The case for Newt: America needs a man of action
Romney is a smooth talker, but what did he actually accomplish as governor of Massachusetts, compared to what Gingrich accomplished as Speaker of the House? When you don’t accomplish much, you don’t ruffle many feathers. But is that what we want?
Can you name one important positive thing that Romney accomplished as governor of Massachusetts? Can anyone? Does a candidate who represents the bland leading the bland increase the chances of victory in November 2012? A lot of candidates like that have lost, from Thomas E. Dewey to John McCain.
Those who want to concentrate on the baggage in Newt Gingrich’s past, rather than on the nation’s future, should remember what Winston Churchill said: “If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost.” If that means a second term for Barack Obama, then it means lost big time.
Blowback
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MeatHeadinCA on January 8, 2012 at 8:36 PM
“Sowell is a bigot, Mormon Hater, True conservative zealot, far right wing, big government loving, stooge!!! Sofa!! drools..Fannie Pelosi!!..3 wives!!…Calista Mac!!...drools”
-Mittbots
portlandon on January 8, 2012 at 8:37 PM
He could start with a few sit-ups.
GagdadBob on January 8, 2012 at 8:38 PM
Baggage? How about judgement, character and integrity?
JPeterman on January 8, 2012 at 8:38 PM
Last night Mitt Romney said that regulations improve business efficiency. There is an action all conservatives can get behind! Yeah baby!
astonerii on January 8, 2012 at 8:42 PM
America may need a “Man of Action” but not one who is Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde.
RasThavas on January 8, 2012 at 8:43 PM
Not a Romney fan, but I did live in MA under Romney.
In the interest of fairness:
Romney took the state from a 3 billion dollar deficit to a 500 million surplus.
We had 2 huge public works departments: one for the state and one just for the Mass Pike. He eliminated the second department completely.
He tried put GPS devices on state trucks in order to make sure they were actually working and not goofing off.
He generally did cut the size of the government much to the pain of the Liberal Democrats in the state.
RomenyCare tends to negate all the good stuff though.
NickDeringer on January 8, 2012 at 8:43 PM
His action would be to galvanize the still-dozing Dems with a salivating whoop of joy at being given Newt’s Massive Batch of Slippery Baggage to Review… till Gingrich was left looking like a comic little grey splotch of hubris and venality, as unelectable as Pizza Cain.
He’ll be a good Secretary of Horticulture, however.
Quipping constantly:
You can lead a whore to culture but you can’t make her think.
profitsbeard on January 8, 2012 at 8:47 PM
Ah, yes. We need a FDR-loving quasi-socialist who took money from Freddie Mac and supports an individual mandate. Don’t we already have that in the White House?
Lord on January 8, 2012 at 8:48 PM
Freddie Mac. Case closed.
Basilsbest on January 8, 2012 at 8:50 PM
Why is our candidate’s baggage subject to such harsh scrutiny? Gore, Kerry, OBAMA, nope no problem.
arnold ziffel on January 8, 2012 at 8:51 PM
Newt is a man who has sucked on the government’s teat all his life, I’m not surprised that he’s now out bashing capitalism.
If Newt and his SuperPAC have their way, we would all still be using 35mm roll films, and digital cameras and Facebook would be banned to prevent Kodak from going bankrupt and Kodak employees from losing their jobs.
haner on January 8, 2012 at 8:52 PM
I like Gingrich, but I don’t believe he’d have an easier path to victory than Romney. Romney’s very good at controlling his message, which is very important these days. If you’re still explaining away what you said yesterday, you’re losing.
RBMN on January 8, 2012 at 8:52 PM
“Sowell is a bigot, Mormon Hater, True conservative zealot, far right wing, big government loving, stooge!!! Sofa!! drools..Fannie Pelosi!!..3 wives!!…Calista Mac!!…drools”
-Mittbots
portlandon on January 8, 2012 at 8:37 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be fair, you could say the same thing insofar as many who have endorsed (officially or unofficially) Romney have been labeled RINOs, including Mark Steyn and Governor Hayley, both of whom are not really very RINO like.
ellifint on January 8, 2012 at 8:52 PM
Wow. Deep.
Mr. Perfect chimes in.
CW on January 8, 2012 at 8:54 PM
I agree with you . At this point Romney is the only one I think can win….now I could be wrong and hope that someone proves me wrong.
CW on January 8, 2012 at 8:55 PM
RomneyCare, bailouts, Bain … case way closed.
MeatHeadinCA on January 8, 2012 at 9:00 PM
I’ll remember that. At least 2 positives. I thought there was some controversy over the surplus claim, but unless someone corrects me here, I’ll go along with that.
MeatHeadinCA on January 8, 2012 at 9:02 PM
Sounds vaguely like the Mitt China policy…
MeatHeadinCA on January 8, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Simple answer: The MSM is a Dem tool.
You have to fight it with an effective counter tool.
A candidate who doesn’t hand them a ton of sleazy, slimy and stupid material to mock and eviscarate him or her with [As "Gardisil causes retardation" neutered Bachmann's chances.]
Harsh reality, which sucks, but must be faced seriously.
profitsbeard on January 8, 2012 at 9:08 PM
Did you mean TR?
MeatHeadinCA on January 8, 2012 at 9:09 PM
Wait… What?
Please Mr. Sowell, make up your mind. Do you want Newt, or do you want a man of action?
Gingrich is good with words, very weak on action, at least since 1995.
LegendHasIt on January 8, 2012 at 9:11 PM
Fair enough. It would be nice if our side realized that and our current “leaders” would stand up and fight.
arnold ziffel on January 8, 2012 at 9:16 PM
I’m with Dr. Sowell–100%. Newt’s my first choice; Perry second.
IrishEi on January 8, 2012 at 9:24 PM
We need a man of correct action.
FloatingRock on January 8, 2012 at 9:29 PM
I’m not sure the country needs a lot of the action that Newt’s used to gettin’. We get screwed enough by politicians as it is.
AttilaTheHun on January 8, 2012 at 9:47 PM
I love Thomas Sowell, but he’s up in the night on this idea that Newt is the guy our country needs.
AttilaTheHun on January 8, 2012 at 9:48 PM
Romneycare didn’t cause the housing bubble and the near collapse of the banking system. It wasn’t the impetus for Dodd-Frank which is delaying any recovery. The people of Mass wanted Romneycare. Obamacare was shoved down our throats. Romneycare is a trifle compared to Freddie Mac. Gingrich’s perfidy was so serious he lied about it.
Basilsbest on January 8, 2012 at 10:07 PM
Newt is running for president not for priesthood, he has asked God’s forgiveness who are we to judge him, is Freddie Mac an illegal organization? so what if he did consulting job for them. I agree with Mr Sowell.
Go Newt / Perry
evergreenland on January 8, 2012 at 10:16 PM
RomneyCare and bailouts for private industries is not the Capitalist’s approach.
What Newt did (“advised”) is not appealing and is off-putting. What Romney did (as a “leader”) is stomach turning.
MeatHeadinCA on January 8, 2012 at 10:18 PM
The field is soooo wanting. However, the Romney-folks are the biggest hypocrites around, short of the Obama-folks.
Schadenfreude on January 8, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Run Sarah Run. The Vulture Crapalist Mittens needs to be defeated.
CoolChange80 on January 8, 2012 at 10:49 PM
The only people begrudging his work at Bain are the ones who lost their jobs and OWS-crybabies who think a job is guaranteed for life.
I feel bad for people who lose their jobs. But I feel worse for stockholders, sometimes thousands, who lose money, time and security to bad CEOs.
You can not, CAN NOT, begrudge Bain Capital and be a capitalist. You can be a whiner or a socialist. But you may not call yourself a capitalist and go around bashing business.
Let me guess. You’re the real conservative. Save it Spanky. I’m not buyin it.
Capitalist Hog on January 8, 2012 at 11:08 PM
Spoken like a true “progressive.”
Capitalist Hog on January 8, 2012 at 11:10 PM
I take it you don’t realize that the government backed Fannie/Freddie sub prime mortgage scheme which Newt lauded and promoted was an exercise in socialism?
Basilsbest on January 8, 2012 at 11:19 PM
Notice how Dr Sowell deftly pairs two unlike descriptors. Yes three marriages to adulterous women is his business. But to suggest that taking 1.5 mil as a lobbyist is also off-limits from scrutiny is utter crap.
I’d expect more from Dr. Sowell. But such expectations are waning as I realize how much so-called “economists” are full of crap.
Capitalist Hog on January 8, 2012 at 11:35 PM
I’ve read Newt’s new Contract with America. That’s the ACTION that I want.
Newt 2012. I don’t give a crap about his past. It wasn’t THAT bad. It’s our future I care about now. That’s really all that matters.
Harbingeing on January 8, 2012 at 11:42 PM
I don’t trust Romney. Simple as that.
BullShooterAsInElk on January 9, 2012 at 12:33 AM
So depressing. It’s such a weak, weak field. In an election year that should be easy pickings. Sad.
I just can’t stomach Newt’s baggage, it’s not only the 3 marriages, but yes the adultery. Go ahead and get divorced, but don’t cheat. Even a one-night stand in a moment of weakness and then the next day asking for forgiveness, I might could overlook, but a long-term adulterous affair is enough off-putting to me that I couldn’t vote for him. Some might find that petty, but I think it goes to character, and it’s my primary vote and I’ll use it as I see fit.
I think Perry is the only one I could hold my nose for and vote for in the primary at this point, just not being from Washington is an appeal to me, and the fact he actually admitted his gaurdisil mistake versus defending it as right, that he can say what he’d do differently if he could. Unlike Romney defending romneycare.
It’s just overall sad though that there isnt someone I can get excited about voting for to defeat Obama.
In the general, I’d probably vote for any of them though, not with very high hopes or expectations of their time in office.
rose-of-sharon on January 9, 2012 at 1:08 AM
Sowell is right. Newt is the least worst option.
There’s no evidence he was a lobbyist for freddy mac. He’s provided copies of everything he did for them and it was analysis, not lobbying.
alwaysfiredup on January 9, 2012 at 2:56 AM
Sowell is brilliant and this writing is spot on.
Newt is the ONLY candidate in the race with a strong conservative record of getting conservative policies passed in DC.
Any that can do math knows that Romney is a near sure loser against Obama because it is quite to anyone not burying their head in the sand that conservatives dont like Mitt.
And if you read today WSJ, you will see just how much of a crony capitalist and how bad of a manager Romney actually is relative to his managing Bain.
Newt is the best chance we have to defeat Obama and get some conservative policies passed in DC
georgealbert on January 9, 2012 at 6:40 AM