Newt Gingrich addressed his past support for the individual health-care mandate in an interview tonight.
“Mitt raised this issue in one of our debates, and if I’d been clever, I would have turned and said, ‘Mitt, I’ve admitted I was wrong. I’ve learned and I changed my mind, why haven’t you?’” Gingrich told CNN.
“I think part of the difference is the scale,” Gingrich said on why his shifts in position were different from Romney’s, commenting that Romney had gone from running “to left of Teddy Kennedy” to running “to the right of Newt Gingrich.”
“If you’ve been active as long as I have and you haven’t changed on some things, you must be impervious to new information and new knowledge,” he added. “I mean, there’s a certain amount of growth that’s inevitable, and that people will look at new situations and new circumstances. But I had over my entire career a 90 percent voting record [from] the American Conservative Union. I don’t think anybody thought of me as anything less than a solid conservative.”
Personally, I am not badgering Newt over his historical record.
I am badgering him over favoring amnesty RIGHT NOW, and in classic maverick fashion, going out of his way to stick it in the face of the conservative base.
Who then can complain -- if he is elected -- when he pushes forward for the political advantage that he sees in this tactic? He will reply, "I told you what my position was." And it will be even more arrogant with less language twisting to deny that it is "amnesty." It will be just like the obnoxious, in your face, attitude that McCain/Bush/Graham took to the "bigots" who did not like their amnesty scheme.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseExcept you support Romney, who supports not only amnesty but citizenship for illegals.
I don't support Gingrich and won't vote for him if he gets the nomination, but he is Ronald Reagan compared to Little Lord MittleRoy's Jimmuh Carter.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe "I Won't Vote If Romney/Perry/Gingrich/Huntsman Gets the Nomination" Club meets over at FreeRepublic.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFunny comment!
As a Dem it is heartening to see how divided the GOP is right now....
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe "I vote for the most liberal candidate in the field but claim to be a conservative" crowd meets right here though, huh?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"...going out of his way to stick it in the face of the conservative base."
I certainly can appreciate and respect your position on this matter, and the concerns you have. I do wonder, though, why so often it seems that any heterodox position that these candidates take is regarded as nothing less than an affront to conservatives.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRe: “If you’ve been active as long as I have and you haven’t changed on some things, you must be impervious to new information and new knowledge"
Let's expand that in Newt's personal context:
Re: “If you’ve been philandering as long as I have and you haven’t changed on some things, you must be impervious to new information and new knowledge that leads to dumping multiple wives.
"Smartest person in the room?" or "Biggest Reptile in the room?"
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBill Clinton anyone? He raped Juanita Broderick. She said so on NBC. Bill? Hillary? Any denials?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMacht nichts. That other Dinosaur Reptile isn't running for President.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOnly if the room doesn't include any Democrats.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't think any of the traditional "negatives" apply to Gingrich in this particular race. Not position switches. Not so-called "personal baggage." The country has a sense of the dire consequences tied to the 2012 election and is figuring out who the most eloquent Not-Obama spokesman will be - so as to avoid the complete disaster of a 2nd Obama term. Think of it as the hangman's noose sharpening the mind's focus ...
d(^_^)b
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"Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive"
So many "traditional negatives" in only one candidate. Sorry, they are simply too many.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"I don’t think anybody thought of me as anything less than a solid conservative.”
Except perhaps for Paul Ryan earlier this year. Or Doug Hoffman in his special election.
Good grief, here comes Gingrich to school everyone on why his conservative deviations shouldn't be a problem because he was the one committing them.
Let's just hope he doesn't blame it on his loyalty to the country like his excuse for why he had an affair with Calista.
Newt has a big head figuratively and literally.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI've long thought Newt is anything but a conservative. I thought everybody agreed on that. Guess not.
Newt wanted to give a laptop to every poor kid in the country. He expanded spending wildly in the 1990s, but the stock bubble caused a balanced budget. He ganged up with Pelosi on global warming. He says anything to win.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhoooaaa...
It is growing clear, Newt thinks the Race is against Romney (a Private Sector product), when it is clearly against the Democratic Party and Mr. Obama's disastrous "occupying" of the US Presidency.
This matches his history, as many Republicans in the US House conveyed, Gingrich was so self absorbed he hurt endless opportunities for success.
Of course the big joke in relation to his commentary about "admitting mistakes" is his failure to return 1.8 Million in Taxpayer Capital - being STILL on the payroll of Fannie and Freddie.
It is quite telling that Barney Frank stepped aside today, the icon for the disastrous Mortgage Meltdown via the Fannie and Freddie fiasco, while at the same time Newt Gingrich is being pushed by the same fashion weakening the once stellar conservative side. The same folks who foolishly hyped Donald Trump, are pushing for another egotistical Beltway Politician, an entrenched Beltway Insider who profited via the Fannie and Freddie mess!
Newt was in Congress from 1979 to 1999? For 20 years?
And his legacy?
"In my name and over my signature, inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable statements were given to the committee" - Newt Gingrich (It is no wonder why Bill Clinton is peddling for Newt today).
And this is who the fashion is pushing now?
It is a comedy, a pure comedy.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo funny, it turns the stomach.
Old Fan, it must be frustrating for you that despite your tireless shilling for Mr. Romney, the "anyone-but-Romney" vote steadfastly refuses to drop below 75%.
I would suggest that you redouble your efforts, but it hardly seems possible.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI was "anybody but Dole" in 1996. I was "anybody but McCain" in 2008. But when the primaries arrive and you must choose, you hold your nose and do the right thing. Romney's in great shape.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Romney's in great shape."
You really think so? Gingrich is ahead of Romney by about 10 points in the latest polls. Moreover, the Gingrich surge feels different from the Bachmann, Perry and Cain surges, all of whom hadn't really proved anything at the time they became ascendant, and were ripe for a collapse once people got a good look and recognized their limitations. For better or worse, everybody already knows Newt. He is not going to suddenly tank like the rookies did. If anything, he will probably consoldidate the anti-Romney votes in the coming weeks, and be up in the high 40s if not over 50% nationally by the time the voting starts.
I think Romney is in serious trouble.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's frustrating for not just Old Fan.
Ann Coulter is right when she wrote,
"....conservatives ought to start rallying around Romney as the only Republican who has a shot at beating Obama."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have encountered your concerning "Mormon" obsession, which truly seems like one big sad form of Religious bias.
The likes of GBH tried to imply some rather regretful equation with those who "believe the world is flat" gimmick only a few days ago.
The amazing aspect remains, turning one's stomach entirely, the push for a Beltway Insider who is still on the Fannie and Freddie payroll as Barney Frank begins to step aside. Or even a Washington Politician with out any private sector accomplishment or CEO experience who foolishly demeaned Mr. Ryan as some "social engineer" on a MSM outlet.
The joke only grows more absurd, as the dysfunctional amongst us (some vivid Democrats hoping to again derail the Private Sector success for the likes of Gingrich as they did with McCain), show just how contradictory, hypocritical, delusional, ugly they have become.
Pushing for Nancy Pelosi's Global Warming Partner, who actually just implied the GOP Base wasn't being "humane" with Our sound understanding of the need to uphold simple immigration laws.
Newt Gingrich will not only flop as big as the last Delaware Disaster, he will most likely empower Democratic Partisan victories on the State and Local level - just as McCain did.
It is so obvious, so vividly clear, etc., but some are stuck on image, identity, and self destruction. The Private Sector Product gets the back end of the hand of the conservative fan fare? And the over 20 year old Public Sector Icon who resigned in disgrace gets the hype?
A parody of the most brutal insanity.
Those sideline pros who are condoning and coddling the nutty slide are sinking with the mess. Ceding credibility every second.
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