i’m just wondering when the soft support for guiliani and mccain turns into something solid. let’s be perfectly clear about this. if a candidate polls in the high 20’s and low 30’s, that doesn’t demonstrate much confidence in the choice, does it? could it be that conservatives could be waiting for someone else…like for example…mr. gingrich? he’s getting 11-15% in the polls right now, and there is definitely interest out there in a gingrich candidacy. is he running? possibly. does he have a shot? if romney is still being taken seriously, then gingrich should be also. (i’m not ripping mitt…i think he’s got potential. but he’s got a limited window of opportunity here if these poll numbers don’t significantly improve.)
meanwhile the newt media blitz continues as scheduled. whatever you may think of the man personally, he’s a idea man. he’s got some great ideas and also some valid criticisms of the way things work in this country. what conservatives admire most about newt is that he’s our version of “truth to power”. he’s not afraid of questioning the way things have always been done in this country, including being honest in his evaluation of republican failures to live up to conservative values.
gingrich believes that there are many changes that we can and should make. he believes that many of the answers we seek in government can be found in the private sector. he’s right about that. the correct answer to the why question (why are we doing this) should never be “because that’s the way it’s always done”.
it’s not compassionate to stick seniors with an investment plan that doesn’t give them the best value, which is what social security does. it’s not the best use of resources to stick the government with another costly entitlement program like government-funded health care. it’s also unwise to pick presidential nominees by sound-bites, tv commercials, and completely scripted debates. that’s why newt’s cooper union lincoln-douglas style debates should be a format embraced by republicans and democrats who want to select the best nominee for their respective parties.
these lincoln-douglas debates are an outstanding idea for all the candidates to participate in. if we really want to get to the depth of all these issues we talk about in a surface fashion, why not make the presidential contenders show us how well they understand the issues we face as a country? i love the concept.
like i said, i don’t believe newt can win, but i like the fact he’s challenging republicans and democrats to go deep in the idea debate. that’s why i totally support whatever involvement he chooses to have in the next election.
Technorati Tags: newt gingrich, mario cuomo, cooper union debates
This is a great example of the residual effects of media bias.
Few would argue that Gingrich is an intelligent guy. Yet, he was portrayed by the MSM in such a light that he has permanently high negatives. It pains me to say it, but I believe Newt is unelectable, which is a shame because I think he’d be a great president. He would even be toxic to the electorate as a Veep nominee.