The abysmal incompetence of the non-Romneys; Huntsman, Gingrich, Perry all go Occupier; Santorum declines
Sigh. Let me say that again: Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
If you were unfortunate enough to watch Saturday night’s GOP debate in New Hampshire, you saw a pageant of feckless non-Romneys fail to step up to the plate and forcefully challenge Mitt Romney’s presumptive claim to the GOP presidential nomination. Newt Gingrich, who has spent the last week whining about the liberal media, hid behind the liberal media when asked about attacks of Romney’s private-sector record at Bain Capital:
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I — I haven’t seen the film, but it does reflect “The New York Times” story two days ago about one particular company. And I think people should look at the film and decide. If it’s factually accurate, it raises questions.
I’m very much for free enterprise. I’m very much for exactly what the Governor just described, create a business, grow jobs, provide leadership.
I’m not nearly as enamored of a Wall Street model where you can flip companies, you can go in and have leveraged buyouts, you can basically take out all the money, leaving behind the workers. And I think most…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that the Bain model?
GINGRICH: Well, I — I think you have to look at the film. You have to look at “The New York Times” coverage of one particular company. And you have to ask yourself some questions.
The Governor has every right to defend that. And I think — but I think it’s a legitimate part of the debate to say, OK, on balance, were people better off or were people worse off by this particular style of investment?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Back in December, you said that Governor Romney made money at Bain by, quote, “bankrupting companies and laying off employees.”
GINGRICH: That was, I think, “The New York Times” story two days ago. They took one specific company. They walked through in detail. They showed what they bought it for, how much they took out of it and the 1,700 people they left unemployed. Now that’s — check “The New York Times” story, but that’s their story.
Leaning on the Fishwrap of Record as a crutch instead of owning up? This isn’t just cartoon-ish behavior. It’s poltroon-ish behavior.
With his incessant bashing of how the private equity industry works in the real world, Newt (along with Rick Perry) is morphing into an Occupy Wall Street zealot.
Or a David Axelrod:
His rivals have sought to turn his Bain tenure against him. Rick Perry has run an ad saying Mr. Romney “made millions buying companies and laying off workers.” Newt Gingrich has said Mr. Romney should “give back all the money he’s earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain.”
Mr. Gingrich laced into Mr. Romney at this weekend’s debates, and a group associated with the former House Speaker plans to release a 28-minute documentary blistering Mr. Romney’s Bain tenure. Meanwhile, on ABC on Sunday, Obama strategist David Axelrod criticized Mr. Romney as “a corporate raider.”
Mr. Romney describes job losses and bankruptcies as an inevitable byproduct of the capitalist system, and has said that in some cases, eliminating some jobs may save the rest of the company. In response to Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Romney said: “Doesn’t he understand how the economy works? In the real economy, some businesses succeed and some fail.”
Asked in an interview about Bain’s bankruptcy and failure rate, Mr. Romney said that in buyout deals, “our orientation was by and large to acquire businesses that were out of favor and in some cases in trouble.” He added that Bain wasn’t the type of firm that stripped companies and fired workers, but instead, “our approach was to try to build a business. We were not always successful.”
FYI, the Wall Street Journal analysis of Bain’s mixed record during Romney’s tenure is here. Takeaway:
The Wall Street Journal, aiming for a comprehensive assessment, examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Mr. Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain’s involvement and shortly afterward.
Among the findings: 22% either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses. An additional 8% ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost.
Another finding was that Bain produced stellar returns for its investors—yet the bulk of these came from just a small number of its investments. Ten deals produced more than 70% of the dollar gains.
…The Journal analysis shows that in total, Bain produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors in the 77 deals, on about $1.1 billion invested. Overall, Bain recorded roughly 50% to 80% annual gains in this period, which experts said was among the best track records for buyout firms in that era.
All of that will get lost as the Occupy rhetoric seeps into attack ads by Republicans that will send tingles down the legs of anti-capitalists everywhere from Gingrich’s new favorite newspaper, the New York Times, on down. Click on that link to read about the $5 million boost to a pro-Gingrich super PAC (yes, super PACs — those evil entities that Gingrich was whining about last week after his Iowa drubbing) that will saturate South Carolina with Occupy-style demagoguery. With Newt’s explicit approval and endorsement.
The latest evolution of anti-capitalism bashing by pathetic GOP candidates? Distorting Romney’s remarks about the private-sector ability to fire people who aren’t doing their job:
CBS News reports via Twitter:
Huntsman tells reporters in Concord: “Governor Romney enjoys firing people; I enjoy creating jobs.”
It’s a reference to this:
Mitt Romney, who’s under attack for his business record, said Monday that he likes to have the option of firing people.
“I like being able to fire people who provide services to me,” he told business executives from the Nashua Greater Chamber of Commerce, adding if he isn’t getting a “good service, I want to say, I’m going to get someone else.”
The point will get lost down the demagogic rabbit hole:
He added: “You know, if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I want to say, ‘You know, I’m going to get someone else to provide that service to me.’”
Mitt Romney’s chronic flip-flopping political career is teeming with reasons to oppose his nomination — from his support for racial preferences, to government funding of abortion, liberal judges, global warming enviro-nitwittery, TARP, auto bailouts, the Obama stimulus, gun control, and of course, individual health insurance mandates that presaged Obamacare.
Instead of focusing on his long political record of expedience, incompetent non-Romneys have morphed into Michael Moore propagandists — throwing not just Bain Capital under the bus, but wealth creators of all kinds who take risks in the private marketplace.
We’re screwed.
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More…
Lori Ziganto advises: “Fight like a girl or lose, candidates!”
Kurt Schlichter nails the depressing conundrum:
My friend Jeff Emanuel makes a point that Bain is a general weakness for Romney in a jobs/class warfare general election race with Obama — and several other Twitter friends point out that it is useful for Romney to be forced to answer Bain-bashing attacks now rather than later — but Jeff also acknowledges that “pro-market Republicans aren’t the ones who should be beating” the anti-capitalism drum.
Jim Pethokoukis: Romney has nothing to apologize for in his Bain career…
Of course, Romney and Bain weren’t in the game to create jobs. They were in it to make money for their investors and themselves. Then again, the same would go for Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Warren Buffett, and just about every other successful entrepreneur and investor you could name. But that is the miracle of free-market capitalism. The pursuit of profits by creating value benefits the rest of society through higher incomes, more jobs, and better products and services. This isn’t “destructive creation”—like, say, crippling U.S. fossil fuel production before “clean energy” sources are viable—but “creative destruction” where innovation and efficiency sweep away the old and replace it with a more productive and wealthier society.
Update: Good for Rick Santorum…
Leaving the frozen event, Santorum also declined to take a shot at Romney over a remark earlier from the front-runner that he “likes to fire” workers who are not doing a good job.
“We try to hire good people, we try to keep them employed. If someone if obviously not performing their duty and their mission, obviously a business has a responsibility for the greater good of the business and the other employees to make sure that everybody there is pulling their weight,” Santorum said.
Asked whether Romney’s corporate takeover experience at Bain Capital would be a liability, Santorum said: “I’m not making it a liability. I believe in the private sector.”
Via The Right Scoop, Rush Limbaugh takes Newt to task.
Heckuva job, non-Romneys…
National Journal headline via Allahpundit: Capitalism Comes Under Fire in Republican Primary Campaign
***
Via The Right Scoop on MRC, here’s a Fox News video montage of the Occupy Republicans:
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Categories: 2012 Campaign,Mitt Romney,New York Times,Newt Gingrich,Ron Paul
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I must be missing something…
Where was the commentary calling out Romney when he spent millions on attack ads against Newt much of which was absolute lies? So Newt launches his own offensive, with the truth, and he’s attacked by conservatives.
This is why we got Obama and McCain last time and this why we’ll never get a conservative in the White House again.
Management giving other management personal stock holdings is not capitalism. Capitalism is when you use your capital to produce wealth and you then own that wealth.
I think the problem is here:
Again, have you heard the commercials? They have (among other things) complaints of Mitt’s net worth, estimated worth of his company, number of homes, size of his main residence, and an old woman who bitterly insists that Mitt is rich and doesn’t care about people unless they are rich.
Gag me! This is equine excrement!
But Newt supports war with Iran and proclaims his desire to protect Israel, so nothing else matters to ‘conservatives’, in comparison.
Hiraghm…the Mao ornament is a symbol of what is wrong with the current administration! There are plenty of other examples. I just chose that one as a visual to keep in mind when anyone is tempted to allow Obama to steal this election! There is a LOT at stake and yes…that is a pun for our evil “vampire” POTUS!
Whatever your feeling for Romney (not my first choice), that is a despicable statement worthy of a lying liberal, not a conservative.
Fellow Peons; Try to remember the model for our current political exercise is “Professional Wrestling”. Don’t invest too much emotion, hope, nor serious expectations into the current process.
Man, you’ve got that right!! Talk about fomenting class warfare in the Republican Party!! Gingrich has no business putting ads out blasting ANYONE’S wealth. What is he thinking? This is a capitalist country where you can strike it rich, and more power to you!! Gingrich isn’t so poor himself! The only thing this negative stuff is doing is trashing Romney and every other candidate and giving plenty of ad fodder to the dems. You can bet your bippy they will make good use of it. We complain about Obama’s class warfare and then come out with that crap? Playing right into the regressive’s hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! So I say to Gingrich, and the rest of the mud slingers…STFU!! And get back to talking about solutions and the incredible harm Obama is inflicting on this country. Spit.
Yes! A perfect example of regressive tactics. Take an innocent statement and twist it into a stupid reply. A good comparison would be Pelosi saying Republicans want dirty air, dirty water and unsafe food.
That’s what I’m thinking.
If you’re going to downsize the Federal government, people need to be axed.
Like, the Depts of Education, Energy and HUD, about half the EPA… etc.
Romney, Gingrich, Perry, Santorum, Huntsman, Paul…the perfect example of a republican circular firing squad!
Someone is trying to inflict a virus here, folks. My blocker is going crazy.
Didn’t read all the comments, but has anyone mentioned Huntsman is a former Obama Administration official who was put in the race as a moderate Mormon to delay the nomination of another moderate Mormon when it looked like nobody else was seriously going to challenge? Huntsman is a willing tool of Obama, RonPaul is a useful idiot, a deluded fool.
Of course, standard boilerplate, I was sending money to Herman, then switched to Santorum, but will vote for anyone against Obama in November.
Conundrum on Paul- mentally ill (conspiracy theories, probably hates Jews, maybe hates Blacks, has come close to admitting he thinks Bush was behind September 11th) but patriotic, better than a sane (excluding possible narcissistic personality disorder) traitor who actively works to destroy the Constitution? I think the world economy is too big for a gold standard, but auditing and reining in the Fed actually seems like a good idea.
It’s amazing to see only two candidates from either party actually acting presidential: Romney and Santorum.
Isn’t this part of the problem? After three years of “Blame Bush,” “You have to sit in the back,” class-warfare, race-warfare, and any other kind of “under the bus” politics our Complainer in Chief can come up with, aren’t we ready to demand candidates that actually act like a POTUS?
Romney has a LOT of flaws, but at least he has the common sense – and that’s what this is – to act presidential.
Gingrich is a baby trapped in a man’s body, and the people rising to pile on with him are fools.
Logic, common sense and principles do not lead to Romney as the GOP nominee. MONEY leads to Romney as the GOP nominee. Dirty money. Dirty one-world-without-borders money. The same money that gave us Bush and Obama.
All of this talk is about some people rationalizing why conservatives have to again vote for the establishment liberal. As if that will change anything but the kabuki.
Over at Ace of Spades, there is a poll up on their main page that excludes Ron Paul as a potential selection for voters! And that website is supposed to be a conservative, right-wing gathering place.
If Ron Paul loses the primary, I pray that he runs third party as did Perot in 1992. The right deserves Barack Obama if they are going to treat a small government minded individual such as Paul as they are doing.
RonPaul is a nutter who has come very close to admitting he is a September 11th Trufer.
50/50 chance 123UN is a Moby Obamite, who wants a Marxist traitor to win a second term and finish destroying this country.
The RonPaul who is the darling of Storm Front from his days writing (or failing to supervise) for his various newsletters can’t be elected.
A ‘compassionate conservative’ Bush clone like Romney would suck, but would be infinitely better than Obama, and in the mean time, I’m still hoping a better (not perfect) alternative like Santorum or Perry comes back.
Two stories that are off topic.
One is Obama will be giving waivers to illegal aliens that go back to their home country, then they can return in as short a time as one day. The stipulation is they have relatives that are citizens.
The other is a question. What’s going on with Fast and Furious?
What a ridiculous, stupid thing to say! No further comment necessary.
Yes, you figured me out – I LOVE Obama. His brand of communism is so delicious!
Raul Castro was the LOTE too. What can you do? He’s the only electable candidate on the ballot.
Meanwhile, Eric Holder is doing his darndest to block the states from requiring photo ID’s to vote. See the connection? These traitors (Obama, Holder, etc.) WANT illegal aliens to vote and if they give them a certain amount of amnesty and allow them to come back, then give them an “out” so they can vote, Obama will win. It is a simple as that and as transparent! Oh, and ACORN will pick up these aliens on the street corners and take them to the polls, over and over and over. Of course, ACORN can’t possibly take the poor LEGAL folks who need picture ID’s to the place where they can get their FREE picture ID’s, but they will definitely be able to take illegals to the polls. The picture ID’s and extremely carefull poll watching is going to be crucial this year if we hope to keep our country! Volunteer to help with that, if you can.
Happy: I did read that about Holder, also how the states would make it very easy for a “citizen” to get a photo ID. In fact in one state, I forget which one, said they would go to the person’s home at no charge to the person needing the ID.
The New Black Panther that was “punished” in Philly will be able to again intimidate voters during the 2012 Presidential election, or theft, take your pick or place your bets.
Malkin’s right of course.
We’re boned.
Worst of all, Romney IS showing himself to be the most competent and appropriate guy up there. Not because he’s so great. He is exactly as Coulter characterized him — generic republican. But rather because the rest are so lame, while he is, well … adequate.
Good news – Compared to Obama Romney is the second coming.
Bad news – Romney is a status quo big government guy, as everyone posting here already knows.
If Romney is in, we won’t be able to address getting rid of the progressives till at least 2016, if not 2020.
What’s to win if the elected candidate either believes in or turns a blind eye to the same policies Obama supports? Voting for the lesser of two evils still produces evil. Ideas and conviction matter moreover personalities. This is exactly why “conservatives” are the most inept voting bloc in the country. They talk a big game about principles, yet they don’t put forth their own candidates or vote according to said principles. If “conservatives” were smart, they’d cut their losses on the presidential election and focus their efforts towards Congress. There is no reason a Congress with a 10%-15% approval rating should have an 85% incumbant re-election rate. Winning control of the House and Senate, not to mention local governments and state legislatures, will have far greater effectiveness in curbing “liberal” legislation and executive abuses.
BINGO! +200
You are presenting the “Operation Counterweight” strategy. Vote against the status quo for prez but get more conservatives in place where the power really lies in this country, Congress. Now if we can just get those spineless tudbolts to stop whining about being only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government and actually exercise their power.
Classic Gingrich hoof in mouth disease.
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HI RUFUS_LEVIN–#294. Congratulations on the longest comment I have read in years. War and Peace is turning green with envy! You did hit all the bases.
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Thank Heaven for super fast modems, wide screen displays, and giant memories.
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John Bibb
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One more time (again): Our main thrust needs to be getting TEA Party candidates in the house and senate. THAT is where the legislation required to keep our ship from running aground in the socialist shoals will come from…get it? Even mittens will be more likely to sign their legislation into law than 0bama. The best conservative leader on the PLANET isn’t going to be able to “lead” the democrat socialist party members to do anything but continue their destruction of our country. Can you see Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, or even Christ himself getting Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid to do ANYTHING that thwarts their socialist agenda? Really…can you?
They. Must. Go.
/rant
By then Romney will have completely discredited “conservative Republicanism”.
A strategy that would only work if conservatives held their ground and challenged Barry on every one of his unconstitutional policies. My crystal ball tells me that the media would hammer Republicans on being obstructionist, out for the wealthy, extremist, etc., all leading to the dems regaining the House or Senate because the average voters are uninformed suckers.
Unless the Congress can pick up enough new seats of real conservatives to dump McConnell and Weepy McBoner from the leadership, Congress will whine as Obama continues to shred the Constitution and issue illegal executive orders, and every few months some big issue will come to a head, Weepy and McConnell will make fierce noises, than fold like a cheap suit. No, getting rid of the Traitor in Chief is at least as important.
That’s no reason to not adopt that strategy. While we have the tea Party wind at our backs, we should be pushing ahead. There were over 30 TP wimps in the House who failed to work with The Twenty. That’s 30+ votes that could be worked into our column before November.
As we learned this year, we don’t need a majority to have influence. We just have to show up and demonstrate that there is penalty for resisting us and that we are determined to prevail. Let’s not lose because we only do easy things that are sure to win.
I’m with you in theory brother but history has taught me many painful lessons. I’m at the point where I think the only solution is much more drastic. It would be an interesting forum on the topic “How to save the Republic”.
We face a similar problem if Romney gets in and decides to be the “strong ruler.”
Compassionate Conservatism was neither.
I think the Weeper of the House is toast after the election.
The Speaker of the House SHOULD be Michele Bachmann. We will see!!
If you want conservatives, you have to have good candidates and people who vote for them. I sense a lack of both, at least in the POTUS race.
Hello President Romney. Lets fire everyone and make some money. Firing people is so much fun or at least Hunstman thinks so.
Perry is the latest anti-capitalist running for the nomination.
All we need is Santorum to pile on to make it a complete cluster.
It’s kind of amazing how Wall Street is flocking to RINO Romney (aka Obama-Lite). Could it be that Wall Street types of all stripes are buying favor to hang on to their “special” tax breaks and/or corporate WELFARE, Hmmm?
Oh yeah, the Club For Growth is WRONG, at least as far as the Wall Street Journal is concerned, as RINO Romney (aka Obama-Lite) has the “MOST TIMID” plan. It is RINO Romney who sounds the most like the Jackass-In-Chief!!! 59 points!?! Please.
Obama has even raised more money from Bain Capital than Romney. What do they know that we should know?
You walked into the campaign
Like you were walking onto John Kerrys yacht
Your poll numbers dipped below Baracks
As you scarfed on an apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself a lot
And all the girls dreamed that they’d be your first lady
They’d be your first lady, and
You’re so Bain
You probably think this vote is about you
You’re so Bain
I’ll bet you think this vote is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
You had me several years ago
When I was still quite naive
Well, you said that you weren’t a RINO
And that you would never spend a lot
But you gave away the things I loved
And one of them was my liberty
I had some dreams they were hands in my coffers
Hands in my coffers, and
You’re so Bain
You probably think this vote is about you
You’re so Bain
I’ll bet you think this vote is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
I had some dreams they were hands in my coffers
Hands in my coffers, and
You’re so Bain
You probably think this vote is about you
You’re so Bain
I’ll bet you think this vote is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
Well, I hear you went up to Washington
And your race you easily won
Then you flew your Lear jet up to New England
To see the total eclipse of your son
Well, you’re where you should be all the time
And when you’re not, you’re with
Some democrat spy or the wife of a democrat friend
Wife of a democrat friend, and
You’re so Bain
You probably think this vote is about you
You’re so Bain
I’ll bet you think this vote is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
Which means that if you want a capitalist to go up against Obama you are left with Ron Paul or Santorum. Romney supported the corporate TARP bailout so he doesn’t count, IMO. And Santorum has huge problems of his own.
It looks like the race is coming down to Ron Paul and Romney. I would choose Ron Paul because I would rather try to preserve the Constitution and capitalism than I would neo-con foreign policy.
LMAO – You ought to send that to Mike Church.
Hey hey, look at T-Bone rockin the Carly Simon! (clink!) Boatdrinks!
I am really starting to see that. Gingrich needs an intervention and a reality check. He is having a long drawn out tantrum; and really needs to shut up at this point.
Kudo’s T-Bone. Well played. Though I doubt we could convince Carly to sing it for us.
T-BONE @342 – How very clever and creative of you! I’ll never hear, “You’re so Vain” and not think of this….heh.
Nailed it….
What you nose holders don’t get is that to a certain extent, I am holding my nose as well. Ron Paul is not perfect or even a good candidate, but at least he is not a KNOWN Big Government Statist. How can you even argue over the rest of the Frauds? Is one really any better or worse than the other? They are all the second coming of that other stinker John McStain.
I think we have learned in the past 48 hours that Newt is not a conservative. I think Romney is awful on several counts, but Newt’s Bain Capital attacks only hurt all conservatives and totally discredit him as a conservative.
He is doing a letter perfect “Howard Dean” at the moment.
I don’t but into the nation building argument. Sorry. The reason for the Afgan adventure was always to disrupt, degrade and destroy al Qaida’s and Taliban’s ability to launch attacks on the west, and has been successful. Had we not intervened there – and successful strikes had originated there – we’d be screaming for Bush’s head on a platter. Iraq is another story, but I remain convinced that the planet is a better place without Hussein on it. Whether it was worth the blood and treasure can only be answered if you can tell me what Saddam would have pulled had he remained in power. That will never be known. Hitler quite likely could been stopped at Munich in ’38 if anyone had the nads.
Ironically enough, it was Colin Powell who warned GWB on Iraq, “If you break it, you bought it.” Man, did we ever. I am highly skeptical that a western style democracy will not long endure with a mess of Sunnis and Sheas at each other’s throats – not to mention the reality that Islam is inherently a theocracy. There is no seperation of church and state. The church IS the state.
All this, plus the impending danger from Iran and Paul is not the right man for the job. I’m almost tempted to write in Patreaus – a proven effective leader and complex problem solver. The fact that he loaths politics and politicians is one of his best qualifications for the job. I’d vote for him in a heartbeat.
Bain Capital and its ilk are certainly NOT the best examples of capitalism at work. This from ZeroHedge today:
Lately, Bain founder and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has found himself in a spirited defense of the private equity industry, doing all he can to spin decades of data which confirm, without failure, that PE Leveraged Buy Outs are nothing but “efficiency maximizing” transactions whose only goal is the “maximization” of EBITDA in the pursuit of dividend recap deals, IPOs or outright sales, while loading up the company with untenable amounts of leverage. All this with a 3-5 year investment horizon, which ignores the long-term viability of a company and seeks to streamline (read fire as many as possible) operations as quickly as possible in the goal of maximizing short-term returns. We wish him luck in his endeavor. As for the other side of the equation, we recreate a post we penned back in November 2009 which analyzes just how effective the mega-LBOs have been for the economy, and the workers involved. In other words – the facts. In a nutshell, here they are: “The Disastrous Performance Of Private Equity: Of The Top 10 LBOs, 6 Are In Distress, 4 Have Defaulted.”
This is politics. This is politics in New Hampshire.
Not Texas. Not Wyoming.
The candidates address the issues they think will resonate with specific voters of that specific state.
Romney did a number on Gingrich in Iowa…now turnarond is not fair game?
Hypocrites.
QUESTION TO PUNDITS CRITICIZING GINGRICH ABOUT THIS:
Were you yammering that Scott Brown (MA) wasn’t addressing purely conservative issues in a purely conservative manner?
* crickets *
Your pseudo-purity disgusts me and rivals that of delusional PaulBots.
I think RonPaul would be less dangerous than Obama, but he has some weird baggage. His PaulBot followers, many Dems, who babble about neocons may not be bothered by him saying Bush celebrated September 11th, but he also has a long history of associating with racists, and would be shredded by the media.
Some of his support in open primary states like New Hampshire is Obammunist supporters just throwing sand in the gears as well.
#342: T-Bone – too good!
Like they said in Seinfeld:
“T-Bone! T-Bone! “
Besides being clueless on foreign policy folks, remember 2008.
“Would you want Palin a heartbeat from the Presidency?” McCain was 72.
Paul is 76 years old. He’ll be 77 in August. Will the obamanists let that pass? McCain was a senior citizen. Paul is, looks, walks and talks like an old man who has short term memory problems. He can’t stay on subject answering any question.
I think everyone knows nobody gets elected Maryland and points North as a real conservative. Scott Brown was a case of hoping he’d vote 50% of the time the right way, as compared to a Kennedyesque Dem like Martha Coakley who would have voted wrong 99% of the time.
This is part of Romney’s trouble, to win election in Massachusetts, he has to be one of two things. Either he isn’t a real conservative, or he’ll lie/stretch the truth, and tell people what they want to here.
The only Northeast Republican I really want gone, whether by primary or loss to a Dem, because it can get no worse, is Olympia Snowe. I think she is a mole, a closet Dem. Worse than, say, Arlen Specter, who did a generally good job on Judiciary and voted like most other Northeastern Republicans. I think it was 2009, Olympia Snowe had a worse record on voting on conservative issues than Mary Landrieu, a Democrat.
Romney is flawed, Newt is flawed, all of them are flawed, although I find Santorum least flawed. All would be preferable to Obama. Probably even RonPaul, but he would lose by 20 plus points once the liberal leaning media started publishing daily excerpts from the Ron Paul news letters.
I certainly don’t want a center/center-right style compassionate conservative third Bush presidency, but even Romney would be far superior to a traitor who hates the US, wants to destroy our power and standing globally, wants Marxism, and has proven he has no regard to the Constitution.
I was reading The Patriot Post and saw in the letters section that someone posted that they were looking at Huntsman for the nomination. That set off alarms for me because the prime time media have been pushing Huntsman. When the lame stream media promotes Huntsman, it’s for a reason…the liberals love Huntsman because they know Obeyme will beat him, and you can rest assured that Huntsman will be glad to lose to Obama. They have been friends, after all.
Remember the nonsensical Bush comment about going against capitalism to save socialism. Don’t ever confuse big business with capitalism. They use government for their own ends at our expense.
Sure you can. It has to come from somewhere. Now if you mean one can not continually raise a standing army, that’s true, but that’s not what the Constitution says. It says raise and support.
One always has to be careful when talking about what they intended, and distinguish between what they indended as a matter of wise policy, and how they intended what they actually wrote to be understood. As to the second question, Madison’s Federalist #41 (linked to at my earlier link) states:
“Next to the effectual establishment of the Union, the best possible precaution against danger from standing armies, is a limitation of the term for which revenue may be appropriated to their support.”
It’s pretty clear from the language he uses here that he understood that clause in the Constitution to be referring to a standing force.
2010 was nothing. Just a shot across the bow. Looks like few heeded the warning.
Tea Party is waiting in the weeds. MSM and a bunch of incumbents will be shocked when November comes.
I’m a Zero Hedge addict but I gotta say that this analysis was too selective and narrow to take too seriously. It focuses on the short-term and exclusively on LBOs. Staples and Home Depot were huge successes for Bain and neither was an LBO. The time frame was a very difficult period for many companies.
And Tyler Durden is an unabashed Ron Paul supporter. Something to keep in mind when he gets political.
Hmm. Romney made money. Darn him. I guess I was too busy learning the cycle of fourths to have come up with that idea. Well, maybe next time.
The same concerns about foreign policy regarding Obama were discussed, and the feeling at least in certain republican circles was that he would change from what he campaigned on once he sat down with the Joint Chiefs and saw what level of intel it takes to keep registered voters safe.
The same can be said for Paul, but I’m of the opinion that Paul is also in the race mostly for getting delegates and be able to have some sway with the nominee who he thinks will be Romney.
Paul’s baggage is what is holding him back. He’d have more of a chance if the full effects of the Obama/Biden/Reid/Pelosi economy were weighing down, but they’ve cleverly used bailouts and fear of an ignorant electorate to bail-out their people and QE the value of the dollar to mask what is really happening.
If inflation were more of an issue, people would be flocking to Ron Paul, but bidding your campaign on 9-11 truthers or the feelings of isolationist students in Iowa City (you ng people generally don’t vote that much) won’t help.
I’m hoping Santourm can get it together in SC, though. His NH finish was kinda disappointing, although it’s the fiscally pragmatic Northeast.
Actually there was a lot of commentary on here at the time to the effect that Brown was pretty much not much more than a RINO. But a Senator is, in general, less consequential than a President, and Massachusetts is considerably more liberal than the U.S. as a whole.
Besides, though Brown wasn’t “addressing conservative issues in a purely conservative manner”, nor was he loudly trumpeting left-wing pabulum to get himself elected.
So if this “resonates” with NH voters, what did Newt get blown out?
The one strength Newt had throughout the endless debates was an ability to talk a good game. He showed that he at least understood conservative tenets, and could articulate them better than anyone else in the race (which doesn’t mean he actually believed them).
Now he has thrown all that away, and engaged in attacks that are both ineffective and counterproductive. This kind of attack just makes the candidate look hopelessly out of touch and pathetic. It is probably also why the Republicans seem to be hemorrhaging self-identifying Republican voters.
If I wanted to hear how evil rich people are, I’d vote Democrat.
Just a plug for Santorum – he isn’t playing the Anti-Capitalism game of the other candidates against Romney.
Ron Paul will never get the nomination – he’s basically nuts. Gingrich is done too.
Between Romney and Santorum, I pick Santorum. But I can easily support either one.
Remember the “Prime Directive” – defeat Obama. Santorum or Romney are the only ones who can do so.
I have to say, I have serious doubts that Santorum would be able to defeat Obama. I wish I was wrong, but I have a hard time seeing it happening. He’s basically typecast as Mr. Social Conservative “Religious Right”, and that will subject him to a merciless lampooning and villifying campaign.
He’d be able to withstand it if he could be persuasive, convincing, and statesmanlike, but so far, I haven’t seen much potential from him there, unfortunately.
I wouldn’t write Gingrich off completely just yet. He’s doing well in NC.
I mean SC.