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Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to Republicans

By Jeralyn, Section Elections
Posted on Wed Aug 03, 2005 at 11:06:09 PM EST
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Normally, I don't quote Newt Gingrich as an authoriative source. But I'm making an exception this one time, for his comments on the results of the Schmidt-Hackett race in Ohio:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) warned fellow Republicans yesterday not to ignore the implications of the party's narrow victory in Tuesday's special election in Ohio, saying the public mood heading into next year's midterm elections appears to helping Democrats and hurting Republicans.

"It should serve as a wake-up call to Republicans, and I certainly take it very seriously in analyzing how the public mood evidences itself," Gingrich said. "Who is willing to show up and vote is different than who answers a public opinion poll. Clearly, there's a pretty strong signal for Republicans thinking about 2006 that they need to do some very serious planning and not just assume that everything is going to be automatically okay."

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    Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to Republicans | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#1)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:54 PM EST
    It is a major wake up call with trumpets blaring, but they will need more than a Prince Charming to rouse them from their deep slumber. America is getting fed up with these self serving arrogant creeps. Just hope we do not have another 9/11 because then the voters lull themselves back to sleep chanting neocon slogans.

    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#2)
    by ras on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:54 PM EST
    Gingrich is a Republican. What else do you expect him to say? Of course he's gonna use it to rally the troops, one way or the other. As for the results: special election with almost 2/3 of the voters staying home, and a D candidate whose ads tried to portray him as pro-Bush ... yup, there's a message in there, alright. But what do I know? All I did was predict the last election correctly. Others had more difficulty. Once is a special case; twice is a trend. Republicans will win the White House in '08. Early Ras line: 53-47. Welcome, Mr. Giuliani.

    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#3)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:54 PM EST
    The DLC distanced themselves from Hackett, although they mention his amazing near win on their website. I do not like the group. They are pro war, Hackett called Bush a Chickenhawk. Billmon amkes a good point about the DLC and winning the next elections: "The irony of this post is that I largely, if dispiritedly, agree with the dinos on short-term strategy. The kind of red meat, rev-up-the-base politics that many liberal bloggers seem to favor almost certainly won't work for the Dems the way they work for Karl Rove. That's not a philosophical statement, just a mathematical one: The conservative base is a whole lot bigger than the liberal one -- almost 2:1 in some surveys. For better or worse (guess which one I choose) this is a center-right country, and also one in which a whole lot of voters are inclined to put their religious prejudices ahead of their social and economic interests."

    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:55 PM EST
    Giuliani, huh, ras? Do you really think "he was there at 9/11!" will work 7 years after the attacks? I mean, after we pull out of Iraq next October people might take off the yellow ribbons and forget about the whole ordeal. At least, that is, until Osama gets his hands on those Canadian nukes that the Republicans are so intent on giving away. Then they'll probably be begging for a veteran of the last spectacular failure...

    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:55 PM EST
    If Bin Ladin really wanted to destroy America, he'd forget about the terrorist cells and the hijackings and just hire himself an extremely well-connected Washington lobbying firm.
    -billmon This is actually an astute observation...but it's been done. Our opponents during the Cold War already tried this approach. They used psy-ops, bribery, and blackmail to subvert a great deal of the judiciary, most of the public media, some of the educational insititutions, and one political party. They lost that war in the late '80s. The damage remains but it's now being repaired, albeit slowly (very slowly, in the case of the subversion of many universities, which has led to a group of baby boomers who were naively taught to hate their own nation) Bin Laden does not have the resources and time of a superpower, so he has settled on a two-stage approach. Stage 1: he doesn't need to destroy our society to achieve his goal. He just has to intimidate us into a Laissez Faire political style in the rest of the world. Over time, this would yield a victory for his followers in the Middle East and Europe (M.E. by indoctrination and tyranny, Europe by attrition). Stage 2: Eventually the US would be outnumbered, matched in technology, and defeated. Bin Laden knows this would happen well after he is gone, but it would also happen without overt effort on anyone's part - it would be a result of inertia. It's a sad story, but I think it will have a happy ending. America's roots are very strong; I believe it will recover from the 20th century and defeat this new threat as well. I don't think you appreciate the debt we owe to Messrs. Reagan and Bush (jr).

    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#6)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:56 PM EST
    Grad Student- Are you with the DLC, because the quote is right out of their handbook. Quit insulting to join Rove and call people who believe deeply in America traitors. Yes, maybe it will help the dems to blur the line, but it stops with the aburd and insulting DLC rhetoric you quote. I do not know what they are teaching you in grad school but the program seems thin, as yiur points are garbled and incorrect. Osama hopes for us to become Fascist not Laissez Fair. Thank god for wingnuts like you it shows that we have a chance.

    Re: Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:56 PM EST
    Notice that 'gradstudent' fails to mention oil, oil companies, Iraq's oil, Afghanistan's new oil pipelines, Libya's oil, Iran's oil, or the Bush family relationship to Saudi Arabia. A relationship to the Bin Ladens, a relationship to the Al-Ghamdis: "On December 21, a terrorist blew himself up in the U.S. military mess hall in Mosul, in northern Iraq. Twenty-two people were killed, including U.S. soldiers and contractors. "The perpetrator was the oldest son of a diplomat from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia..." "On Monday, the Saudi-owned daily Asharq Al-Awsat identified the butcher responsible: 20-year old Ahmad Sayyid Ahmad al-Ghamdi, a Saudi medical student." "The name "al-Ghamdi" should ring bells; the family is large, and three of its members were involved in the 9/11 assault." Flying the Bin Laden family out of the US within days of 9i1, cosy with the kingdom that produced 15 of the 9i1 hijackers -- that's the beauty part we "Owe" the Bushes. Trading oil for our soldiers' blood. What a deal. (and by 'our,' I mean not Bush's -- they don't fight; fighting for Bush oil is for SUCKERS).

    Newt Gingrich: Ohio Election a Wake Up Call to Republicans | 7 comments (7 topical)