Noooo....

Charles, Noooo!!!


Looks like Newt's out, after all. So much for my previous post, and my fantasy ticket.

What's New(t), Pussycat?

So you're sayin' there's a chance!

Newt Gingrich is, anyway. After months and months of flirting with the idea of joining the Republican fray, the former Georgia congressman put a little more motion in that notion yesterday, telling journalists he would enter the race if supporters would pledge $30 million to his campaign in the next three weeks.

Close followers of the 3Q storyline might find my reaction to this news predictable. I'm psyched. It isn't necessarily the substance of a new candidate into the already crowded field (my apologies, by the way, for not giving more ink to Keyes' entry), but rather the style.

Ever since last spring Gingrich has flirted with his candidacy, but only in the instance of a "vacuum" in the GOP field, in terms of having someone with the policy chops to take on Hillary Clinton in the general. Vacuum, for those of you following along at home, means "a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter."

So what are you saying, Newt? That nothing coming out of Rudy, Mitt or Fred's mouth matters? Looks like it to me. For the record, Gingrich doesn't give John McCain a chance at the nomination.

Maybe the last straw was the GOP frontrunners' collective decision to skip out on the latest African-American debate, which Newt called a mistake bred from lack of nerve. Regardless, Gingrich has been critical all along. And you know we love criticism here, when it comes from the mouths of competitors.

Back in July, Newt likened himself to Charles De Gaulle relative to the current Republican crop of "pygmies" in an interview. He went on to dis the nouveau chic debate formats, saying they force statesmen to "shrink to the level of 40-second answers, standing like a trained seal, waiting for someone to throw me a fish."

While just yesterday he kept up the offensive. He simultaneously mocked the field as "penguins" as threw out the idea of RNC forums entirely claiming, "if I did run, I wouldn’t do any dog and pony shows. I’d debate anybody who wants for 90 minutes — one-on-one, for 90 minutes, in either party."

Now that's balls and principle. Straight up.

All along Gingrich has been, arrogantly or not, positioning himself as the pedestaled savior of the Republican party, if not the country. He has been busy at the typewriter, penning two books scheduled for release before the primary season including one on conservative environmentalism called A Contract with the Earth. Gingrich also just unleashed what he calls a "solutions lab" conveniently named American Solutions. Newt, if you believe him, is the wise and functional leader who can guide America to it's brightest future.

He is also casting himself as Presidential. Newt has already debated the Dems' previous nominee, Sen. John Kerry, one-on-one this past spring. He is also ordaining Hillary Clinton as the inevitable Democrat and implying he is the best suited to take her on in the real debates. Many pundits call Newt too divisive, but he sees the division in another frame: there are Clinton haters who will lose to her, and there are Clinton haters who will take it to her.

Republican voters fear a lot of things, most notably taxes, terrorists and gays. Whether or not they pony up 30 mil to get Newt in the race depends on whether or not they truly fear Hillary Clinton. They also believe in a lot of things, most notably God, guns, and gas guzzlers. The ultimate question for Gingrich, if they do fear Hillary, is whether they believe that Newt is the best Clinton fighter they got. We'll find out in three weeks.

I hope he enters if for no other reason than I want to see him happy. According to Newt's facebook profile, "I am happiest in zoos. On a visit to Zoo Atlanta in September 1997, I got to hold this baby lion. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me take him home with me."
If Newt really is happiest in zoos, perhaps the presidential race is the best place for him.


Check out cnn.com for a solid rundown of Newt's recent forays into the political discussion.

...

While we are considering hypotheticals, I just want to throw out my fantasy forums all-star ticket. Before you accuse me of losing my objectivity, keep in mind this is strictly from a discussion/debate standpoint. Discuss amongst yourselves in the comments section.

Gore/Biden vs. Gingrich/Giuliani

Witness a real wonky solutions debate at the top of the ticket between the two smartest men in the room and a knock-down, drag-out foreign relations deathmatch in the veep debate. Oh man, I'm getting chills just thinking about it.

Newt Sez: Beware the Former First Family

Today Dan Balz's Take over at the Post was all about Newt Gingrich's views on the 2008 campaign. As usual, Newt is pretty spot on in his assessments of power and the pulse of America. Here he cites the immense challenge lined up for the Republicans to defeat Hillary Clinton next fall, presuming she is the nominee. I don't think he is baiting here, I think he really believes it. And I believe it, too. Anyone who questions Hillary's chances in the general election fails to realize the dominance of the Clinton machine. Newt's role these days is in solidifying his legacy both as an oracle for political sentiment and a policy guru. To question whether or not he would risk that in Democrat baiting is a mistake. It's just too bad he knows enough about the crooked role of money in the system to get in and rattle the cages himself from inside the ring.

They Don't Really Hate Them. Right?

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Republicans Hate Immigrants. Yesterday John McCain let it be know that he had received death threats for his perceived "amnesty" on immigrants. Meanwhile my boy Newt is going over the top claiming America's "war" on illegal immigrants is more deadly than the one in Iraq. Ahh, Newt, you're going a little Almond Joy on us. Sometimes you feel like a Nut.

But seriously, what kind of psycho wants to kill lovable John McCain over an issue whose hard-line stance is completely unachievable? Seriously, we haven't heard the last from these fringe characters. Are you Fired up? They are fired up!












Tommy: I can't believe he called me a psycho.
Richard: Hey were you in there just now-you are a psycho... and comb your hair.

Pursuing Happiness - In English

Please recall the imbroglio over Newt Gingrich's English-first comments of a few weeks ago. In making a plea for English to be the only language spoken in classrooms and on ballots, he called it the "language of living in a ghetto" and was lambasted for his words from sources across all spectra. Recently he wrote a clarification, here posted in the Manch U-L where he talks of his own difficulties learning Espanol and the importance of multilingualism in culture and commerce, if not in government. It is worth a read, if only for what appears to be sincerity. Either that or its fool me twice, shame on me.

Plus, Bill Maher is on point in the Huff Post. Conservation may be a personal virtue, according to Dickey C., but it is a pretty important virtue. "So thanks guy in line at Starbucks, you just killed us."

Bye, Bayh

Whatever song is playing over the speakers here at the M&D sounds awfully similar to Bob Dylan's Tryin' to Get to Heaven from Time Out of Mind, but there are no lyrics this time around, and it is becoming more and more Celtic with each passing bar. I wish that it were Tryin', because that's a beautiful song about hopelessness and optimism, and it references both Missouri and New Orleans. Most people might say Texas or California, but I think that Missouri and New Orleans are the two most visceral US locations out there. I have no personal basis for this claim, and I think that is why I feel the need to make it.

My favorite editorial columnist, the smug and biting Frank Rich, wrote a particularly insightful article today about the possible pitfalls of GOP moves to the right socially when the rest of the country appears to be headed in the opposite direction. In it, he calls out John McCain for his blunder on ABC's "This Week":
"Are you against civil unions for gay couples?” he asked the senator, who replied, “No, I’m not.” When Mr. Stephanopoulos reiterated the question seconds later — “So you’re for civil unions?” — Mr. McCain answered, “No.” In other words, he was not against civil unions before he was against them.
Now that is leadership.

On the same side, Newt Gingrich has announced that he will be sitting on the sidelines until the fall, leaving the frontrunners to duke it out through the summer and hoping that his late splash will prove beneficial to his campaign. In the meantime he called today's social challenges, presumably gays, God, and guns, "greater than any since 1861," and is touting his new slogan "Real Change requires Real Change." Hey, we here at 3Q approve of that motto because, hey, let's start with the obvious. As for likening same-sex marriage to slavery, we might be getting ahead of ourselves a little bit.

Getting back to the title of the post, Sen. Evan Bayh has changed his mind after years of preparation and decided to end his courtship of the Democratic nomination. Every article about this says the same thing, how everyone is shocked to hear the news. Well, I am, too. Not to mention disappointed. From what I could gather he seemed to lack charisma, but I was nevertheless interested to hear what he had to offer, especially in contrast to the Big 2. Indiana, the Crossroads of America, has lost it's hope for the big stage.

The warm winter is continuing here in Quabbin Qountry, which made for a great run this afternoon. Yesterday as I was running toward Knight Pond I was flagged down by one of the local residents asking me if I had seen any xmas tree poachers on her property. I hadn't, but I used the opportunity to ask the woman if she would allow me to run on her property, which was dotted on either side of her house for a few hundred meters with dozens of No Trespassing signs. She obliged my request, saying that the signs were only there to deter ATV riders who illegally and dangerously romped through her woods on a regular basis, destroying trails and annoying anyone in earshot all the while. Today I took her up on her offer, and set off into the trails, which are wider than singletrack, and not too rugged. Ideal for running with a small group of people. I anxiously await the days that I can show them off to my cohorts, from the early pine forests to the rickety marsh bridges, and through to the clearcuts that remind me of my childhood days in Oak Harbor.

It has been a long and trying weekend here at QQHQ, time to go home, rustle up some grub and read until I fall asleep. Should only take about ten minutes.

Early on the campaign trail,

BTB