Gingrich 2012 Prez Run Now Plausible

Unless or until he announces at some point that he is not running, I am coming out two years early in support of Newt Gingrich for President in 2012. Here is the first of a series of articles regarding this potential Republican hopeful, a true Conservative who, if he really wants it, is the best person for the job in this man's opinion.

Let me first do what some in this business fail to do: Reveal a potential conflict of interest and remind readers that I served as Newt Gingrich's political chairman before and while he was speaker of the House. I've known him 30 years. But those who follow this column, including Gingrich, have not always enjoyed my views on some of his words or actions.


Newt knows I am an independent thinker, and while I'm not on his level of political genius, I might be a bit more in touch with the daily grind that faces most Americans every day.

So what's my take on this week's disclosure from Newt that he might run for president in 2012? First comes an initial, perhaps superficial reaction: Mitt Romney seems more charismatic, better organized and hungrier for the job than any other potential 2012 candidate. Sarah Palin is attractive, also charismatic and an ambitious potential candidate. Even Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is not well known, has a lot of "curb appeal" as a young candidate on the rise.

But I don't discount a Gingrich run. The presidential campaign of 2008 was about style over content. John McCain won GOP the nomination because Mike Huckabee, who shocked the Republicans by winning in Iowa, was viewed as perhaps too socially conservative. Romney seemed stiffer and "slicker" that year. He was too closely aligned with the unpopular George W. Bush camp. The GOP voters went for the image of "the maverick" in John McCain. It didn't work.

As for the Democrats and ultimately the nation, the elegant, charming and oratorically gifted Barack Obama represented a "change" as much in style as in substance. Oh, yes, there ultimately was plenty of substance in the change Obama brought to the nation as president. It just has not been the kind of change that many independent voters who supported him were expecting.

I have seen Newt Gingrich reinvent -- or perhaps better to say, "evolve" -- many times in his career. First, he was the bright new Republican conservative thinker in an overwhelmingly majority Democratic House in the late 1970s and the 1980s. By the early 1990s, he was the bomb-throwing, take-no-prisoners fighter who helped oust Speaker Jim Wright from power. By the mid-1990s, he was still a "revolutionary," but one with a detailed plan of action and a band of Republican "brothers and sisters" in the House willing to follow his lead to a huge 1994 electoral takeover of that chamber.

Then there were the years in the "wilderness," a term once used to describe Winston Churchill after his having led his nation through World War II, only to be later tossed out of power, at least for a while. Gingrich resigned after much internal GOP fighting. Yes, there is always the "he has baggage" argument. But years have passed, and Americans have short memories and forgiving hearts.

Now we see Newt Gingrich the "elder statesman." When Gingrich speaks, not only do cable news, talk radio and conservative popular news and opinion sites take note, so too does the "media establishment" that once ruled the airwaves and print journalism in America.

No, Gingrich will never match a Palin or Romney in a contest of style or youthful appearance. But in 2012, he will be the same age as Ronald Reagan was when he won the presidency for the first time. In that contest, the dashing John Connally and the elegant George H.W. Bush were viewed as the early frontrunners in the GOP race, along with other younger stars like Howard Baker.

Remember how Reagan moved from being viewed as an elder conservative also-ran to frontrunner status. It was one debate held in New Hampshire where the establishment GOP tried to keep Reagan from speaking. "I paid for this microphone," Reagan blasted as the moderator attempted to have him silenced.

And while I often discount the power of debates, it was the CNN/YouTube debate late in 2007 that catapulted Mike Huckabee toward a win in Iowa. And if you really want to reach back in time, I can name several presidential contests in which the debates turned the tide and the outcome of the election.

I can see Gingrich potentially playing roles like these. He is not an unappealing man. His grey hair and the calm manner in which he analyses issues gives those who view him a sense that there is still around at least this one bright, able -- and stable -- statesman. Do you really think any of the Republican contenders -- to say nothing of Barack Obama -- would want to debate Newt Gingrich?

A Gingrich run is more plausible than many think. Depending on an assortment of factors, it could just work for the Republican Party.

WRITTEN BY: Matt Towery at Human Events with the original article available by clicking on the title of this entry

Media Alert-First Lady Michelle Obama to appear on FOX

-----AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

hat tip-Angelar

From CBSNews.com

Political Hotsheet
February 17, 2010 6:30 PM
Michelle Obama to Appear on Mike Huckabee's Fox News Show

First Lady Michelle Obama will appear on Mike Huckabee's Fox News program this weekend, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Huckabee, the past and possibly future Republican presidential candidate, is having the first lady on to discuss her efforts to fight childhood obesity. Huckabee has struggled with weight problems and wrote a book entitled "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork: A 12-Step Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle" after losing more than 100 pounds.

The former Arkansas governor had kind words for Michelle Obama for taking on childhood obesity. Speaking to U.S. News, he said it "is not a left/right, liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican issue. This is an issue that falls beyond what I call the 'horizontal' issues of left and right and rises to the 'vertical' level of up or down."

HUCKABEE will be shown Saturday, 2/20 at 8pm EST with repeats on Sunday, 2/21 at 8 pm and 11 pm EST

I think Huck would show her more respect than any of the rest of the clowns on that network.

Make the Animals Serve Their Full Prison Sentences

As pretty much everyone already knows, four police officers were shot and killed early on Sunday morning in Lakewood, Washington. Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens, Mark Renninger, and Greg Richards were not responding to a robbery call, not patrolling a dangerous part of town, not involved in a fight with a crazed criminal. They were just sitting in a cafe, catching up on paperwork.

The animal who walked into that cafe and gunned those small town heroes down in cold blood in a targeted assassination should never have been on the streets to begin with. He should never have had the opportunity to murder. The animal, and there is no other word that properly describes this particular being, had already been caged, on numerous occassions.

In August, September, and November of 1989, this animal was sentenced to more than 13 years on numerous counts of burglary, theft, and robbery. That was after having probation revoked already. He was only 17 years old. In February of 1990 it was 20 more years for burglary and theft, and then in November he gained a 6-year sentence for firearm possession.

By the time this animal had reached 18 years of age, it had already accumulated more than a century of sentencing time. During one particular hearing the judge had it shackled, claiming the animal had threatened him. There was no way, no way, that this animal should ever have been back out on the streets. No way that this caged animal should have been able to hurt anyone again. At least not anyone who wasn't behind bars themselves.

But then in May of 2000, after this animal had been safely locked up away from the rest of us for over a decade, his total sentence time was commuted to just over 47 years by then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The effect of Huckabee's commutation was that it made the animal eligible for parole that very day. Just two months later a parole board granted, and the animal was released on August 1st, 2000.

Beginning that very day, the rest of humanity was in danger. It didn't take long though to get him back into a cage. In July of 2001 he was convicted of robbery and received a 10-year sentence. Another decade with this animal off the streets? Another decade for human beings to sleep in peace, at least from this particular animal? Hardly. He was paroled again, this time in March of 2004 after serving less than three years.

Beginning that very day, the rest of humanity was again in danger. This was a proven dangerous, violent, recidivist criminal, but governors, judges, and parole board members thought him safe to walk the streets with their own children, spouses, and parents. All of this occurred while in Arkansas, but these local officials didn't have to worry about their safety or that of their loves ones for long, if they were worried at all.

The same month that he was released, the animal scurried across country, moving out west to Washington state where their Department of Corrections listed him as "high risk to reoffend" despite Arkansas' apparent feeling that the public was safe. Their DOC was to continue his supervision until 2015, but he wouldn't take long to prove his dangerous self. Again.

Earlier this year in his new hometown of Tacoma, where he established a reputation for being erratic and for throwing loud parties, the animal assaulted a sheriff's deputy who had responded to a disturbance outside his home. The animal and two other males attempted to attack the deputy together, and were finally restrained when backup officers arrived.

The animal's family has since reported that he was deteriorating mentally at a rapid pace, making messianic claims about himself, saying that he was Jesus Christ and that the end of the world was coming soon. He ordered his wife and two young relatives to stand naked in front of him at 4am, saying that this was a new Sunday practice.

A sister of this animal stated that it claimed the ability to fly, and that it claimed to have written a letter to the President, and it expected the Secret Service to be coming for it soon. The animal also stated that President Obama himself was going to come and support the idea that it was the messiah.

While investigating this incident the authorities came upon evidence which led to charges of the animal having raped a 12-year old relative. It was once again put into a cage where it belonged all along. Small children and the rest of the world was finally safe from the animal. That is, until yet another judge deemed him eligible for bail. He bailed out in early November. Just weeks later, he murdered the four officers.

The animal will never kill or hurt anyone ever again. Officers in Washington state made sure of that when they shot and killed him during the investigation of a stolen auto today. This was the culmination of a massive investigation and manhunt following the Sunday morning murders.

But while the community has been made safe now thanks to the police putting this animal down for good, we are left to wonder why it had to go this far. Why did numerous people need to be assaulted and robbed? Why did an officer have to be assaulted? Why did a little child have to be raped? Why did a family have to be terrorized? Why did four heroic officers have to die? Why do families have to suffer now forever?

Why? There is one simple reason. Because our criminal justice system in America is broken. Because when animals commit crimes against society and the police do their job and arrest them, putting them behind bars where they can no longer hurt anyone, and these animals are convicted by a judge or jury and given a sentence, that sentence is almost never carried out.

The "system" will give you a thousand excuses as an answer to our "Why?" question. It will talk about forgiveness and leniency. It will talk about rehabilitation and recovery. It will talk about fairness and opportunity. It will talk about overcrowding and financial costs. What it never seems to care about is safety and security for we, the people.

If someone is sentenced to 25 years in jail for robbing another, they need to serve 25 years. If they are sentenced to a half century in jail for raping a child, they need to serve a half century. If they are sentenced to life for some level of taking the life of another, they need to stay in jail for life. If they are sentenced to death for a cold-blooded murder, then they need to die.

The only people who need to have their sentences shortened or terminated or commuted are those who, based on some new evidence (DNA, confession of another, etc), receive a new trial and are subsequently acquitted of the charges. Those sentenced to death need some relatively speedy process of evaluation of the evidence, and then have their sentences carried out.

It is only through the process of completely and fully carrying out of the sentencing that the majority law-abiding public can have any real measure of true, lasting safety and peace. The vast majority of crime has been proven to be committed by the same recidivist offenders. The animals will maim and kill when released from their cages. Expecting any other eventuality is just plain ignorant.

GOP Scrambles For a Messenger

The struggle to settle on a speaker for Monday's big congressional Republican fundraising dinner underscores the tough time the party is having finding national leaders to help them form a message and go head-to-head with President Obama.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ended up headlining this year's Senate-House Republican dinner, capping an awkward back-and-forth in which Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's advisers in Washington initially agreed for her to deliver the keynote speech only to have her Alaska office later argue that she never committed. The party's former vice-presidential nominee was then reinvited to attend but told she could not speak out of fear she might upstage Mr. Gingrich.

Despite the back-and-forth, the event's sponsors -- the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) -- said the dinner had raised $14.45 million to aid Republican congressional candidates in the upcoming election cycle.

"We simply have to take both of them back," NRSC Vice Chairman Orrin G. Hatch of Utah said of the two chambers.

Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin added: "We've got to be the reform party we used to be. We've got to be the party of ideas."

Mr. Gingrich, who stepped down from the House a decade ago, recently earned headlines for describing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a "Latina racist" on the social networking site Twitter.com, a comment he later backed away from. But he was given a rock star's welcome at Monday night's dinner at the Washington Convention Center, receiving a standing ovation after a speech that spanned American history, judicial philosophy and economic policies.

"The challenge for the Obama administration is simple: Americans know better," Mr. Gingrich said, citing the president's plan to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, which has stalled in Congress. "Reagan used his rhetorical skills to shine light on truths and fundamental facts. Obama uses his rhetorical skills to hide fundamental facts."

Mr. Gingrich, like Republican analysts, appeared to shrug off the Palin drama as inside-the-Beltway chatter, giving the hockey-mom-turned-politician a public welcome. "I felt, looking at John McCain and Sarah Palin [tonight], this country would have been amazingly better off had they been in the White House," he said.

Since Mr. Obama's victory over Sen. John McCain of Arizona in November, Democrats have mocked the Republican Party for recycling former leaders while attempting to paint polarizing figures such as talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh and former Vice President Dick Cheney as titular party heads.

But Republicans pointed out that it's not surprising to find a field of several potential leaders after losing the White House, and argued that electoral success hinges more on ideas than a single party leader. "After [the loss of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry] 2004, before Barack Obama, the Democrats didn't really have a leader," said Republican strategist Kevin Madden.

Other analysts downplayed the Palin drama as inside-the-Beltway chatter. "In the end, she's coming to the dinner and it's all much ado about nothing," veteran Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said.

But the behind-the-scenes intrigue did little to help promote Republican Party unity. In addition to Mr. Gingrich, a possible 2012 presidential contender, former 2008 presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee -- both of whom appear interested in reviving their campaigns for the White House -- have been active on the public circuit, appearing on television and campaigning for Republican candidates across the country.

Mr. Gingrich, who stepped down from the House a decade ago, recently earned headlines for describing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a "Latina racist" on the social-networking site Twitter.com, a comment he later backed away from.

After two bruising election cycles, the Republican Party is eyeing next year's midterm contest as a chance to redeem itself as the party of fiscal responsibility amid a trend of record-setting spending by Democrats.

As part of that effort, Mr. Gingrich said, Republicans should not be afraid of interparty debates between moderates and more conservative members of the party.

"I am happy that [former Vice President] Dick Cheney is a Republican. I am also happy that Colin Powell is a Republican," he said. "A majority Republican party will have lots of debates within the Republican party -- that is the nature of a majority."

Republicans are particularly focused on the Senate, where Democrats will have 60 votes if disputed Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken is seated. The Republicans will have to work hard to keep the seats of retiring Sens. George V. Voinovich of Ohio, Christopher S. Bond of Missouri and Mel Martinez of Florida in the Republican column next year while it holds out some hope of knocking off a few Democrats up for re-election.

The party has set its sights on defeating veterans Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut as well as newly appointed Sens. Roland W. Burris of Illinois and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is also being targeted by his former party after switching sides ahead of next year's re-election battle, though he could face a tough primary if Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak decides to challenge him.

Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire has said he would not seek re-election next year but has acknowledged pressure from his Republican colleagues to reconsider his decision.

House Republicans, meanwhile, are looking to narrow the Democrats' margin of power, which is 256 to 178.

WRITTEN by Kara Rowland at The Washington Times on June 9th, 2009