Gingrich: Rove would rather have Harry Reid as majority leader than Todd Akin in Senate

Newt Gingrich definitely has a way of contrasting and simplifying things. In an interview with the Daily Caller, he called out the Republican Party establishment for its inexplicable treatment of Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who is in a dead heat with extreme liberal Claire McCaskill for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.

Newt pulls no punches here, calling Charlie Crist a 'snake' while pointing to the establishment's decision to back him two years ago over Marco Rubio. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who heads the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) was wrong then and he's wrong now.

Gingrich also singled out Karl Rove, again referring to the Fox News contributor's comments at a fundraiser that involved joking about Akin's murder. At the essence of Gingrich's take here is that the Republican establishment seems to have more animus for the conservative wing of its party than it does for the Democrats. That sentiment is clearly not mutual when one considers how conservatives have rallied behind Romney.

The conservative wing of the Party clearly would rather have Romney than Obama but it doesn't seem to be getting reciprocal sentiment from the establishment wing.

Though not doing so by name, at the end of this clip, Gingrich calls out the likes of Rove, Cornyn, and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus when he says that anyone who refuses to support Akin in a race that is neck and neck, would rather have Harry Reid remain on as Senate majority leader than have Akin in the U.S. Senate.

He's absolutely right.

Via the DC:

Video: Newt Gingrich calls for liberating Big Bird from the Bureaucracy

Two separate exchanges here. First, Piers Morgan asks Rick Santorum if Big Bird should be killed. Santorum says he's voted to do so in the past before saying, "you can kill things and still like them." The next exchange involves Newt Gingrich who says "Big Bird will be fine" and then flips the coin by saying we "should liberate Big Bird from the bureaucracy".

Big Bird is definitely having a 'Joe the Plumber' moment by being mentioned in a debate.

h/t Right Newz:

Audio: Newt rallies behind Todd Akin, rails against establishment

Newt Gingrich appeared on the Jamie Allman show in St. Louis on September 24th to make the case for Rep. Todd Akin against Claire McCaskill in a critical Senate race in that state. The former Speaker nailed it when he referred to six seconds of an interview Akin would like to have back compared to six years of 'destructive' votes from McCaskill sensible people wished never took place.

Akin is a conservative, tea party kinda guy. The establishment doesn't like him. Karl Rove joked about his murder at a fundraiser. Gingrich nailed him on it. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus continues to insist Akin will not get a dime of RNC support. Ditto John Cornyn, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). It would seem that as the Republican nominee for President, Romney should have a bit of influence on the RNC and the NRSC. If he does, it doesn't appear that he's using any of it to help Akin.

But you know what Romney IS doing? As Newt is in Missouri, campaigning for Akin, Romney will be speaking at Bill Clinton's Global Initiative, perhaps the former president's biggest pet project. Some would argue - myself included - that what Akin said is less distasteful that what Romney is doing by lending voice to the CGI, especially when better use of his time might be spent in Missouri, showing support for Akin.

Here is a screenshot taken from the list of CGI Speakers between September 23rd - 25th:

Once again, the establishment shows that it's not willing to do what it insists conservatives should do - hold their nose and support the Republican nominee.

Here's Newt - otherwise known as the man who should have gotten the nomination - with Jamie Allman.



h/t GWP

Video: Newt hits Romney for not being tough with Obama

The Newt Gingrich presidential campaign peaked in South Carolina. In the days leading up to the primary, the former House Speaker was on offense. He was hitting Obama on Saul Alinsky, he was hitting CNN's John King on the debate floor, and he called out Juan Williams for the latter's obvious race-baiting. Gingrich was rewarded with a primary victory in that state.

Media outlets were reporting that candidates who win South Carolina almost always win the nomination. If Gingrich had proceeded to carry Florida one week later, he may have pulled away to victory. In the days after the South Carolina primary, the Romney campaign went to work, destroying Gingrich, who had a sizable lead in Florida shortly after that South Carolina victory only to see it eaten up by vicious Romney attack ads. It was essentially the end of Newt's campaign; he never recovered.

When it comes to destroying Obama, Romney has no interest and this fact is not lost on Newt who, during an appearance on Piers Morgan's show, called Romney out on it.

Good for Newt. He's right.



h/t Right Newz

Video: Newt rips Rove over 'murder' comments

Newt invoked the name Gabriele Giffords on Meet the Press while ripping Rove over the latter joking about the murder of Senatorial candidate Todd Akin. Conservative pundits who excuse Rove should ask themselves what their reaction would be if it were the leader of a Democratic Super PAC who joked about the murder of a sitting Republican congressman. Any attempt to excuse Rove's comments is very hypocritical and would be an example of a double standard the right often complains exists on the left.

Hard to argue.

Via Huffington Post:

Much better video of Newt via Daily Caller. Pay particularly close attention to how he literally stuns the other panelists, leaving them completely silent. At one point, he calls out Thomas Friedman, who offered an incredibly lame response after being called out. No one chews up liberals and spits them out as thoroughly as Gingrich does.

Folks, Newt should have been the Republican nominee. Period.

Video: Newt destroys CNN's Piers Morgan on Economy

I jumped aboard the Newt for President bandwagon after his two South Carolina debates prior to that state's primary, which he won handily. He was subsequently destroyed by Romney' Super PAC ads, lost the Florida primary, and never recovered.

Last night, Gingrich demonstrated why he was a better choice than Romney. In addition to thoroughly spanking CNN's Piers Morgan for blatant left-wing partisanship and vacuous amount of economic knowledge, Gingrich is much better at going on offense.



h/t Hot Air

Newt smacks down 'lack of foreign policy experience' Argument

There seems to be a minor tete-a-tete going on between Newt Gingrich and Christian Whiton, a man who worked on the former House Speaker's presidential campaign; Whiton also worked at the State Department from 2003 - 2009. In an interview yesterday, Whiton asserted that Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan was 'unfortunate' due to Ryan's lack of foreign policy experience.

Here is the video, via MediaIte:



Note how Whiton defers to Dick Cheney's standard for selecting a Vice President. While it's true that Cheney has eight years of experience as Vice President under his belt, he has quite a few blemishes when it comes to his dealing with the real Islamic threat after 9/11, as was identified by William Murray in the days after 9/11.

Consider a Washington Post article dated February 22, 2003. It had been learned that Sami Al-Arian, who would later be convicted of charges relating to financing terrorism, was one of 160 members of a delegation from the American Muslim Council (AMC) who attended an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House on June 22, 2001.

None other than Karl Rove - the man who earned the moniker known as 'Bush's Brain' - was on hand to convey Bush's "faith-based" agenda. AMC, to include Abdurahman Alamoudi, a man who worked at the State Department under Clinton and who was convicted in 2004 of charges related to financing terrorism, was also in attendance. Keep in mind that Rove spoke at this event, attended by Alamoudi nearly one year after the AMC member stood in front of the White House and pledged support for Hamas and Hezbollah:



Cheney was scheduled to speak to the AMC at that June 22, 2001 meeting. The Washington Post article explains what happened:

The meeting was controversial within the White House even before it took place. The group that included Al-Arian was scheduled to be briefed by Vice President Cheney, but Cheney canceled. That morning, the Jerusalem Post had run a front-page article headlined, "Cheney to host pro-terrorist Muslim group."

Several pro-Israel and conservative activists had warned administration officials not to meet with the American Muslim Council contingent because the group had courted controversy for years, knowledgeable sources said.

The inference is that Cheney canceled because of the Jerusalem Post article but let's assume the two incidents were mutually exclusive. Why was Cheney scheduled to speak to the group at all??

To be fair to Whiton, he wasn't working at the State Department at the time of this fiasco involving Rove and Cheney.

This leads us to Gingrich's appearance on Face the Nation today. Note that his argument is in support of the Romney/Ryan ticket and that "it is an advantage that they're not part of the current mess". Based on the decision-making of Cheney's handlers in the anecdotal example from June of 2001 alone, Newt has a strong point.

When talk turns to the subject of the State Department in general, Gingrich advocates for 'distrust' of it.

Is that a reference to Huma Abedin and her potentially ill-gotten security clearance?

For the record, I reached out to Whiton to get his take on the Huma Abedin controversy; my inbox still contains no emails from him.

Again, via MediaIte:

Video: Wolf Blitzer gushes over Huma Abedin with Newt

CNN's Wolf Blitzer, during an interview with Newt Gingrich, gushed over Hillary Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin, saying that he knows her and that she's a "wonderful, wonderful person". Blitzer then almost seemed like he was going out of his way to convince himself, saying "she is not part of a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy".

Via POLITICO:



**UPDATE** Here is a longer clip of the exchange between Blitzer and Gingrich. It's definitely worth the watch. More commentary at Shoebat:

County chairman in Delaware now backing Gingrich

If nothing else, this fits right into Newt's 'I am the tortoise' narrative. A Republican county chairman in Delaware - whose state's primary is this Tuesday - is backing Gingrich because... Romney is acting like a bunny rabbit.

Via the AP:

The chairman of Kent County's Republican Party says he's switching his support from Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich.

Hans Reigle on Friday said he was throwing his support to the former House speaker because he "is the only candidate who has shown a willingness to meet and talk with Delaware voters for more than an hour." The defection comes before Delaware's primary on Tuesday.

Romney is all-but-certain to win the GOP's presidential nomination and the campaign has largely shifted to the head-to-head contest against President Barack Obama. Gingrich has refused to yield and has been campaigning in Delaware despite a seemingly impossible path to the nomination.

Someone thinks the bunny rabbit is ignoring them.



h/t Free Republic

Videos: Romney Communications Director and the 'Etch-a-Sketch' Gaffe

Uh, this can't be good for several reasons. One, there's nothing quite like the optics of an etch-a-sketch analogy. Two, Romney is already fighting a pretty imposing narrative that he's really a liberal. Three, the matter-of-fact nature in which Romney Communications Director Eric Ferhnstrom delivered his answer to a question about how Romney's conservative posture in the primaries could force him to run on a more conservative platform in the general than he otherwise would have to do.

In essence, Ferhnstrom said Romney can go back to being as liberal as is necessary after he secures the nomination.... with an "etch-a-sketch" metaphor.

Via GWP:



Of course, if this gaffe has legs, look for an etch-a-sketch to accompany every campaign speech. In this case, Newt only waited a few hours to use one.

Via Hot Air:

Video: Newt calls Obama 'President Algae'

Yeah, I know. Consecutive Newt posts but his one was too good to pass up. While speaking at Bowling Green University in Ohio, three days before Super Tuesday, Newt did what he typically does best - draw clear contrasts between himself and Obama. In this clip, he asks the audience a rather humorous rhetorical question that involves a reference to Barack Obama as 'President algae' compared to what kind of president Newt would be.

Worth the watch.



h/t Hapblog

Video: Newt goes after Obama on Apologizing for Qur'an Burnings

Newt is absolutely right here. Obama used up his allotment of apologies to the Muslim world during his 2009 speech in Cairo. As you watch this clip of Gingrich, ask yourself if you can see Ron Paul saying this.

Via CNN:

Video: Newt in 2008 on Freddie Mac

Here is Newt in 2008 explaining how pathetically poor the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were. Note at the very beginning that Newt issues a full disclosure about doing work for Freddie. He then goes on to chastise both institutions.

There have been a lot of past videos of Newt that have come back to haunt him during this election season. This is one that should do the opposite.



h/t Free Republic

Is Romney's Florida Spokesman redistricting Allen West out of Existence?

If this is true, the Tea Party may have an issue to take national. Florida state representative Tim Weatherford (R) is a Florida spokesman for the Romney campaign. According to the Shark Tank, he has confirmed that Rep. Allen West (R) may be a victim of redistricting.

One of Governor Mitt Romney’s spokesmen was Florida Representative Will Weatherford, and during the course of his remarks in the “Spin Room”, he shed a very dim light on the ongoing redistricting process in the Florida Legislature. Over the past several weeks, many Republicans have voiced their disappointment towards the Republican legislature after the release of the preliminary redistricting maps. Much of the ire concerns the proposed boundaries of Congressman Allen West’s 22nd Congressional District that would be redrawn to include far more registered Democrats.

William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection seems to think this is a foregone conclusion:

A website, SaveAllenWest, had been set up, but it appears to be too late.

One of the rising stars of the Tea Party is about to be sacrificed by the Republican establishment in Florida, led by someone spinning for Mitt Romney.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Folks, this is establishment level arrogance on display. The Tea Party is being slapped in the face because one of its members - West - isn't towing the establishment line. There is a way for the Tea Party to have the last laugh, however.

Though West hasn't officially endorsed Gingrich, he has been defending the former Speaker against establishment attacks recently. Gingrich has also said he would consider West when selecting a running mate. West hinted that he would be interested.

If a scenario plays out where Lt. Col. Allen West is redistricted out of a job, it might be the perfect opportunity for Newt to launch a counter-attack by naming the Tea Party favorite as his running mate.

One of the downsides to a presidential candidate selecting a running mate from Congress is that, well, you lose that candidate's vote in Congress. That's one of the best arguments against the eventual nominee selecting Florida Senator Marco Rubio. If Gingrich overcomes the odds and wins the nomination, West could be much more appealing in terms of him being out of a job anyway. The payback factor would be nice too.

Having someone as Vice President with West's military background could be a perfect fit.

Anyway, here is video of Weatherford.

Video: Newt Deals with Far Left Heckler on Florida Campaign stop

This is the kind of energy Newt brings to a crowd that Mitt simply lacks. A left winger in the crowd begins screaming at Gingrich about taking money from Freddie Mac. Newt responds by saying that the only article about his recommendations to Freddie Mac appeared in a New York Times article and that his conclusion at the time was that the GSE should not be given any more money. The heckler didn't stop, at which point, Newt smacked her down while invoking Lincoln.



h/t GWP

Video: Newt Sets Univision Reporter straight on Comparison to Bill Clinton

Univision's Jorge Ramos attempted to do the same thing that CNN's Erin Burnett did a day after the South Carolina debate at which John King asked Gingrich about the 'open marriage' issue; he tried to paint the former Speaker as a hypocrite for attacking Clinton in the 1990's over Lewinsky while Gingrich himself was engaged in an extra-marital affair.

Like he did with Burnett, Gingrich set the interviewer straight about the difference. The issue was not about adultery; it was about lying under oath. The difference between Burnett and Ramos, however, is that Ramos appeared to be unable to understand the line of distinction. After failing to see it, Gingrich at one point referred to a misfiring 'synapse' in Ramos' brain.

Via MediaIte:

Wow! Newt Surges to 8 Point over Romney in Florida?!

If you thought the Republican establishment is unhinged over Romney's loss in South Carolina, this latest development could have them frothing at the mouth soon.

According to the InsiderAdvantage poll, Gingrich leads Romney by 8 points in a state where Romney just a week ago had a double digit lead. The worst part for Romney? Santorum has 11% of the support and the majority of that would likely go to Gingrich.

Via Newsmax:

The InsiderAdvantage poll of of 557 registered Republican voters is one of the first polls taken in Florida in the aftermath of Gingrich's double-digit win in the South Carolina primary Saturday.

The poll results follow:

Gingrich: 34%


Romney: 26%

Paul: 13%

Santorum: 11%

Other: 2%

No opinion: 14%

The InsiderAdvantage poll was the first major poll last week to show the significant surge for Gingrich in South Carolina.

 h/t Hapblog

Audio: Geraldo says Newt a Racist for saying the word, 'Juan'

If race baiter = racist, Geraldo Rivera is now a premium club member. On his radio show, Geraldo actually said that the way in which Gingrich addressed Juan Williams at the Fox News debate last week was a 'racial epithet.' Forget the fact that Williams was implying that Newt was racist (race card). Apparently, that was no problem. Forget the fact that the crowd collectively rejected Williams race-baiting attempt. This was all about painting Newt as the racist because of the way he said, 'Juan.'

Listen to the whole thing because Geraldo actually says that Jimmy Carter was 'very underrated.'

The liberal media is continuing to double down with Newt like it did with Sarah Palin but they don't seem to realize that every time they do, Newt gives better than he gets.



h/t Weasel Zippers

Video: Newt on Meet the Press, Followed by mildly sour Chris Christie

After a week in which Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich thoroughly defeated the liberal media establishment, David Gregory of Meet the Press gave it his shot and had just as much luck. At about the 1:50 mark, Gregory charged that Newt was a 'lobbyist' for Freddie Mac. Gingrich then did exactly to Gregory to what he'd done to other reporters, albeit a bit more subtly.

The more the media attempts to attack him, the stronger Gingrich seems to get. Neither the liberal media, nor the Republican establishment knows how to handle him.

Via MSNBC:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Shortly after Newt's appearance, New Jersey governor Chris Christie sat down with Gregory. In many ways, he seemed as bitter about Gingrich's victory in South Carolina as Ann Coulter did.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Video: Ann Coulter whines about Gingrich win

Wait a minute. Ann Coulter goes on Fox and Friends to defend Mitt Romney by defending John King as a "fair" and "honest" reporter in an attempt to go after Newt Gingrich for winning in South Carolina?! According to Coulter, King had every right to ask the question he did. What Coulter is blind to is that it's not just about liberal reporters asking tough questions of Republicans; it's the fact that they DIDN'T ask similar questions of Barack Obama.

Coulter's blind support of establishment candidates is no longer inexplicable; it's to be expected.

Perhaps most surprising is that Coulter attacks Newt for calling Obama a socialist while Romney won't go that far.

Uh, Ann, Obama is a socialist.

Gingrich is rattling the establishment and Coulter's irrational diatribe comes across as blatantly petulant.

Via Fox News: