[tomder55]

If it were up to me I'd scrap this primary system... especially open primaries ;and go back to smoke filled rooms.

By the way... it is still up for grabs.. just remember... a month before Iowa 2008 ,Evita was the presumptive inevidible candidate... and the debates of both parties resembled a collection of the 7 dwarfs .

[tomder55]

Ex ;have you been reading the President's strategery to get to 270 electoral votes ? It's insane! Salena Zeto ;a very credible reporter in PA. is saying the President is ready to write off the state . The Slimes is reporting that the President has completely written off the white "middle class" vote (or as the President calls them ;the bitter clingers ) and instead counting on mobilizing minority voters and egg head elite 1%'ers .

Obama writing off Pennsylvania? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The Future of the Obama Coalition - NYTimes.com

So ;as chaotic as the Republic field appears ,the President has a fight on his hands.

[excon]

Ex ;have you been reading the President's strategery to get to 270 electoral votes ?

Hello again, tom:

I don't disagree. Obama has NOTHING left. He is eminently beatable. That makes what the Republicans are doing to themselves even worse.

Obama lost me. The ONLY reason to support him is the two, and possibly three, Supreme Court nominations the next president will make..

excon

[tomder55]

The reason Newt is surging is because he stepped away from the silly circular firing squad and has kept his attacks on the President and the media gotcha questions . That has served him well.

But he is less than ideal as a national candidate ,and since it is clear that unless Santorum rises ,or that Huntsman is paid attention to... that I will not get anything close to my positions from the nominee ;then the best I can hope for is the one that can best defeat Obama .

[excon]

Newt is surging because he stepped away from the silly circular firing squad and has kept his attacks on the President and the media gotcha questions . That has served him well.

Hello again, tom:


It's true, he's picking on the right wings favorite targets, the media, Obama and poor people.. AND, it's serving him well in the primary states. By virtue of how they're rigged, I think he'll BE the nominee.

Then, he'll crash.

excon

[tomder55]

I hope not... I notice the Obots are taking pot shots at him. In recent days Biden ,Axelrod and Madame Mimi Pelosi have thrown jabs .

I think it's a false flag aimed to raise Newt's cred in the Republic Party. They'd love nothing more than having him represent the GOP .

Is there a risk in that ? You betcha . There once was a 'pragmatic' ,non-ideological GOP candidate ,who had negatives up the kazooo... was ethically challenged , and had no core convictions beyond raw power politics. He reinvented himself after his fall from grace .He ran at a time where the grass root fringe was in the streets tearing the Democrat party to shreds . He won 2 terms in office and it was only his self destructive nature that destroyed his Presidency. Tricky Newt ?


Meanwhile.. Mittens reached out to Dan Qualye yesterday . AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!

[speechlesstx]

Yeah, Mimi had to backtrack in typical Democrat fashion (lie about it) after Newt called her bluff. This is what Mimi said:

“One of these days we’ll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich,” Pelosi said. “I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff.”

Newt fired back:

First of all I’d like to thank Speaker Pelosi for what I regard as an early Christmas gift. If she’s suggesting she’s going to use material she developed while she was on the ethics committee, that is a fundamental violation of the rules of the House and I would hope members would immediately file charges against her the second she does it.

Mimi's backtrack:

“Leader Pelosi was clearly referring to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware,” Hammill wrote in a statement.

Clearly. LOL, what a liar. By the way, Newt was cleared by the IRS in the case.

[excon]

Clearly. LOL, what a liar. By the way, Newt was cleared by the IRS in the case.

Hello Steve:

The IRS doesn't "clear" people.. It just decides not to prosecute. But, he WAS found guilty by the House Ethics Committee and paid a substantial fine. That is just so, and there were Republicans on that committee too.

Look. He's a PROVEN scumbag, on ALL fronts. The question for you is, is he the SAME scumbag, or has he changed.. After all, he HAS been happily married for 13 years... They love each other too, it's clear. She's with him everywhere...

But, in the context of their happy love life, it must be remembered that he was boffing HER at the same time that he was a married man.

excon

[speechlesstx]

But, in the context of their happy love life, it must be remembered that he was boffing HER at the same time that he was a married man.

So it's OK for presidents but not candidates?

P.S. The IRS did clear the foundation that was the subject of the ethics probe.

IRS Clears Foundation That Aided Gingrich Course

Associated Press
Thursday, February 4, 1999; Page A05

The Internal Revenue Service has cleared an organization of charges that it violated its tax-exempt status when it helped fund a college course taught by former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), the organization said yesterday.

The IRS, concluding a three-year investigation, ruled that the Progress and Freedom Foundation's donations to Gingrich were "consistent with its stated exempt purposes," and Gingrich's course and course book "were educational in content."

The foundation, which posted the IRS decision on its Web page, welcomed what it said was a "clean bill of health." An IRS spokesman said the agency is barred by law from commenting on rulings.

"No one likes being audited by the IRS," said the foundation's president, Jeff Eisenach. "In this case, though, it was important for the IRS to resolve the questions raised by the House ethics investigation."

In that investigation, special counsel James M. Cole concluded that Gingrich, in a class titled "Renewing American Civilization," which he taught at two Georgia colleges, was funded by tax-exempt charities for activities that were "substantially motivated by partisan, political goals."

Gingrich denied violating tax laws and described his college course as nonpartisan. But he agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty for his misleading statements to the ethics committee as it investigated the financing of the college course and other issues.

In its ruling, the IRS said the content of Gingrich's course "was educational and never favored or opposed a candidate for public office."

It said the foundation "did not intervene on behalf of candidates of the Republican Party merely by promoting" themes in the course.

The foundation, headquartered here, says it is dedicated to studying the digital revolution and its implications for public policy.

[excon]

So it's ok for presidents but not candidates?

Hello again, Steve:

When did I say I supported that lying philandering SOB?

But, even if I did, I come from the party where YOU say that sexual dithering doesn't matter... YOU, on the other hand, come from a party where you SAY sexual dithering DOES matter. So, he question is, does it matter to YOU?

excon

[tomder55]

He was an effective House leader ;but in the contest between Newt and Clintoon ,Clintoon reduced him to an insurgent bomb thrower.

As an example ,he did the right thing by holding firm and shutting down the government . Then he does this cry baby act over his place on Air Force One and bam.. the perception is that slight is why he shut the government down... doesn't matter what role Clintoon played .

It was also silly for them to do the whole impeachment charade . The perception was that it was about sex and not the other crimes Clintoon was guilty of . He also knew he would never get the Senate to convict . So again... it looked petty and vindictive.

I am all for personal redemption and conversion... it is good for the soul . But ,the question becomes 'who do you trust ' ?
From a PR point of view there is a stark contrast between the sexploits of Newt compared to the wholesome family image the President successfully portrays . Mitt's biggest transgression as far as that goes is the rumor that he tied a dog to his car. (which get's wildly exaggerated in the press accounts... in fact he had the dog in a dog carrier on the roof and built a special windshield for the carrier... the dog was as comfortable and secure as if it was in the back of the wagon ) .

[excon]

Hello tom:

I feel your pain having to make excuses for your nominees. Can you imagine what the conversation would be if Thune, Christ, Bush, Barber, Mitch Daniels or even Paul Ryan were running??

Newt wouldn't be in the conversation. How did you guys do this to yourselves?

excon

[tomder55]

Weren't me . I came out early in support of Daniels. then after him TPaw .

I could still support Santorum or Huntsman . I'll settle for Mittens .

[talaniman]

Why didn't the common sense, heavy hitters in the republican party throw there hat in the ring if Obama was so beatable, and unpopular?

I am not complaining though as this is the best circus I have ever been to. To be fair it is Romney's turn. That's how its always been done.

[tomder55]

Maybe they didn't want to be Bork'd ,Thomas'd or Cain'd . Daniels was very clear on that as being his reason . The press started putting the cross hairs on his wife in May.

[excon]

maybe they didn't want to be Bork'd ,Thomas'd or Cain'd . Daniels was very clear on that as being his reason . The press started putting the cross hairs on his wife in May.

Hello again, tom:

So, it was the person who REPORTED his unit entered uncharted territories, NOT the person who was driving the unit... I understand... You know, if it wasn't for the media, you'd be the best guys in the world...

Uhhh, somehow I don't believe that...

excon

[tomder55]

It's the double standard. There was no serious press coverage of John Edwards until after the election even though he was the VP nominee .

I have yet the hear any proof of the Cain allegations . Every one if the charges are suspect.

[excon]

I have yet the hear any proof of the Cain allegations . Every one if the charges are suspect.

Hello again, tom:

I agree. For ME, though, it's not about the charges. It's about how he HANDLED the charges. He failed. Leadership isn't about what you do when it's going well. It's about what you do when things go south. This is a good example of how he might handle a confrontation with, say Iran.

Failing here cost him the race. Failing there could cost us the world.

excon

[tomder55]

He denied the charges... don't know what else he was supposed to do.

[tomder55]

Back to Gingrich . Rep. Peter King served in Congress when Gingrich was speaker .
But when asked this morning if he supports the Gingrich campaign he emphatically said no.
"He's too self-centered,"...."too erratic."..."He does not have the discipline, does not have the capacity to control himself." are some of the nicer things he said . King predicted that if Newt became President , "the country and Congress would be going through one crisis after another."

This echoes comments made by Senator Tom Coburn . "There's a lot of candidates out there. I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's having served under him for four years and personally experienced his leadership,"