I have mixed feelings about this

On one hand, the thought of Gingrich being even remotely close to winning the Presidency of the United States of America. If the thought of McCain being POTUS would be enough to send a "cold chill" down our spines, the prospect of Newt becoming President should provoke widespread panic.


OTOH he's got so much baggage and bombast that he is more likely to self-destruct before the GE is over and Obama could very well run the tables everywhere but in the deep south (though some polling has suggested that Obama could potentially flip TEXAS if Gingrich were the nominee, so........). Newt is basically a more intelligent, politically saavy male version of Sarah Palin (except on steroids) and people were (rightfully) freaked out about her being a heartbeat away from the Presidency, so Newt would likely scare people away, especially the moderates and indies. Newt's advantages would be that he would excite the Republican "base" but he'd also rally ours as well.

I'm not complacent and I'm sure the Obama campaign isn't either but if anybody could single-handedly blow the chances for the Republicans to win back the WH and Congress in 2012, Newt would be thy person IMHO.

Any updates on the Jeb Bush Endorsement (or non-endorsement)?

This, along with the Paterno story, was issued then retracted last night. Anybody know the final outcome?


If he endorses Romney, that would be a good thing IMHO b/c that would pretty much seal it that he's not going to try running for POTUS this year.

Why can't we just have "clean bills" anymore?

Why does something have to be tied to something else important? Why can't people just introduce legislation that we can debate and have a good clean UP-OR-DOWN VOTE on? I'm getting sick and tired of all of this "hostage-taking". I know that tying disparate pieces of legislation together has been happening forever and both parties have done it for various reasons but it's getting really old and stupid, especially since it's practically become SOP for the Republicans in Congress as a vehicle for stuffing necessary bills (i.e. appropriations) with "poison pills" that they KNOW would NEVER be passed on their own merits. If the Republicans think that they have to tie the approval of the pipeline to a payroll tax cut extension, then perhaps they don't have as strong an argument for the pipeline as they think they do. Additionally, they haven't been paying attention. President Obama didn't shut the deal down permanently but he (correctly) refused to approve it on the Repubs' timeline and without addressing pertinent environmental concerns first- not to mention that Nebraska REPUBLICANS had issues with it as well. He also left the door wide open for Keystone XL to re-apply, which I believe they are going to, so it seems as though the Republicans just want to ram this down our throats (sound familiar?) for the benefit of their buddies in the oil industry.

Congress may be able to override President Obama on Keystone XL Pipeline

Crud..................



http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/20/congress-may-have-power-to-approve-keystone-pipeline-on-its-own/

I thought that the State Department had authority over this kind of decision?

He still has the best organization ("ground game") of all of the candidates

None of the other candidates AFAIK have the organization and/or money to take it all the way. I also seem to recall that despite McCain's frontrunner status and the inevitability that surrounded his campaign in 2007-2008, he did go through a rough patch for awhile where he fired/replaced most of his campaign staff and he had to face down a strong challenge from Huckabee. Romney has no real incentive to drop out of the race yet. He can (and probably will) "retool" his campaign and come back strong. He just may not have as clear and easy path to the nomination as he (and most establishment Republicans) believed he would. With Cain, Bachmann, and now Perry gone, the socially conservative "not- Romneys" have fewer candidates to be divided among as well.

To the extent that anybody is talking about anything that actually matters to the public during thes

it seems to be geared towards opening up (false and/or misleading) attacks on President Obama and disseminating right-wing talking points, not really offering any real solutions but then again this IS the GOP primary we are talking about here.

The Republicans are GREAT at offering talking points but NOT "walking points".

Newt will go from being an "angry attack muffin"

to a burnt-to-a-crisp angry attack muffin!

I'm as far as I can be from being a fan of Peggy Noonan but she came up with a description of Newt Gingrich for the ages!

He asked his wife first!!!!!

It's funny that actual reporting

is now considered a "hit piece". It's a lot like how Sarah Palin began the annoying habit of labeling ANY question posed to her by the media (even sympathetic media) that she didn't have snap answers for as "gotcha" questions.

It's fair to say that this young lady won't be a Romney voter

or her friends or family. Romney seems to be purposely pissing off (and away) potential voters but, hey, I guess that's what it takes to win a GOP primary nowadays?

So, now that we know that they aren't going to try to fool people with a GWB-style "compassionate conservative" angle, who's left that the GOP won't count on voting for them in the GE (in any significant numbers anyway):

1. Women
2. African-Americans
3. Hispanics (non-Cubans)
4. GLBT persons- Newt just flat out told them NOT to vote for the GOP