Here is what I have come up with over a few days research. I have become stronger in my convictions that Santorum is indeed the best hope for renewing our country and bringing conservative morals and family values back to our country, along with respect for faith, freedom and our founding documents.
Newt Gingrich has been very bold in his ideas and outspoken against the media and his other opponents. However, it is time for Grandpa Newt to step down, deflate his ego and hand the 'Reagan torch' to Santorum, a man of strong faith, conviction, principles,&family.
While I can forgive the sins and mistakes of Newt's personal past, I do not forgive the sin and the damage to his core character. Not only is Newt's character damaged,but his principles are not core conservative beliefs. Newt has admitted he is a 'conservative futurist'; his support of globalist ideas makes him untrustworthy for President of the United States.[POTUS]
In 1995 Newt made a formal appeal to the House of Representatives to "increase the power of President Clinton" by repealing the War Powers Act. He praised Clinton's unconstitutional use of the U.S. military to inflict a communist regime on Haiti in 1994, the same year he voted for an extra $1.2 billion for United Nations "peacekeeping" missions.
He also urged the President to expand U.S. military presence in Bosnia the following year. In 1994, Gingrich described himself as "a conservative futurist." He said that those who were trying to define him should look no further than The Third Wave, a 1980 book written by Alvin Toffler. The book describes our society as entering a post-industrial phase in which abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, and divorce are perfectly normal, even virtuous.
Gingrich's liberal voting record is that he has been a member, since 1990, of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a group founded in 1921 as a think tank of influential politicians and policymakers dedicated to sacrificing national independence to create a global government. He showed his fidelity to internationalism in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs in July of 1995 when he brazenly admitted his disdain for our founding document.
"The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution," he said. "Under our [constitutional system] - either we're going to have to rethink our Constitution, or we're going to have to rethink our process of decision-making." He went on to profess an oxymoronic belief in "very strong but limited federal government," and pledged, "I am for the United Nations."
As discussed, “The strategy of [the]Progressive Establishment has always been to get the two most liberal candidates, one from each political Party nominated in their respected primaries, and then to promote the most progressive of those two candidates in the general election!”
In result, I can't 'marry'/entrust Gingrich to our country because I wouldn't marry someone with his character flaws. I can forgive the sinner,but not the sin. However, forgiveness does not equate to voting for someone with such great moral character flaws, who also supports a globalist agenda, which endangers US sovereignty and leads us away from the principles this country was founded on: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
In contrast, Rick Santorum supports defunding the UN,which would be a great step in the right direction for the US. Santorum also has strong morals and values which this country was founded on. He has been faithfully married to his wife and raised seven children together, while serving his state of Pennsylvania as a Congressman and Senator. Santorum best represents faith, family and freedom and recognizes that our Creator is the reason we have unalienable rights, not the government. Santorum recently stated,“Our rights come not from government, but from a higher authority". I wrote further about these character traits and his convictions here.
Character Matters,Along W/Faith,Family&Freedom-Support Santorum in 2012... disloyalty or disunity&bickering and the media influence is why I believe Cain,Palin,Bachmann and Perry were thrown under the bus;conservatives&[the] teaparty didn't stand by the true conservatives from the beginning.
Excerpt:
As of February 15, 2012, Obama runs slightly ahead of Mitt Romney and dead even with Rick Santorum in Rasmussen Reports’at the key battleground state of Ohio.
In addition, according to recent Public Policy Polling, if Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul.
A recent Fox News poll also indicates a Santorum surge:
Santorum: 33%
Romney: 23%
Gingrich: 22%
Paul: 15%
Also, Public Policy Polling, a left leaning polling agency, finds Santorum gets a majority of Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals Santorum falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney. Part of the reason for Santorum’s surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. While Gingrich only holds 44% favorability with a plurality of GOP voters. As explained in this article at National Review Online:
At the moment Rick Santorum appears to be overtaking Newt Gingrich as the principal challenger to Mitt Romney. Santorum has won more contests than Gingrich (who has won only one), has more delegates, and leads him in the polls. In at least one poll, he also leads Romney. It isn’t yet a Romney–Santorum contest, but it could be headed that way.
We hope so. Gingrich’s verbal and intellectual talents should make him a resource for any future Republican president. But it would be a grave mistake for the party to make someone with such poor judgment and persistent unpopularity its presidential nominee. It is not clear whether Gingrich remains in the race because he still believes he could become president next year or because he wants to avenge his wounded pride: an ambiguity that suggests the problem with him as a leader.
When he led Santorum in the polls, he urged the Pennsylvanian to leave the race. On his own arguments the proper course for him now is to endorse Santorum and exit.
Santorum has been conducting himself rather impressively in his moments of triumph and avoiding characteristic temptations. He is doing his best to keep the press from dismissing him as merely a “social-issues candidate.” His recent remark that losing his Senate seat in 2006 taught him the importance of humility suggests an appealing self-awareness.As for those who criticize Santorum on his fiscal conservatism and voting record, he has been known to oppose the banking bailouts,stimulus and he opposed TARP. In 2008 Santorum said this about TARP:
"Among critics of the bill was Mr. Casey’s predecessor, Republican Rick Santorum, who expressed doubt about the government’s suitability as a market stabilizer. He wanted to see a hybrid of both limited government purchase of the troubled investments, and a series of loan guarantees that would let the private market do the work."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08276/916765-28.stm#ixzz1mJhw8LQp
In addition to being critical of President Obama and his administration, in 2009 Santorum was also pretty tough on his former Republican colleagues. He chastised Republicans for passing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). He said that he prayed that Sen. John McCain would suspend his campaign to go back to Washington to blow up the idea, something Santorum admitted McCain was good at. Yet McCain supported it, which Santorum believes lead to his defeat.
http://theiowarepublican.com/2009/don%E2%80%99t-underestimate-rick-santorum/In addition to opposing TARP,Santorum wanted to reign in Fannie&Freddie to avoid the credit crisis and recession we are in now, which would have prevented TARP and the bailouts becoming a last resort:
In 2005 Santorum along with Crapo and Bunning were on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and had voted in favor of sending a Fannie&Freddie regulatory overhaul bill, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb to the Senate.At CPAC in 2009, Santorum admits conservatives made mistakes and this lead to his defeat in Pennsylvania in 2006, along with McCain's in 2008. The Iraq war was becoming unpopular, in addition to President Bush. However, in February 2009, at a time when many “conservatives” couldn’t find the moxy to unequivocally condemn TARP….Santorum did exactly that at CPAC 2009. see video at 3:05 – 4:10.
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee sent Hagel's bill to the then GOP-run Senate on July 28, 2005. All GOP members of the committee supported it; all Democrats opposed it.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440681,00.html#ixzz1mNigcrLg
Finally, the Club for Growth states Santorum has a strong record on cutting taxes, and that his leadership on welfare reform and Social Security was exemplary.
Santorum has consistently supported broad-based tax cuts&opposed tax increases with a Club for Growth rating 77% above average.
Club for Growth:Santorum opposed TARP,the stimulus ,the auto bailout,&the Fannie-Freddie bailout.
Club for Growth-Santorum:voted for a balanced budget amendment and a line-item veto in 1995.
Santorum endorsed Conservative Tea Party candidate Doug Hoffman over liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava.[while Newt supported Dede]
In regards to those who criticize Rick Santorum for supporting Arlen Specter against Toomey in 2008, here is his motive behind that:
Santorum-helped keep senate majority in 2004, because Pat Toomey was likely to lose the general election for Senate if he beat Specter in the primary;&because President Bush lost in PA,Santorum strategically backed the candidate most likely to win, Arlen Specter, by agreeing to a deal to elect Conservative Justices Alito&Roberts to the Supreme Court.
Others criticize Santorum for voting against a national right to work law. However, Rick Santorum voted in favor of letting states decide on right-to-work laws; since PA was a non-right to work state at the time, indicating his respect for the 10th amendment in such matters.
In conclusion, as Gingrich struggles,Santorum's campaign is gaining Gingrich supporters who are switching to Santorum’s team as volunteers.
Recently, the casino billionaire who has donated to Gingrich has cut support. Which indicates Gingrich is also losing support among donors and conservatives. His votes will likely go to Santorum,while the funding could go to Romney? As poll trends indicate, if Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul. But, as Santorum proved in CO, where Romney campaigned a lot and spent much more on ads, money doesn't always buy voters, but substance and character counts.
Recent polling trends also show Santorum's wins in CO, MO and MINN are the beginning of a rising momentum. According to Public Policy Polling: Santorum leads 1st night polling in Michigan! http://t.co/rkNdEmIy and Santorum leads in Tennessee http://t.co/wX1RzFKm
PPP:64% of voters favorably view Santorum over Gingrich and other candidates.
PPP recently tweeted:a consensus conservative candidate finally seems to be emerging and it's Santorum.
Additionally, regarding electability Santorum Can Also Beat Romney: polls show Santorum has a better chance than Gingrich at winning against current front runner Romney. The latest Rasmussen Poll shows Santorum now trounces Romney 55% to 34% in a one-on-one matchup nationally among likely GOP primary voters;proving he has electability along with a growing consensus of conservative support.
And as of February 15, 2012,
Santorum is actually the strongest Republican in Michigan, trailing Obama by just 11 at 50-39: publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/o…
— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) February 15, 2012
Conservatives are recognizing Gingrich's personal failings and negative favorability ratings among conservatives are not enough to make him the anti-Romney candidate. In result, Santorum has less baggage&is much better liked.
Santorum is now completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate, especially the most right leaning parts of the party. With those describing themselves as 'very conservative,' he's now winning a majority of voters at 53% to 20% for Gingrich and 15% for Romney.
Santorum gets a majority with Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals he falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney.
@RickSantorum storms into national poll lead by 15% http://t.co/sKHcXdVC
Santorum Surges as He Talks Faith in Bible Belt: A Gallup poll shows 20 percent of Republicans now... http://dlvr.it/1BSPj6In the most recent polls, Santorum is gaining on Romney and Gingrich is falling. While polls can be up and down like the stock market, it is becoming more clear who the majority of conservatives are leaning towards, and that is Santorum. I have found this true in reading conservative blogs, tweets and other news commentary online.
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| Click to Enlarge |
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum arrives on stage and is greeted by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney before a Republican presidential candidates debate in Charleston, S.C. (ERIC THAYER - REUTERS)
Among Republicans -- and independents -- Santorum now rivals former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on this most basic measure of popularity. Santorum now has the lead among those who consider themselves to be “very conservative.”
The latest CBS Poll indicates:
Santorum is also seen as the candidate most likely to help the middle class: Thirty-two percent of GOP primary voters say Santorum would be most likely to help middle class Americans, while 19 percent cite Romney, 18 percent cite Gingrich and 18 percent cite Paul. Twenty-seven percent are "very" confident Santorum could manage the economy, compared to 25 percent for Romney, 24 percent for Gingrich and 17 percent for Paul.
Endorsements:
Conservative Headquarters, Richard Viguerie, also endorsed Rick Santorum last month. He gives his strong endorsement in this article, entitled: "I urge you to join me in supporting Rick Santorum for President."
While other well known conservative pundits and talk radio hosts have officially endorsed Rick Santorum, others like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh have said positive remarks about him. Including, conservative talk show host, Mark Levine,who recently made the case for Rick Santorum as GOP nominee.
Lastly, Santorum's fiscal conservative credentials are not as bad as some like to make him out to be, as he has received an A- from the National Taxpayers Union, an independent, non-partisan organization that has been rating members of Congress for the past 20yrs.
Cross posted at Little Bytes News
Follow @littlebytesnews for latest news on politics to parenting and everything in between.
13 comments:
VERY weak candidate with zero record accomplishment who got trounced by 20 pts last time he ran for office
If we are naive enough no nominate this guy, Obama will TROUNCE him in the general election
Praying for a Newt comeback or Palin jumping into a brokered convention, cuz this dog won't hunt
The Council on Foreign Relations? Come on. That's like chastising someone for being on the trilateral commission. Borderline John Bircher tin foil hat stuff. Some members of the CFR are good and some are bad, but that is true of all organizations.
Back to the CFR, looking at the membership list you really dont see much of a common thread. Did you know Dick Cheney was a member? So were William F Buckley and Jack Kemp. But then so were Jimmy Carter and Warren Beatty. It really just seems like a bunch of people who are interested in foreign policy. The CFR conspiracy theory is like the Masonic conspiracy theory. Sure it is a society that meets in secret (like most private clubs) but that doesnt mean anything of any interest or conspiratorial is going on. Usually they are trying to decide what kind of sandwiches to get for the next meeting.
On the rest, it seems to say that Newt should drop out because Santorum is leading. Okay, then shouldnt Santorum have dropped out a week and a half ago after he came in forth in Nevada and no better than third anywhere but Iowa?
Right now Santorum has a glow because people dont actually know much about him. That may change. They might not like what he did with his leadership PAC or his scam of a foundation. He has also insulted about half the GOP by railing against libertarianism and individual freedom.
Also, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a more intelligent George W Bush, instead of the Ronald Reagan that we need.
You lost me at "conservative morals and family values". The Republican party is dead as a party if it goes back to this as their focus. Keep government out of this stuff. I am an independent. There are many, many, many of us who are fiscal conservatives who find what social conservatives stand for appalling. Believe what you want about Santurum. You're making a big mistake.
Reaganite Republican
Say it again for me.
"This dog won't hunt."
As a country we need to move past partisanship to move forward and accomplish the monumental tasks that the failures of the current and previous administrations have laid before us.
Choosing another candidate (Santorum/Romney) with either an agenda to legislate with a focus on morality/social issues, or to manage and maintian the status quo is going to either result in an Obama victory or at best only slow our decline.
We need bold and populist changes that bring back pride in our country and faith in our government.
You say that Gingrich is a "Republican Futurist", this sounds like a much better option to me than a Social conservative retread that would rather fight to federally stop abortion than to work towards making this country great again.
I'll just come out and say it. Gingrich isn't a republican. Gingrich tried to change the republican party into a party of fiscal responsibility, of smart conservatism, of "asking not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". The republicans played his game until they got power and then stabbed him in the back.
Like it or not, Gingrich cares more about the future of this country than the republican party. He works with both sides of the aisle to accomplish positive things for our country.
Today compromise in washington means I give you what you want and you give me what I want. We spend twice as much money, and since we both wanted opposite things, nothing is accomplished. Supporting anyone other than Gingrich is giving our government a license to continue this policy. This is our last chance to get it right.
I read this article late last night and must tell you I was shocked & in a bit of disbelief to see it on this site. After I read as much as I could tolerate, I closed it knowing, feeling, assuming, that it is important to PolitiJim to present different perspectives.
Sorry to the author, but I didn’t finish the article despite the fact that I don’t dislike Rick Santorum. And that is the beginning and end of how most people feel about him. They just don’t dislike him.
Oddly, what most baffles me about the GOP election process thus far (after the RNC attempting to shove Mitt down our throats, Rowe, most of the current republicans in congress, Fox News coverage, the fact most people don’t research the candidates at all, and the ridiculous outcomes of all the caucuses and polls, and primaries) is that most don’t think further than their nose. Many don’t seem to have a clue about the dire consequences of losing to Obama.
So, here’s four cents:
1) Rick Santorum cannot win the GOP nomination. He cannot beat Obama despite his record. He’s not articulate, he always seems like he’s about ready to explode and frankly, his record is not accomplished enough.
2) Ron Paul cannot win the GOP nomination, his dedication to the Constitution and how far we have strayed from it, is spot on .. but, he’s been in politics for 30 years and if he hasn’t been able to make changes in that time, what on God’s green earth would lead any of us to believe he can change a thing as POTUS. Not to mention his naivety on foreign policy and history. The Paul lovers swear by him, they’ll break your arms like Union members to demand you vote for him, but Paul is all but invisible in every single poll, caucus, and primary .. he hasn’t shown up yet and he’s got the money. Don’t any of the Paul supporters have the nerve to do the right thing? Please one of you suggest he pullout of the race and all of you take up a much needed Constitutional fight in the private sector where he/you can really bring about change necessary outside of Govt.
3) Romney cannot beat Obama. Yes, he probably can buy his way into the GOP nomination, but money can’t buy him love or the White House. I guess the RNC has guilt feelings 2008, but Romney is not owed this nomination and frankly, he ought to be ashamed for trying to run as a conservative or even a republican. He isn’t either really, what he is, is the mirror image of Obama. So why on God’s green earth would any educated voter even consider him. Let me be clear, he cannot beat Obama. I won’t go into what that means folks, but let me put it this way, say goodbye to what little is left of America if you don’t stop buying into the RNC dream of a Romney win.
4) Whereas, and finally, we come to Newt Gingrich. Newt has the only proven record of success in politics. He is not perfect, I’ll be the first to admit that, but frankly, I don’t give a damn. He is exactly what America needs at this moment in time and the sooner all of you realize this, the sooner you will rally to his defense. We, America, needs Speaker Gingrich and his proven record and his knowledge of how to rebuild America.
To the author, I appreciate your passion about Rick Santorum; however, passion isn’t what is needed in the salt shaker at this moment, what is, is rebuilding our great Country and there is only one man that knows how to do that, and has done it before, that man, is Speaker Newt Gingrich. And bless his heart, I am so grateful that he is still here despite all the rocks that are being hurled at him from every direction. I am all in for Newt for all the right reasons. #withNewt ~ xSx
As the previous poster said, I was taken aback at seeing this article here. After reading about half of it, I couldn't go any further.
Why is it people misrepresent Newt's views? I can't begin to stress that people don't seem to "get" Newt or is it they don't want to?
Make no mistake, I like Rick Santorum. I appreciate his moral views and conservative values. However, we need very bold solutions and a person strong enough to take on Washington that already knows what they are doing. Newt has balanced budgets and done Welfare form. He improved Congressional ratings as high as 60% when he left. Then everything fell down when he left.
I have complete faith in Mr. Gingrich and trust he will get rid of all the waste in Washington. Mr. Santorum would be a great cabinet addition in any administration and I hope he gets it. But I'm sorry, I don't feel that he wins in a General election.
This election is the last stop for all of us. It's way too important to drop the ball on this one. That's why I believe Newt is the one who should deliver the defeat to Obama.
I heartily agree with Anonymous and Radionut61, but also want to emphasize that I believe Newt will be much more effective as lead dog than he ever was while he was Speaker. If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes. :) And the unobstructed view from the front gives you much more incentive to stay focused on catching that rabbit, the goal, accomplishing the work you were sent to do.
I appreciate the comments and feedback, although I know I will not likely change any Newt or Romney supporters minds. However, as I just posted tonight on PolitiJim... http://ht.ly/997NP
Excerpt:
As far as legacies go, Rick Santorum’s got several Aces. There’s the standard bearer of entitlement reform mentioned above, HSAs and he’s a Risk alumni, to name but a few.
I’ve learned a lot from watching 19 debates, and most illuminating was how the sausage that is legislation gets made. One example, watch Rick’s
Oct. 1994 C-Span video of his senate seat debate where he kills HillaryCare and mandates in the first 5 minutes. Further along, he stresses “You can’t force every American to do something they don’t want to do,” without fundamentally changing America. Talk about being consistent. Rick’s push for “Medisave” is what became today’s Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and the vouchers are today’s Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare competing private sector “premium support” health plan subsidies in the Ryan/Wyden Plan.
A bottom-up free market approach to health care still going strong.HSA accounts surpass $12.4 billion in 2011:
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) surpassed $12.4 billion in assets in almost 6.8 million accounts by year-end 2011, a year over year increase of almost 20% for accounts and a 26% increase in assets for the period from December 31st, 2010 to December 31st, 2011.
Outside of any market use or benefit, for families with chronically ill or disabled members HSAs are a blessing. While it has become fashionable to denounce the very notion of a “compassionate conservative,” some steps were taken in the right direction for future limited government reform while focusing on individual relief or protection from deadpan corporatists or unions within the Great Society behemoth we all currently navigate. Something that gets lost in the shallow, ideology purity test for government reform today, it is no mistake that the millions who have availed themselves of any “big” government legislation like HSAs, NCLB, IDEA, etc., are best informed on the centralized power drag on our economy. In between swapping prescription drug nightmares with Mark Steyn, don’t you find, Ed? You’re primed and ready to kill this 4th estate behemoth of regulation. A positive built-in, conservative building block for future limited government social cohesion. Now we need to elect Rick Santorum to lead the congress on reform. However, on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society, I thank you for HSAs.
On the USS Yorktown in Charleston harbor, South Carolina native, war hero and CAIR antagonizer, three-star General Jerry Boykin endorsed Rick Santorum for president. A natural fit for both men are outspoken against radical jihad as Santorum has called for a change to the Rules of Engagement and Gen. Boykin, as a Christian evangelist, was pressured by the Obama administration led U.S. Military Academy at West Point to withdraw recently from their prayer breakfast after opposition surfaced from Council on Islamic American Relations (CAIR). With eight years on the Senate Armed Services committee, Rick Santorum’s historical foreign policy experience overlaps well with Gen. Boykin’s in battle as part of America’s most elite fighting force; then rising to command those troops as a general, and also served in the CIA and Pentagon on the strategic planning and management side of counter-insurgency. If, a Delta Force hero who has served as the tip of the spear at the highest ranks (commander memorialized in the movie “Black Hawk Down”), who is also a man of profoundly deep faith, sees his patriotism mirrored by endorsing Rick Santorum for Commander In Chief, then who are we to disagree?
Thanks for reading,your cordial comments and consideration to hear another's viewpoints.
May the best man win and God's will be done :)
Let me try again:
Rick Santorum cannot win the GOP nomination. Even if he could, he cannot beat Obama.
You say, may the best man win .. great, kindness, wonderful, sweet ... and sigh.
To beat Obama we MUST play the game better than the Chicago politicalmobsters.
I love that great IBM slogan...
Think. Think. Think.
#withNewt
Thank you, please keep trying to enlighten these folks, please. There are sooooo many independents who can't/won't get behind Santorum's rigid social issues stuff. Santorum is the poster boy for right wing social engineering.
above comment intended to reply to JustOneMansOpinion. Speaking for independents - without which Republicans CANNOT win.
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