital infidelities, that would make you think he’s vulnerable to that? I was just a tyke when Gingrich was Speaker and so my knowledge of him is somewhat limited.

    2) What makes you think Perry would see a late surge? I support Perry, so a prediction such as this piques my interest. Why wouldn’t Cain or Bachmann get a second look instead of Perry? Is it only because of Perry’s war chest, or his organization, or do you see him regrouping?

    I’m just picking your brain here, I’m not trying to be confrontational in the slightest.
    ____________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • jakeofalltrades

    In fact it may have been one of the reasons I became a Perry donor.

  • Scope

    When the top three keep changing, depending on the latest flavor of the month? The field is very as they say “fluid” at this time.

  • jakeofalltrades

    n/aim

  • conservativeparrothead

    In the early 1990′s when an individual mandate was being supported by many conservatives not just Newt.

    Looking at rankings like American Conservative Union, Newt scored 100% most years he was in congress. Newt does talk about being a “big-tent” Republican in the sense that he likes to say Reagan started all his speeches with my fellow republicans, independents and disgrunted demograts or something to that effect, he understands that in order to win a Presidential election or take a majority in Congress, it will take moderates from modertate districts and states.

    As much as well all love Mike Pence, its doubtful he could win a Senate race in Indiana or Michelle Bachman in Minnesota.

  • conservativeparrothead

    Or was it his dying wife like I have also heard…the dying wife who is still alive 31 years later.

  • Scope

    brought to the forefront in “this campaign season.” Yes, the Newt negatives have been around for along time, but, many have short memories. Newt has also never put himself on the national stage in a presidential run. If you can’t/won’t recognize that his negatives will now be everywhere, they I would have to say that you have no clue as to the GOP presential election season. What may have been known to a few will now be known to the nation.

  • jakeofalltrades

    Two years before the incident.

    Are you asking because you’re confused because he left Wife #2, who had MS?

  • conservativeparrothead

    Even when he announced or even before he announced when everyone knew he was running, he spent so much time on Fox, how could he not be higher in the polls?

    My guess is that the mid 1990′s were not a time of massive political news cycles and speeches. I can remember when I wanted campaign info, I would watch Inside Politics on CNN, I think it was a 1/2 hour show. So I think many new Newt Gingrich more as a caricature and the “stories” as opposed to the candidate.

    Let me ask it another way: Prior to this campaign season, how many Americans had ever seen Newt Gingrich in a debate? I think what has happened is that many people loved Newt, wished him well, but just said “no way, too much baggage”…but as more and more people started to say “Newt”, then I think those who thought at some point No Way, started to believe this guy can do it.

    Time will tell, but I think he is going to be a factor in this thing all spring, should be very interesting to see how it unfolds.

  • conservativeparrothead

    How many people had ever seen Newt Gingrich in a debate? My guess is a very small percentage of Americans.

  • dirlie

    And I have no problem if Perry jumped back into the top 3. What we have now, for reasons I am not clear on, is Romney sitting there not getting touched, not having to explain his positions and not having to defend his….Romneyisms. We also have 2 candidates, Huntsman and Santorum who under no known debate system should be allowed on stage. But Ron Paul, Bachman and Perry at the moment also are treading water and realistically do not have a shot. Conservatives seemed to have ceded the debate process and the early primary process to the RHINO’s and the liberal media. We need to stop having liberal media goons running the debates. We need to ask questions that can start to focus what the debaters true positions are and be able to compare them on the spot to their history, either in politics or things they have stated in Herman Cains case. We also need to quit this Iowa and New Hampshire always first BS. We need to divide the country into 4 areas and randomly pick 4 states to have the first primary on the first day, 4 more the next month, then the remaining states pulled at random with 1 per each region going on their own unique polling days. Then we could truly pick a representative of the real Republican party. The system now is made exactly for McCain, Romney and other RHINO’s to split the conservative vote and drive right up the middle to the nomination. The Republican party needs to act now to save this party. No right minded conservative will support Romney. They will sit home on their hands and start to close their wallets.

  • conservativeparrothead

    I never tend to trust polls which have so much undecided. Pretty much every election, you will find a poll here or a poll there where all of a sudden a race which was somewhat uncompetitive, is a nailbiter, but its never close to 50-50.

    I can remember McCain-Obama, most polls had it 51-45 with some undecided etc. Then you would see one poll where they would be almost tied, but it was like 43-42 with 15% undecided, just didnt make sense. The one poll with Newt in 2nd behind Romney with Cain in 3rd had far less undecided, I would trust that one before the other.

  • nathanalbright

    …open season on Newt. On the plus side, perhaps all of the dealing with piranas in the primary will make the general campaign a more fierce one without any one-sided gentlemanly behavior.

  • Common_Cents

    “It is this visit that has turned into the infamous hospital visit about which many untruths have been told. I won’t repeat them. You can look them up online if you are interested in untruths. But here’s what happened:

    My mother and father were already in the process of getting a divorce, which she requested.

    Dad took my sister and me to the hospital to see our mother.

    She had undergone surgery the day before to remove a tumor.

    The tumor was benign.”

    Gingrich’s wife requested the divorce. Tumor was benign. She is still alive?

  • texabama

    it sure is sad that the highest poll numbers are going to two re-treads. We know our current problems are due to problems that began in the Clinton administration (treating terrorists like criminals, housing situation are examples). So one of our leading candidates is the Speaker of the House during those years? Another leading candidate is the Governor of a state that lost Republican support after his tenure and already has a failed Presidential bid under his belt? This whole thing has me bummed out.

  • jakeofalltrades

    because Mom’s account comes 5 years later, whereas daughter’s comes 26 years after the fact, and she was a child at the time.

    And it doesn’t matter. He cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, which is why she divorced him. Why are you attacking the cherry on the whip creme on the icing on the cake? Do you think copy-pasting the debunking of an urban legend somehow justifies what he did?

  • goformitt

    I’m getting very worried. I see 2 things happening here – one is the GOP not able to field a candidate that can win popular support, and 2.) Ron Paul gearing up for an Independent run.

    If he does, it doesn’t matter at all who the GOP candidate is, because there are enough Republicans who are so against the others that Paul will pull a significant number away. In other words, Say, Nest gets the nomination – a number of voters will not vote at all or not vote for him – but another percent will vote for Paul. Same thing regardless of whether its Perry, Cain or whomever.

    Why would Paul do it? Simple – this is the best time in modern history for the birth of a viable third party (and a 4th if you count the growing numbers of liberals who are fe up with Obama).

    There are lots of tea-party types who don’t want to vote for Mitt, lots of social conservatives who don’t want to vote for Newt, etc. In the past they may have held their nose and done so anyway, but if Paul is out there, many will go with him.

    I think Paul sees this as an opportunity to garner wider support than he might have otherwise imagined. And I think that appeal will be hard for him to resist.

    We could see the birth of a viable third party this winter.

  • goformitt

    And I should say before I get lambasted – the ONLY thing I like about Ron Paul is his position on the legalization of drugs and prostitution :-)

    And my wife thinks he’s cute.

  • jakeofalltrades

    If the incident was in 1980, then daughter’s account is 31 years ex post facto.

  • don12345

    Romney is such a flip flopper that he even compassionately flip flops to help his opponents when they are in a tough spot like Perry was last night.

    The real reason the Tea Party hates Romney is because there isn’t even an ounce of mean in him. He’s mister nice. He would give the jacket off of his back if you needed it. The Tea Party wants somebody willing to yell and foam at the mouth like Gingrich, not someone that is willing to lay down his life for a friend.

    All hail Gingrich, he’s your man Mr. Tea Party.

  • center77

    I read a lot, so I’m not sure, it may have been Politico, or on of the other all politics sites. its crazy though.

  • greyeagle

    You are entitled to support whomever you want. However, Please do not make fun of or trash my candidate Governor Perry. Support Al Gore? Last year he was a Democrat (1989) Support green energy – Perry supports all types of energy. Use of taxpayer money to pay donor’s business – Lie. Mandating Gardisil vaccine – Legislature did not pass and NO doses were ever given. Increases in taxes and fees – Lie – I am from TX. Objections to border fence – not in urban areas, but not practical in rural areas because of border location (middle of river some places. Everify does not work well – he says it needs to be fixed to work better. Misses a large portion of people. True he is not a debater, but so called debates run by liberal moderators who want to pick our candidates. Perry is a staunch conservative.

  • goformitt

    Blaming the “liberal media” for the GOP mess is just laughable. Talk about a cop-out. Do you think it was the liberal media that caused Cain and Perry to do and say what they have? When trying to analyze what works and what needs work pointing fingers is not helpful. In fact it assures no improvement will be made.

    Time to grow up.

    You think some alternative system would make certain a “true conservative” would be picked? How so? Do you think if, say, California, Oregon, Massachusetts and Floria went first there would be some unanimous consensus for a “true conservative” candidate?

    Tilting against windmills my friend – not helpful.

  • dirlie

    seems to be in love with your boy Mittbot. I certainly do not blame the liberal media for Mittens flip flopping like a carp on a boat deck. I do not blame the liberal media for Romney’s liberalism. In fact I do not blame the liberal media for Perry or Cains gafftastic performances or the dumb things they do and say. I blame the liberal media for asking the dumbest questions any one has ever heard. I am glad Newt calls them out on it. We need conservatives to ask the Republican candidates what their true positions are and then we can judge them on whether they represent what we believe.

    Hey goformitt, does it bother you in the least that the media really loves your candidate? They really want him to be the republican candidate, now why would that be????

  • gekster

    McCain was the greatest thing for the GOP, until he got the nomination.
    Then he became cannon fodder.
    They have been pumping up Mittens since he got in.
    The front runner, most electable, etc.
    There are some who let the media pick and tells us who we want.
    You would think people were bright enough to remember the past, so as not to repeat it. Aslas it is not so.
    To many have allready fallen for the same tactic.
    If they would notice who they attack, then they would see who they are afraid of.
    Cain, Gingrich, and Perry come to mind.
    But no attacks on Mittens. Nothing yet.
    Unless he gets the nomination.
    Then he becomes the next victum to be cannon fodder.

  • lucasblack

    That brought back memories, I used to love watching Inside Politics. Now you can get political information anytime online or on different channels, but back then, it was rare. Inside Politics was like a Christmas present every day for a political junkie like me.

  • SoFiMil

    in part due to Perry’s “Oops” moment/53 seconds. That flub, ironically, may have done more good for his campaign then anything else. He’s responded extremely well to it.

  • lucasblack

    Because ending welfare and balancing the budget is just stuff that happens in Washington DC every day…

  • onionman

    is why people are writing Huntsman out of the race?

    Huntsman has never flip-flopped on abortion. He lowered taxes and created jobs in Utah. It is true that he has come out with the liberal AGW crowd, which makes me very suspicious, but at least he didn’t make an embarrassing TV ad with Nancy Pelosi about it. No one has ever accused him of sexual assault. And he can express himself in a debate format better than Perry has so far (imho).

    If our choice really is Romney vs. ABR, why not Huntsman?

  • center77

    sex scandals in their past, and both from the dame state. something in the water maybe

  • onionman

    There are still almost two months until the first primaries. Plenty of time for Perry or Cain to turn it around. EE is absolutely right that Romney does not have a path to the White House (real conservatives won’t vote for him, and 0 will be able to make lemonade from the flip-flops). So the question is which non-Romney candidate will conservatives rally behind? Until we know for sure the only thing to do is to keep the faith!

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    [This is another ?omnibus? analysis of the above-postings. It may be recalled that I had argued aggressively that an APB should be issued to recruit Jim DeMint to enter the race, catalyzed by EE, who is friendly with DeMint, Perry and Cain. My viewpoint is enhanced by subsequent events, in particular the grand-tour that Perry took of all the cable-networks?and Letterman. HERE HE HAD A CHANCE TO PIVOT INTO ?CONTENT??NAMELY, DISCUSSING WHY HE WOULD ABOLISH THE DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, ENERGY AND EDUCATION?AND ALL HE COULD DO WAS REMAIN MIRED IN THE MUCK. His brain-freeze has not truly ended; it is hoped he?ll SNAP-OUT-OF-IT prior to the next debate. In any case, I will try to place my thoughts into a summary-context, recognizing that I won?t be able to start a RS-diary until Monday [an effort which I?d felt unqualified to do, but which a childhood friend who is an experienced RS-blogger has insisted I now do].
    First, The Newt has definitely strayed on multiple planes, and he still has not discounted support for the Individual Mandate. I care not whether the environment was different under ClintonCare and I care not whether we?re dealing with states? rights [to ?experiment? ? la RomneyCare]; this is statism/elitism.
    Second, did anyone notice how ?The Boxer? [S&G] was quoted by Civil_Truth [?a man hears what he want to hear and disregards the rest?]?
    Third, there remains no doubt that Rick?s stances are superior to those of all the other candidates? platforms [combined!], and that he?d be the best POTUS; the problem remains as to whether his supporters [who are apparently abandoning him in Iowa, per a few news-reports] can be convinced he wouldn?t melt-down while debating BHO. We can tolerate/understand, but he?d be crushed as just another aw-shucks Texan [quoting my son]. Indeed, all the friendly-advice emanating from the MSM/LSM is patronizing [e.g., The Newt advises he host more Town Halls]. Bottom-Line remains he has NO margin for error?and all he need do is quote from his published-script [?Fed Up!?].
    Fourth, The Newt can stridently argue whatever position is topical?and then contradict himself the next day; watch his serial-critiques of Libya on FNC, for he always was able to conclude BHO was an idiot?even after he had changed his positions/actions. He is clever, but unctuous when attacking the moderator upon-command. Better he should answer the question rather than acting aloof.
    Fifth, I care not about his private-life, although the GOP-electorate will, perhaps moreso than the presumptive worriment about Mormonism. The fact that he recognized error should suffice when people blog about differing renditions of his past; the same goes for the baubles; if he wishes to enter the Main Street of Rick Perry, he is going to have to muss-up his hair, a bit [just as Mitt has been trying to do when photographed tie-less].
    Sixth, ACU-rankings are as unserious as are AIPAC-rankings [in a different context]; they are used as recruitment tools, symbiotic forces intended to attract votes so that the rater can receive recognition. Better are the Heritage Action assessments, for they are more probing [and they are issued prospectively rather than retroactively, so ?Informed Consent? has been indubitably provided].
    Seventh, it would be desirable if some potential-trolls would get-with-the-program. For example, when support in 1988 for Al Gore is trotted-out [regarding Rick Perry], I want to strangle Lucas Black. We must progress the discussion, rather than become mired in conversational-loops that already have been explored?and this goes for some of the back-and-forth bickering, as well.
    Eighth, illustrative of what we ALL can learn from this process is how I was gently/firmly dressed-down by Moe Lane for having critiqued?as a group that included myself?the pro-Perry commentaries on his open-thread [following the debate]. I had termed us-all as ?Perry-bots? thinking that this was not a pejorative term [but, instead, represented our advocacy via a computer/?robot?]. Ava Green was the first to enlighten me of my error, and I hope I can still count you all as ?pals? despite my overt/extreme worriment about Rick.
    Ninth, I will yearn for EE to recruit a squeaky-clean persona such as Jim DeMint. BTW, I acquired his book [?The Great American Awakening?] @ the RedState Gathering, and [now that I?ve digested/indexed ?Fed Up!?] has been found to be a candid review of the first half of BHO?s POTUS transformation?and how DeMint decided to become the Senate?s true-conservative leader while taking no prisoners in the process].
    Tenth, Gracie decided that a ?Perry/Newt? ticket would be desirable, a conclusion I [a bit reluctantly] also reached about a month ago, when taking some on-line survey. That The Newt wrote the intro to Perry?s book is the ONLY reason I?d included him on the ticket! [Daemonocracy?s prediction is hysterical, except that Rick would perhaps be receiving a THIRD look-see!]
    Eleventh: A trend that has been noted among ALL commentators in the MSM/LSM [including FNC] is a tendency to ?explain? polling by drawing upon legends as well as facts. These snapshots are useful, but they must be viewed in longitudinal context. This is the basis for hope for Perry [as opposed to those without $ such as Bachmann, who appeared forlorn in the FNC ?Iowa? special, a few hours ago].
    Twelfth, ?Scope? said it all: ?Net Neutrality, the single mandate, green energy, subsidies for ethanol. How can he even claim that he is even remotely a conservative. Then again, I don?t know if you are a conservative or a moderate. I put Romney, Newt and Christie in the same barrel. Their biggest champion would be Ann Coulter.?
    Thirteenth, regarding Perry and Foreign Policy?he is SUPERB. Note the stridency in his book [particularly when lamenting BHO] and watch the videos of his press-conference in NYC regarding the UN vote on ?Palestinian Statehood??particularly the ending [gleaned after tremendous searching of YouTube]. Experience the uniqueness of his standing astride Congressman Turner [who hired Rush, decades ago] and Deputy Knesset Speaker Danon [of the wing of the Likud that assuredly cannot stomach the mega-release of terrorists]. Then project the type of forthrightness that he will project when dealing with America?s enemies; his history of shooting a coyote that threatened his dog should serve as ample warning to political/military adversaries of the risk entailed when confronting his forthrightness. If he freezes, again, the ?3 a.m. call? ad will destroy him [regardless of all of his strengths] for reasons aforementioned.
    Perry distills the issue
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q0Sqlj_I9o
    turner
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q0Sqlj_I9o
    danon
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxgWSPMLu44&feature=related
    Perry answers questions
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgsumGJswWk&feature=related

    Fourteenth, already started abiding by ?circlegranch? suggestion that blogging sites be targeted; have focused on Tea Party Nation [killed-off Cain supporters] and WPost blog of Jennifer Rubin [attacking her support for Mitt]; the former is populated by faith-based supporters and the latter attracts very little traffic].
    Fifteenth, if there is a brokered-convention, the ABR-phenomenon will yield ABR; that he remains glass-ceiling?ed @ 25% is telling, particularly noting the recent problems of Perry/Cain.
    Sixteenth, regarding the Cain-quote about China-Nukes, ?congress works for us? is incorrect; the entire video does not include a qualifier or reference to an antecedent such as nuclear-subs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvGfUSv4cqI [Ron Paul?s ending is fascinating] and http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=mwAq2ArYntU [Jon Stewart?s ending is hysterical].
    Seventeenth, the importance of Iowa isn?t delegates, it?s MOMENTUM. Perry defeating The Newt in this environment would prove to be HUGE [assuming that Bachmann/Santorum remain negligible].
    Eighteenth, regarding participants in future debates, I?d anticipate that a higher %-age [say, ?5%?] will be used for the cut-off threshold, thereby deleting the 1-2%-level [Santorum/Bachmann/Huntsmann/Johnson/Rohmer].
    Nineteenth, regarding the defense of the MSM/LSM by ?go for mitt??we should note the famous definition of stupid, and apply it to our memories of 2008.
    Twentieth, regarding Rush, I also noted his softening regarding Perry; this could grow into an endorsement of his policies [without violating his promise not to endorse GOP-candidates in Primaries] if/only-if his numbers rise.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …as has been amply demonstrated during the debates.

    He hides it behind the desire for “civility” but, just like The Newt, he trades on such posturing.

    That’s why he trying to “out-moderate” Mitt in NH, although I suspect the Manchester Union Leader will chose ABR [based on prior performance].

  • cheetah2

    The sexual harassment issues are just a part of what makes me uneasy about Herman Cain. He is definitely trying to intimidate his accusers, which adds to my suspicion that he is guilty. His remarks about Nancy Pelosi and Anita Hill are troubling. Is he ridiculing them because they’re safe targets since they are seen as enemies by most conservatives?

    I am a Perry supporter, but if he doesn’t get the nomination, I would happily choose any of our other candidates over Obama next fall. Excepting Herman Cain. I would be most reluctant to vote for him. I hope I don’t have to.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …of my commentary is that The Newt would perhaps be OK for Veep, but that Perry should defer to DeMint ASAP if he fails to recover, even after a stellar performance in the upcoming debate.

    I was disappointed with Rick’s “recovery tour” because he didn’t pivot into WHY he would abolish bloated government [and specific departments].

    Just like we don’t want to acquiesce accepting Mitt, we must resist accepting The Newt, who is a statist/elitist.

  • nathanalbright

    …that Perry’s humor tour was a deliberate strategy move both to get him some air time as a genuinely funny guy (and not overly stuck up or consumed with his “talking points”), thus improving his likeability, as well as a use of the “Paris Hilton” strategy where one strategically “plays dumb” in order to lull your opponents in the MSM into complacency while you act intelligently.

  • onionman

    for the MSM, it is true. But, similar to Perry, I think if you look at his actual record as governor you will see his actions speak louder than anything else. Particularly when it comes to abortion and taxes. He has won the support of the Utah GOP which would be impossible if he governed as a liberal (like Romney).

    In an ideal world I think Perry would make the best candidate, he is deeply principled and has a great deal of executive experience. However the MSM is determined to portray him as a fool and apparently are succeeding. I think if you look at the record of Huntsman’s accomplishments as governor you will see that the “shadow-D” has more to do with how he presents himself to the media than how he has actually governed. But I do think he needs to fire John Weaver if he wants to be taken seriously as a Republican candidate.

    The bottom line is, who is the best ABR candidate? I don’t know the answer, I’m just not sure that it isn’t Huntsman.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …it constituted a lost opportunity to embed his key-message about the need to dismantle Big Government.

    Suppose he had said, “I stepped in it…and some stuck” [etc.] AND THEN ADDED, “But let me tell you why I think these big departments need to be abolished…and some others need to be reinvented, such as the EPA….”

    And then he had inserted ANY vignette from “Red Up!”

    Would not the “apology tour” resulted in his having demonstrated a sense of self-deprecating humor AND that he can retake control over the agenda…to convey his unique vision [compared with his competitors] of Constitutional Limited Government?

    That he couldn’t cross this threshold has denied him the ability to break-through the psychological effects of that unique event…allowing it to be continued to be invoked by the MSM/LSM to define the entire campaign [and its presumed demise].

    Jim DeMint would have known better, intuitively.

  • nathanalbright

    It’s easy to say that someone would have known better, but what we’re dealing with his a human being, not a robot. I mean, apart from Cain, who seems to reflexibly say 9-9-9 as if he is incapable of saying anything else, unless he’s yelling at or blaming someone falsely, I don’t think anyone is that much of a robot that they would intuitively have flipped into talking-point mode. And I’m not sure I would appreciate someone who was so monotonous about going into that either. You may enjoy having every single opportunity to speak be pulled into one’s political message, but not everyone is like that. I think it’s more likely he’s showing himself unruffled and in on the joke and letting the LSM think what they want to think. As I mentioned in a reply to one of your other posts, no matter what he does they’re going to think banjo-playing inbred rednecks from Deliverance no matter what he does. Why toss pearls before swine?

  • BigRedConservative

    We shouldn’t toss such names around. Huntsman as President would be better than any Democrat since…actually, any Democrat ever. au contraire , he has an excellent tax record, a history of balanced budgets, strong social conservative credentials, an impeccable budget plan, and the ability to sort out American foreign policy after the car crash of the last decade. Calling him a Democrat is like calling Obama a moderate-just plain wrong.

  • bzip

    This is what make me very nervous, if Cain actually squeezes by and gets the nomination I am sure that Cain will be protrayed and a womanizer, molester and a lose cannon with his temper – that will guarantee Obama will win by a landslide and most likely affect the entire republican ticket.

    Cain can not and will not get then women’s vote in the general, he is not electable and am praying people see this before it is too late.

  • paladin1

    I agree with some of your points and am pleased to see you backing off somewhat from the “draft De Mint” idea. I just think it is a non-starter at this late date and, given his statements in the past months that he will not run and the fact that he has made no effort to put up any kind of organization, that idea is best put to rest. No other candidate or group of candidates could “give” him their organization with any expectation of a cohesive or coherent result and naturally, campaigns are mainly composed of volunteers who are not bound but by loyalty to their chosen candidate.

    Your third point regarding his support in Iowa abandoning Governor Perry is not necessarily accurate. I got this yesterday from a source I neglected to write down but include it for you here…..{How Perry?s ?opps? is playing in the early nominating states is crucial, and the Des Moines Register?s Jennifer Jacobs notes today that while a ?handful? of Perry?s supporters in Iowa ?are rethinking their choice ? the majority of Iowa conservatives interviewed said the incident had done little to shake their support.? http://dmreg.co/rEalT8
    And Perry still has his campaign war chest to fall back on. As Politico reported, ?A source tracking the early state media buys said Perry?s campaign is currently spending more than $400,000 a week on television and radio advertising in Iowa ? He?s also spending more than $100,000 a week on television advertising in New Hampshire and more than that blanketing Granite State radio.? http://politi.co/upFHoj} I don’t think his support has eroded much in Iowa and it is his to build up in the next weeks.

    Your ninth point regarding EE’s recruitment of a squeaky clean candidate is, only in my opinion and respectfully stated, wishful thinking. The time for recruitment is long past as I noted to you at other times and in another thread.

    I agree with your thirteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and twentieth points.

    I am not quite as down on Gingrich as some others although I absolutely see their concerns and share them to some degree. I think he has truly revisited some of his old ideas and expanded/adapted them to the current time. I remain concerned, as you and others, about his stance on the individual mandate, net neutrality, subsidies, and a penchant for more government than I am prepared to tolerate. I do think has been much more consistent than Romney, who is intolerable and will set the conservative movement back twenty years if he is elected. I want to hear him in a much more detailed way, explain his positions on these issues and be able to determine if/how he has evolved. I am prepared to forgive his past indiscretions in his personal life as I do think he has repented and we as Christians should be forgiving.

    To summarize my position thoroughly, I still believe Governor Perry has the potential to win this with his strong drive, his knowledge and executive experience, his clear energy and economic plans, and his funding. I continue to support him completely.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    Notwithstanding his constant posturing as a prickly-moderate during the debates [and don't forget his "science"-oriented stabs @ Perry, taking quotes overtly out of context], consider:

    http://www.issues2000.org/Jon_Huntsman.htm

    Supported individual mandate in 2007; opposes it now. (Jun 2011)
    Truly affordable insurance: pathway to coverage for everyone. (Jan 2009)

    China will say our QE1 and QE2 were currency manipulation. (Oct 2011)

    Congress should cap greenhouse-gas pollution. (Nov 2007)

    Vetoed repeal of college tuition for illegal immigrants. (May 2011)
    Border fence repulses me; inconsistent with America’s image. (May 2011)
    2008: GOP should tack to the middle on immigration. (Jan 2011)

    After 10 years, Americans are ready to exit Afghanistan. (Sep 2011)
    Time has come for us to get out of Afghanistan. (Sep 2011)
    Bring troops home from Afghanistan. (Sep 2011)
    Playing Afghan traffic cop doesn’t serve strategic interest. (Jun 2011)
    Boots on the ground: expensive & not critical for security. (Jun 2011)
    We can’t afford the NATO operation in Libya. (Jun 2011)

    To produce first-rate students, pay for first-rate teachers. (Jan 2007)

    *

    Scroll-down to bottom:

    “Jon Huntsman is a Centrist”

  • montrose

    say he’s a hero. He’s not. Nor is Romney. Or Cain. Or Perry. Or Puff the Magic Dragon.
    It’s normal for everybody to argue about the candidates, that’s what primaries are for.
    But once the nominee is chosen we shall, nay, we -must- circle the wagons. Be it around Newt, Cain, Perry, Romney, whomever.
    The alternative is unthinkable.
    None of these guys is a hero to me, they’re just what we have. And we go to war with the army we have.

  • nathanalbright

    Because you can be sure that plenty of negative ads will talk about what happened when the government shut down in the 1990′s (I was a teenager then) to ordinary people. Remember, in the general there will have to be appeals to people who wouldn’t necessarily vote Republican because they want to hack and slash the federal budget, so clips of senior citizens missing their Social Security checks or post offices shutting down isn’t going to play very well.

  • bzip

    Rick Perry Super PAC Ups Ad Buy in South Carolina
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/rick-perry-super-pac-ups-ad-buy-in-south-carolina/

    Perry launches national ad highlighting job as governor
    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/11/perry-launches-national-ad-highlighting-job-as-governor/?hpt=hp_bn3

    I must say Perry is hitting it big time. He had more air time, more press time on Thursday than his entire time in the campaign. If you didn’t know who Perry was before, you sure do now.

    Perry’s air time I think was excellent, he came off as being humorous, down to earth, every intelligent and knowledgeable. His Greta interview was just outstanding and I highly recommend everyone watch it.

    I don’t know what the impact will be but my prayers are with Perry and I stand by him till the end.

    On The Record
    Perry: On the Rebound and Ready to Put America Back to Work
    http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2011/11/11/rick-perry-rebound-and-ready-put-america-back-work
    http://news.yahoo.com/video/fbc-1316259/perry-on-the-rebound-and-ready-to-put-america-back-to-work-27225411.html
    http://video.foxnews.com/v/1268989363001/

  • bzip

    Looks like Cain continues to get push back on the Hill remark. The guy keeps putting his foot in his mouth;

    Cain faces pushback over Anita Hill remark
    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/11/cain-faces-pushback-over-anita-hill-remark/

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …”Wire Paladin, San Francisco!”

    [Did you know Richard Boone was a Shakespearean actor?]

    {I won a Halloween contest in 3rd grade when I distributed [modified] business-cards along these lines…emotional/entertainment positive-associations.}

    *

    I will focus on the points of potential-deviation from my perspective.

    I never abandoned support for Rick, but I have constantly complained that he has behaviorally slipped…and that another alternative remains in the wings.

    Do you concur that he could have employed all the free-media on Thursday to DELIVER his point about limited-government? Do you agree that this was a lost-opportunity?? Do you accept my viewpoint that he remains intimidated and couldn’t transcend residual-angst sufficiently adroitly to turn-around this nuclear-gaffe into a gigundo-”Educational Blitzkrieg”???

    *

    Granted, it’s word-of-mouth that people are potentially jumping-ship, but I also heard another report specifically referring to the Newt-staffers who are regretting having flipped to Perry.

    I know Perry has $ and is running ads, but the FNC-special last night illustrated the need to press-the-flesh in Iowa…and he’s far behind in that context. I feel the window-of-opportunity is far narrower than do the pundits, inasmuch as most of December may be lost due to the holidays.

    The tendency for The Newt to flip-flops is ingrained in his personality [public and probably private] and it appears intractable; again, note his serial-quotes on Libya on FNC. And don’t think this is a focused concern, for the number of issues upon which he has equivocated are legion.

    *

    Following re-review of my analysis, my synthesis is unchanged. Rick may not be able to recoup, even if he now is flawless; there may be insufficient time for the “vetting” process to side-line The Newt for, as one commentator on MSNBC muttered, he may have peaked @ just the right time. So, would you prefer [even after listening to him ad-infinitum], The Newt or DeMint?

    Would not most educated TEA-Partiers concur with my “electability” AND POLICY concerns, notwithstanding The Newt”s polished debating-abilities?

  • bzip

    Don’t forget the debate tonight, Saturday, 8pm EST. It appears it is only 1 hour long. The next debate after this will be Nov 19 an Iowa forum and if it is anything like the other Iowa forum it should be a really productive format with lots of substance.

    2012 Primary Debate Schedule:
    http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2011-2012-primary-debate-schedule/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

    November 12, 2011 8pm ET / 5pm PT on CBS ? Live Stream
    Location: Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina
    Sponsor: CBS News, The National Journal and the South Carolina Republican Party
    Participants: Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Huntsman, Paul, Perry, Romney, Santorum
    ———————————————————————-
    November 19, 2011 Thanksgiving Family Forum
    5pm ET on C-SPAN
    Location: First Federated Church in Des Moines, Iowa
    Sponsor: The Family Leader
    Participants: Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Paul, Perry and Santorum all confirmed, Romney unconfirmed
    ———————————————————————-
    November 22, 2011 8pm ET on CNN
    Location: Washington, DC
    Sponsor: CNN, The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute
    Participants: TBD

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …which I will attempt to fill [recalling the star-turn provided by the GREAT Jon Voight in my favorite dueling-banjos flick]…

    You establish a polarity that assumes there is no proper position between laser-like focus on an issue and total MSM/LSM-pandering. This is a false-choice. He should have–immediately–departed from the gaffe-jokes [after having smiled] and it may have been desirable for some deviation from “stepped into it” been conjured [precluding the aggregate-clips that enhance the perception of his foolishness]. For example:

    “Megyn: Well, you really stepped into it, didn’t ya?

    “Rick: Yeah, sorta brain-froze [grin], perhaps mesmerized by Mitt’s smile.

    “Megan: What was going through your mind?

    “Rick: I had made the need to dismantle the Energy Department such a centerpiece to BOTH my campaign AND how I have functioned as Texas Governor that I’d always assumed it would flow naturally, following even the most gentle nudges…just like Herman keeps reminding us of 9-9-9…or is it 9-0-9?

    “Megan: But, seen as one in a series of debate-gaffes, how do you convince the GOP that you wouldn’t slip again in the Fall?

    “Rick: Because, as you will note if you watch the entire CNBC debate, you will note how I explained my fiscal and monetary policies by citing my position papers lucidly, such as my flat-tax policy. Although I don’t like trying to squish a lot of thoughts into a minute’s sound-byte, I’m learning how to do so.

    “Megan: But how long is this on-the-job training going to take?

    “Rick: As long as is required to help the American People understand BOTH how much America is at-risk AND how my solutions are honed by decades of executive experience, the last one being the head of the 18th largest economy in the world.

    “Megan: As Gingrich rises in the polls, aren’t people who would otherwise support you…migrating elsewhere?

    “Rick: I led efforts in Texas to create an environment in which almost half the jobs created in 2010 in America were in Texas. No other candidate can claim that level of accomplishment.”

    [etc.]

    See what I mean?

  • Marcus_Traianus

    People know that intuitively when Newt speaks. That’s why the more exposure he gets, the more support he garners.

    I’ll take the shots at Newt’s personal life and his Global Warming meltdown over any other candidates flaws. You want someone who can not only win, but govern in a responsible way? I believe Newt is starting to look like that guy for many people, including Independents.

    Folks don’t trust Romney. His plan to stay out of the limelight and let others self-destruct now looks like evasion. He dribbles out pieces of plans after everyone else has released them. To many people that tactic makes him appear to be an opportunist. He could be a superhero called “The Waffler” because Romney can switch positions faster than a speeding bullet. If you don’t think the Obama campaign will ride that issue like Secretariat to create doubt with voters- bzzzzzzt, you’re wrong.

    Anyway, now that Newt is part of the conversation, I expect the quality of that conversation to get better. I also suspect we will hear from another Left-Wing rag how they spoke with a friend-of-a-friend, who knows the Gingrich family, who said he heard another guy say he saw something that would be a great excuse for rehashing past rumor filled, innuendo laden stories that have nothing to do with Newt’s candidacy and everything to do with protecting their guy, Obama.

  • Scope

    Cain told Savage on his show that he would be very “excited” to be the Secretary of Defense in the next administration because he wants to just kick peoples butts.

    No one can say he doesn’t think very highly of himself.

  • nathanalbright

    ….that would have been a very savvy way to go about turning a gaffe into a political positive. Still, I think it would have required an exceptionally premeditated plan in order to do that. Are you really going to hold it against someone that they aren’t at that level of premeditation? Is that the kind of expectation you have of someone, that they are automatically or intuitively tuned to make everything into an attempt to score political points? If someone did that on occasion, strategically (especially with friendlier journalists) I would applaud the strategic intelligence of such a move. But to expect such a thing in every interview, simply to stay perfectly “on message” and never lose an opportunity to get one’s talking points in, seems a bit unrealistic. You seem to be an extremely demanding person of your political candidates. We must remember that they are men and not demigods.

  • paladin1

    Governor Perry did use the opportunity with Greta to push his plan to seal the border using the techniques he has enumerated before, and promised to have it done in 12 months. Given the angst of the conservatives over the school tuition law, I think that was his best use of that time and space; to present his immigration stance and state firmly that until that is done, discussion of anything else is a red herring. His Letterman appearance was not a good setting to try to present solid ideas; it was much more of a healing moment for his campaign using levity and to make him more human and stress his humanness. I think he did well with his appearances and went a good distance in correcting the perceptions of the debate incident.

    Your question of who I would prefer is only an intellectual exercise since there is no possibility of a De Mint moment, in my view. Realistically, I believe we must deal with who we have currently and given that premise, Speaker Gingrich is the only realistic answer to your posed question. We are past the time when we can engage in ivory-tower discussions of what might have been however, and must work as hard as we can to bring Governor Perry to the forefront.

    And, I forgot to mention in my other reply, Limbaugh spent a good portion of his day on diminution of the Perry incident and played a good soundbite of
    Obama,s penchant for “uhhhh”; 7 minutes and thirty-five seconds of it to be precise, in one forty minute news conference. I am glad to see someone in conservative radio help. Hannity has lost it, in my opinion.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …because, overnight, the FIRST discussion-point among his advisers SHOULD have been “How do we turn-around this disaster?’ and the IMMEDIATE focus should have been what you define as “pre-mediated.”

    Is not everything a strategy determines to be optimal perceivable in that fashion? So What?? Isn’t that WHY he’s competing for POTUS???

    Puh-leeze, cummon, I’m not expecting exceptional conduct…merely competence, particularly under/after “fire”!

    *

    I will carefully rephrase: Would Not ANYONE adhering to RS-philosophy and following these blogs have REFLEXLY adopted the posture I’m promoting? Would Not ANY of us been able to conjure a comparable scenario as I depicted supra?? Is not an additional motivation for someone who can think-on-his-feet be – necessarily – someone who can PLAN to think ENOUGH on his feet to transit into fundamental talking-points???

    UGH!

  • thirstyboots

    was being supported by many conservatives (I can research that too, but I’m sure Newt is included). Heck, in 2008 very few were saying that Romneycare was a bad thing.

    If you’re going to give a pass to Newt, you have to give it to Romney too. Especially because Newt actually defended a federal mandate.

    Why the heck couldn’t Mike Pence win a senate race in Indiana, btw?! Do you know the guy is running for statewide office, right?

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    First, regarding Greta?this was AFTER he had made ?rounds? of all the a.m. shows, and it was NOT RELATED to the THREE DEPARTMENTS he wanted to shut-down [nor did it cite the revisions necessary for the EPA, which also came-up during the debate]. Fine, repeat five times his year-long pledge [reminiscent of BHO?s Gitmo?]?but return to the MAJOR CONCEPT driving his limited-constitution effort!

    THEREFORE, Rick?s lost-opportunity [which may not recur during the rest of 2011?unless he gaffes again] is emblazoned in the mind of this politico?who watched DeMint handle tough queries repeatedly during the day Thursday.

    *

    Second, I pride myself [and others sometimes concur] when recalling the ability to think-outsidie-the-box. Remember how ?Highlights for Children? was subtitled ?Fun, With a Purpose?? Well, this blogging is intended NOT to showcase, nor to pontificate. I either test ideas [and police-away those who are unmasked, while referencing my assertions and providing clarifications to help the conversation flow] OR [and this is true, here] I push for SOMEONE to notice what I?m trying to accomplish.

    THEREFORE, I hope EE [or someone around him] is listening; DeMint could provide the tsunami that the unsettled GOP-electorate keeps ?saying? [in the polls] that we yearn to experience.

    *

    Third, I have been asking-around regarding why the absence of [or, in Rush's case, the belated] positives about Rick, and all I get is the fact that Cain has carefully nurtured friendships within this realm…yielding his ability to be portrayed as the darling of the TPM.

    {What is anger-producing is the inability of our favorite Talk Show hosts to help him?until they could adopt a gratuitous posture of pseudo-support. [Is not this the modus-operandi of the LSM/MSM?] Note, for example, how Dick Morris endorsed Cain on O?Reilly?and later claimed he won?t endorse anyone. Note how Dick Morris [during a lunchtime video last week, focused on 9-9-9] claimed Rick was planning to duck debates AFTER a prior weekend of unambiguous DENIALS of this rumor ? from everyone in his campaign AND from the candidate himself. My guess is that he?s angling for another DC-job?.}

    THEREFORE, I have concluded that the diagnoses rendered regarding the GOP-Establishment [Rick can?t be controlled] is applicable BOTH to the MSM/LSM AND to our favored-pundits.

    *

    My overall conclusion is unchanged: Someone should have a heart-to-heart with DeMint. Also, recalling the rationale for Rick?s entry into the race [per Anita?s video], he could easily justify [to his friends, and to a shocked public] why he would eagerly defer to such an honorable gentleman. Would not other solid endorsements [Mark, Mike, Rush, Sarah, The Donald] follow?

    This is the complete video of Anita?s discussion of ? inter alia ? why Rick is running. [Unlike reports in the MSM, she was not ?tearful? when lamenting the attacks on Rick; rather, she welled-up when recalling how she remembers the influence of her grandfather.]

    http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/10/anita-perry-says-she-and-rick-have-been-brutalized-by-fellow-republicans-press-because-of-their-faith/

  • acat

    How many Conservatives pay attention to Letterman? (I mean .. this is the same Letterman of the “Palin’s Daughter” joke scandal…right?)

    The point is, I agree that Letterman didn’t lend itself to solid ideas; I also don’t think it was really intended for a Red State audience. It came across as more about the general election than the primary… although I suppose it could be about outreach to northeastern GOPers…

    That’s something I’ve noticed about Perry’s campaign. The “heartless” sound bite” ? Straight general election ploy. The Letterman visit is more of the same. Perry appears to be doing outreach beyond the base and apparently hoping the base will catch up.

    Normally my admiration for Occam would keep me from mentioning that, but .. there’s definitely more going on here than a simple “Nixon strategy”.

    Mew

  • westcoastpatriette

    in terms of your expectations of Perry.

    You were his number one supporter until this last debate and, while you are a little calmer now, you are still somewhat in panic mode. And your fears of failure are causing you to be hypercritical of every move Perry makes.

    Try to remind yourself that Perry is not an incompetent boob. He has never lost an election and before it’s all over, we will see that there is a method to his madness.

    I know to you, I am over-simplifying things, but let’s face it–you are powerless to control the situation and, if you’re going to support Perry, you have no choice but to trust the process. And respect the man.

  • thirstyboots

    His negatives are just too high for him to have any chance of recovering.

    Plus, the same issues that put him on this situation – which arise from his lack of talent and skills for politics – aren’t going away. This isn’t McCain, that could get back once people started seeing he was right on the surge and immigration became a less prominent issue.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    From my Omnibus memo:

    First, The Newt has definitely strayed on multiple planes, and he still has not discounted support for the Individual Mandate. I care not whether the environment was different under ClintonCare and I care not whether we?re dealing with states? rights [to ?experiment? ? la RomneyCare]; this is statism/elitism.

    Fourth, The Newt can stridently argue whatever position is topical?and then contradict himself the next day; watch his serial-critiques of Libya on FNC, for he always was able to conclude BHO was an idiot?even after he had changed his positions/actions. He is clever, but unctuous when attacking the moderator upon-command. Better he should answer the question rather than acting aloof.

    Fifth, I care not about his private-life, although the GOP-electorate will, perhaps moreso than the presumptive worriment about Mormonism. The fact that he recognized error should suffice when people blog about differing renditions of his past; the same goes for the baubles; if he wishes to enter the Main Street of Rick Perry, he is going to have to muss-up his hair, a bit [just as Mitt has been trying to do when photographed tie-less].

    REMEMBER what Scope typed last night [supra]:

    “He knows that he has a very tough and hard hill to climb with conservatives especially. Look at what he has supported, Net Neutrality, the single mandate, green energy, subsidies for ethanol. How can he even claim that he is even remotely a conservative. Then again, I don?t know if you are a conservative or a moderate. I put Romney, Newt and Christie in the same barrel. Their biggest champion would be Ann Coulter.”

    I’m not yet prepared to toss-in the towel!

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    Regardless of the venue, the Letterman cameo constituted a lost-opportunity.

    Indeed, he could have included within his top-10 list SOME reference to content….

    Reason #1: “I want to shut-down SO MANY federal bureaucracies that I couldn’t decide which one I should utter first!”

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …but we must face reality and the prognostications of those who are NOT married to any one candidate or ideology.

    Would not a DeMint candidacy become a game-changer of nuclear proportions?

  • thirstyboots

    Ditto for Perry, Bachmann, Santorum and, once his past statements started surfacing, Ron Paul. I’m not sure about Gary Johnson.

  • thirstyboots

    And Newt Gingrich isn’t electable either. It has passed a decade, more than a decade, and the electorate still sees Gingrich unfavorably. He’s hated by a large percentage of Americans.

  • nathanalbright

    It’s the idea that the simplest and most straightfoward explanation is the best. I do agree that your #1 reason would have been a great one :) .

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    http://www.politico.com/playbook/

    The 90-minute debate will begin at 8:00 PM ET ? The first hour will be broadcast live (8:00-9:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network,? with the rest on CBSNews.com.

  • westcoastpatriette

    that would be a game-changer of nuclear proportions, too. And the odds of that happening are exactly zero.

    I don’t know what else to say that I didn’t already say. I think it is contraindicated to go in such wild directions and it reflects your belief that Perry has already failed–which he has not done. Wait and watch.

  • pttx333

    way is Perry an incompetent boob, as will be revealed to the nation as they come to know him. And for those who will continue to believe such, they would do so regardless of anything he will say or do. All too many of our voters go for the American Idol fool’s gold candidate simply because they wouldn’t recognize quality and substance if it smacked ‘em in the face.

    You are correct in saying that we are powerless to control the situation, but we can darn well support Perry to cheer him on to 1600. I made that vow long ago, and I don’t make vows easily. If we don’t win, then we don’t win, but I will go down in flames knowing in my soul that I gave it all that I could – and so did our guy.

    Thanks for the post.

  • avagreen

    Clinton Regains Lead in New Iowa Poll

    By Eric Ostermeier on May 30, 2007

    One month after John Edwards outpolled Hillary Clinton for the first time in American Research Group’s (ARG) monthly survey of likely Iowa Democratic caucus voters, Clinton has once again pulled ahead of the former Vice Presidential nominee. Clinton had lead Edwards by 11 points in December 2006, 17 points in late January, 4 points in February, and 1 point in March before Edwards’ measured support outnumbered Clinton by 27 to 23 percent last month.

    In the new May ARG poll Clinton holds a six-point lead on Edwards?31 to 25 percent?with Barack Obama a distant third at 11 percent. The Clinton-Edwards battle for Iowa has been neck-and-neck since the presidential campaign kicked off late last year?evidenced by the unstable polling results that have emerged out of the Hawkeye State every week or so from pollster to pollster.

    Clinton has lead Edwards in 5 of the 6 ARG polls, while Edwards has lead or been tied for the lead in all 4 Zogby polls. Edwards also outpolls Clinton in this month’s Iowa Poll (Des Moines Register), but trails the junior Senator from New York in this month’s KCCI-TV / Research 2000 survey.

    Clinton’s measured support in Iowa is therefore far from bleak?and her ARG poll performance provides a good distraction from a recent leak of an internal campaign memo suggesting she should skip the Iowa Caucus (a memo Clinton says she never saw) to focus on other states.

    While the Democratic frontrunner in Iowa is far from clear, at this stage Obama appears to be garnering the third most support of likely Democratic caucus voters, with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson settling in fourth?flirting with 10 percent in most surveys.

  • paladin1

    above, I think his time was better used with his Greta exposure, on the issue that has burned him with most conservatives, immigration vs. tuition law. Trying to recoup his position on the debate “triumvirate” agency list would only bolster a sense of desperation on his part, in my view.

    I recognize what you are trying to accomplish and I fear we must just disagree. I do not see anyone riding in on a white horse to rescue us from our field of candidates. I do not know enough about De Mint as a candidate to give a knowledgeable argument for or against your enamored view of him. I like what I hear on TV sound bites and what I have heard in some of his interviews; we do not know anything of his ability to coalesce a large base of support nationally nor am I aware of any vetting in the presidential sense, done on him. We also have little to no idea of his impact outside of South Carolina.

    The conservative radio pundits mostly appear to have gone off the reservation, in my opinion. I agree that the non-endorsing endorsements of Cain are ludicrous and not well founded based on his lack of knowledge on foreign policy, his inability to explain 999 or 909 or whatever he has morphed it into, and his inclusion of a new federal sales tax which is a complete non-starter in my view. He has many more issues I disagree with but which I will pass on; I will say I think the “Bimbogate issue” has become a media farce and appears to be disintegrating daily.

    My conclusions are also unchanged; Perry is the best candidate on the field and I will continue to support him completely, I could consider Gingrich if forced into a corner without Governor Perry, and Romney is intolerable.

    Also, forgive my lack of manners as I have not responded to any of your comments on HGWT. I have all of the series on DVD and it was also my favorite show as a kid. I did know Richard Boone was a Shakespearean actor and would love to have seen him in performance as he is my favorite actor of all time. My username here is, as you surmise, from his name in the series.

  • acat

    Simplest explanation is most often correct. A very sharp razor, that.

    A question for you, Doctor. Who do you think wrote that top ten? Perry’s team, or Letterman’s? Letterman films pretty early in the day, that’s why it’s always daylight in their outdoor segments although they broadcast at night…

    In short, while I agree Team Perry could have done better here, I also think they did pretty good… certainly good *enough* under the circumstances.

    We’ll see how he does in the next debate. This, I think, is his do-or-die.

    Mew

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    ….because Rick had the final “say”…right?

  • paladin1

    I was just not as on point as you regarding Letterman. I also believe that that appearance was only rehabilitation for the general election masses, and that the Perry campaign is still confidently planning to be the Republican nominee.

    Thanks for coming into the discussion, I seldom think my opinions and discussions are good enough for anyone else to notice. I always admire your input and ideas and agree more often than not.

  • acat

    Again, Letterman. Not normally an outlet for conservative ideology.

    Not a good place to say anything that could come back to bite in the general… and while shutting down bureaucracies is a common goal among conservatives and libertarians, it is not a goal among moderates or the will-o-the-wisp following middle….

    In short, Perry wasn’t playing to us, he was playing to our politically uninvolved neighbors and friends .. and for that audience, I think he did okay.

    To have played for conservatives would have opened him to a very easy lumping in with the more anarchist Ron Paul supporters…

    Mew

  • bzip

    Tell you what Doc – You talk with DeMint, talk him into running. One DeMint has officially entered the race and has some type of vision and has gone through the debates, I will then seriously consider DeMint.

    Until you get DeMint into the race and in competitive form – it is a silly waste of time .

  • avagreen

    And, Perry’s being willing to be the butt of a joke is magnificent. He proved he can laugh at himself.

    Being all serious and content-related in every appeaarnce (which is what he’s been up to now) isn’t all that.
    Gawd! Quit being so cerebral and serious.
    Not every voter is a book worm that takes notes on every darn interview/appearance.

    Some are just looking for a guy they can relate to and, thus, trust. Bingo!

    I give him 10 kudos for doing what he did. Takes a man with high self-esteem, confidence, and one who is comfortable in his own skin to do what he did. Besides showing his versatility..No more “he was drunk” remarks. He’s completely able to “get down” with the folks.

    Get off his case! Sheesh!

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    These are drawn from http://www.politico.com/playbook/

    *

    http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=E31D28DA-0E44-4489-BFEF-E67766B976B4

    “The GOP itself is struggling to reconcile the views of the party?s hawkish wing with the more isolationist-oriented tea party wing.”

    Sez who?

    *

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/us/politics/rick-perry-buys-1-million-in-ad-time-on-fox-news.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

    “Mr. Perry?s advertising team believes raising his standing nationally with Republican opinion makers and donors ? many of whom have their office televisions tuned to Fox News all day ? is as important as doing so in critical states.”

    Perhaps our favorite Talk Show hosts will take note, also.

    *

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1111/For_columnist_Will_a_family_tie_to_Perry.html?showall

    “Columnist Will’s wife working for Perry”

    I sat ~10 feet from George in the room where Perry announced during the RedState Gathering.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …but he’s been such a disappointment!

    He didn’t have to sacrifice levity to deliver a key-quote to this national audience.

  • cheetah2

    I knew Cain had a ginormous ego as soon as I saw his bus with his 10 foot tall face on the side of it.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    ….but I generally support your commentary.

    It’s just that he had time “On the Record” to hit-HOME his anti-D.C. meme.

    Certainly less expensive than a bunch of [upcoming] ads, eh?

  • pttx333

    I always enjoy reading your posts, though I don’t always respond. Due to a badly sprained wrist a couple of months ago, then gout setting in for double whammy, sometimes I have to soak it in warm water for a while before continuing.

    Yes, The Wise One (‘acat) is something, isn’t he? I always appreciate his posts cuz 99.999999% of the time he is right on the issue at hand.

    Thanks for your posts, paladin!

  • Common_Cents

    He should have thrown in a few Obama excuses such as:

    I flubbed because of:

    Euro financial crisis

    Asian Tsunamis

    Arab Spring

    Congress

    Bush made me do it!

    It would show how idiotic our golfer in chief is when throwing out stupid excuses.

  • avagreen

    Disappointment is in the eye of the beholder, and more than one can be considered for that award.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and this would also have presaged his ability to do what Mitt is trying to do…campaign against the D’s rather than continue to compete with the R’s.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    it is the BEST non-steroidal, as long as you use it sporadically.

  • paladin1

    I read much more than I write though and I like to follow you and all the Perry supporters’ posts.

  • pttx333

    who will only remember “gee, he was so funny on Letterman” and give no further thought to any issues. What issues? they say. Obviously, given what we have in OUR White House, they care not about issues or anything resembling such.

    Personally, I think it was a good move on Perry’s part – he DOES have to reach out to all of us. Few are political junkies who actually research the candidates and have regular discourse with others regarding same.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …but I’m not the candidate!

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …who will only remember “oops!”

    [particularly when re-re-re-re-reminded of the gaffe on the news-shows]

  • 1bunny

    I posted a question to you last night asking to borrow your words from an insighful post you made yesterday on Perry. I liked your description of Perry’s accomplishments in TX and wanted to use them in posting on other sites in order to counter the “wrong” info on Perry. Thanks again for your wonderful posts.

  • paladin1

    reply. Feel free to use anything I put up here. Thank you!

  • pttx333

    prescribed Prednisone last Monday for 7 days, and it has helped a great deal. However, I know all too well the side effects of that good/bad drug. I do take Allopurinol on a regular basis. Actually, it is funny in a way, because I am veeery right-handed my left hand has had to do what the right can’t always do, so now IT is mildly sprained. Pretty difficult when one lives alone, and there is no one at hand to assist in many things that must be done – some things just don’t get done. ;-)

    I so appreciate your suggestion regarding Indocin and will do some research. Unfortunately, I am allergic to a lot of drugs, so that is an issue also. On the other hand, I have a very healthy immune system so am very seldom bothered with medical issues.

    Thanks so much for your suggestion.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …would not a prudent manager ponder inserting a relief-pitcher?

    Note, for example, this piece:

    http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/what-would-it-mean-abolish-education/

    What Would Happen if Dept. of Education Were Closed?

    Then ask yourself how wonderful it would be if ANY ONE idea therein could have been invoked during ANY ONE of his media appearances?

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and, thus, wouldn’t need a significant ramp-up.

    Consider, for example, The Newt’s “advice” to Rick that he hold more Town Hall meetings. As aloof as was this suggestion, it has merit; DeMint has been-there/done-that…as evidenced, for example, by when he endorsed so many winners such as Mike Lee.

  • 1bunny

    Thanks so much for your permission. I enjoy reading your post on RS – so concise and thoughtful.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and is shared by pro-Perry posters.

    But you need to listen BOTH to PMSNBC AND to CNN; the commentators [including a mild set of comments from EE] have been almost universally devastating.

  • acat

    Do you know the price the Perry camp paid? I know only that I don’t.

    Mew

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and its major side-effect is GI-bleeding [long-term].

    Make sure your Allopurinol dosage is 300 mg [pink] not 100 mg [white tablet].

  • pttx333

    given the drumbeat, day in and day out, you are most correct. Who’s to say which turn it will take – particularly given the mindset of all too many ignoramuses out there in the hinterlands. But, for me, I must go with Perry, mainly because I’ve had the luxury of witnessing on a day-to-day basis lo these many years who he is, his accomplishments, strength and character – no matter how mundane. So, for me, I’ll take my bird in the hand over a bird in the bush.

  • acat

    Y’all are doing wonders for my Cassandra complex. (grin)

    Letterman. Is. Not. A. Conservative.

    These jokes would work great at Red State Gathering. They would fall flat before Letterman’s audience. “Euro crisis? What crisis?” “Arab Spring? It’s November!”

    Seriously.

    Mew

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …the cost was $1M, which targets during-the-day to save $.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/us/politics/rick-perry-buys-1-million-in-ad-time-on-fox-news.html?ref=todayspaper

  • westcoastpatriette

    to direct discussion in various interviews and debates along those lines. That is the essential idea he tries to convey, in my opinion, that if he becomes president, he will make the federal government as inconsequential in our lives as possible.

    Unfortunately, there is a lot to cover when running for the presidency and there are a lot of adversaries who do not want Perry to win much less get his ideas for smaller constitutional governance heard.

    So, yes, your ideas are good. And Perry would concur, I’m sure.

  • retire05

    get non-biased opinions.

    I have posted here before on the left (far left) agenda of the “Trib.” It was started by a long term Texas Democrat operative using funding from George Soros’ Open Society. Locating a conservative contributor to the Trib would be like finding a chubacabra. Elusive at best, non-existant at worst.

    Also, the Trib has previously taken a stance, in conjunction with the academics of of Texas, against Perry’s attempt to reduce tuition costs in state universities and holding academics accountable for actual results.

    Now, I am operating a bit in the dark as to the Trib’s article because I don’t want to give them any more traffic than I have to. So perhaps you would like to explain their stance, which I doubt will meet with mine which is “My God, how did we function as a nation for well over a hundred years without the useless federal Department of Education?”

  • Common_Cents

    Sprinkling in Obamas pathetic excuses in this format would deliver a message.

    To not even try, is a total defeatist attitude.

    Perry probably did more harm than good, confirming to “this audience” that he is a bumbling idiot not Presidential.

    the left respects power, if they smell blood, they’ll pounce. If confronted head on, they back down.

    Letterman was beaming that he got this “loser” on his stage, groveling. Notice how Letterman barely acknowledged him after the bit, Perry was the court jester.

    This is the primary season, the audience is more conservative. Is the Letterman show even the right venue at all in a primary? I can see more the general but not a primary.

    Now, considering the audience as you say, Perry laying down skewering himself in front of liberals helps precisely how?

  • pttx333

    c

  • pttx333

    For whatever reason, the 300 mg dosage of Allopurinol makes me feel as if I’ve been hit by an 18-wheeler, so I take either 100 mg or a 300 mg cut in half. Medicinal allergies are the pits, so my doctor(s) have tried to figure out just what I can take successfully.

    I will definitely look into the Indocin med, though. As for GI bleeding, a big blessing for me is that, at least so far, I seem to have a cast-iron stomach. Since I’m 71, I think that is quite a feat! ;-)

    Thank you so much for your time. I would never impose on you, but I do appreciate it.

  • acat

    What sank Dole, in large part, is that he was wooden on the stump.

    Perry has just proven that he’s not wooden, and that he won’t wait until the campaign is over to let his sense of humor shine through.

    As I said, and as you apparently ignored, the Letterman appearance specifically was about the general, not the primary.

    The Letterman audience (who are liberal in part but also include moderate GOPers and “independents”) must understand that Perry’s a person, with a sense of humor, with some merit, before the attacks on Obama can be understood as more than “conservative noise”.

    If that weren’t the case, Santorum would be polling great in the northeast as he has quite a good conservative message… As it is, he’s in the toilet because he’s not managed to come across as a person. All that’s seen on the Left is an angry conservative.

    Mew

  • westcoastpatriette

    You may think I’m nuts, but having worked in medicine for so many years, I grew tired of the drug route as answers to nearly every ailment and started my own search for natural remedies.

    I lived in the mountains here in SoCal and developed severe inflammation and pain in my wrist from shoveling so much snow in the winter. I remembered something I used to use regularly–Bragg’s natural apple cider vinegar–and bought some and in three weeks, all the pain and swelling was gone and has never returned.

    It has many miraculous qualities–the pulp acts as a cleanser to all of our blood transmitters–capillaries and such. It’s cheap, no side effects and much more effective than any of the drugs on the market.

    Just thought I would mention it because any pain is a bummer. All health food stores carry it.

  • Marcus_Traianus

    At this point, I would rather look at who has the best chance of beating Obama. I’ve frankly had enough of the fratricide.

    Every candidate, without exception, has a flaw or flaws. The question is who has the staying power against Obama? Who can bring a winning coalition together and take the White House?

    I won’t defend the ridiculous things Newt has done or said. But (like other candidates) he has walked many of them back. That includes the individual mandate which IMHO was misconstrued. He and Ryan now appear to be on the same page.

    Newt tends to over analyze things and get caught in the weeds or the moment. You can’t do that on a five minute TV interview- it will destroy you. He makes silly moves like the ridiculous Global Warming debacle. But in the end if you read his ideas and other materials he has been thoughtful and fairly consistent over time.

    Summarily, on all aspects taken together, I personally believe he compares more favorably than the other candidates when stacked against Obama. Especially across the spectrum of General Election voters.

  • pttx333

    Why on earth would I think you’re nuts? No way, no how – I am one of those folks who believes that, for every ailment, God has provided a solution to it. We don’t always find those solutions, but I do believe they are out there – even in a lab, if need be. However, I am so “into” all things natural and can testify to their abilities; i.e., cherries for gout. But one cannot always find cherries, but they DO help.

    I will go to the health food store and pick up some of that vinegar. I do know that vinegar is a miracle worker in many different areas. And I’ve known people who take vinegar/honey on a regular basis – but don’t know the reason why. Does the bottle contain instructions? Is there a special way to take it each day?

    THANK YOU!!! As you well know, we can reach the end of the rope pretty quickly with the severe inflammation – not to mention that gout itself is one of the most painful things I’ve ever known. It isn’t terminal, but, boy, it is excruciating pain to the inth degree!

  • lineholder

    of being a battle against the left first and foremost with the #1 rule in battle being “know your enemy”…aye, I’m much in agreement with you on that point. We’ve got candidates who come across as being a bit too trusting (or too nice or too mild-mannered or whatever) of the enemy at times. If there’s anything of a fatal flaw on our side, I’d say that this is it.

    Other than that, Perry is in a position where he has to take some risks. It’s possible that dealing with the situation with a sense of humor could be to his benefit. We’ll just have to wait and see how the public responds to it.

  • westcoastpatriette

    and water recipe. I did it twice a day for three weeks and voila! You could even up it to three times a day–it’s wonderful stuff and you cannot overdose!

    Good luck and God bless.

    P.S. The Bragg family wrote a little book about all of the miraculous qualities in natural unprocessed vinegar–most health food stores have libraries and the store you choose may have it. Remember the old adage–an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Same principle in the vinegar.

  • circlegranch

    I believe you’ll find that he’s far more interested in working hard to get control of the Senate (grassroots candidates elected, of course) than he is running for the presidency. I would agree w/ bzip–if it means that much to you, make your appeal directly. He probably does not follow our comments as closely as we’d like.

  • Xasteius

    He’ll just replay clips from the GOP debates. Can you imagine the damage with any nominee but Perry?

    http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/11/obama-well-use-gop-debates-against-them/1

  • pttx333

    medicine, not in the least. BUT, the traditional medicines are not necessarily the right way to go and/or can be used in conjunction with natural things. I have a lot of books on natural remedies, foods, etc., but they are in storage at the moment,

    And God bless you, ‘patriette. By golly, it is amazing what you can learn on RS! Never would I have dreamed of such wonderful advice that I’ve received from you and the good Doctor. And I appreciate it immensely.

  • bzip

    A another good interview with Rick Perry:

    Rick Perry interview with The State
    Gov. Perry Sits Down with The State in South Carolina

    http://videos.thestate.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=120134451&item_index=1&all=1&sort=NULL

    http://www.thestate.com/2011/11/11/2043198/video-rick-perry-interview-today.html#storylink=addthis

  • acat

    that Perry paid to be on Letterman specifically.

    The win for both is pretty clear – Letterman gets conservatives, some of whom are still boycotting him since the Palin’s Daughter thing, to watch, Perry gets to show he has a sense of humor, but .. what were the details in the deal?

    Does Perry owe Letterman an interview later? Does Letterman have to have Perry on later? Something in this smells of “dealmaking” to me… One does not merely walk onto that stage….

    That said, Perry seems to be going through his available cash rather quickly at this point. Obviously, he hopes to be able to rise again .. otherwise, he’s going to finish in debt.

    Mew

  • lizzie

    bzip – I have watched every Perry interview, and I thought this 24 minutes was his best, for consistency, lucidity, add the adjectives. Game On!

    and, thought I would also add this from Newsweek via Daily Beast today, not least because it confirms what I thought late Wednseday night about Perry’ turning to stone at the sight of Ron Paul turning into a gargoyle:
    “…But in the case of the CNBC debate, it wasn?t just anxiety that led to Perry?s ?oops? moment, says Dr. Nicole Detling Miller, a visiting professor of sports psychology at University of Utah. When an athlete chokes during a big game, there?s usually a single moment of distraction that flips a mental switch, reducing even the most talented All Star to the skill level of a Little League benchwarmer. After analyzing the now-viral debate clip, Miller says that switch was apparently flipped for Perry the moment he looked at Ron Paul, who was standing next to him on stage.

    ?His focus was disrupted and some emotion was conjured up, and that emotion took the place of whatever he was trying to process in his brain,? Miller said. ?Maybe it was a look on Ron Paul?s face, or maybe it was just the sight of Ron Paul in general. I don?t know.?

    Whatever the root of Perry?s visceral response to Paul?heaven knows the latter has been less than kind to the former?once emotion took over, it was downhill from there. Perry could have recovered from his momentary break in focus but instead, says Miller, he probably became consumed by counterproductive ?self-talk?: I need to give the right answer here, I need to look cool, calm, and composed, and I need to make a joke at the end.
    …
    There is some good news for Perry in all this. For one thing, says Frank, gaps in word retrieval like the one the candidate experienced on Wednesday have nothing to do with intelligence. ?It?s really a false positive for dumbness,? says Frank. …”

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/12/rick-perry-s-debate-performance-anxiety-why-he-chokes.html

    About the CBS debate tonight? Such a strange programming decision to cut the network broadcast at 9:00 pm EDT for a 2010 NCIS repeat when NBC and ABC are running college football. I love NCIS, but why not broadcast the entire debate and post-debate in primetime?

  • gunsrus

    I thought the party was supposed to put together a platform and find the candidate who best represents this.
    Given the Conservative agenda’s regaining control of the congress should not there be a proven Conservative to lead the ticket. The loser ticket last time was a “moderate” with a double-token conservative as a vote getter!
    If we are going to win the Conservative NEED’s to be at the top of the ticket. This country is not looking for a left leaning republican to replace O’bama.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …post-debate; one wonders why.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …i was citing the article as a repository of arguments Rick could have invoked.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …because he could play the role of Cincinnatus; he may wish only to tend his [Senatorial] garden, but duty calls!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnatus#Early_career

  • conservativeparrothead

    He supported the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, not the more recent version of it. Many conservatives supported it, the only reason we know of Newt is that he was a co-sponsor, but if you read the roll call vote from the Senate and House, Im sure you would see many whom you would not question their conservative credentials.

    Fact is in 1987, Newt Gingrich supported a bill many conservatives supported, in 1987 Rick Perry suppored Al Gore for President. I know I know, Newt once supported Moderate Rockefeller for President 45 years ago…well when Reagan won the white house, 45 years earlier he was an FDR Democrat.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and DeMint is hardly comparable to “two in the bush”; he’s a known/tested-entity.

  • bobguzzardi

    good site to remind us of who Newt Gingrich is.

    Breach of Trust by Tom Coburn tells more of Newt Gingrich’s complicated past. Opportunist might be the best word here.

  • bobguzzardi

    the facts and the record. I would expect opponents to bring out the negatives.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and this behavior suggests that he recognizes the tenuous status of the campaign…as has been the driving force behind my blogging.

  • pttx333

    ever-evolving experience for me. But one that has stuck with me through all of the evolving stages is this: once I study all of the issues, do my own research, listen to all sides, etc., I then make my own decision based on what I know to be the right thing for me to do.

    I do not care one whit what the talking pointy heads on tv are saying, not even my beloved Rush, but after listening on this particular issue, there is no one who can change my mind, other than Perry himself. Guess I’m a strange old bird, but that is just the way it is with me, and I can’t imagine I’m the only one.

    Please don’t panic, good Doctor. Perry can and will pull this out of the hat – he has done it before. He has been on the battlefield more than once – in Texas lingo “this ain’t his first rodeo” – and doggone if he doesn’t pull it out every time. And that includes Rove, the Bushies, et al. on our side (HA) on behalf of KBH, the dirty Bill White on the other side, along with the other candidates, who threw everything but the kitchen spatula at him and he still won. Now, the groups that I have mentioned have big, big national names, resources, and “friends” (save White, the snake) all believed they were going to waltz in just because they were the big dogs who believed they were more “entitled” than Perry to be the Governor. Well, you know the outcome of that!

    Then, take the case of 2002, Tony Sanchez (Sanchez Oil Co. and banking interests) spent around $59M of his personal fortune to beat Perry, because he just KNEW that his money and the huge Hispanic population would sweep him into office in a flash. Lo and behold, guess who won? My guy Perry. And do you know what has happened since that time? Crickets – I’ve head nada from or about Sanchez. Guess he is still licking his wounds.

    So that, kind sir, is my choice – RICK PERRY.

  • bobguzzardi

    Tom Coburn makes similar points in Breach of Trust

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and Rick didnt break-out of this pigeon-hole…which illustrates my sense of disappointment; even the 10-reasons video is being used to buttress the ridicule [repeatedly].

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …but you should ensure your uric acid is controlled under 100 mg/day.

    And the issue of GI-upset is handled if you take 25 mg TID x 10 days AT THE MOST; usually, sx dissipate within a day or two.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …ensure you coordinate your behavior with your doc!

  • thirstyboots

    Are you comparing Perry to Hillary Clinton? Obama? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and i’m imagining the damage with perry as the nominee.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …[quoting from "The Boxer"]: “Not much one can say to a man [who] hears what he want to hear and disregards the rest.”

  • pttx333

    in Jr. High and High School, there was always some dweeby, nerdy, repulsive jerk who just knew he was the grandest thing since sliced bread. He would expound upon this, ad nauseum, inserting himself into situations where he had no call to be, trying to be ever so cool, so suave, etc., until it would become nauseating and everyone would avoid him at all costs.

    My personal view is that you goof, you acknowledge that goof without repeating it over and over again (which only underscores that you did) and you do so with good humor, then you move forward. As time rolls by, the truth will out, your reasons will come to the fore, and then – well, what will be, will be. You cannot beat folks over the head ad infinitum and expect positive results. Human nature is just funny that way.

    But … these are just my views after indulging in a lot of people-watching down through the years.

  • thirstyboots

    The filing deadline has already passed in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Michigan. By the time the new candidate started competing, the race would already be over.

  • pttx333

    there again, I don’t know him as well as I know my choice. As far as that goes, I like some of the other candidates also, but never enough to change from my pick of the litter. And I think DeMint does a far better job in the Senate – we need some real powerhouses there and in the House. To peel off one of the really good guys at this stage of the game, and this political climate, would be next to treason, IMHO.

    Another thing also, given this particular climate, is that DeMint is a current politico from inside the Beltway. Traditionally, congressman in a run for the White House don’t play well in Podunkville, nor do they work out that well residing at 1600. And I’m not even implying that DeMint wouldn’t do well, it is the perception of the populace to which I point. Similar to Jindal, he will be an excellent candidate down the road, but not now – he’s too young and needs more experience under his belt. Then he will be ready for the big-time stage.

    Once again, though, as always, these are just my personal views.

  • bobguzzardi

    Rick Perry’s gaffe is an opportunity to focus on some critical issues.

    Other than the Texas cult of Ron Paul, no one, other than Rick Perry, is offering specific policy recommendations to to downsize the government.

    dr. bob is right that Rick Perry is missing the opportunity to use the gaffe to talk about serious policy issues. He will recover, easily, and tell everyone what he could have said in the 53 seconds he was twisting in the wind.

    Rick Perry ?gaffed? about three important issues and it would be well to focus on the substance of the gaffe rather than the embarrassment. Commerce? Obviously has useful pieces but, mainly, gives away taxpayer money to Corporatists.

    Cut the Commerce Department to Boost Real Business by Chris Edwards and Tad DeHaven
    We?re wasting billions subsidizing corporations that don?t need it http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11233

  • gracie

    hence my embarrasing heart is broken post. I want Rick Perry in the worst way to be our President! I have have studied enough to find the others unacceptable.

    This is why I went into overdrive studying Newt as an alternative and the only one left. And why I was willing to post his extreme negatives plus Rabinowitz’s description of his ability to engage the electorate above all the others. Result was I again came up with Perry in the leadership postion.

    How anybody who has watched the recent speeches and interviews can doubt his ability to lead I do not know. We also got a window into his foreign policy abilities…his absolutely confident stance on Iran and what o should have done two years ago. In truth his confident willingness to use force worries me given the current atmosphere but loved his guts! Can the country take this brand of honesty?? We shall see. Of course loved his choice of Bolton as Sec of S.

    I can even understand your idea of DeMint, my fav Senator! A human being called me yesteday asking for money of course for his conservative PAC. I flooded her with details re how I want him to challenge the Leadership and then I asked her to pass on that I would need an endorsement of Perry in order to donate! She said I made her day.

    Regardless, I fear the time is past to draft him. Even if we had a brokered convention doubt he would consider plus he is so valuable where he is! Someone who has at least given it some thought like Paul Ryan or Pence could slide in easier. But I do not want it to come to that!

    All I can do is encourage you to take heart from fellow Perry supporters here! We not only teach each other as you do with your extensive research, we keep each other going. And most important, what we learn we pass around…in our communities, on blogs and every chance we get.

    If Perry can show who he really is tonight we need to turn into the famous RS strike force! I hope we have the opportunity!

  • bobguzzardi

    Rick Perry has solid policy ideas to decentralize the Federal government and the political experience as Governor to make them politically feasible.

    Department of Education, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy. Why are these cabinet level and are not the legitimate functions bureaucratic in nature. The main purpose, as I see it, is to impose an elite consensus, which may or may not be true, on the rest of the country. Groupthink can be very counterproductive as we are seeing.

  • pttx333

    with my doctor next week. He is also a good doctor, having taught at Baylor in Houston for a long time before going into private practice.

    Thanks again for your advice – it is taken to heart and will be utilized. Just put the bill on my tab! LOL ;-)

  • pttx333

    unprescribed meds/supplements that I take, since I do know that some do not blend well with the prescriptions that are needed. That is a given for me. I am blessed to have a good doctor who visits with you as if he doesn’t have another soul waiting for him, and he does it with great speed. But you never leave his office feeling as if you have been swept out the door. Don’t know how he does it, but he even remembers each time what we discussed the last visit. Amazing to me – and that is without his Notepad in front of him. We were even laughing about my having a pneumonia shot 3 years ago then ended up in the hospital for 4 days two months later. I NEVER have pneumonia and not so sure I’ll have another pneumonia shot after that go-round! ;-)

  • bobguzzardi

    #1 makes the point in such an offhand and indirect way that many laughed allowing the concept to penetrate the consciousness of many who are closed to anything Republican or Conservative.

    Contrast Ron Paul who alienates all but his cultist base.

    Rick Perry can win Penna and dr. bob will help. I know him well and he will come to his senses. He is sometimes full of himself. This is a subject of many many conversations. My peculiar personality can live with him and not only is he very smart, he is has a very good and generous heart as I have personally witnessed many times in private interactions with people who needed help. dr. bob is a helper..but a doc so his ego is a bit larger than is optimal. :-)

  • bobguzzardi

    well said. It is evident that Rick Perry is not full of himself, not a know it all, and has a sense of humor.

    I can relate to him and I think the Letterman audience did, too, because he is authentic, sincere and well aware of his weaknesses.

    Rick Perry is The Guy

  • bobguzzardi

    brevity is not dr. bob’s strong point

  • changeforrickperry

    He’s done a lot of good things. He’s a strong believer in Christ, he believes in small government, and he’s fought for the Parental Rights Amendment. When the campaign started gearing up, I was hoping he’d get in. When he didn’t, I settled for Bachmann. And when Perry got in…well, the rest is history. Maybe if Obama gets a second term (Heaven forbid), DeMint would consider a run in 2016. I know he’s very well-known in the homeschooling/evangelical community.

    But the time has run short for another candidate. We’re just going to have to work with what we have. IMHO, what we have is good and will get better.
    ____________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • pttx333

    I already had him pegged as you describe: full of himself, very smart, good and generous heart, etc. There is a reason for why I know this, though. A few years after my Papa died, Mom married their family doctor who had lost his wife – both were in their advanced years, and both now passed.

    Anyway, that precious man was a Mayo Clinic doc who was absolutely brilliant and had been told so his entire life. So, until knowing my Mom personally, he did not know there was anyone on the planet who wouldn’t bow at his feet and kiss his ring. Boy, he was in for the ride of his life with Mom. She was the cutest, sweetest, most loving person in the world, but in her Perils of Pauline way, could cut you to pieces if you insulted her intelligence or did not treat her loved ones with anything other than respect and dignity – he absolutely adored her, and she him. She had more common sense in her little finger than most people could even dream of having.

    I know of what you speak, because it is so. Cut through that thin veneer and revealed is a shining jewel of wonder. By his very vocation, you must assume he is a helper with a kind soul.

  • pttx333

    He can lean on us. Most of us aren’t afraid of the devils – they’d better watch out for US! ;-)

  • avagreen

    Hillary was thought to be the shoo-in for the presidency, and Obama was trailing.

    You really don’t get the irony of what being said in regard to Perry opponents who are so willing to count him out?

    Think of Obama vs Hillary. ;)

    Fat lady waiting to sing……

  • conservativeparrothead

    You lead off an argument with your strongest points, there is a lot of “loaded” terms that this argument uses, which doesnt really compare apples and apples.

    1. Fairness Doctrine – the article didnt point out that this was in the 1987 discussion, not the 2007-2009 discussion.
    Here an exerpt from an interview on Fox in the recent FD debate:
    GINGRICH: No, look, Sean, this is affirmative action for liberalism. They tried talk radio; they couldn’t succeed. Nobody wanted to listen to them. They were boring. They were dumb. When they were in a competitive environment, they got crushed.

    And so what they want us to do now is give liberals, whether they earn it or not, access to the airwaves, even if nobody wants to listen to them. And their goal, frankly, is to kill your radio show, Bill Bennett’s, Rush Limbaugh’s, Michael Reagan, all the various hundreds of local shows around the country, our good friend Neal Boortz.

    And why do they want to kill it? They want to kill it because every time we have an extended conversation with the American people, liberalism falls apart and its ideas collapse.

    2. Individual mandate – again in a very dishonest way, takes a term from the early 90′s which many conservatives were in favor of including the Heritage Foundation – should we call this a pinko-commy outfit because they once supported an individual mandate? – and takes that terms in the mid 2000′s be it Romneycare or Obamacare and makes it out that Newt was supportive of those issues when those mistakes were passed.

    3. On the couch – I cant stand Pelosi, so this was very troublesome, but I get where Newt was coming from. Newt does not want to cede the arguments of the environment to the Dems, thats how you end up with the regulation you have with the EPA. I wouldnt of done the couch thing, but I have no problem with trying to have a conservative argument on this issue, cant just say: “I dont believe in science”.

    4. Many politicians including conservatives are for subsidies to try and solve the energy issue. Again, very disingenuous to drop a buzzword like “solyndra” there.

    I forget what the other ones were…but you get the drift. I have no problem with calling out a politician for certain stances, but I think you need to be honest about what those stances are. This list is loaded word nitpicking at its finest.

  • snowshooze

    I saw that list somewhere, about 10 points against Newt.
    It would be nice if sometime you could visit the rest of them.
    Back in that day, I wasn’t paying a single bit of attention to politics..I missed the show.
    Thanks,
    Mark

  • clowngirl

    So I don’t agree with your characterization of Newt.

    Anybody who holds elected office and actually accomplishes anything is going to be less than 100% ideaologically pure. Even Reagan, easily our greatest and most conservative modern President, could be painted as squishy if one looked at only his compromises out of context.

    I’m sure there are areas where Ron Paul has been more of a purist than Reagan- and yet, as Dick Morris put it, he belongs nowhere near the white house “not even on a tour”

    What candidate, in your opinion, is fully qualified to be President and significantly more conservative than Newt?

    Your comment about his polling, btw, isn’t entirely accurate. Newt has been periodically hitting double digits since August- and has been sometimes hitting the mid teens for more than a month. His numbers ( and his fundraising) are definitely a lot better lately, but he’s been inching up for awhile. :)

  • conservativeparrothead

    Is that Newt and many conservatives supported the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, not the recent go round so if we are gonna call 1987 into the mix, then lets call Rick Perry support for Al Gore. In my opinion, neither are an issue but if you are going to scan a public figures lifetime of support for certain issues or certain candidates, you probably are never going to find a perfect conservative and if you do, they likely couldnt win a statewide election, let alone the Presidency.

    Think if we treated Ronald Reagan this way, he would of never been our nominee and we would of denied this country one of the greatest Presidents weve ever had. Reagan was divorced, passed a huge tax increase in California when he took office to balance the budget because it couldnt be done alone with spending cuts: income tax, inheritance tax, sales tax, corporate tax all up in a bill by Reagan not to mention the abortion bill passed on his watch in California, was a union president and once upon a time was an FDR democrat.

    I believe, once we get into 2012 head to head matchups there are three Republicans in this field who would give Obama a run for his money: Gingrich, Santorum and Huntsman. All for different reasons and not saying I support all three, but I think they have what it takes to beat him in a general if the conditions stay similar to what they are now.

  • snowshooze

    We are not even allowed to inspect Obama’s bags…
    Absolutely forbidden.
    Well now, maybe we should just go ahead and play with fire.
    I’d just love to see the college scores, papers…records.. everything.

    Yeah, it is pretty late in the day for that, but maybe some adventuresome soul could dig it all up… for recreational purposes if nothing else.

  • snowshooze

    And figured the money would come when he needed it.
    His campaign ditched him, and he didn’t even care. he didn’t really need them anyway…
    But… this is all in hindsight…

  • conservativeparrothead

    “pretty much wiped out the gains” Really?

    In 1994 they picked up 54 Seats. 1996, even in a Presidential year when the country was voting in a Democratic President, the Republicans only lost 9 seats and in 1998 they lost 5.

    So in two election cycles they lost 14 of 54 gained.

    All the while the congress he led lowered taxes, lowered unemployment and balanced the budget…what a tragedy.

  • conservativeparrothead

    I was in college in the fall of 1992, and I can remember setting my class schedule so that I could watch IP, I think it was on like 1:30-2:00 out west.

  • septembergurl

    1. Spartanburg, SC is where I was born and where my grandparents lived after my Grandfather retired from the Army. You will not find a more conservative, right-thinking, patriotic region in the state or even the country. Well, maybe Greenville.

    This is being styled the Commander In Chief debate because it is the first one that will focus on defense and national security issues. There will no doubt be lots of active duty & retired military types in the audience so it should be interesting.

    2. SC’s 2 Senators will join in the questioning. DeMint is on Foreign Relations Committe, and Grahamnesty styles himself a military guy. They will add some depth to the questioning and hopefully cut down on the gotcha questions.

    3. Uh…no…oops…I kid, I kid. Come on. The Republican debates are shaping up to be highly entertaining as well as informative (sometimes). Will Mitt be smoked out on his actual foreign policy views, if any? Will Rick Perry get through the debate(the bar is now set very low for him)? Will Newt fall prey to his ego yet again? Will Herb Cain answer every question with 999, or will he wade again into gaffe country? will we have another battle of the titans, with Santorum and Paul yelling at each other? Will Huntsman emerge from obscurity to show the American people why he should be President?

    For some reason they are going to break away from CBS after an hour and then everybody has to switch over to livestream for the last half hour. Seriously lame, See BS!

  • pttx333

    because I know him. DeMint, as I wrote above, along with several others, are doing wonders with exactly the positions they hold now. I’d hate to think that they were replaced with lesser talents and character – they are too valuable where they are now.

    As for Bachmann, I never cared for her or, really, even Palin. Not that I don’t like most of what they say, it is because they sometimes come across as shrill and shrieky to me. That doesn’t play well with me as it smacks too much of feminism. Not that they are, it just comes across to me in that fashion. It is the tinkling bell in my head that reads “feminist” – a movement that I’ve always considered to be a major contributor to the downfall of our society. I have seen it evolve since its inception, and the results have not been good. The wimpification of men – what worse thing than to emasculate a man? It is nothing that God ordained, and the only issue with which I do agree is equal pay for equal work. But that is just me.

    So there’s my two cents, for what it is worth!

  • Xasteius

    and never mind that Cain has never been clear about ANYTHING….

  • pttx333

    you provide a time, etc.? I’ve missed all of that since I’ve been “blabbing” all afternoon. ;-)

    THANK YOU!

  • iidvbii

    Provide channel and time as well as a link to the streaming portion?

  • pttx333

    Just want to share a precious Perry story with you that retire05 posted a little earlier. It is one that I had never heard of until today, but one that we should share far and wide. Few people will have heard of it before, and that is very sad. I didn’t make it very far until the tears came, and I cried all through my reply. Don’t even know if anyone can read what I wrote! ;-)

    http://www.burkslaw.blogspot.com/2010/02/haskell.html

  • conservativeparrothead

    But I have it set to record, but this is kind of one of the issues with these debates as I see on CBS its only 1-hour. So you have 8 candidates to talk about foreign policy which there is a lot to talk about and you only have an hour, should be 3-4 hours to give voters a sense of who really knows what.

  • pttx333

    posted earlier about Perry. It is a sweet story that I had never heard until today, but one that must be shared across the land. The imposition is this: would you be so kind as to share with Dr. Bob? It might help him to know just what we have in Rick Perry. As God is my witness, I will be behind him through thick, through thin, through rain and shine. Period.

    The story also rubber stamps my original and continuing impression of Kay Bailey Hutchison. Never did like her, never will – there is no there, there – just another political hack feathering her own nest.

    http://www.burkslaw.blogspot.com/2010/02/haskell.html

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …it starts @ 8 and will switch from CBS network to CBS internet @ 9.

  • septembergurl

    on CBS network, so it will be on your local affiliate. At 9 EST the network goes to other scheduling and the last half hour is live streamed on internet.

    There are a number of hosts for the live stream, this is the one I’ll be using

    http://newsblogged.com/live-streaming-video-cbs-national-journal-gop-presidential-debate-wofford-campus

    The moderators tonite will be Major Garrett (National Journal) and Scott Pelley (CBS).

    We could do worse. And probably will.

    There is another foreign policy debate later this month in Washington DC sponsored by the Heritage Institution and AEI, with CNN(?) Should be more substantive, and longer.

  • changeforrickperry

    I was on my iPod this afternoon reading over RedState and saw that conversation with retire05. I immediately went to the link and thought it was wonderful. It was enough to make anybody choke up!
    ______________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • clowngirl

    n/t

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    DeMint was there, but only to pose a query regarding budget-cutting.

    Rick was great, hallelujah; the others were predictable.

    A few errors emerged, but no game-changers [other than Cain's incessant dependence on consultants].

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …the National Review columnist said Rick did well “but his campaign remains in the gutter.”

    Ugh.

  • Scope

    and quite honestly, that is getting a little sickening. You earlier posted about how CNN and MSNBC were reporting on Perry. Realy? Now you are going to the National Journal for their take. I looked into who was hosting the debate tonight and found that it was CBS, and National Journal. Had you bothered to look at how the National Journal was posting one slam against Perry after the next. It seems to me that you have somehow gone all in with the Commentary Magazine Jonathan Tobin posts that Perry is nothing more than a dope, an idiot, a useless bottom feeder, a nincompoop, and his brain is missing from his head. Get the freak over yourself already. There are many many people that are book smart, as you most likely are, but lack the first tiny bit of common sense at all whatsoever.

  • changeforrickperry

    Nothing like good ol’ ordinary people who watch these things. My grandmother, who likes Gingrich, Cain, and Perry but I don’t think has really decided her candidate, was very impressed with Perry’s performance. I think he’s endeared himself to a lot of people this week.
    ______________________________________________________________
    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

    www.changeforrickperry.org

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    First of all, Cain’s refrain “I’ll depend upon consultants” is beyond tiresome; his reluctance to be able to use military force against Iranian nukes was telling.
    Second, concur that Internet feed was annoyingly intermittent.
    Third, Perry [my preference] was superb; “zero-based budgeting” concept resonated, and he endorsed sanctions against the Iranian bank ASAP.
    Fourth, The Newt found another opportunity to attack the moderator.
    Fifth, I was ANNOYED when the NRO-commentator said [on cbs.com] that, despite his superb performance, Perry’s campaign “remains in the gutter.”
    Sixth, Michele was also precise.
    Seventh, Santorum struggled for attention.
    Eighth, Huntsman emerged as a pacifist.
    Ninth, Romney attacked BHO’s timing for Afghanistan war [September v. December] and claimed it was election-related, but that means he also supports a timetable!
    Tenth, Romney would refer China to the WTO, but Huntsman said that wouldn’t work; this again supports the view that Romney likes to sound as if he’s talking tough…but then the comment is found to lack substance.

    On another website [RedState], I have advised DeMint could enter the race if Perry kept fading; otherwise, Rick remains fat-and-away the key constitutional-conservative who has “walked the talk.”

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …because I try to differentiate fact from opinion.

    I thought the “gutter” comment was despicable, reflecting the bias of NRO/CBS so overtly that it was laughable.

    I have my problems with Tobin that need not be discussed herein; he’s seemingly a product of the Mitt-Mobile in this instance.

    Overall, I care not what CONCLUSIONS are drawn elsewhere, but we all must weigh their CONTENT so as to optimally strategize.

    Perhaps most telling–if I heard it correctly–was the claim by Mitt that he would have withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012; he had alluded to this earlier, but it smacks of the “deadline” approach most GOP-its decry BHO for having pursued.

    I must confess to fantasizing fleetingly about DeMint being onstage….

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    I took notes on the first hour [before the internet interruptions proved too irritating to think I could catch everything in the last half-hour] and the best moment was when he cited his role as head of the National Guard [and then slipped-in a citation of the Mexican-Border concern].

    Clearly, he was well-prepared [and the self-deprecation was self-limited]. That everyone adhered to his “zero-based budgeting” approach was reassuring, and that this was reflexly-applied to Israel was a useful exercise [particularly when the result was not to cut the aid]. Michele’s comment about a worldwide attack on Israel being imminent ["table being set"] will probably be the focus of MSNBC on Monday, but Rick will need to update his $1M ad-campaign to include key-clips of what happened [just like a webpage, he will need to keep the content "fresh"].

    HOW could your grandmother “like” Cain, the man who celebrates ignorance?

  • pttx333

    whoever you wish. But the bottom line is, and the reality is, that it is Perry standing there, so honorable, so decent, so wise … so we must rally around him. If it takes you a day or three, okay, then it takes a day or three. If it takes longer, okay, then it takes longer. If it doesn’t come about at all, okay, that the your choice.

    Did guzzardi find time yet to share a story with you today that retire05 posted? Here I am, thought I knew all-things-Perry – well, not so much. I had never heard this story and blubbered through the entire thing. This is our Perry, the good man that we know him to be. Not the monster in OUR White House who used our returning fallen for a photo op – may in rot in hell. (Sorry had a senior moment there, but I meant it. LOL Nice to be old sometimes, you can chalk most anything up to a “senior moment” and get away with it.) Now, below is a story that IS Perry and WHAT he is about. HONOR, CHARACTER – and it is proven, not wished for, it resides in him. Enjoy the story:

    http://www.burkslaw.blogspot.com/2010/02/haskell.html

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    “far-and-away”

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and it’s c/w my impression, reinforced by his book [which I've annotated, carrying it around to myriad political meetings and to the polls].

    My fear is that the existence of his gaffe [and the lack of the ability to use Thursday's over-exposure to HIT HOME HIS MESSAGE of limited-government] will be trotted-out if/when his polling rises…to push-down the numbers to single-digits. It’s sorta Pavlovian; it’s as if they have something on him that can be employed at-will. It can be tethered to the 3 a.m.. emergency ‘phone call metaphor.

    My fear is enhanced by occasional confirmation of my view that time is TIGHT, noting the imminence of Iowa.

  • pttx333

    busy. I imposed upon him because you weren’t on RS at the time, and I was trying to get the word out.

    Okay, let’s make a deal here, if it is okay with you. I am a natural-born optimist, cheerleader-type (I was one all through high school), and just because I’m old now doesn’t mean those traits have abandoned me. Now, I will continue to be optimistic while cheerleading, and you can take all the time you wish/need to come to a final conclusion. Deal?

    To put it in Texas lingo, the fat has yet to sing, the lights aren’t out and the music is still playing. What does that mean? It means it ain’t over till its over – and it ain’t over, nosiree bobtail. But we have work to do (I’ll carry your part for now while you’re deciding, if you wish) so if you want to “talk,” just look me up – I’ll be around RS for sure.

    Do not fear, Perry is being Perry. I have witnessed him time after time pull it off, and, mark my words, he will do so again. He is the lighthouse beacon in the night, guiding everyone home. Fanciful, wishful thinking on my part? Nope, just reality as I know it be. I haven’t lived these many years to not have learned something along the way. I’ll help you in any way that I can – just know that.

  • pttx333

    third paragraph, first sentence midway ” the fat … has” please insert LADY after the fat. LOL ;-)

  • pttx333

    GREAT! But the offer/comments above still stand, regardless.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    Please recognize that time-is-tight.

    It’s great to be hopeful, but I’m reminded of the quote: “Praise the Lord…but pass the ammunition” [akin to "God helps those who help themselves"]. You harbor faith in Rick’s ability to prevail among the sharks, but he will need to show how his policies/accomplishments are uniquely meritorious…and it is the CANDIDATE who will need to do this.

    Perhaps Perry’s new ads will provide a pivot-point.

  • pttx333

    and go forward to tell one and all. However, be certain you are firm in your choice, or it will not work. Each of us can and will be a guide or teacher, if you will, to others. To inform, to teach, to educate them on the issues and the TRUTH. It takes confidence in your beliefs, which I have, and confidence in yourself, I have that also. So do YOU, but you are not certain just yet. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

    Now, what that leads me to is Perry. Do you know why he is a winner? He has the TRUTH to carry him forward and what has carried him forward all these years. The beast doesn’t like the light that shines from the truth, and it is going to try to bring it down at every opportunity, regardless of who brings the light. But the beast must die, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The TRUTH will out, because it MUST.

    You know as well as do I that Mittens is a serial windsock – he has no character, no substance and no apparent core principles that can’t be turned 180 (note my windsock reference) when it will behoove HIM, not this country. We cannot have such a coward, and it is cowardly – there is no backbone there. Newt – a brilliant man with entirely too much baggage; good for a cabinet post of some importance and guidance. And there really aren’t any other contenders worth mentioning – they will not be in the running in the final analysis. And I’ve written to you earlier about DeMint – wonderful man who is needed where he is, most valuable. As you say, the time is drawing nigh, and it is far too late to start anew. Not many people have even heard of DeMint, save for us political junkies and inside-the-beltway types.

    So, that is what we have as of 11/12/11. Looking good for me on this end. You have a voice, and please use it whenever you are ready, good sir.

    Thank you for listening to me. I always wanted to teach high school English and never had the chance.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …but I thought you were going to “swap” ideas, ’tis all.

    I will continue to “speak truth to power” in this [and all other settings].

    Just like EE, I will not sacrifice candor upon the altar of pseudo-faith.

    Perry remains the ideal POTUS, but he’ll need to survive the $!B-Man.

    But one-more-false-move, and Perry will need to defer to a reluctant DeMint.

    *

    This is what I just wrote elsewhere, subject to the intelligent critique of RS-readers:

    Summary Note [without the need/desire to discuss religious "criteria"]:
    Through eleven pages on this blogging-site, most everyone disagrees with the premise of the lead-article.
    Most recall that Rush determined Romney not to be “conservative”…notwithstanding events of four years ago.
    When alternatives are weighed, the few Paulites are discredited by awareness of his foreign policy.
    Cain was again unmasked during the debate as celebrating a “know-nothing”-ness that depends upon advisors.
    The Newt continues to debate well…until the content [and lack of coherence] exposes his statism/elitism.
    Huntsman claimed the [VERY small,fortunately] “sane” component of the neo-isolationist GOP-wing.
    Bachmann and Santorum continued to survive, hoping the others will falter and provide them a raison d’?tre.
    ONLY Perry continued to glisten as the true-Conservative, with military experience [low-/high-level].
    Unless he falters miserably [and DeMint needs to enter the race emergently], Perry is THE MAN!

    http://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blogs/if-not-romney-who-1?xg_source=msg_com_blogpost&id=3355873%3ABlogPost%3A1626722&page=1#comments

  • pttx333

    I’m not aware of writing well, since what I’m thinking at the moment flows through my fingers. I write exactly how I speak (only with a Texas drawl – am not aware of a written word having a drawl LOL) – that can be a good/bad thing, but I just bop it out anyway under these circumstances and let it fall where it may. Sorry ’bout that.

    Absolutely, I wish to swap. That is how I educate myself to a large extent and always have. Agreed with your comments, but will “swap” my comments to your comments. How’s that work for you? Here goes:

    Rush – I agree with his assessment of Mitt, but I typically agree with Rush most of the time, though not all.

    Paul – I lived in his district for many years. He will have a couple of good ideas, then totally ruin what he just said with another idea from thrown of left field. He says he is Libertarian, and, for the most part, I suppose he is – but his foreign policy stance is like no other I’ve ever heard. He is, and always has been, unelectable. Then there is the issue of his supporters. I suppose, due to his belief in legalizing certain drugs, and sort of “if it feels good, do it” mindset, he attracts the oddest supporters who typically are either young or ignorant. Some are really loons and really obnoxious.

    Cain – He is showing more and more his ignorance as his mask slips further downward. Mark Block is a nut of the first order, just as his Cain. I liked Cain when I would hear him occasionally on talk radio. From what I have gathered from his candidacy, though, and coming to know him better, I do not care for what I see, that is even discounting the scandalous stories. He is indeed a no-nothing, as you say. He has gotten by with using his carnival act and one liners. Nor do I believe he is as conservative as some believe. Unelectable.

    Newt – I like Newt in debates as a rule, though he can appear quite arrogant. He has had years to practice, but his past will beat him at the gate. Unelectable.

    Huntsman – Unelectable. Hides similar views as Ron Paul – something I noticed only tonight – Libertarian thing, I suppose. He isn’t likable – bad vibes come from him. Spoiled brat perhaps? Pompous and self-absorbed? Yes, IMHO.

    Bachmann – She speaks well sometimes, but when she became shrill and “shrieky” at one of the, my eyes glazed over – didn’t want to hear another word from her. She has distorted facts, if not out-and-out lied, and that just does not play well anywhere. Unelectable.

    Santorum – Unelectable. Limping along in his snarky, sanctimonious, nerdy way. I could never trust him (or any of the others, save Perry and Newt) to take that 3:00 a.m. call and make the right decision immediately.

    That leaves my choice, Perry. Do I agree with him 100%? No, but wouldn’t it be a very boring world if everyone agreed 100% of the time? The both of us know full-well his creds, his beliefs and his great record. Seems to me the only logical candidate at this point in time.

    These are my views, Dr., but I also include views of friends, family, RS and a few other sites that I visit on occasion. They seem to be the general conservative concensus. Of course, my world is quite small compared with yours, and that is why you have a much broader audience for your views.

    P.S. Going back to Paul – I figured out that what kept him going back to D.C. was the Republican straight ticket. His district is, or was when I lived there, quite conservative and most voted straight ticket which drew him straight in, unwittingly by the voters. He didn’t run as an Independent once he figured out that little strategy – and it worked. Sad story, that.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …it seems there is recognition of the point I made earlier regarding Mitt’s having endorsed a deadline of 12/2012.

    I still disagree with the positive portrayal of Mitt, regarding the WTO-issue; Huntsman undermined his claim it could adjudicate the issue…and thereby avoided dealing with the fundamental forces.

    My comments elsewhere…
    http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2011/11/11/newt-up-everyone-else-down-in-the-cain-fallout/#comment-17671
    …remain operational; Perry was wonderful, but it’s necessary that people notice.

  • Flagstaff

    but I think one thing Newt has to be careful of is acting like he knows he’s the smartest guy in the room. That will inevitably lead to carelessness (overreaching, inaccuracy, exaggeration, ridiculous promises), and it’s also not very pretty to observe if you disagree with him.

    Besides there’s only room for one of those, and The Won is it. See what I mean.

  • Flagstaff

    “Newt: Describes Ryan?s plan as: Rightwing social engineering”

    That is not what he said. It’s what the LSM twisted it into by leaving out the context of the question he was answering.

    Please don’t waste pixels on misinformation by quoting the LSM.

  • Flagstaff

    Last I checked, if you have it, you don’t get rid of it. But you can still live a great life for years.

    Why are you still arguing about this stuff? It is simply a small grain of truth wrapped in Democrat spin, and it has nothing to do with anything practical about the Presidency.

    Remember when you couldn’t be President because you were Catholic, or divorced? This is the same thing on a personal level. You don’t like something you’ve been told (inaccurately) that Newt did? There are no doubt dozens of things all of them have done in their personal relationships that you wouldn’t like, you just don’t know about them. Obama is included. So the LSM digs the stuff up to upset you and help Obama (they don’t look at him). For all you know, Obama has been really close to Jerry Sandusky. It just won’t be reported if he is. (Hey, maybe “Sandusky” will become a euphemism to use instead of “Schickelgruber.” Cedar Point may be thinking of relocating to get away from Sandusky.)

  • Flagstaff

    I will look for the replay on the internet because I completely missed this one.

  • gekster

    I posted the whole debate in RealQuiets’ diary.
    It’s at the top of the recco list.

  • conservativeparrothead

    Of these in one fell swoop…Catholic and twice divorced. Go Newt…

  • Flagstaff

    nt

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