Are Republicans so determined to put a right-winger at the top of their Presidential ticket that they will nominate anyone — including a serial adulterer with serious ethics problems — rather than Mitt Romney?
That seems to be the sentiment as South Carolina GOP voters head to the polls Saturday and appear ready to give Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich — who has risen from the ashes more often than Count Dracula — a come-from-behind victory over Romney.
“What’s it going to take? A stake through through the heart? We can’t bury this guy,” a senior Romney aide grumbled to Capitol Hill Blue late Friday as polls show the former GOP frontrunner tailing a surging Gingrich in final pre-primary polls.
In many ways, Romney sank himself in South Carolina with stumbles on his still-unreleased tax returns and unanswered questions about Cayman Islands accounts and undisclosed wealth.
But with the GOP field down to four, Romney faces a more unified opposition from right-wingers who don’t like him and disaffected Republican voters who don’t care for anyone in the current crop of candidates.
“We don’t have a choice this time around,” says South Carolina Republican Connie Vitter. “We really don’t.”
In a normal year, revelations from an angry ex-wife, who told ABC News this week that her husband wanted an “open marriage” so he could screw around openly with other women, would sink an ordinary candidate, but Gingrich is not ordinary and this is not a normal year.
Gingrich turned what could have been a campaign-ending issue into an applause line in Thursday’s debate by turning the issue into a lambasting of the media — a sure-fire winner in conservative circles and one that diverted attention away from the fact that Gingrich is a serial adulterer with a history of dumping wive for current paramours and a political opportunist who has skirted ethical rules to get rich off his time in office.
With former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum paying second-fiddle to Gingrich, the real loser in this week of political turmoil has been Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who has dropped in most polls and is no longer receiving any attention because of the focus on Romney and Gingrich.
“Paul has return to his usual place of irrelevancy,” says GOP strategist Arnold Block. “He will finish third or fourth in South Carolina, which is OK in a six-man race but with only four candidates left it drops him back into the second tier.”
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- Holy Herman Cain Batman! – Gingrich ex-wife: Newt wanted an open marriage (reclaimamericafromthelunaticfringe.wordpress.com)
11 thoughts on “Derailing the Romney Express”
Hal, I am thrilled that you can lighten up. Yes, my dear, you have had enough depression for the past two years.
I am feeling more optimistic the closer we get to the election. No matter who wins, we must work to rid our government of the corruption and loosen up the Congress to get to work and fix what ails us. I am very glad you are back.
Carl,
Look at it this way, it’s unlikely a third party will run another George Washington, or even an Andrew Johnson in the foreseeable future. But there is one thing that is likely, come 2013 our president will still have an unusual first name: Barak, Mitt or Newt.
And we thought Zachary, Rutherford and Millard had unusual names.
One of these posts I may get serious….
my apologies NOT to those who won’t lighten up. It’s just our country at stake….
being burned at perhaps….
I really do take it seriously but I’ve had enough of depression over the past two year.
Thanks Hal for your heartfelt reply.
I have a tendency to come on too strong with my cynical analysis concerning the order of the day, only to be exceeded by our site host, Doug Thompson… 😀
***
“I really do take it seriously but I’ve had enough of depression over the past two year.” …extract from post my brackets.
***
I understand and so too feel your angst. : |
Here’s wishing that you find peace and tranquility in the future. Thanks too for your shared, incisive thoughts to CHB. : )
Carl Nemo **==
Okay Hal, I will search through my jewelry box for a wooden stake. I might locate a toothpick but I will try. I only mentioned a silver bullet because Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) was a neighbor of ours in Encino and we all had silver bullets.
The “Romney Express”…?
A few days ago it was revealed that Santorum had actually gotten more votes in Iowa than Mitt!? As far as NH is concerned, yes he did win, but based on them only talking the talk, but not walking the walk when it comes to their state’s “Live Free or Die” motto and the fact this guy wasn’t all that popular in “Taxachusetts”, his ‘rep’ preceding him; I wouldn’t consider his act to date a ‘slam dunk’ for the guy.
He’s also has a lot of dirty laundry to air concerning his “Bain Capital” days that’s been recently revealed on this site and the www in general simply being that of a corporate raider.
Even if he gets the nomination he cannot prevail against Barack Obama in November. People are not going to take a chance on this uber wealthy, slick talking snake oil salesman. Besides Obama hasn’t even pulled out his political guns yet and rest assured, regardless of general disappointment in his performance to date; the electorate is going to stick with that which is known rather than the unknown; I.E., Mitt Romney.
Unequivocally I’ll vote for a second term for Obama rather than turn our nation over to this running dog on ‘steroids’ for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan et al. Mitt Romney & Co. in the White House will assuredly issue the coup de grace’ to our nation, sacrificing us on the altar of globalism run amok.
I know…I know, I’m a victim of the “Hegelian Dialectic”. Ain’t it fun to be a dutiful ‘pawn’ for this duopolist paradigm? : (
Carl Nemo **==
Sandy, The silver bullet is supposed to be the only way to deal with a werewolf… “Werewolves are often attributed superhuman strength, speed, and senses, far beyond those of both wolves and men. (Wiki, where else?)
I hardly would characterize Rooten Tooten Newton that way.
A vampire, now that may be a better comparison (again from Wiki): Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person.
A wooden stake, preferably ash, hawthorn or oak, through the heart should do the job.
I am so glad you came in this morning with an opinion piece on the mess in South Carolina. I may have the solution to Speaker Gingrich’s future. My husband gave me a silver bullet as a charm to wear around my neck, just in case Dracula moved into our neighborhood. If I can find it, it will be sent to anyone who needs to try to aim for Newt’s mouth once his foot is removed.
The voting has started in South Carolina and MSNBC will stay focused on the election all day with Maddow, and her group bringing in the the race to the finish line.
The Evangelical groups have given up their fight for J.C. and are now covering the Gingrich arse to bring him closer to the final choice.
In looking at the family of the candidates, I must admit that Romney has the advantage with his close knit very admirable family. They may be robots but they are well programed, well dressed and well behaved.
Will he make any effort to clean out the corruption in the Congress? Will he eventually hand over the social issues to the States? If he wins the place of honor it will then be up to us to put pressure on his agenda. When I say “us” I mean all internet users. I will never believe that Romney would sanction any prisons for women or young girls who have gotten into trouble. I remember Bush backing down from banning all abortions but I knew how his mother and wife were strongly pro-choice.
Greetings, Sandy –
Will he make any effort to clean out the corruption in the Congress? Will he eventually hand over the social issues to the States?
If every corrupt Congresscritter was removed and replaced by decent men & women, within a few years we’d be back to square one. The corrupting power ultimately stems from the fact that the issuance of the currency is in the hands of a for-private-profit cartel of bankers. Until this issue is addressed, ‘democracy’ is essentially a waste of time and effort.
The chief reason why the average congressman doesn’t talk about this is not so much because of the fear of reprisals: it’s because, until recently at least, the information would fall on entirely deaf ears, such is the woeful state of the understanding of basic civics in the mind of the average citizen.
It’s now been a century since the great game known as the Federal Reserve System was started. It’s taken this long for just a small percentage of the population to figure out the basic rules.
“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.” – President Woodrow Wilson 1916, Senate Doc. 23, 76th Congress, 1st Session, pg 100
It’s interesting to note in the same document the political platforms of both parties during the 1930s:
“We will restore to the Congress the authority lodged with it by the Constitution to coin all money and regulate the value thereof” Republican platform, 1932
And:
“The ownership and control of money and credit, without qualification or reservation, must be under public and not private control” Progressive Party platform 1938
The entire document is a fantastic read and serves as an excellent primer in matters economic:
https://www.archive.org/details/NationalEconomyAndTheBankingSystemOfTheUnitedStates
Aren’t we ready to stop believing that rearranging the deck chairs wards off icebergs?
Frank, it will take a tremendous amount of time and effort to locate some House and Senate Members who will be willing to work for an end to the corruption. Obama is not the problem; the problem is a Republican effort to make the system work. A couple of Senators have begun to revamp the laws making corruption absolutely against the law and those laws will have to reflect the old laws that were part of the Congress years ago.
We have seen a White House redesign the laws allowing a level of debts and deficits that are destroying the entire system of tax laws. I’m surprised that President Obama has ignored this abuse that has grown under his watch. It has seemed to many of us that he must be a part of the corruption and yet I don’t believe it.
So far the GOP might just lose their majority in both houses unless some leader with integrity gets behind the abuse and the corruption and can present a plan that will attract some candidates who will run outside the current group of men who are stuck in the same religious rules that came with Bush 43.
The GOP is silent and it might take a Libertarian like Gary Johnson to start writing of his plans for a change. Even Ron Paul has lost his momentum and is willing to just sit there backing his same old plans. There is no reason for another 4 years under any President for us to have to put up with the Congress taking millions of dollars from the Corporations who are doing nothing in the way of making jobs.
I find both the Republicans and Democrats are too weak and afraid to stand up against the current system of making the Congress rich and the unemployed getting further into poverty.
Romney made no millions from buying the Congress into working for him. He sold off less than profitable companies and reinvested the money into companies who would hire others with options to invest and make money in that way.
The problem is that it was done without preparation of the people who lost their jobs. I understand that most of the misplaced employees were rehired but that never seems to be talked about.
A hundred thousand employees of Hughes Aircraft were fired after the end of the Korean War but many knew it was coming and they formed other companies using most of the laid off people. TRW came from the firing of these folks. I’m not convinced that Romney has knowledge of how this stuff can work out. He is focused on his own ability to make corporations work for profit for his own people. I do not believe he is evil but a tad dense. I find no fault with his sending a lot of money to his church. My grandfather tithed to the church and insisted we all follow this. When I complained that I had no income at the age of 9, he told me I could tithe time and help him in the furniture store.
Romney has not said a single word about the corruption and abuse of the laws that comes right out of our Congress. In my world, that is his greatest weakness. The others simply want to trash Obama and the government be damned. The parties are both worthless and only a new set of ideas can get the government moving in the right direction.
Once the laws are set on financing the House and Senate than Immigration changes can be done and voters rights corrected. It is probably asking too much to hope for individual liberties to be restored for all Americans but it would be something to work for. Once the government is committed to fixing the corruption, we might just have a much better government.
I am sitting here in Germany and wonder about the US. Who is leading in the GOP primary?
Mr 1% Romney and Mr Big ideas Gingrich.
But where are the new big ideas? Lower taxes? Less government regulation? My 11 year old son can write an essay about that.
From the outside I must tell you. Truth and wisdom is a rare ingredient in the US primary election.
Watch: German preacher’s thoughts on 2012
Welcome Matthias Klein from Germany. Americans have a problem with change in our government. Stick around and watch the fireworks.
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