Topic: Gingrich for President

[Pandora]

No, AP, it's certainly not you that doesn't understand what conservatism is.

[AmericanPatriot]

I really am starting to question myself.
In other places I wander through, Ron Paul is like the Devil Incarnate.
Others, he walks on water.

To me, he's neither but he is the most constitutional of all the candidates.
Bachmann would be second
There's not really a third

His foreign policy ideas are naive but I suspect that, if he would somehow win, would learn the realities in office

[Libertas]

I really am starting to question myself.
In other places I wander through, Ron Paul is like the Devil Incarnate.
Others, he walks on water.

To me, he's neither but he is the most constitutional of all the candidates.
Bachmann would be second
There's not really a third

His foreign policy ideas are naive but I suspect that, if he would somehow win, would learn the realities in office

Plus, there is the Senate to get treaties past and both chambers for any structural legislation, so yes, from a risk perspective there may be lot less to worry about with Paul than people realize.  I would not hesitate to make him Treasury Sec though, he'd have about as much fun as I would gutting his own fief and raising hell with the Fed!

 

[BMG]

Well, the trouble with Paul is that his isolationism is as dangerous to the US as Obama's Marxism. /shrug

[AmericanPatriot]

I don't think it's isolationism, BMG
Non-interventionism may be a better word.

I have stated that his foreign policy is a little naive but feel the responsibility of office will change his mind some.
Also, this may be a part of the mis-info about him.

He does believe that the Constitution requires a declaration of war and he has pledged to defend us

[Predator Don]

We seem to have candidates who would serve well in an administration, who we don't want to LEAD an administration.

Right now, I gotta lean Cain and/or Perry, even thru thier gaffs as I believe both  will surround himself with the type of strengths each exhibits individually.....Although I do have my doubts.


God, I don't want to hold my nose and vote Romney. Even though Newt may screw us, at least I know how I'm gonna get screwed and I can plan my life accordingly.

[charlesoakwood]

AP, you're just threatening RP to rattle cages, right?
You know, no matter how angry you are at the field,
a vote for RP is a vote denied to the best of the field.
It may be your lost vote that causes us to have a lesser
candidate against Obama.

They're all lesser candidates, Charles.
I'm not above rattling cages but not in this case.
If the size of government, spending and intrusion on Liberty are the issues none of the establishment candidates are touching them.

Not Romney.
Not Gingrich
Not Cain.

I would have said Perry but he is at least starting to say some of the right things. I will open my once closed mind to him. A little.

Cain and Perry have revenue plans, not reduction plans.

I am constantly befuddled that people call themselves conservative but support those who are anything but.

This is not directed at you, Charles. Just a general statement.

I am not a Libertarian but have some tendencies.

Maybe I just don't understand what conservatism is

AP, by no means was I challenging your conservative credentials.
And like you I'm on tenter hooks about the qualities and qualifications
of those vying to be our candidate.

[AmericanPatriot]

Charles, I didn't for a second think that you were challenging me.

We, as a group, have deep concerns for the country. Also, we pay closer attention than the average voter.
In another place I visit, conservative means whatever they want it to mean.

They are mostly Republicans and winning is all that matters. Yet, they all see themselves as conservatives even though they're all over the place
I may have said before that I see my self as a conservative who happens to be a Republican because (in theory) I will find more kindred spirits.

Yet those same

[John Florida]

  Perry is all but Gone for me,I don't like his stance on illegals. Cain,this woman nonsense has only been test run for now. If he gets the nod you will see this thing explode into a real problem,not to mention the 11 second delay in his interview which will be another Palin interview to be played again and again.

 I don't see how they win. Let the shooting begin.

[charlesoakwood]

Ann Coulter

So now, apparently, we have to go through the cycle of the media pushing Newt Gingrich.
This is going to be fantastic.  In addition to having an affair in the middle of Clinton’s
impeachment; apologizing to Jesse Jackson on behalf of J.C. Watts — one of two black
Republicans then in Congress –- for having criticized “poverty pimps,” and then inviting
Jackson to a State of the Union address; cutting a global warming commercial with Nancy
Pelosi; supporting George Soros’ candidate Dede Scozzafava in a congressional special
election; appearing in public with the Rev. Al Sharpton to promote nonspecific education
reform; and calling Paul Ryan’s plan to save Social Security “right-wing social engineering,”
we found out this week that Gingrich was a recipient of Freddie Mac political money. . . .

 pushing Romney 

[rickl]

AP, I read you loud and clear.  I am 100% in agreement with you.

I am a libertarian.  Small-L; i.e. non-affiliated.  But about a decade ago I was a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party.  I left them after 9/11 because of their dogmatic anti-war stance, when war was clearly indicated.

With his plan to cut $1 trillion of spending, Ron Paul is the only candidate who is seriously addressing our economic situation.  The rest of them are a bunch of useless wankers.  In the realm of foreign policy, his non-intervention is perfectly in line with George Washington's philosophy.  We should return to being a republic rather than an empire, which is pretty much what we are today with military bases in countries all over the world.

The one area where I seriously disagree with Paul is his utter ignorance of the nature and history of Islam.  He believes that Muslims hate us because we keep meddling in their affairs.  Yet the Muslims were already totalitarian imperialistic murdering psychopaths long before the United States of America came into existence.  Epic fail.

(It's worth noting that America's first foreign war was against Muslims, under Jefferson in the early 1800s, and it was because they kept capturing our ships and enslaving our sailors.)

I voted for Paul in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary.  Since the only candidates left in the race by that time were McCain, Graham, and Paul, it was a no-brainer.

So far this year, we've seen each Republican contender briefly surge into the lead, only to fall back.  It would be nice to see Paul take the lead for a while, just to watch some people's heads explode.

In other places I wander through, Ron Paul is like the Devil Incarnate.
Others, he walks on water.

Ain't that the truth.

[charlesoakwood]

Lazy

[BMG]

http://www.conservativenewsandviews.com/2011/08/13/news/ron-paul-isolationist/
http://pjmedia.com/blog/ron-paul-and-the-dangers-of-isolationism/?singlepage=true

How is Ron Paul an isolationist?

Ron Paul said during the Iowa debate, as he always says, that America has nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by fighting in any war off our borders. Again and again during the Iowa debate he returned to this theme. Even when moderators were asking him about the economy, Paul spoke about “militarism” and “bring[ing] the troops home.”

He also argued with former Senator Rick Santorum about whether the United States, or any of its allies, is under any threat at all. The key subject: Iran, and whether it has nuclear weapons or wants to build them. Paul flatly said no.

    The war drums keep beating! Iran has no air force! They can’t make enough gasoline! And you talk about their acquiring nuclear weapons?

I don't know - he seems pretty isolationist to me...

Look. I want to like the guy - I really like an awful lot of what he has to say. But there are a couple things that I just can't get past. A very large segment of his supporters are made up of 9/11 truthers. That is quite unsettling to me. He even seems to get some support from the Occupy creeps - though that support is out of ignorance on the part of the flea-baggers. But perhaps even bigger than that relationship is this isolationism deal. Like I said previously, that is as dangerous to this country as Obama's Marxism. I haven't yet seen anything that convinces me that he isn't an isolationist. Therefore, I can only lump him in the same category as Obama when it comes to my vote. At this point in the process the guy is toxic.

[Predator Don]

Ron Paul has the same issues as newt. Bright guy, make a good leader within a presidential team, but has done or stated a couple of stupid things that makes you go         

[AmericanPatriot]

For me, it's not Ron Paul but the message he's trying to get out.
He's not good at distilling it down to sound bites because it requires an informed populace which we don't have.

Don, if you're referring to his "why can't we all be friends" foreign policy, I agree

[Libertas]

Still say his best fit would be as Treasury Sec!

[Tom G.]

Newtie is an interesting dichotomy - he has the pedigree and the philosophy (to a large extent), but he has some very troubling ideas about constitutional conservatism and the right as a whole...  The Newt/ Nancy Pelosi ad campaign makes me itch.

I have lingering doubt about Newt, and I'm not sure if it can ever go away.  There is too much history there to ignore.

[Pandora]

Newtie is an interesting dichotomy - he has the pedigree and the philosophy (to a large extent), but he has some very troubling ideas about constitutional conservatism and the right as a whole...  The Newt/ Nancy Pelosi ad campaign makes me itch.

I have lingering doubt about Newt, and I'm not sure if it can ever go away.  There is too much history there to ignore.

Interestingly, I recently heard Newt walk back the Newtie & Nancy couch-sitting, paraphrasing; "shouldn't have done it; it was dumb AND if I can admit I was wrong about that, why won't Romney do the same about Romneycare?"

[Tom G.]

Newtie is an interesting dichotomy - he has the pedigree and the philosophy (to a large extent), but he has some very troubling ideas about constitutional conservatism and the right as a whole...  The Newt/ Nancy Pelosi ad campaign makes me itch.

I have lingering doubt about Newt, and I'm not sure if it can ever go away.  There is too much history there to ignore.

Interestingly, I recently heard Newt walk back the Newtie & Nancy couch-sitting, paraphrasing; "shouldn't have done it; it was dumb AND if I can admit I was wrong about that, why won't Romney do the same about Romneycare?"

Unfortunately Newt can't put the genie back in the bottle.  Besides, he has had some rather harsh words for the right, and I distinctly remember him observing that the era of Reagan was over.  It's pretty difficult for me to overlook his disparaging of the right like that.

[Pandora]

Newtie is an interesting dichotomy - he has the pedigree and the philosophy (to a large extent), but he has some very troubling ideas about constitutional conservatism and the right as a whole...  The Newt/ Nancy Pelosi ad campaign makes me itch.

I have lingering doubt about Newt, and I'm not sure if it can ever go away.  There is too much history there to ignore.

Interestingly, I recently heard Newt walk back the Newtie & Nancy couch-sitting, paraphrasing; "shouldn't have done it; it was dumb AND if I can admit I was wrong about that, why won't Romney do the same about Romneycare?"

Unfortunately Newt can't put the genie back in the bottle.  Besides, he has had some rather harsh words for the right, and I distinctly remember him observing that the era of Reagan was over.  It's pretty difficult for me to overlook his disparaging of the right like that.

No reason you ought if you're inclined to not.  I've got a long and (mostly) functioning memory myself.  I'll repeat something here for your benefit as you may have missed it:  Newt is a battleship.  Unlike a battleship, he has, can, and will turn on a dime and train his guns on US; not a scenario I favor.