Newt Gingrich! for President! 2012 !
 

This means that:

a) Three-time serial adultery is now a "conservative family value"
b) Shutting down the government was a virtue, rather than an expensive disaster
c) Newt eliminated the Soviet Union.

he's the best choice as far as conservatives go. He's probably most intelligent man (at least for running a government) that will be involved in the 2012 race, both parties included.

Newt is indeed often touted as a "policy guru" for the GOP.

Trouble is, when you examine it, there's really nothing of substance here. What has he ever done? I lived through his tenure as Speaker of the House. It wasn't pretty.

I think the GOP will go through it's usual convulsions, and the final candidate will be Romney. That's how the GOP does it - you pay your dues, you get to be the nominee.

If it's Romney..he will lose.

I think he has a good shot to win the nomination, and then get obliterated by Obama in the general.

Newt? How will he win the social conservative vote? I don't see how he could gain the GOP nomination without it.

Newt started with an affair while he was a minor with his high school teacher. Married her after he came of age. Then during his entire public life, nonstop, this guy has cheated on two wives (divorced one recovering from uterine cancer and divorced one who developed multiple sclerosis at the time he was cheating on them) with multiple mistresses and one night stands - some being juggled at the same time! - (while he was hypocritically trying to impeach Clinton for Monica, btw). He's asked three women to marry him while married to the previous wife. And now he's on his third wife. He's an outrageous liar and cheat.

I can't see how that could possible gain the GOP nomination. Newt's been around since the 1970's, and he's never been wanted by the GOP for President, due to his massive and chronic adultery problems.

His biggest challenger is a Mormon. It's slim pickings and he's at least got some political 'skill'.

This is a good point. The social conservatives will take any Christian over what they view as a "cult" ** The "Mormon thing" is what sank Romney within the party his previous run for President.

(** although Glenn Beck is Mormon, and they love him. Weird)

do mormons kill their children?

Oh please. He's a moron.
And I hate that he's a fellow history Ph.D.
I actually took some small measure of pride in finishing my own graduate work and doctoral dissertation and I feel he diminishes the (already minimal) significance of the degree a bit every time he opens his stupid mouth.

So Newt is the equivalent of Bill Clinton??? Didn't seem to hurt 2 term Clinton.

Clinton can't hold a candle to Newt in the being a whore challenge. Newt is a Washington legend :tro:

Clinton can run rings around Gingrich intellectually. Gingrich never stood a chance against him. As a result, Clinton was a two-termer, and today is still on the international scene; and Gingrich has never been asked by his party, in spite of 15 years of mumbling he'd like to be President, and speaks only at conservative specialty meetings. Gingrich's political career has long been over and done.

The GOP sure as hell doesn't want Newt out there now, being a fool in public, saying his crazy Newtisms. They got rid of Trump, and now have to deal with Newt. At least it will be entertaining for a few weeks.

Poor Tim Pawlenty. Keep plugging along, T-Paw!

Deb - I miss the Kennedy's too :p

Its funny how everyone looks back on the years of surplus with Clinton and smiles... Newt was making the big decisions then.

i disagree completely. but thats fine. him and hillary would be the best if they could run against each other. I'd feel comfortable with either of them in office. something like Huckabee vs Obama ugh. but of course Obama will get the Dem nom, I wonder if Hillary challenged him if she'd have a chance.

She's been quoted several times as saying she has no interest in public office after the upcoming election so very doubtful.

We've had this (or similar discussions) many times but I still don't really have a clear picture of what you think would be so different if Hillary had won in 2008. I think the overwhelming majority of the policy decisions would have been the same. It still probably would have been Larry Summers and Tim Geithner as the chief economic advisors, for example, and Hillary and Obama just aren't that far apart ideologically. Overall I prefer Obama to Hillary, but I don't see how their administrations would have been all that different.

Same goes for the Republicans. Would a Newt administration govern in a dramatically different way than a Romney administration or a Pawlenty administration? I doubt it.

The character, intelligence, and overall makeup of an individual candidate is important, but I think most voters dramatically overemphasize the importance of these things. I thought Bill Richardson was a moron, for example. If he had actually won the nomination in '08, however, I still would have voted for him because ideologically he lines up more with me than the Republicans do. That's also why its so stupid when liberals act like the world would end if Palin became president. Why would it? Sure she's a moron, but her administration would probably not be much different than most other Republican administrations.

Somebody better tell Obama to hit the books if he's going to be debating Newt. :D

Yeah, there is probably a ton of literature available on how to cheat on your wife.

Quite easily, I'd think. That crowd is so utterly predictable it's almost boring.

If you say all the right things about Jesus, AND hate all the right people/things, then past transgressions are all too quickly swept under the rug.

Gingrich getting in good by doing that same song and dance wouldn't be the first time that's happened, or the thirty thousandth, and it won't be the last.