Gingrich watch

[djsimp]

I think we all know that Gingrich has had issues in the past. Now that he seems to be the Republican front-runner, it was only a matter of time that the Dems played on it. This particular article doesn't seem to damning but I am sure many more are to follow.

The article is just way too long so I just quoted the first paragraph. Go to the link for the rest.
http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-considered-sting-aimed-gingrich-014000611.html

It is a curious case in the annals of the FBI: The bureau considered a sting operation against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich after sifting through allegations from a notorious arms dealer that a $10 million bribe might get Congress to lift the Iraqi arms embargo.

The FBI ended up calling off the operation in June 1997. It decided there was no evidence that Gingrich knew anything about the conversations the arms dealer was secretly recording with a man who said he was acting on behalf of Gingrich’s then-wife, Marianne, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.

But details of the case, which became public this week in an article and documents posted online by a nonprofit journalist, show how a series of second- and third-hand conversations alleging that the top man in Congress might be for sale caught the attention of federal investigators.

“There are so many falsehoods,” Marianne Gingrich said Thursday. “The FBI, they should have been protecting me, not going after me. This is scary stuff.”

Her lawyer, Victoria Toensing, said: “There was no basis whatsoever for an investigation. These were people puffing, which means they were making up access to a high-level goverment person.”

[GH2001]

The GOP establishment is going after him hard. Bachmann should be ashamed of herself for lying.  I hate that bitch.

[djsimp]

The GOP establishment is going after him hard. Bachmann should be ashamed of herself for lying.  I hate that bitch.

I told you muthafuckas early on about that Gingrich would be a top player. Not only does the Dems agree by their actions but so do the Pubs. Its gonna be interesting to see what both groups throw at him because they know that he is now a serious contender. Please be posting it here. I like Cain, but he folded. Gingrich at least will fight the hell out of it. At this point I want to see Gingrich make it the finals with Obama on the other podium just so I can see Gingrich eat his fucking lunch and make Obama like it.

[AUTiger1]

Remember when I said this should be a landslide for the Republicans but they were going to run their version of John Kerry and Obama will have four more years.   I still stand by that.  He is being attacked by both sides and it will keep him from getting elected.  I just don't see him beating Obama.  The only bit of silver lining is that they should gain back majority control of the house and senate and it will make him a lame duck the last 4 years.  The only problem with that is I don't know that we can take four years of nothing getting accomplished.

[djsimp]

Remember when I said this should be a landslide for the Republicans but they were going to run their version of John Kerry and Obama will have four more years.   I still stand by that.  He is being attacked by both sides and it will keep him from getting elected.  I just don't see him beating Obama.  The only bit of silver lining is that they should gain back majority control of the house and senate and it will make him a lame duck the last 4 years.  The only problem with that is I don't know that we can take four years of nothing getting accomplished.

I somewhat agree with you here but regardless of how much shit is thrown at Newt, he'll has the mojo to fight back. I do think that he would kill Obama in any debates; it would be the Roast of Barak Obama. I also think it would depend upon who he has as his running mate.

[GH2001]

The ONLY way Obama will have a leg to stand on against Newt is if he doesn't debate him.

[djsimp]

This may get kind of fun.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/newt-gingrich-unloads-mitt-romney-ron-paul-hampshire-184017787.html

Newt Gingrich unloads on Mitt Romney and Ron Paul in New Hampshire
By Chris Moody

Newt Gingrich talks to reporters after a campaign stop, Wednesday in Concord, N.H. (AP)
CONCORD, N.H. -- They poked the bear one too many times.

After a long effort to stay on message and stick to discussing his ideas for the future, Newt Gingrich on Wednesday morning unloaded on Mitt Romney and Ron Paul in front of reporters here. Gingrich's choice of targets was clearly deliberate, since Paul and Romney have spent millions attacking him directly in campaign ads, and indirectly through surrogates, over the past month.

And now, it seems, Newt's had enough. In one lengthy sentence, Gingrich recited his rendition of Romney's biography. Among other things, Gingrich blasted Romney for backing "the most liberal" Democratic presidential candidate in 1992, for signing an abortion provision into the Massachusetts health care law passed under his leadership and for being "to the left" of most in the party.

"Governor Romney was first an independent, then repudiated Reagan-Bush, then voted for Paul Tsongas, the most liberal candidate in the '92 campaign, then ran to the left of Teddy Kennedy in 1994, then became a moderate to run for governor in 2002, and then with Romneycare, for example, that included state-funded abortions and specifically designating Planned Parenthood as a part of Romneycare, appointed liberal judges in order to placate Democrats and raised taxes on businesses, which I think is a job-killing approach," Gingrich said. "The contrast will be very wide and that will be a key part of what we describe going forward. I suspect it's going to be a very lively campaign."

His comments are part of a new effort to show a heightened "contrast" between him and his competitors.

Gingrich predicted that Romney would do "fairly well" in New Hampshire, a state where he is consistently polling at around 40 percent, but added that the party's conservative base is by no means sold on the former Massachusetts governor.  "The fact is, in the end, Governor Romney has a very limited appeal in a conservative party," Gingrich announced, noting that Romney "failed totally to change Boston" during his governorship. When given an opportunity to congratulate Romney for winning in Iowa, Gingrich passed.

"I find it amazing that the news media continues to say he's the most electable Republican when he can't even break out of his own party," Gingrich went on to say, adding finally: "Governor Romney will get the message."

Then, when provoked by a reporter's question in which she read a new quote from Ron Paul that accused Gingrich of dodging the draft during Vietnam, Gingrich took aim at the Texas congressman.

"What he just said has about the same amount of accuracy as the newsletters he said he never wrote," Gingrich said, referring to a series of mailings published under Paul's name in the 1980s and 1990s that included several racist and incendiary passages. "This is a man who says wild and outrageous things with no facts and later denies that he said them or wonders who wrote them because it couldn't have been him."

As for the specific charge--that Gingrich evaded his duty by not serving in the military during the war--he said he received an automatic deferment because he was the father of two children at the time. (He probably wasn't fit to serve, anyhow. Gingrich's step-father, who was a career solider in the U.S. Army, said in an interview in 1996 that his son had "two of the flattest feet that there ever was" and that "he was never physically capable or qualified to be military.")

Gingrich signaled last week that he was planning to increasingly emphasize the records of his competitors. The Gingrich campaign also has a new ad buy in the works that it will unveil sometime this week.



Newt Gingrich talks to reporters after a campaign stop, Wednesday in Concord, N.H. (AP)
CONCORD, N.H. -- They poked the bear one too many times.

After a long effort to stay on message and stick to discussing his ideas for the future, Newt Gingrich on Wednesday morning unloaded on Mitt Romney and Ron Paul in front of reporters here. Gingrich's choice of targets was clearly deliberate, since Paul and Romney have spent millions attacking him directly in campaign ads, and indirectly through surrogates, over the past month.

And now, it seems, Newt's had enough. In one lengthy sentence, Gingrich recited his rendition of Romney's biography. Among other things, Gingrich blasted Romney for backing "the most liberal" Democratic presidential candidate in 1992, for signing an abortion provision into the Massachusetts health care law passed under his leadership and for being "to the left" of most in the party.

"Governor Romney was first an independent, then repudiated Reagan-Bush, then voted for Paul Tsongas, the most liberal candidate in the '92 campaign, then ran to the left of Teddy Kennedy in 1994, then became a moderate to run for governor in 2002, and then with Romneycare, for example, that included state-funded abortions and specifically designating Planned Parenthood as a part of Romneycare, appointed liberal judges in order to placate Democrats and raised taxes on businesses, which I think is a job-killing approach," Gingrich said. "The contrast will be very wide and that will be a key part of what we describe going forward. I suspect it's going to be a very lively campaign."

His comments are part of a new effort to show a heightened "contrast" between him and his competitors.

Gingrich predicted that Romney would do "fairly well" in New Hampshire, a state where he is consistently polling at around 40 percent, but added that the party's conservative base is by no means sold on the former Massachusetts governor.  "The fact is, in the end, Governor Romney has a very limited appeal in a conservative party," Gingrich announced, noting that Romney "failed totally to change Boston" during his governorship. When given an opportunity to congratulate Romney for winning in Iowa, Gingrich passed.

"I find it amazing that the news media continues to say he's the most electable Republican when he can't even break out of his own party," Gingrich went on to say, adding finally: "Governor Romney will get the message."

Then, when provoked by a reporter's question in which she read a new quote from Ron Paul that accused Gingrich of dodging the draft during Vietnam, Gingrich took aim at the Texas congressman.

"What he just said has about the same amount of accuracy as the newsletters he said he never wrote," Gingrich said, referring to a series of mailings published under Paul's name in the 1980s and 1990s that included several racist and incendiary passages. "This is a man who says wild and outrageous things with no facts and later denies that he said them or wonders who wrote them because it couldn't have been him."

As for the specific charge--that Gingrich evaded his duty by not serving in the military during the war--he said he received an automatic deferment because he was the father of two children at the time. (He probably wasn't fit to serve, anyhow. Gingrich's step-father, who was a career solider in the U.S. Army, said in an interview in 1996 that his son had "two of the flattest feet that there ever was" and that "he was never physically capable or qualified to be military.")

Gingrich signaled last week that he was planning to increasingly emphasize the records of his competitors. The Gingrich campaign also has a new ad buy in the works that it will unveil sometime this week.

[GH2001]

This may get kind of fun.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/newt-gingrich-unloads-mitt-romney-ron-paul-hampshire-184017787.html

He should have a long time ago when it was obvious that Mitt didn't give a fuck about the issues.

[djsimp]

He should have a long time ago when it was obvious that Mitt didn't give a fuck about the issues.

Yeah, but I bet you old Flat-foot can bring the pain. I am curious to see this new ad.

[djsimp]

http://news.yahoo.com/gingrich-black-people-paychecks-not-food-aid-234405279.html

..Gingrich to black people: paychecks, not food aid
By SUZANNE GAMBOA | AP


Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Thursday he is willing to go before the NAACP and urge blacks to demand paychecks, not food stamps.

Gingrich told a town hall meeting at a senior center in Plymouth, N.H., that if the NAACP invites him to its annual convention this year, he'd go there and talk about "why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps."

He also said he'd pitch a new Social Security program aimed at helping young people, particularly African-American males, who he said get the smallest return on Social Security.

Gingrich routinely lambasts President Barack Obama as the "best food stamp president in American history." He also has spoken previously about welcoming an invitation from the NAACP to speak and has been critical of GOP candidates who have not accepted such an invitation.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had no immediate comment on Gingrich's remarks. His campaign spokesman, R.C. Hammond, said the former Georgia congressman has often said the GOP needs to be inclusive of all Americans.

"He has said since he became a presidential candidate that any Republican should always accept an invitation to speak to the NAACP on any topic," Hammond said.

Gingrich's comments follow those by rival candidate Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania who said Sunday that he did not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money."

Santorum's comments were criticized by National Urban League President Marc H. Morial as pandering to racist elements within the GOP. Morial also said that 70 percent of people on food stamps are white. The Agriculture Department does not break down food stamp participation rates by race.

NAACP President Ben Jealous also criticized Santorum's remarks.

Food stamp participation and costs have risen under Obama, from 28.2 million participants at a cost of $37.6 billion in 2008 to 44.7 million participants at a cost of $75.3 billion last year, according to federal data of what is officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The increases followed the steep economic downturn that began in 2008.

Gingrich said if he has a chance to go before the NAACP, he would explain a "brand-new Social Security opportunity" for young people, "which would be particularly good for African-American males, because they are the group that gets the smallest return on Social Security."

[GH2001]

This is essentially what he did as Speaker with Welfare to Work. It was brilliant and worked like a charm. People really need to remember the effect of his policies in the 90's. Good times indeed.

[Snaggletiger]

What color are these "Colored People"?

[djsimp]

What color are these "Colored People"?

Well apparently they're not white. To be honest, I have yet to see a black person.

[djsimp]

Hey Newt, you know you can probably get you one of those scheduling calendars for free right?

http://news.yahoo.com/wheres-newt-sc-campaign-stumbles-plague-gingrich-151013688.html

..Where's Newt? SC campaign stumbles plague Gingrich
By JULIE PACE | Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was greeted with a standing ovation when he was announced at a barbecue.

Too bad the former House speaker wasn't around to see it.

He was inexplicably missing, and his absence forced the event's moderator to ask awkwardly, "Can we check and see where the speaker is?"

It was just one in a string of clumsy, head-scratching events staged by the Gingrich campaign since the Republican primary moved to South Carolina, a state that the candidate says he must win if he wants a shot at the nomination.

The chain of slip-ups raises questions about the campaign's staffing and organizational skills, issues that have haunted Gingrich during the 2012 race.

Gingrich's campaign manager and other senior advisers resigned en masse in June after disagreeing with the candidate about the direction of the campaign. In a bureaucratic blunder, the campaign failed to meet the requirements to get Gingrich on the ballot in Virginia, where Gingrich lives.

If Gingrich's campaign survives next Saturday's South Carolina contest, the organizational challenges will only grow.

Florida, the next state on the primary calendar, is a complex, expensive and often unwieldy battleground. That vote is Jan. 31.

In at least one instance in South Carolina, Gingrich's campaign missteps have given his opponents a chance to take advantage.

With Gingrich running late to Friday's barbecue in Duncan, the only other candidate at the event stepped up and stepped in.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum worked the room with his wife, Karen, scoring valuable one-on-one time with the conservative and evangelical voters that both he and Gingrich are courting.

Gingrich also was running late to two events Thursday in Columbia, where he was being introduced by a former ally in the U.S. House, ex-Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts. Both times, Watts had to stall. At one point, Watts told the crowd that he only had three minutes of material prepared, but was going to need to talk far longer.

"I think I see the speaker's bus!" he finally exclaimed, a hint of relief in his voice.

Gingrich's choice of venue has also seemed off-base at times given the voting bloc he needs to win South Carolina.

One of the events where he kept Watts waiting was a home-ownership rally that appeared to be dominated by Democratic speakers and attendees.

On Saturday, Gingrich attended a question-and-answer session at a black church. Yet blacks made up just 2 percent of voters in the 2008 South Carolina GOP primary, according to exit polls.

Oh, and it looked like nobody checked to make sure the microphones were working at the church forum.

The first questioner, E.T. Williams, tried two different hand-held microphones, but neither worked. As staff scrambled to fix the problem, Williams, a Democrat and supporter of President Barack Obama — joked that someone must not have wanted him to ask what turned out be critical questions of Gingrich.

Technical problems have plagued the Gingrich campaign during their telephone conferences with voters in other parts of the country.

A call scheduled for Saturday morning never took place. The dial-in number was invalid.

The campaign set up a new number for a Saturday night call with Florida voters. This time the number worked, and Gingrich was able to field questions from several voters.

But the call wasn't incident-free.

There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line when the moderator introduced the first two questioners. The issue was resolved, but not before Gingrich himself raised an important question.

"I wonder if we're having a technical problem," Gingrich said.

[GH2001]

Hey Newt, you know you can probably get you one of those scheduling calendars for free right?

http://news.yahoo.com/wheres-newt-sc-campaign-stumbles-plague-gingrich-151013688.html

I do know he spanked Romney's ass last night in the debate. Badly.

[AUTiger1]

I do know he spanked Romney's ass last night in the debate. Badly.

What I watched, he kicked everyones ass last night.  It wasn't even close.

[djsimp]

What I watched, he kicked everyones ass last night.  It wasn't even close.

I didn't watch but from what I have read I agree. Newt needs to leave SC with a win in a bad way. I think we all knew that once Newt put his boots on, he was gonna kick some ass. I guess its a good thing that Romney had been taking so many punches at Newt.

I think we have us a ballgame folks.

[GH2001]

What I watched, he kicked everyones ass last night.  It wasn't even close.

Like you, I dont care for Santorum much, but I did like how he punched Romney a few times for not answering the question he asked (which was a trap question that Romney fell right into) about Felons being able to vote. Romney - like he always does - danced around the question, gave generics and made excuses. Such a politician. Reminds me of the guy in the WH now. No specifics, just generics and catch phrases. Ive done a total 180 on Newt since the Summer. The guy has ideas. Economic ideas. And the last time he did that the country was as prosperous as it ever was (1994-2000). Romney has a track record in office of actually raising taxes and unemployment going UP. People need to wake up to this clown.

Oh and Ron Paul? Total lost me on the Foreign Policy garbage he keeps spitting out. The whole "its our fault the Arabs attack us and are mad at the world" line of crap. Know your audience in SC dickhead. So was it our fault from the 7th century to the 15th century: Roman–Persian Wars, Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628, and Siege of Constantinople?

Or Conquest of Persia and Iraq: 633–651, Conquest of Transoxiana: 662–709, Conquest of Sindh: 664–712, Conquest of Hispania 711–718, Conquest of Septimania 719–720, Conquest of the Caucasus: 711–750, Umayyad conquests: 718–750, Conquest of Nubia: 700–1606, Incursions into southern Italy: 831–902, Conquest of Anatolia: 1060–1360, Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: 1299–1453???

Did the US piss them off then? Paul doesn't get that these folks are fanatics and hate anyone NOT like them. It is what it is. Yes, they do hate us for what we are Ron Paul! Perhaps he should listen to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire". And the constant taking up or Iran......SMH. 
 

[djsimp]

People need to wake up to this clown.

If anything good comes of these debates, I think this will be one that we can count on. Again, Romney has taken one too many punches at Newt. Payback is a bitch.

[djsimp]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/cnn-rick-perry-end-campaign-141912141.html

Rick Perry ends presidential campaign, endorses Newt Gingrich
By Chris Moody
Political Reporter

Rick Perry ended his presidential campaign Thursday and endorsed Newt Gingrich's candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

At a press conference in Charleston, S.C., Perry called Gingrich "a conservative visionary who can transform our country."

"Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?" Perry said. "The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God." He mentioned the importance of redemption to Christianity.

In an interview with ABC News that is scheduled to be broadcast Thursday on Nightline, Gingrich's second ex-wife, Marianne, says the former Speaker of the House "wanted an open marriage."

At an event in Beaufort, S.C., on Thursday, Gingrich said Perry would lead a "Tenth Amendment enforcement project" for his campaign, "reaching out to every governor in the country of both parties, reaching out to mayors, reaching out to state legislatures and working with conservative legislators in Washington so that we can have a very strong platform plank in Tampa in August on the Tenth Amendment."

Perry, who catapulted to the top of public-opinion polls when he first announced his candidacy last summer, placed a disappointing fifth in the Iowa caucuses and sixth in the New Hampshire primaries, where he received less than 1 percent of the vote.

South Carolina Republicans will vote in the state's primaries on Saturday.