U.S. politics isolation tank

[midwestyankee]

This. But really why is the media meme "Ron Paul, haha, he so CRAZY!"

Nothing he does or says has the incendiary roman candle of crazy that half the rest of them do. I seriously think that the tin foil hat set is right about a lot of things for the completely wrong reasons.

This is a good question. You'll get the "he's threatening to the corporate media interests" argument and then there's the "he has committed bigotry" argument. My own take is that the folks who decide which candidate gets the air time look at Ron Paul and see someone who runs every four years without anything new to say. They see Wendell Wilkie or Harold Stassen and figure that Paul is just "so last cycle, yannow?" and thus of no interest to the viewing public.

Maybe he should go spend more time with Rachel Maddow. She has actually been very fair with him before and he isn't so stupid as his son, who crucified himself on her show last year. Maybe exposure on MSNBC would lead to more time elsewhere.

 

[Netzach]

This is a good question. You'll get the "he's threatening to the corporate media interests" argument and then there's the "he has committed bigotry" argument. My own take is that the folks who decide which candidate gets the air time look at Ron Paul and see someone who runs every four years without anything new to say. They see Wendell Wilkie or Harold Stassen and figure that Paul is just "so last cycle, yannow?" and thus of no interest to the viewing public.

Maybe he should go spend more time with Rachel Maddow. She has actually been very fair with him before and he isn't so stupid as his son, who crucified himself on her show last year. Maybe exposure on MSNBC would lead to more time elsewhere.

I get the feeling his son has to stand 50 feet away from him at all times.

 

[Netzach]

Now the entertainment wing of the right is on the shoulders of ol' crazy eyes.

 

[midwestyankee]

Now the entertainment wing of the right is on the shoulders of ol' crazy eyes.

What a show it would be if the Newster were to make a serious run at the nomination. The man brings more crazy to the party than the population of Bedlam.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

What a show it would be if the Newster were to make a serious run at the nomination. The man brings more crazy to the party than the population of Bedlam.

I enjoy Newt. He throws out a hundred ideas in every conversation, and they're often thought-provoking. They're also often loco-enough or mean-spirited enough to wound him in a general election, when inserted into a 30 second spot.

If he gets the nomination, it will be smooth sailing for O and Joe, and a clear indication that there is truly no place for the moderate Republican anymore. Maybe the third party that people keep speculating about will be the party of Nixon, Ford and Eisenhower.

 

[boredgenius]

Newt Gringrich is actually a wildly intelligent person and has a very keen economic mind. He would also probably make a fairly solid president. However that said there is simply no way he gets elected.

He doesn't sound or look presidential when he speaks on television, if you think this isn't important look at the Nixon vs JFK televised debate and how that influence that election. Secondly, he is too polarizing a figure given his past , he will score very well with republicans and conservatives given his economic stances and conservative demeanor, however he will simply do horribly with independants.

finally the media doesn't like him, they have decided they dont like him and portray him in a very negative light, this is huge especially at this point in the election. The majority of voters do not actually know very much about the candidates, they know what they are told by the candidates. And with somone like Newt this is going to be crippling.

Romney will most likely win the Republican nomination, albiet begrudgingly.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

The majority of voters do not actually know very much about the candidates, they know what they are told by the candidates. And with somone like Newt this is going to be crippling.

Romney will most likely win the Republican nomination, albiet begrudgingly.

Well, I'd say the one Republican candidate Americans know plenty about is Newt.

 

[midwestyankee]

Newt Gringrich is actually a wildly intelligent person and has a very keen economic mind. He would also probably make a fairly solid president. However that said there is simply no way he gets elected.

<snip>

Romney will most likely win the Republican nomination, albiet begrudgingly.

Newt is not "wildly intelligent." Newt has a Ph.D. in history but that by itself is not a marker of superior intelligence. Rather, it demonstrates that he has mildly above-average intelligence and a fair amount of persistence. I don't know enough about history to judge, but my friends with doctorates from University of Chicago do and their take on Newt's dissertation is that it was a workable paper that added no valuable scholarship to the field. It's also indicative that he failed to secure tenure from a minor state college in Georgia. What Newt does have is the capacity to talk from a mindset of "I'm smarter than you" and to use language in an imposing way. In a month I could teach a twelve year old to talk just like Newt.

I have never heard Newt say anything remotely intelligent about economics so I would be interested to hear the evidence to support the claim that he has a keen economic mind. Care to offer up some proof?

Romney has a major flaw that no one has discussed openly yet: the presumed front-runner and likely nominee early in the process almost never actually wins. Plenty of examples of this, but the most recent one was Senator Hillary Clinton in 2008. She had the whole package and still lost to a black guy with big ears and a funny name.

Should Newt win the nomination, Team Obama will have the time of their lives making campaign commercials stuffed with Newtsterisms. Obama could take Georgia against Newt.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

This is getting serious.

A new Rasmussen poll has Newt leading Mitt nationally, among likely GOP voters.

38 percent to 17 percent.

This puts a skip in the steps of Plouffe and Axelrod.

Of course, the one thing Gingrich does well is implode, so this ought to be FUN to watch.

 

[midwestyankee]

This is getting serious.

A new Rasmussen poll has Newt leading Mitt nationally, among likely GOP voters.

38 percent to 17 percent.

This puts a skip in the steps of Plouffe and Axelrod.

Of course, the one thing Gingrich does well is implode, so this ought to be FUN to watch.

Yep. Went to Costco today and bought a 50-pound bag of popcorn just for the primary season. Plain, no butter-flavored chemicals, thank you. The primaries should offer up plenty of greasy moments of sleasies buttering up the unwashed masses for our entertainment.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

Yep. Went to Costco today and bought a 50-pound bag of popcorn just for the primary season. Plain, no butter-flavored chemicals, thank you. The primaries should offer up plenty of greasy moments of sleasies buttering up the unwashed masses for our entertainment.

I wanna throw Junior Mints at the back of Michele Bachmann's head.

 

[JMohegan]

Please let it be Newt.

Please please please.

Come on, crazy train voters, you can do it. Newt for the win.

 

[JMohegan]

finally the media doesn't like him, they have decided they dont like him and portray him in a very negative light, this is huge especially at this point in the election.

Fox News apparently liked Newt enough to employ him as a contributor for years.

Why is it that right-leaning folks discount Fox when they claim persecution by "the media"? What exactly do they think Fox is?

 

[Daddy2mylilgirl]

Pokemon!

 

[rosco rathbone]

Please let it be Newt.

Please please please.

Come on, crazy train voters, you can do it. Newt for the win.

Some hack at the Wapo is actually pushing the meme that "unnamed Democratic operatives" are nervous abt a Newt run vs Obama.

 

[midwestyankee]

Some hack at the Wapo is actually pushing the meme that "unnamed Democratic operatives" are nervous abt a Newt run vs Obama.

Can we spell "delusional?"

I can't imagine that we'll be so fortunate. The Newster will almost certainly self-destruct sometime between now and the end of the primaries.

 

[Daddy2mylilgirl]

http://dl.***********/u/2565480/Funny/whatitsaid-whatitmeant.jpg.jpg

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

http://dl.***********/u/2565480/Funny/whatitsaid-whatitmeant.jpg.jpg

I especially find the last one perfect.


Thank God Obama is finally using the bully pulpit for what he campaigned on:

"Obama told his audience of about 1,200 that this is not the first time that the country has faced seismic questions about the relationship between government and business. A century ago, as the industrial revolution reshaped American business, the country wrestled with how to manage monopolies, working conditions and food quality. Though “some people thought massive inequality and exploitation was just the price of progress,” Obama said, Roosevelt disagreed."


Maybe the Occupy movement changed the game, maybe his numbers have tanked enough that he sees no alternative, maybe he finally realizes the Republicans started running a delay game from the opening tip on January 21, 2009. But whatever. This shit needs saying, loudly and often, and with huge chunks of the middle class glacier falling into the sea daily, it's not going away.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

The Rick Perry ad.

The Second City parody.

 

[Loverskitten]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4yDCUJJm_U&sns=em
We should all be this pissed.

After voting in every election (even local ones) since 18 I stopped a few years ago, since they all are slaves to $ and dirty rats. plus I had friends (my age) asking what a voter guide was, SERIOUSLY?????

However.....

*sneaks back out of politics to read about sex*

 

[Netzach]

Newt is not "wildly intelligent." Newt has a Ph.D. in history but that by itself is not a marker of superior intelligence. Rather, it demonstrates that he has mildly above-average intelligence and a fair amount of persistence. I don't know enough about history to judge, but my friends with doctorates from University of Chicago do and their take on Newt's dissertation is that it was a workable paper that added no valuable scholarship to the field. It's also indicative that he failed to secure tenure from a minor state college in Georgia. What Newt does have is the capacity to talk from a mindset of "I'm smarter than you" and to use language in an imposing way. In a month I could teach a twelve year old to talk just like Newt.

I have never heard Newt say anything remotely intelligent about economics so I would be interested to hear the evidence to support the claim that he has a keen economic mind. Care to offer up some proof?

Romney has a major flaw that no one has discussed openly yet: the presumed front-runner and likely nominee early in the process almost never actually wins. Plenty of examples of this, but the most recent one was Senator Hillary Clinton in 2008. She had the whole package and still lost to a black guy with big ears and a funny name.

Should Newt win the nomination, Team Obama will have the time of their lives making campaign commercials stuffed with Newtsterisms. Obama could take Georgia against Newt.

Taking Gingrich at face value, I think he was a FINE speaker whose job it was to block the effectiveness of Clinton policy for the right.

The job of POTUS is just much BIGGER than that. He's small - good at small. But small.

 

[Netzach]

I especially find the last one perfect.


Thank God Obama is finally using the bully pulpit for what he campaigned on:

"Obama told his audience of about 1,200 that this is not the first time that the country has faced seismic questions about the relationship between government and business. A century ago, as the industrial revolution reshaped American business, the country wrestled with how to manage monopolies, working conditions and food quality. Though “some people thought massive inequality and exploitation was just the price of progress,” Obama said, Roosevelt disagreed."


Maybe the Occupy movement changed the game, maybe his numbers have tanked enough that he sees no alternative, maybe he finally realizes the Republicans started running a delay game from the opening tip on January 21, 2009. But whatever. This shit needs saying, loudly and often, and with huge chunks of the middle class glacier falling into the sea daily, it's not going away.

My interpretation

"it's pretty clear I get that second term and I'm gonna do what I want."

 

[Keroin]

The Rick Perry ad.

The Second City parody.

"I'm a godless heathen and I approve this message."

Priceless!!

 

[intothewoods]

My interpretation

"it's pretty clear I get that second term and I'm gonna do what I want."

Are we misunderestimating Newt? Or Romney? Or the economy? I felt a bit nervous not too long ago but now I just can't imagine Newt or Romney winning. I think whoever it is will put up a good fight, but I just don't see them pulling it out in the end. Something major would have to happen.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

"I'm a godless heathen and I approve this message."

Priceless!!

It's elicited a great deal of creative response. Rick Perry, muse. He made a decent point the other night about federalism and states as the crucibles of democracy, but he says it in such a goofball way, that I can't take him seriously. Maybe it's Texas governor fatigue.

My interpretation

"it's pretty clear I get that second term and I'm gonna do what I want."

We shall see. He has his swagger back. Cool, aloof, professorial Obama swagger, but swagger.

Are we misunderestimating Newt? Or Romney? Or the economy? I felt a bit nervous not too long ago but now I just can't imagine Newt or Romney winning. I think whoever it is will put up a good fight, but I just don't see them pulling it out in the end. Something major would have to happen.

It's so long until the election. I definitely am more optimistic than a few months ago. I actually could see Romney winning, if the economy stays mired (or that no-hope perception sticks) if he can craft an effective, tough narrative about what he did in the past and how it relates to what he believes now. He started to do that in the Iowa debate, but has so many flip flops that it has to be an aggressive part of his message.

If Newt gets the nod, Obama wins. Unless the GOP establishment continues to melt down and a third party effort emerges, like Bloomberg, who might well elect Newt by drawing moderates.

I hate to say it, but even that would be fun. Can you imagine a Newt presidency? The infighting! the turmoil! It would be a yuckfest, and would cripple the GOP for a decade!