It's time to stop dilly-dallying. Super Tuesday is upon us and with that, the nomination race could be all but over unless conservatives and libertarians finally unite behind one candidate, a candidate who can beat both Romney AND Obama. That candidate needs to be Newt.
Among the not-Romney's he is the only one who can unite the party. Economic conservatives like him because he balanced the budget and reformed welfare. Defense hawks like him because he is the most hawkish of the lot. Social conservatives, when they can get past his personal life, like him for his strong record on issues like abortion. And libertarians, like the Libertarian Party's nominee in 2008, Bob Barr, like him because he is economically libertarian and not over the top on social issues.
Can anyone honestly say the same thing about Santorum? He goes out of his way to attack individual freedom and libertarianism and completely blew his chance to be the nominee by focusing on social issues instead of the economy (probably because his economic policy record isn't really that great). Who attacks prenatal diagnostics? Or the idea of contraception? Or says he wants to vomit over a rather non-controversial (and somewhat revered) JFK speech? He has proven himself to be quite a bit more gaffe prone and offensive than Newt, despite the fact that people thought he was a "safer" option. Even I was offended by some of the stuff he said and I am a Pro-Life registered Republican. It's really not surprising that his support is crumbling like it is. See the latest tracking data from Gallup (Santorum's popularity is in dark green, Romney's is black [matches his soul], Newt's is orange and Ron Paul's is light green):
Santorum is just not ready for prime time. He is simply too divisive, offending gays, women, parents, protestants and libertarians (in total about 80-90% of the electorate). Unfortunately, he retains enough support to possibly give Romney a majority of the states on Super Tuesday. His conservative backers need to wake up quickly, bite the bullet and go with Newt. As the brilliant Thomas Sowell wrote:
Newt Gingrich is the only candidate still in the field who can clearly take on Barack Obama in one-on-one debate and cut through the Obama rhetoric and mystique with hard facts and plain logic.
Nor is this just a matter of having a gift of gab. Gingrich has a far deeper grasp of both the policies and the politics than the other Republican candidates.
Can anyone really argue with that?
I think Ron Paul supporters (the historically Republican ones, not the liberals who are just visiting the GOP for this election in order to support Paul) need to wake up as well. They are not furthering libertarianism at all by supporting Paul any more. He's made his point and has shown that he is a force to be reckoned with but supporting Paul on Tuesday just increases the chances that the most statist candidate, Mitt Romney, is nominated. Do you really want to be responsible for nominating the only Governor, Republican or Democrat, to enact a socialist universal healthcare system in their states? Newt isn't a libertarian but he is the man who did the most to wound the leviathan in the last 30 years. Why not vote for him and give this country a chance? It clearly won't with either Romney or Obama.
Finally, Newt is simply the most electable candidate in the race right now. As I mentioned earlier, he can unite the party, has a great grasp of both politics and logic and can actually explain conservatism in a way that others can understand and agree with. Santorum and Paul are both to extreme to get almost any independents over into the fold.
Sure he has baggage but I think most of it will go away. Freddie Mac? Let's see Obama bring that up when he received over $126,000 in bribes, err I mean donations, from Fannie and Freddie while he was in or seeking office (he was the #2 largest recipient in Congress, #1 was the notoriously corrupt Chris Dodd). Nancy Pelosi? Let's see Obama make an issue out of that one or Newt's opposition to cramming down the Ryan plan.
It's time for believers in small government and personal liberty to unite behind Newt, otherwise we will once again have a Nixon vs. McGovern sort of choice in the fall. And the stakes are just too high this election for that.
Cross posted from libertarian neocon's blog.
10 comments:
Hear, Hear!
A standing ovation for this post!
Conservatives, Unite!
Newt is the man.
Stakes are too high . . . my sentiments exactly. Go Newt!
Another great post! Keep firing!
I made the first donation I've ever made to a political campaign yesterday and it was to Newt.
Now is the time that he can roar back. The more people see of Santurum, the more they will see that he has more "baggage" than Newt. Santurum will continue to drop in the poles as he gets vetted. Electing either Santurum or Romney will take the Republican party backwards, not forward.
Many have jumped on the bandwagon accusing Newt of attacking Paul Ryan when he said “I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,”. This is one of the attacks I was referencing in my original post where people take the Media or the Est Gopers pundants attack instead of doing a little homework.
This comment like many of his ideas is a long held conservative position that social engineering isn't a desired effect on the American people from either party. In the speech Newt made in 1994 prior to being sworn in as Speaker (link below) at the 38 minute mark he address this, using the same words and acknowledges that it will get him in trouble with the establishment.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/pro...
IMO, in totality this is one of Newt's best speeches ever.
Another great column Neocon.
I haven't given up on my support of Newt. I've always known he's the best choice for what America needs now.
I am continually baffled by the support that Romney is getting. His RomneyCare should disqualify him from getting the nomination. The GOP should see this.
Anyway, I've been reading that Newt has had great crowds in Georgia, so he should do well. I know the delagates are proportional.
Thank You dear Lord Jesus Christ for answering my prayers for Newt Gingrich!!! NEWT 2012!!!!
jim, I had always liked your post until about a week ago when you seemingly were jumping ship for Santorum! Now that he is sinking like many predicted, you are back on board w Gingrich. Please,we are going to have to quit changing candidates like we change our clothes. Your post this a.m. is right on...get behind Gingrich-it's our only chance of defeating Romney. I had been saying this for months. Romney purposely tried to take Gingrich out early and did a good job suppressing his poll numbers for weeks. He is the stronger between himself and Santorum. Let's go folks and get 'er done w Newt.
wodiej,
This is libertarian neocon, I take full responsibility for the posts, but both are completely consistent with each other. At no point during the post about Santorum's chances in Michigan did I say that people should vote for him or dump Newt.
wodiej,
Here is a quote from that "jumping ship for Santorum post"
"If Santorum is routed in Arizona, Michigan and Washington and Newt keeps pounding away so well on Obama as he has been, conservative voters might wake up to the candidate who so clearly is voicing our frustrations with the current administration and its actions. "
I stand by my comments.
Really good, libertarian neocon -- Although IMO McGovern was a patriot-- just really, really, really naive.
TODAY, the only candidate who is prepared to help us get $100 billion dollars a year in new oil royalties and no tax increase is NEWT!
Newt shows us the way to MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET, A STRONGER ECONOMY AND A STRONGER AMERICA!!
Watch it again. Share it again. This is the path forward.
“AMERICAN ENERGY & PROSPERITY NOW”
http://www.youtube.com/user/ObamaBC?feature=watch 28:59
[very, very partial transcript]
We may have more than 3x more oil in the United States as they have in Saudi Arabia. By the end of the decade, we can be the leading producer of oil in the world.
We may have more oil in the United States than has been pumped worldwide since the beginning in 1870.
Same with natural gas. New technology. They thought in 2007 we were running out. Now, we have a technology that was developed for ocean drilling, brilliant techniques for going out horizontal. We get the gas to come to one point with steam and fracturing. We may have a 100 year supply because of science and technology.
Now, we may become an exporter of natural gas. Western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, along Appalachians, all the way out to Dallas, Texas. Farmers who own the land will earn money form their natural gas.
These are practical improvements. We will produce so much oil that no American will ever again bow to a Saudi king. WE know the Saudis export radical Islam. We know they’re not straight with us. We has an opportunity now to build up American Energy and we can be honest with the Saudis.
We now have the most expensive gas we’ve ever had. Secretary Chu, Secretary of anti-energy, wants American gas prices to match Europe. That would be $9 a gallon.
Many academics bicycle to their campus, have no idea how America works. They’re doing exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. We’d be better off with a brand-new approach. [end] +++++
THIS IS PERFECTLY PRACTICAL! WE CAN HAVE THE FUTURE WE WANT!
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