If Newt Gingrich enters the race...

[dt_]

What would the implications be for the RP campaign? Would it help or hurt Paul's campaign? And how likely is it that Gingrich will enter, anyway?

[wgadget]

I was just over at Wikipedia and found this:

Campaigns

Paul's Congressional portrait

In 1996, Paul returned to Congress after a tougher battle than he had faced in the 1970's. He was hopeful of being more effective in Congress after the Republicans took over both houses of Congress in the 1994 election[42]. His primary opponent, Greg Laughlin, had support from Republican leaders, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor George W. Bush[45]. Incumbent Laughlin had switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican side the year before, and the Republican National Committee, hoping to encourage other Democrats to switch parties, threw its full support behind Laughlin. Despite these efforts by the national party, the National Rifle Association, and other interest groups, challenger Paul won the primary. It became the third time he had been elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.[1]


You all probably already knew this, but there's probably a little bad blood between Newt and Ron.

[ronpaulitician]

Hurt.

Newt is (a) a good speaker, (b) pretty sharp, and (c) opposed to our presence in Iraq.

[Richie]

Hurt.

Newt is (a) a good speaker, (b) pretty sharp, and (c) opposed to our presence in Iraq.

My grandmother bashes Ron Paul for opposing our presence in Iraq, yet she supports Newt Gingrich. Bazaar.

[libertarian4321]

Hurt.

Newt is (a) a good speaker, (b) pretty sharp, and (c) opposed to our presence in Iraq.

Newt is sharp enough to know he doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning a national level campaign. Too much baggage (less than "conservative" in his personal life, ethics problems in congress, and he's not very disciplined (a bit of a bomb thrower- fine for congress, not good in a Presidential campaign). Remember, he left congress as a failure- with dismally bad ratings as speaker by both Dems and Reps). While he say's he'd get in if he got $30 million pledged, I really don't see anyone clamoring for Newt Gingrich to get in the race, and its unlikely that he'd raise that kind of money.

BTW, Newt has been all over the map on the Iraq war. You may have heard something that indicates his current position may be "anti war" (I've never heard him call for getting out of Iraq, btw), but he has played both sides in the past. He makes Hillary look consistent by comparison.

[skiingff]

He is not running for President.

By the time he gets enough pledges for $30 million, it will be too late anyway.

[dircha]

Hurt.

Newt is (a) a good speaker, (b) pretty sharp, and (c) opposed to our presence in Iraq.

Gingrich is not opposed to our presence in Iraq and he does not support bringing the troops home.

Gingrich wants to expand the war in the region, including putting military pressure on Iran and Syria, in order to protect Israel and secure our critical national interests (oil).

Gingrich is only concerned by Iraq insofar as our current large troop commitment there limits our ability to take military action elsewhere in the region. Right now, there are essentially no more available non-reserve units to send even if we wanted to.

[dircha]

I subscribe to some of his email newsletters. Looking back through some of them...

Newt believes that the War on Terror is a war against a "worldwide insurgency against modern civilization".

Newt believes that the Bush administration's strategy in the War on Terror is inadequate because it is not expansive enough to combat the menace of radical Islam on a world-wide scale.

Rhetorically, not only is Newt right in line with the best neo-cons, he wants to one-up them.

[dircha]

Some more. Here's a statement summarizing how he approaches the situation:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2298993899525843352&q=newt+aei&total=225&start=0&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=9
"[Our children] are in greater danger of dying from enemy activities than we were in the cold war."

"There are thousands of people who wake up every morning actively seeking to destroy the United States."

"The Iranians are desperately trying to build nuclear weapons and they will use them."

And from another:

"We are in a global war with a force that wants to destroy us."