GOP Nominee 2012 - Who Will It Be?, Pt. 3

[corianderstem]

"Oops."

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

since when did newt gingrich being a douche become a news flash?

 

[Irvine511]

since when did newt gingrich being a douche become a news flash?

i think we're going to learn that he's an unstable mess who should be medicated.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ok... again... when did that become a news flash? didn't we already know this?

 

[Irvine511]

ok... again... when did that become a news flash? didn't we already know this?

Perry is an idiot bigot devil clown. Santorum is a frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter. Gingrich is an asshole. Romney is a douche. in my complex, sophisticated, nuanced analysis.

apparently what we're really going to learn from Gingrich Wife #2 is that Newt requested an open marriage so he could fuck Calista while still being married to said Wife #2.

which is all well and good. if you want an open marriage, go for it.

but let's just see how that one goes down with the base.

 

[2861U2]

That's what's wrong with my party- the people who will take Newt's response of "I made a mistake. I've become a grandfather. I've found God. Ronald Reagan." as sufficient and all will be forgiven.

I cannot in good conscience ever vote for this guy to be president.

 

[Irvine511]

That's what's wrong with my party- the people who will take Newt's response of "I made a mistake. I've become a grandfather. I've found God. Ronald Reagan." as sufficient and all will be forgiven.

I cannot in good conscience ever vote for this guy to be president.

and i respect you for voting your values.

see, i personally have no problem with people who may mutually agree to an open relationship. i have minimal problem with people who have affairs or less than perfect marriages -- life is long, marriage is work, libidos must be controlled, and god knows we aren't perfect.

i'm much more bothered by him dumping his wives when they become sick (cancer, MS) than with wanting an open relationship. i also think that, yes, people make mistakes, they grow and mature, etc.

the problem is when you extend no such compassion to others, when you demonize others who live differently than you claim to, and when you actively live a life vastly different from the one you preach to others.

[Ex-wife Marianne Gingrich] kind of guessed it, of course. Women usually do. But did she know the woman was in her apartment, eating off her plates, sleeping in her bed?

She called a minister they both trusted. He came over to the house the next day and worked with them the whole weekend, but Gingrich just kept saying she was a Jaguar and all he wanted was a Chevrolet. “‘I can’t handle a Jaguar right now.’ He said that many times. ‘All I want is a Chevrolet.’”

He asked her to just tolerate the affair, an offer she refused.

He’d just returned from Erie, Pennsylvania, where he’d given a speech full of high sentiments about compassion and family values.

The next night, they sat talking out on their back patio in Georgia. She said, “How do you give that speech and do what you’re doing?”

“It doesn’t matter what I do,” he answered. “People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”

Drudge: Gingrich’s ex-wife is ready to dish; Update: Excerpts to be released before debate; Update: Nothing new revealed in interview? ? Hot Air

and that, to me, is the beating, ugly, black heart of the social conservative movement. it is anathema to liberty and freedom to pretend that there is only one way to live and to punish people for being different while living apart from the rules you seek to impose on others.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

 

[yolland]

New York Magazine (Jonathan Chait), Jan. 19

There was an old Fed Ex commercial depicting an aging pool cleaner suddenly discovering a 20-year-old acceptance letter from Harvard he had never received, and imagining the life he could have had. That man is Santorum. He has to wonder if the Iowa vote counters were gay.

lol. But he wouldn't stand a chance in the South anyway.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Look at those supple, soft lips.

Maybe Rick's hardline anti-gay hate stems from a little high school locker room experimentation.

 

[financeguy]

Then you have nothing to worry about - should be a walk in the park for Romney, a total blowout.

People are easily led - or easily bought. I fear Obama has effectively bought the election already by putting so many on welfare and not reducing the size of government. He's got the public sector and the welfare/'hood vote wrapped up. As for the business entrepreneurial sector, oh I forgot, there's none left.

 

[Irvine511]

People are easily led - or easily bought. I fear Obama has effectively bought the election already by putting so many on welfare and not reducing the size of government. He's got the public sector and the welfare/'hood vote wrapped up. As for the business entrepreneurial sector, oh I forgot, there's none left.

where the Left ends, the Right begins.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

That's what's wrong with my party- the people who will take Newt's response of "I made a mistake. I've become a grandfather. I've found God. Ronald Reagan." as sufficient and all will be forgiven.

I cannot in good conscience ever vote for this guy to be president.

Im with you. I would happily vote for Romney, but if Newt somehow gets the GOP nomination i wont just vote for Obama - i will fucking campaign for him.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

So, as far as a I can tell so far, can summarise thus far: Romney only stands out because he's a cock in a field of arseholes?

 

[Irvine511]

So, as far as a I can tell so far, can summarise thus far: Romney only stands out because he's a cock in a field of arseholes?

good point.

other than being "not Obama," what do people feel are Romney's unique assets, qualifications, skills, and abilities that would make him a good president?

objective ones, too. not just in comparison to the other GOP candidates or Obama.

 

[PhilsFan]

Most would point to his business acumen, I'm sure. Regardless of whether or not it was job creating, job killing, or neither, the guy understands how to be successful in business. The economy sucks, he's got experience, and a lot feel that Obama has shown inexperience in his handling of the economy during his first term.

I think it would be hard to argue with Romney's understanding of economics. The question then becomes, will he implement economic plans that help the country as a whole, or just people like him?

 

[Canadiens1131]

The question then becomes, will he implement economic plans that help the country as a whole, or just people like him?

Private Sector in the upper tax bracket -> Government -> Private Sector in the upper tax bracket.

You tell me who Romney will help out.

 

[financeguy]

He is a good technocratic manager, safe pair of hands, looks statesmanlike, won't embarass the US abroad.

He is not particularly ideological which in my view is a good thing. No-one will ever voice suspicions that his true loyalties may lie to foreign countries who are not necessarily friends of the US, or ask to see his passport on the one hand, and on the other it is hard to see anyone harbour suspicions that he secretly wishes to start WW III to fulfill the Book of Revelations.

He is not a prisoner of special interest groups like the tiresome gay lobby, the tiresome feminist lobby, the whinging hand-out brigades that infest African-American politics on the left, or the equally tiresome Christianists on the right. He does not seem to be as fanatical a Zionist as some US presidents have been.

He is, in short, rather boring and middle of the road and not particularly charismatic. Someone who will come into the office on time and not leave until the job is done. Someone who will not bawl out staff and throw trantrums if things are not going his way but probably opt for a rational and systematic management style. I view all of these as positive attributes in this context, by the way.

He seems to have a normal family life with no skeletons in the closet. He probably didn't have a 'gay phase' at college or experiment with drugs. That's probably a 'judgemental' observation, but it is after all the president of the US we are electing here. At least half the leaders he is likely to meet are from countries where anything outside of traditional family structures are frowned upon.

He is not likely, I think, to entertain mistresses or take drugs in the White House. This is not necessarily true of some previous occupants.

I think he will make a good president and I hope he is elected.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Looks like Gingrich will probably win South Carolina. Tea Partiers just won't give Romney a break.


Paul, Gingrich and Romney will all be in this until the bitter end, obviously. Santorum will eventually bow out if it's close between Gingrich and Romney in terms of delegates. I imagine he wouldn't want to play a spoiler.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Gingrich is such a hypocrite. His ex wife says he wanted an open marriage and was calling her praising her and later admitting that he was in bed with Callista the whole time. Here he was railing against Bill Clinton while he was having a six year affair.

Who is he to tell anyone that they shouldn't be allowed to marry?

Sanctity of marriage It's all about moral character but even more about two sets of standards, one for yourself and and an entirely different one for others. That's what really makes me sick.

 

[2861U2]

Who is he to tell anyone that they shouldn't be allowed to marry?

Sanctity of marriage It's all about moral character but even more about two sets of standards, one for yourself and and an entirely different one for others. That's what really makes me sick.

Exactly. As one who has come around on the gay marriage issue the last year or so, it makes me sick as well. The Republican Party is going to lose an entire generation of potential voters over this hypocrisy, and they seem oblivious to that fact.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Exactly. As one who has come around on the gay marriage issue the last year or so, it makes me sick as well. The Republican Party is going to lose an entire generation of potential voters over this hypocrisy, and they seem oblivious to that fact.

Nice post

 

[Pearl]

Exactly. As one who has come around on the gay marriage issue the last year or so, it makes me sick as well.

 

[2861U2]

By the way, for those keeping score at home preparing for the CNN debate:

The last 6 consecutive debates Newt Gingrich has referenced Ronald Reagan within about 20 seconds of his first speaking opportunity. I'm not kidding. Will he make it seven tonight? I say he will.

 

[INDY500]

and that, to me, is the beating, ugly, black heart of the social conservative movement. it is anathema to liberty and freedom to pretend that there is only one way to live and to punish people for being different while living apart from the rules you seek to impose on others.

Character is a very part of what we should be looking for in leaders and it's fair game to point out hypocrisy between ones rhetoric and actions. But...

There is nothing wrong with promoting an ideal, a higher standard, even though very few may actually realize that goal. How many Eddie Van Halens or Jimmy Pages come along but every guitar player and teacher should at least attempt to emulate their technique and expertise.

As for the "beating, ugly, black heart of the social conservative movement," well...

now you know how conservatives feel when global warming scolds such as Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio create carbon footprints 10 or 20 fold what the average American creates with their mansions and travel. When elected serial womanizers and philanderers get a free pass from women's organizations if they vote the right way on abortion and other issues they support. When politicians vote against school vouchers for inner city children while sending their own to private schools. When they moor their yacht in Rhode Island to avoid the luxury taxes in Massachusetts they supported. Etc, etc.

 

[maycocksean]

That's what's wrong with my party- the people who will take Newt's response of "I made a mistake. I've become a grandfather. I've found God. Ronald Reagan." as sufficient and all will be forgiven.

I cannot in good conscience ever vote for this guy to be president.

I have to say I've really been impressed with your posts of late. I've appreciated your disapassionate analysis of what's going on in the GOP.

And I'll be honest. . . I like that you're still a conservative. We need those voices around here, and lately you've been bringing some pretty decent substance to the table for the Right point of view.

I guess I'm just always really impressed when someone can critically assess their own "side" and yet still support that side.

now you know how conservatives feel when global warming scolds such as Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio create carbon footprints 10 or 20 fold what the average American creates with their mansions and travel. When elected serial womanizers and philanderers get a free pass from women's organizations if they vote the right way on abortion and other issues they support. When politicians vote against school vouchers for inner city children while sending their own to private schools. When they moor their yacht in Rhode Island to avoid the luxury taxes in Massachusetts they supported. Etc, etc.

A fair point.

The Lesson: Hypocrisy knows no political affiliation.

 

[Diemen]

which is all well and good. if you want an open marriage, go for it.

Well, it's usually a common courtesy to ask for an open marriage before you start sleeping with other women.

 

[yolland]

^ I have a friend whose (now ex-)wife did exactly that (after he discovered she'd been having an affair, by finding her in a hot tub with the guy)--she only then started talking about wanting an open marriage, not liking to feel "confined" etc. People who genuinely believe in non-monogamy will be the first to tell prospective partners that upfront; it's a matter of principle for them, not a hedge or an out. All she revealed by it was that she was a vain and selfish person who didn't want responsibility for the consequences of her actions...not a desirable trait in any life partner, open relationship or not.

 

[INDY500]

The Lesson: Hypocrisy knows no political affiliation.

Yes, and the same can be said of corruption. Doesn't mean that hypocrisy and corruption shouldn't be pointed out, only that vigilance should include a glance in the mirror once in a while too.

 

[INDY500]

Great debate. Even Ron Paul made sense tonight. However, Santorum was trying too hard to draw differences between himself and the others and came across as somewhat of a needledick.