Only John Sununu, Sr. could make me like Chris Matthews.
Sununu was George H.W. Bush’s Chief of Staff. He holds a bitter grudge against Newt because Newt opposed Bush breaking his no new taxes pledge, and he convinced Bush to nominate David Souter.
Sununu will be the guy whispering in Romney’s ear in the White House.
Suck it up, conservatives, and enjoy it.
(video via Right Scoop)
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Watching that felt like being caught by a tidal wave of sewage. We have to stop this looming disaster.
Agreed. What kind of nightmare vision of the past are people concocting here? It’s almost as if the GOP is laboring to fulfill the most perverse and self-loathing vision of impuissance and distempered arrogance conceivable from the junkyard of republican parts and bad cliches of the past.
This is just indicative to me of how completely at sea the GOP is in the face of bold and aggressive Leftism. Rather than force a true reexamination of itself and a new commitment to a revitalized and equally bold conservatism, Obama has absolutely traumatized the GOP into near-paralysis.
Friends don’t let friends watch Chris Matthews, so I haven’t watched the clip and I don’t know whether I will be able to bring myself to watch it.
But I love this sentence: “It’s almost as if the GOP is laboring to fulfill the most perverse and self-loathing vision of impuissance and distempered arrogance conceivable from the junkyard of republican parts and bad cliches of the past.”
— “puissance” — “distempered arrogance” — “the junkyard of republican parts” — I love seeing all those words together. However, even though I love the sentence, I must beg to differ with the conclusion of the comment.
IMO Newt is dynamic and has exciting proposals for how we can restore our country to constitutionally-based law. I will be voting FOR Newt, not just against Obama, if Newt is the nominee.
I haven’t felt this way since Reagan’s re-election in 1984. (Well, except, I guess, in 1988, when Peggy Noonan, with her “Thousand Points of Light” speech, which she wrote for H. W. Bush, tricked me into thinking that H. W. understood Reagan. Ha! I was fooled, but NOT AGAIN.)
( Well, I guess I also voted “for” W. Bush, but I had terrible misgivings; and now I wonder: If his presidency led to Obama, how much on the right track could we have been? And now his father (H.W.) has now endorsed Romney. What? So I say again, NOT AGAIN!
Oh — a digression — someone at conservatives4newt commented that once McCain endorsed Romney, “The one who couldn’t beat McCain has now been endorsed by the one who couldn’t beat Obama.” To which I add that now, all the recent Republicans who have lost ignominiously to Democrats have endorsed Romney. No, thank you.
My point is, we can see some of what Newt is proposing in the debates, but only some of it. To really understand, it is necessary to watch the speeches. Or I guess a person could read about it at the new Contract With America.
It would be nice if all the speeches were easily found on a list at a site, but I don’t think they are yet. A speech in which Newt explains the big picture of why he is running is the Polk County GOP dinner in Iowa. Dec. 2, 2011 — Polk County Iowa GOP dinner — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQxturElvxI
I once was lost, but now, well, am found. I would be thrilled if Newt gets the nomination.
Newt is providing a way for the genius of the American people to focus on making our government responsive again to the will of the American people. You can only find out if you support this by finding out what it is. I support this 100%. I would love to have this chance.
Thanks. I agree about Newt. I was referring to the time-warped and sick amalgam of Mitt Romney and John Sununu.
Suck it up and vote for Romney so he can appoint more Souters?
We don’t know that for sure, he could appoint people similar to his time in MA. You know, guys like his Secretary of Commonwealth Development; environmental activist, Mr. Douglas Foy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_I._Foy
I can’t believe there was a time I liked this guy. There, I admitted it. It’s all over. Boy do I feel better.
I wish I did….I now have a big headache from watching them 🙁
Prof, have you thrown in the towel? Given up already? Because these last two posts sound like like it.
I suspect he is, as Neal Boortz would put it, stirring the puddin’.
I don’t see it that way. It looks like a semi-trolling ploy to make us realize how insane the “inevitability” mantra really is. I don’t know, just how I see it.
I watched this live. My mother (not watching, doesn’t care about these primaries or politics in general) ordered me to turn off the TV because Sununu’s whiny squeel was disturbing her focus on her crossword puzzle.
Don’t forget that Sununu Sr is something like the sixth-most-intelligent person in the world. It’s amazing how such a smart person can be so wrong.
Happens all the time. Being blinded by emotions can make anyone seem stupid.
Is Sununu trying to do damage control before the nation gets a load of this:
http://whenmittromneycametotown.com
And sees the short film entitled “King of Bain.”
Oddly enough, the short film was made by a former Romney staffer, who is a Repubican.
I also read that Romney said his daddy told him that only rich men should run for office and went on to brag about how he forced Teddy Kennedy to take out a mortgage on his home when he ran against Mitt. Romney is also claiming that he created more jobs as governor of Massachusetts than Obama has as president. Unfortunately, for Mitt, BLS records don’t lie and Mitt does.
To follow-up on the video:
Mitt Romney didn’t make his money running companies. He didn’t even make most of his money investing in start-ups like Staples. Mitt Romney made most of his money as a vulture capitalist.
The Achilles heel of the Mitt Romney candidacy is his vulture capitalism background. He made most of his money by draining companies of capital and assets to the financial benefit of his private equity firm, Bain Capital. This is the dark side of his business experience.
The dark side of Mitt Romney’s business experience involves medicare fraud, corporate welfare (government subsidies), bankrupting companies through excessive debt loads to the benefit of Romney and Bain at the expense of shareholders, workers, debtholders and taxpayers; leaving the government on the hook for the pensions of workers at companies that he bankrupted; and benefiting from a deceptive analyst report which gave a higher rating to one of his companies than it deserved based on its financials, thereby misleading investors and artificially inflating the value of the company. Romney and Bain, both benefited from it.
These questionable business deals and activities play into the narratives of the financial collapse, corporate welfare, the hollowing out of American industry, financial firms socializing losses and privatizing profits, and Wall Street chicanery that benefits the few at the expense of the little guy.
You have any legitimate sources for any of the wild claims you are making on this thread? Or did you make them up all by yourself?
America needs a man of action
by Thomas Sowell
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120108/OPINION03/201080305/1008/OPINION01/America-needs-man-action
Sigh. And we just lost the wonderful, insightful Tony Blankley.
Professor: Stop giving up the ship, we’ve just begun to fight this fight. Newt can still drive on but to what end is not yet clear. He can win this thing and then he can win the big thing against Obama. Newt and Perry are better candidates, from my conservative point of view than either Romney, Paul, or Huntsman. Santorum might do OK but I doubt he can hang in there much longer; he’s only a partial RINO, one without a full dose of RINOness.
If Obama is replaced by a RINO, like Mitt or Huntsman, our country’s current condition of spend, borrow, spend, and get bigger will continue with only a slightly, very slightly, lower rate of growth; God forbid.
Newt has his own baggage but he would run a conservative administration, IMAHO. Perry would be an unmitigated disaster, with his heart being in the right place, for whatever good that would mean.
So, please hang in there and wage the good fight, support Newt until the bitter end or victory is ours.
The end result of this GOP battle has to be that we all then fully and actively support the GOP nominee, whoever that turns out to be. Obama must be replaced with a GOP candidate, to that end we must unite in the election race.
I never did like Sununu, I just didn’t know why. I do recall that Bush 41 said that Souter was the biggest disappointment of his Presidency.
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la…
I’m just going to sit over here and listen to your Herman’s Hermits Kind of Hush clip and pretend I didn’t read this post.
Peter Noone was a very bad lip-syncer.
Bush 41 was one of the biggest disappointments in my voting history. Bush 43 wasn’t far behind on my list.
I am tired of the establishment GOP trashing conservatives and manipulating the process to push their chosen candidate. We can do better and if we don’t start our children and grandchildren will pay for it with their very liberties…
Hi WarEagle82 – I’ve read similar sentiments in your comments before and I think you are 100% correct.
Now that my preferred candidate is out of it, I am shopping around. I supported McCain over Bush in 2000 (as he was marginally more fiscally conservative), and Romney over McCain in 2008 (as he was marginally more conservitive). I was not particularly fond of any of them, but they were the only choices I had. This cycle, I would have preferred Palin or Rubio, but Bachmann was my choice of the availables.
And now, one of my favorite blogs is going all LOTR – specifically Smegal – with Gingrich as Precious. All the negativity directed towards Romney is, in fact, counter-productive. Pointing out all of Romney’s flaws does not negate any of Gingrich’s flaws, and the caustic nature that they expressed here makes me more likely to settle in the Santorum or Perry camp come our caucuses early February.
The reason Sununu and Bush the Elder hold a grudge is that Newt was on board with the tax hike deal privately, then stabbed the President in the back by coming out against it publicly when it was announced.
Of course, that was then, I’m sure you can trust him now, just like his first two wives could.
I’m sure that Mitt Romney’s public amorality (say anything to win) and business immorality (cheat the government, stockholder, debt holder, taxpayer, and worker) trumps a Newt’s personal immorality. /s
I’m sure we all look forward to the great “Mittness” Presidential Campaign Theme: I am not a crook! /s
Two things. First, I’m not sure of the good professor is throwing in the towel or not. But folks, it’s time to read the handwriting on the wall: Newt Gingrich is finished. His numbers have not moved upward whatsoever in New Hampshire; he will finish fourth (if he’s lucky). If Santorum beats him (and that’s not yet clear), Santorum will have established himself as the primary not-Romney.
Don’t get me wrong, I want Gingrich to stay in the race for a while and keep hammering Romney. As I’ve said many times before, Mitt needs to be challenged and forced out of his comfortable little cocoon. Gingrich is the most adept at doing this.
But, Gingrich is not going to be the nominee. He has pretty much returned to his place in this campaign prior to November, an intriguing sideshow. Consider this article:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/siege-newt_616196.html
Not that OWS couldn’t do the same to Romney or anyone. But with Newt sinking as it is, this is just twisting the knife.
I am not at all saying Romney has this wrapped up. He won’t unless he wins South Carolina. But if you want to stop Romney, you will have to unite behind the strongest opponent out there. At this point, that appears to be Santorum, even for all his weaknesses.
Second, I think many of you misunderstand Mitt’s use of Sununu. It always comes back to Sununu convincing Bush I to agree to a tax hike with many conservative activists. But most voters or not politics junkies. How many ordinary voters remember who, precisely, John Sununu is? Even the ones old enough to remember, probably only have a faint memory of “Read My Lips” and that Bush later broke this promise. They likely have no idea who his chief of staff was.
However, as I understand it (and, correct me any New Hampshireites, if I’m wrong here), Sununu is still very well regarded among New Hampshire Republicans. This is likely why Mitt keeps having him make public appearances. It doesn’t hurt him nationally since few remember who he was or what he did under Bush I. But it does send a constant reminder to New Hampshire GOP voters that Mitt has Sununu’s support.
“How many ordinary voters remember who, precisely, John Sununu is?”
Are you kidding me? “ordinary voters”, if asked about John Sununu, would respond “Not bad, but I like Nissans better”:)
Ann Coulter and John Sununu sitting in a tree, K=I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, here comes………
not a sununu fan but I will admit to enjoying seeing the look on matthews face here.
I thought the whole clip was some good comic relief.
It’s all in the look on his face.
The assault on Newt in NE Florida began last week with negative ads by Romney’s PAC and on Saturday I got a super nasty anti-Newt mailer. We’ve only been watching Fox News and football for a couple weeks, so I assume the ads are worse on our networks. I’d hoped Newt would go after Mitt in the debate Sat. nite, but I guess he let me down (couldn’t watch, too nervous). I plan to vote for Newt in our primary and then immediately change my registration to independent, after being a registered Republican all my life. Heck, my maiden name is Reagan. I was chairman of NC’s largest county GOP during Bush 43. I am soooo sad. Now I understand what President Reagan meant when he said his party (Dems) had left him. Thanks for this great blog and for letting me vent.
1. Vote for Scott Brown or Mitt Romney? Maybe I’ll submit write-ins or blank entries for anyone beyond my congressional district.
2. In effect Sununu is saying that anything goes as long as it isn’t illegal–and look at all the positive comments at Right Scoop. Speaking of cocoons (@BurkeanBadger), apparently those commenters have no idea of how Sununu comes across to independent voters.
3. Presumably there will be multiple game-changers before November, but with the way things are currently shaping up the election may not even be close: the Stupid Party could get the worst President in over a century reelected by a landslide.
Sununu will not be seen much after New Hampshire. The guy is 73 years old and been outside politics for 2 decades. His son has already been a Senator and lost re-election. The Sununus are done outside of trying to play kingmaker in New Hampshire primaries.
Seriously? You really mean that? Joke, right?
No?
Well, I thought Sununu’s trenchant put-down of those two was priceless. What is not to love about seeing those two get their clocks cleaned? What’s not to love about seeing the repeated flashes of frustration on Chris Matthews face as he is bested in an exchange on his own show over and over again?
Note that RedState, who you linked to as your source for the video, said the following by way of introduction where he embedded the clip on his site:
You betcha!
Yet, now you are tempted to somehow root for poor Chris Matthews and Eugene Robinson because it was John Sununu who took them both to school?
Breathtaking!
What the . . . even far left-winger and Obama shill, Huff-Po’s own Howard Fineman, had the good sense to keep his trap shut during that exchange! Howard was the former Newsweek political analyst who once had the temerity to ponder along with Keith Olbermann whether Scott Brown’s TV ads in the race against Coakley were subtly racist because he was featured in them driving around in a pick-up truck!
But even Howard kept it zipped up as Sununu scorched both Chrissy and Eugene.
How can we understand an expression of sympathy for those two? Are we to conclude that the intensity of lingering support for Newt Gingrich — whilst his campaign is manifestly collapsing in frustration and anger – is causing outbursts like this?
I thoroughly enjoyed the clip myself, and I am at a complete loss to understand how anyone could say they felt sympathy for the two, and instead takes the opportunity to try to push back on former Governor Sununu!
The only thing that comes to mind is that perhaps momentarily the expedition of your strident shove out-ran the pauser reason . . .
Too cute by 90%.
It is common to illustrate how bad a beatdown was by expressing sympathy for the victim, even an otherwise despised victim.
Lighten up.
Oh, please Henry! Spare us the crocodile tears.
Newt is no victim. He was an ill-prepared and under-resourced candidate who, when his campaign started coming apart, sought to blame it all on others, and in particular Mitt.
My own view is that going down the whiny sore loser road — like Newt has indeed done — will actually help Mitt by way of contrast.
Hell, I may even write and thank him when it is all over.
Reading comprehension problem? The victim in this scenario is Chris Matthews, excoriated mercilessly by Sunnunu, to the degree that even those who detest Chris Matthews could feel sorry for him.
Professor, it’s fantastic to see someone stick it to Matthews, but lets hope it’s not Sununu who is whispering in Romney’s ear going forward. Who wants David Souter redux, or late night tax deals with Pelosi and Reid at Andrews Air Force Base? Not me!