TBT
“Mitt Romney is no Charlie Crist. Romney is a conservative.”
Said Rubio: “Mitt Romney is no Charlie Crist. Romney is a conservative. and he was one of the first national Republican leaders to endorse me. He came to Florida, campaigned hard for me, and made a real difference in my race.”
Blowback
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On the other hand, Santorum campaigning for Specter and Newt doing it for Rockefeller validate their conservatism.
galtani on January 25, 2012 at 12:20 AM
Hell if he was nowhere that would have been preferable. He actively opposed some…Remember Dede…
ChrisL on January 25, 2012 at 12:21 AM
No, their actions in office validate their conservatism. Who they back in other races is all politics and not policy.
alwaysfiredup on January 25, 2012 at 12:23 AM
If he wasn’t talking about Paul Ryan…why did he apologize to him?
ChrisL on January 25, 2012 at 12:23 AM
If he wasn’t talking about Paul Ryan…why did he apologize to him?
Newt Gingrich apologizes to Paul Ryan
ChrisL on January 25, 2012 at 12:24 AM
Reaction to bad press.
alwaysfiredup on January 25, 2012 at 12:26 AM
Yes, I do disagree. I have no doubt that they argue among themselves just as viciously as we do, though we’re not privy to that. I also think that the term “establishment” is automatically applied, as it is in the case of Haley, Christie, and now apparently Rubio, to the people who back those who are considered to be establishment folks.
I think this is tremendously insulting because it implies that these people, many of whom we tirelessly argued to elect, cannot think for themselves and are merely puppets.
KingGold on January 25, 2012 at 12:31 AM
Yes, but that never happens. Romney will not fight-at all. Certainly not to curtain the size and scope of government or repealing obamacare, and his record shows that such a fight is not in him from his days in MA.
M_J_S on January 25, 2012 at 12:34 AM
Marco Rubio is Jeb Bush’s protege. I have seen 3 interviews[Rubio 2 and Jeb 1] where they talk about each other. Marco makes it perfectly clear that if Jeb runs he will very likely endorse him instantly.
Its not shocking really. They worked together when Bush was Governor. Marco was the Florida Speaker of the House, partly because Jeb wanted him to be.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually like both. But don’t think Marco would do anything this big without having a conversation with Jeb first. Marco has not rocked the establishment boat yet. I doubt he will anytime soon.
Marco is not Mr. Tea Party. He is Jeb Bush’s protege.
KMav on January 25, 2012 at 12:36 AM
Newt the media killer?
Ronnie on January 25, 2012 at 12:39 AM
I would not say any of those are really establishment, at least not yet. Christie may or may not be a RINO, but having worked to elect them in 2010 both Haley and Rubio are grassroots conservatives who shouldn’t yet have been converted.
However, it’s actually difficult for the vast majority of elected pols to avoid becoming part of what I will call The GOP Establishment, because the temptation to insiderism is nearly irresistible. They have all this insider knowledge that they begin to think their opinions better than those of people who don’t have access to that information. And that’s absolutely false. The opinions of people outside DC matter. The origin of the right to govern is the consent of the people, not a particular person’s inherent smartness or goodness or what have you.
In that vein, I would rather have as president an uncouth slob who listens to me than an educated, well-groomed technocrat who ignores me.
alwaysfiredup on January 25, 2012 at 12:40 AM
Paul Ryan thought Newt undermined him–something about “with friends like that, who needs enemies?”
Newt apologized because he did a stupid thing. Like endorsing Dede. Newt does and has done MANY stupid things. And there will undoubtedly be more to come. He and his ego can’t help themselves.
Still more invective and conspiracy theories about The Establishment. Every. Damn. Thread.
It’s like Newtie screaming about the MSM to deflect legitimate criticism and questions. Gettin’ real old.
Meredith on January 25, 2012 at 12:41 AM
Our party is stronger for having public disagreements on policy, not the least because they draw attention to policy instead of the endless personality contests. Months later, everybody pretty much prefers Paul Ryan to Newt Gingrich and more support his medicare reform than did at the time, so the criticism can’t have hurt.
alwaysfiredup on January 25, 2012 at 12:55 AM
Great comments, both. And so very true.
LiquidH2O on January 25, 2012 at 1:16 AM
When will Paul Ryan apologize to conservatives for voting for the auto bailouts, TARP and other liberal legislation?
He’s only against big government in rhetoric.
Dr. Tesla on January 25, 2012 at 1:22 AM
Don’t trust Rubio. He is playing the game. Palin is the real deal. Rubio is an establishment mole.
CoolChange80 on January 25, 2012 at 1:23 AM
Using Paul Ryan as a weapon against Newt is Orwellian. Paul Ryan’s never done anything for conservatism and he votes against conservative ideals consistently.
Dr. Tesla on January 25, 2012 at 1:23 AM
Rubio’s got a good chance of being Romney’s VP.
I wouldn’t put much stock in what he says about Romney’s conservatism. He didn’t provide any details on that.
Dr. Tesla on January 25, 2012 at 1:24 AM
Policy disagreements are one thing. Throwing out a blanket attack statement like “Right Wing Social Engineering” isn’t that though-did he have a follow up to fix things? Nope. More Newt “We are at the end of the Regan era” hoping to be at the front of the adoration of many train. (By the way, that same RWSE interview also had him espousing a “variant” of the individual mandate.
And as to it not hurting, wait until Ryan’s next election- I guarantee that sound bite winds up in an ad run against him from now until the end of his political days at least. And double the number of ads if Newt becomes the nominee as they will use the scary voice over guy saying “Even the Republican nominee for president feels his ideas are too extreme.”
And he did call the plan “Right wing social engineering”
You can support Gingrich all you like but please don’t expect to sell others that his gaffes (at best, an appearance of ‘bad Newt’ at worst) somehow aren’t what we all can see them as. You can ignore his flaws but pretending they don’t exist won’t make that true.
Betenoire on January 25, 2012 at 2:12 AM
I define “the establishment” as the loose system of power brokers, influence peddlers, high-ranking pols, party flacks and hacks, and the MSM who collectively hold power in Washington. I do think, as alwaysfiredup said, that there is a system of groupthink among them, and while there may be disagreements internally from time to time, they present a united face generally and think along the same lines.
Look, you can see it right here. A majority of Newt’s backers are “Tea Party” types, some who are backing him enthusiastically like myself and many others not so enthusiastically, but many of them are doing it for about roughly the same small list of reasons. Furthermore, the opponents of Gingrich such as yourself all seem to oppose him for, again, roughly the same reasons.
In fact, I bet based on peoples’ past behavior here, you could reliably predict who they will back at least 75% of the time.
The point of all this is, it’s easy to guess who an establishment won’t and won’t back and what their priorities are. I think denying the existence of a Republican power elite/establishment/power broker system is like denying that the MSM is liberal. Sure, the MSM has never come out and said they’re liberal, but everyone knows it.
Doomberg on January 25, 2012 at 2:40 AM
Rubio, what a jerk.
Go Newt!
joe_doufu on January 25, 2012 at 3:12 AM
Rubio and Jeb would have endorsed Mitt. if S Carolina wasnt such a drubbing. They are both now considering thier own political careers if they endorse “Toxic Romney”. All the talk of if Romney doesnt work. The establihment may bring in another? That Hurts Mitt right away. means perform or good bye.
The ONLY thing that can save Romney now is if he kills a goat next debate.
Gedge on January 25, 2012 at 3:56 AM
Go Newt 4ever!
Pragmatic on January 25, 2012 at 4:44 AM
Yep, Marko. Tell yourself that enough times and soon even you’ll believe it.
CTSherman on January 25, 2012 at 6:41 AM
Marco- I need coffee
CTSherman on January 25, 2012 at 6:48 AM
ItsallaboutMarco
james23 on January 25, 2012 at 7:21 AM
Nikki Haley, former Tea Party Favorite and Conservative-Maker
james23 on January 25, 2012 at 7:23 AM
flyfisher has ilk? Is there a salve for that?
james23 on January 25, 2012 at 7:30 AM
Well, they oppose Gingrich because he poses an immediate threat to their cult leader Mitt. Any pol that does such a thing would be marked for destruction by these ‘bots.
ddrintn on January 25, 2012 at 7:45 AM
Basilsbest is a mouth-breathing Mittwit. He refuses to admit any fault or deficiency on Mitt’s part. Everyone knows Mitt did nothing as governor for the conservative cause. It takes incredible hubris for people for anyone to insist Mitt is conservative when Mitt has admitted he’s a progressive himself. Saying Mitt is a progressive does not negate Newt’s statements and actions over the years. I believe that was flyfisher’s point in this thread.
Stayright on January 25, 2012 at 8:04 AM
I oppose Gingrich because he has run an awful campaign starting with the Paul Ryan slander to the endless whining after Iowa to the class warfare he used in South Carolina. I also oppose him as he doesnt pass the character test at all compared to the rest.
I’m sorry but a candidate of dubious character who has run an awful campaign and has the highest negatives and most baggage for the general is not sensible candidate…and if Romney is beyond the pale for you then Santorum is everything Gingrich claims to be and more (and won the last debate IMO).
I don’t agree with many who try to compare this to McDonnell or Angle as those were during the great 2010 backlash against the establishment and this election cycle, due to that backlash, a large part of the establishment is made up of that class of 2010..and most of them are not supporting Gingrich. If anyone in the field represented the old establishment it IS Gingrich.
If Gingrich gets the nomination, baring some miracle, Obama will be re-elected and…maybe that will be good for the party. The biggest “bots” have been anti-Romney drones whose support is so liquid that it flows to whoever has the chance to take him down, regardless of the candidates views and four more year of Obama will be on them if they support the candidate least likely to take him down at the same time that the candidate they support was not more conservative than the alternative.
Expecting lots of blame the media, Clintonian excuses for Gingrich’s philandering and head scratching on why independents and even many conservatives fail to rally support if Gingrich is the nominee.
Zybalto on January 25, 2012 at 8:20 AM
So basically the only grounds for considering Romney a conservative are that (1) somebody who ran as a conservative (but was planning on voting for SOPA) calls Romney a conservative, (2) he was CEO of a company that bought other companies, loaded those companies up with debt, and walked away with the capital of those companies, leaving them to collapse (because that’s how capitalism is supposed to work), and (3) ZOMG NOOT IZ WURSE AND HIZ SUPPORTERZ IZ TEH STUPID!!!1!1!!!1!
Aitch748 on January 25, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Hey Marco..last time we talked you were running for office. You were running against Charlie Crist. Now I hear Romney has hired Crist’s campaign manager, to run his Florida campaign. And, now YOU Marco, are onboard with this Romney bandwagon? What’s going on Marco??
BigSven on January 25, 2012 at 8:32 AM
Sounds like you described Newt to a T.
galtani on January 25, 2012 at 8:32 AM
How much did Romney’s PAC donate to Rubio’s campaign?
Stayright on January 25, 2012 at 8:38 AM
Yeah, Romney`s a Conservative…in the same vein as Grahamnesty,McCain,Specter,The Maine Twins,Scott Brown,Anyone named Bush,Dole, etc etc etc etc etc etc.
NY Conservative on January 25, 2012 at 8:50 AM
I actually didn’t know this. I feel much better, paradoxically, knowing that it’s just basic political payback as opposed to Rubio jumping the shark with Alan West moments.
By “true cons” they just mean “Tea Partiers” and anyone who doesn’t support liberal Republicans.
Doomberg on January 25, 2012 at 8:52 AM
Well, I don’t know about that rockmom. Rubio was just on Fox & Friends talking about how Newt helped him a lot while he was in the house of representatives in Florida.
Mitt was nowhere to be found. He carefully dodged weighing in on any of the big issues that were debated in 2010. Also, Mitt has no love for the tea partiers. He did nothing to support them.
KickandSwimMom on January 25, 2012 at 8:56 AM
…as opposed to the “man” who has known for EIGHTEEN YEARS that his tenure at Bain is a potential electoral problem, yet has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO ADDRESS IT in the face of bare-knuckled fighters like Axelrod and Plouffe salivating to use it against him in the general? A man who continually and gleefully projectile-vomited on Reagan and the Republican base on video, yet suddenly had a “come to conservative” moment in 2006, i.e. the trillionth of a nanosecond after he decided to abandon his governorship for a presidential run?
Rubio’s right, it is an insult to Crist to compare him to the likes of Mitt “Progressive RINO loser” Romney. /s
ebrown2 on January 25, 2012 at 9:42 AM
Rubio should take a cue from the World Champion Boston Bruins Goalie and stop pandering to Northeastern establishment liberals by calling them conservative. His behavior is childish in this matter.
Tripwhipper on January 25, 2012 at 10:48 AM
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