Romney will Beat Gingrich Easily in the Florida Primary

All the polls show Romney surging prior to the Florida primary on Tuesday. RealClearPolitics average of polls currently shows the former Governor ahead by 11 points. The chart shows Romney advantage growing daily.

Gingrich's momentum came to an end with his beating by Romney during the last debate on Thursday. Debating skill was the former Speakers main strength (and he was constantly bragging about it). Additionally, the money advantage and establishment support for Romney has given him the large lead.

The victory in Florida will end any pretense that Gingrich could challenge Romney for the nomination. This race is over come Tuesday. Romney will be the nominee.

Gingrich: Adelson Supports me Because of Israel

Another reason not support Gingrich. He would the crisis in the Middle East even worse:

Newt Gingrich just got asked at an Orange County Liberty Counsel Forum in Winter Park, Florida, about the money that he's been given by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, and whether he can offer reassurances about where he stands on casino gambling - which is an important issue in the state, despite barely being mentioned in the campaign (for obvious reasons).

"Well, let me say up front, at the risk of offending some of my friends who've been very helpful," Gingrich began, "...I worry about the degree to which the poor are the most likely to spend a large percentage of their income gambling."

He added, sounding very much like Mitt Romney as he went to great lengths to create distance between himself and his super PAC, that he hasn't coordinated on money and all he knows of Adelson's support is what he reads in the news.

"Sheldon Adelson has clearly, according to the articles, has been very generous," he said. "Sheldon Adelson's passion in life is (the security of) Israel."

Full article

Transcript: CNN Florida GOP Presidential Debate (1-26-12)

Full transcript. Excerpt below:

BLITZER: Speaker Gingrich, you had an ad, but you pulled it this week, in which you described Governor Romney as the most anti- immigrant candidate. Why did you do that?

GINGRICH: Why did we describe him that way?

Because, in the original conversations about deportation, the position I took, which he attacked pretty ferociously, was that grandmothers and grandfathers aren't going to be successfully deported. We're not -- we as a nation are not going to walk into some family -- and by the way, they're going to end up in a church, which will declare them a sanctuary. We're not going to walk in there and grab a grandmother out and then kick them out.

We're not going -- and I think you have to be realistic in your indignation. I want to control the border. I want English to be the official language of government. I want us to have a lot of changes.

(APPLAUSE)

I am prepared to be very tough and very bold, but I'm also prepared to be realistic, because I've actually had to pass legislation in Washington and I don't believe an unrealistic promise is going to get through, but I do believe, if there's some level of humanity for people who have been here a long time, we can pass legislation that will decisively reduce illegality, decisively control the border and will once again mean the people who are in America are here legally.

BLITZER: I just want to make sure I understand. Is he still the most anti-immigrant candidate?

GINGRICH: I think, of the four of us, yes.

BLITZER: Go ahead, Governor.

ROMNEY: That's simply unexcusable. That's inexcusable. And, actually, Senator Marco Rubio came to my defense and said that ad was inexcusable and inflammatory and inappropriate.

Mr. Speaker, I'm not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico. My wife's father was born in Wales. They came to this country. The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive.

Don't use a term like that. You can say we disagree on certain policies, but to say that enforcing the U.S. law to protect our borders, to welcome people here legally, to expand legal immigration, as I have proved, that that's somehow anti anti-immigrant is simply the kind of over-the-top rhetoric that has characterized American politics too long.

And I'm glad that Marco Rubio called you out on it. I'm glad you withdrew it. I think you should apologize for it, and I think you should recognize that having differences of opinions on issues does not justify labeling people with highly charged epithets.

GINGRICH: I'll tell you what...

(APPLAUSE)

I'll give you an opportunity to self-describe. You tell me what language you would use to describe somebody who thinks that deporting a grandmother or a grandfather from their family -- just tell me the language. I'm perfectly happy for you to explain what language you'd use.

ROMNEY: Mr. Speaker, I think I described following the law as it exists in this country, which is to say, I'm not going around and rounding people up and deporting them.

What I said was, people who come here legally get a work permit. People who do not come here legally do not get a work permit. Those who don't get work will tend, over time, to self-deport.

I'm not going to go find grandmothers and take them out of their homes and deport them. Those are your words, not my words. And to use that rhetoric suggests to people that somehow, if you're not willing to keep people here who violated the law, that you're anti- immigrant. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am pro-immigrant. I want people to come to America with skill and vitality and vibrance. I want them to come legally. There are grandmothers that live on the other side of the border that are waiting to come here legally. I want them to come here, too, not just those that are already here.

(APPLAUSE)

GINGRICH: Well, so we have gone -- we've gone from your Washington attack when I first proposed this and you said it was outrageous; it would be a magnet to you're accepting the fact that, you know, a family is going to take care of their grandmother or their grandfather.

The idea that you are going to push them out in some form by simply saying they can't go get a job -- I think the grandmother is still going to be here. All I want to do is to allow the grandmother to be here legally with some rights to have residency but not citizenship, so that he or she can finish their life with dignity within the law.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: You know, our problem is not 11 million grandmothers. Our problem is -- all right.

Newt Gingrich Attacked Reagan and called him a "Failing" President

Do the people of Florida know who they are about to vote for? Gingrich is a total fraud. And even worse he is dangerous. He is capable of anything. Romney is correctly ridiculed for his flip-flopping. Newt Gingrich is worse. He's schizophrenic:

Newt Gingrich's fond recollections of working under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s have been rubbished by a White House colleague who claims he was often extremely critical of the former president.

In several of his campaign speeches, Gingrich has alluded to his work with the 40th U.S. President, claiming 'we helped defeat the Soviet empire' and 'I helped Reagan create millions of jobs' among other achievements.

But Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state, said that rather than working side by side with Reagan, Gingrich was scathing about his plans to defeat Communism and often refused to support his decisions.

Mr Abrams said that when Gingrich was first elected to Congress in 1978, the freshman members chose to attack Reagan as often as he voted for him.

Writing in the National Review, he describes a statement made by Gingrich on March 21, 1986, at the height of the Nicaraguan contras funding debate.

He quotes Gingrich: 'Measured against the scale and momentum of the Soviet empire's challenge, the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic change in strategy will continue to fail... President Reagan is clearly failing.

'The burden of this failure frankly must be placed first on Ronald Reagan.'

In another bitter attack, he compared Reagan's meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as 'the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich'.

Full article

'Mormonism is a cult,' says the Pentecostal preacher who introduced Newt Gingrich

A bigot tends to surround himself with bigots:

Offering up a prayer before the arrival of Newt Gingrich, Dr Howard Rodney-Browne declared: 'We stand for America. We draw a line in the sand. The devil will not have America! Absolutely not!'

Gingrich's event was held in the grounds of The River at Tampa Bay church, where Rodney-Browne, a South African-born U.S. citizen who first came to the United States as a missionary in 1987, is pastor.

Rodney-Browne called for 'a rising of every believer in this land that will not sit idly by and allow the killing of unborn babies and allow Islam to take over this country and allow the rights and freedom of a Christian nation where the word of God is proclaimed and preached to be taken away.'

[...]He expressed grave reservations, however, about Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.

'Mormonism is a cult and that's the problem,' he said.

Full article

Newt Gingrich Video: I supported Rockefeller over Goldwater

Nelson Rockefeller was not a Conservative. In fact, he was a liberal New York Republican Governor:
Last night Gingrich tried to give the impression that he was a Goldwater supporter. This typical Gingrich double-speak:

"I went to a Goldwater organizing session in 1964. I met with Ronald Reagan for the first time in 1974. I worked with Jack Kemp, and Art Laffer and others to develop supply side economics in the late '70s. I helped Governor Reagan become President Reagan. I helped pass the Reagan economic program and worked with the National Security Council on issues including the collapse of the Soviet Empire," Newt Gingrich said at tonight's debate.

Freddie Mac Contract: What is Newt Gingrich Hiding?

Sounds like he has something to hide:

Newt Gingrich’s consulting firm yesterday released a copy of its 2006 contract with Freddie Mac (FMCC), which covers just one year of his multiple years of service and documents only $300,000 of the $1.6 million he received from the mortgage company.

The Republican hopeful’s first contract -- spanning 1999 to 2002 and worth between $1 million and $1.2 million, according to two people familiar with the agreement -- wasn’t released because officials at the Center for Health Transformation can’t find it, said Susan Meyers, a center spokeswoman who works for the Gingrich campaign. The 2006 contract also applied to 2007, she said, meaning the total value of that contract was $600,000.

“We’re not even sure we signed anything for 2007,” said Meyers.

[...]“Why isn’t Speaker Gingrich disclosing the full extent of his relationship with Freddie Mac?” said Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Romney campaign. “Ultimately this disclosure raises more questions than it actually does answer.”

[...]Surrogates for both candidates traded jabs over Gingrich’s work for Freddie Mac yesterday.

Former Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Florida House Speaker-designate Will Weatherford said in a Romney-arranged conference call with reporters that Gingrich needed to provide “transparency” about his work for Freddie Mac.

“We don’t have insight or transparency into what he actually did,” Pawlenty said. He called Gingrich’s claims that lawyers are holding up the release of the contracts “B.S.” and “just nonsense.”

Video: Newt Gingrich Attacks FOXNews for not being 'Fair and Balanced'

Gingrich used the anti-press line repeatedly. And it's worked for him. But he's taking it too far by attacking pro-Republican FOXNews, whom he worked for. This demonstrates how arrogant and self-centered Gingrich is:

South Carolina GOP CNN debate, Jan. 19, 2012. Transcript

Full transcript. Excerpt below:

As you know, your ex-wife gave an interview to ABC News and another interview with The Washington Post, and this story has now gone viral on the Internet. In it, she says that you came to her in 1999, at a time when you were having an affair. She says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. Would you like to take some time to respond to that?

MR. GINGRICH: No -- but I will. (Cheers, applause.)

I think -- I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. KING: Is that all you want to say, sir?

MR. GINGRICH: Let me finish.

MR. KING: Please. (Boos, cheers, applause.)

MR. GINGRICH: Every person in here knows personal pain.

Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine. (Cheers, applause.)

My -- my two daughters, my two daughters wrote the head of ABC, and made the point that it was wrong, that they should pull it. And I am frankly astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. KING: As you noted, Mr. Speaker, this story did not come from our network. As you also know, it is a subject of conversation on the campaign. I'm not -- I get your point; I take get your --

MR. GINGRICH: John, John, it was repeated by your network. (Boos.) You chose to start the debate with it. Don't try to blame somebody else. You and your staff chose to start this debate with that. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. KING: Now, OK --

MR. GINGRICH: Now, let me be quite clear. Let me be quite clear. The story is false. Every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false. We offered several of them to ABC to prove it was false. They weren't interested, because they would like to attack any Republican. They're attacking the governor, they're attacking me. I'm sure they'll probably get around to Senator Santorum and Congressman Paul. I am tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans. (Cheers, applause.)

Romney and Gingrich are Tied in South Carolina

Apparently the last debate and negative press stories about Romney's business record lately have helped New Gingrich surge to a statistical tie in South Carolina. If the former Speaker of the House should win on Saturday things all of a sudden look muddled. But very few people think that Gingrich has a chance of winning the nomination; nor are Santorum or Paul, for that matter.

There is talk of a brokered convention. But that hasn't happened in decades. The likely scenario is a long, drawn out primary season in where Romney wins by reason of his superior establishment support and money. The possibility of someone other candidate jumping in is also highly unlikely. Nowadays you have to win primaries to win the nomination.

Revelations about Gingrich's personal life has the potential of stopping the spectacular momentum he is seeing now. But he would certainly continue to make life for Romney difficult in the weeks to come.

CBS:

In a South Carolina ARG poll conducted January 11-12, Romney was leading Gingrich 29 percent to 25 percent. Gingrich's rise in the poll can in part be attributed to Tea Party supporters -- 28 percent backed Gingrich in the earlier poll, while 43 percent support him now.

Romney is clearly aware of the threat Gingrich poses. At a campaign stop in Charleston, South Carolina today, the former governor accused Gingrich of being in a "fantasy land" for saying he helped create jobs during the Reagan years.

In addition to Romney's attacks, Gingrich will have to overcome any doubts voters may have about his character, particularly since his second wife, Marianne Gingrich, charged in an interview with ABC News that the GOP presidential candidate wanted an "open marriage."

ABC’s Brian Ross: Gingrich ‘bombshell’ a request for ‘an open marriage’ with ex-wife

Like I said before, Newt Gingrich is a pig:

A Thursday night, ABC “Nightline” interview with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s second ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich, is set to reveal that Gingrich asked her for an open marriage so that he could carry on an affair with one of his staffers, current wife Calista Gingrich.

The allegation was revealed by ABC’s Brian Ross on “Morning Majority,” a radio show on WMAL in Washington, D.C. The interview, set to air on Thursday night, could perhaps have an immediate impact on the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

Gingrich is not denying the charge:

Newt Gingrich sought an "open marriage," his former wife, Marianne, told ABC News in an interview airing tonight.

Marianne Gingrich told ABC's Nightline that the former House speaker asked her if he could remain married to her while also seeing another woman, Callista Bisek, his current wife.

Marianne Gingrich added that she doesn't think Gingrich has the moral character to be president.

Before excerpts were released, Gingrich dismissed the interview airing tonight as an old story that isn't particularly newsworthy.

The former House speaker told NBC's Today show this morning: "I'm not going to say anything negative. I think the people who have known me a long time are credible on my character."

Santorum edged Romney in Iowa, final tally shows

It is irrelevant. The Iowa Caucus is not a winner take all. It will have no impact since Santorum way behind in South Carolina. But it will matter to the media. They'll make a big deal out of it. It fits with the current trend lately of the press' piling on Romney as they did with the other frontrunner candidates. In the end, Romney will still be the nominee:

Republican officials say the final count of the Iowa caucuses puts Rick Santorum ahead of Mitt Romney by 34 votes, but no winner will be declared because votes from eight precincts are missing.

Romney, the front-runner in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, initially had been considered the winner by 8 votes in the event's closest finish ever.

Iowa Republicans are to announce the tally Thursday morning.

Republican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to pre-empt the announcement , said Santorum would end up with 29,839 votes to Romney's 29,805.

Source

Mitt Romney is Pulling Away in South Carolina

There are still some in the Press that want you to believe there is still a contest going on in Republican primaries. Although most concede that Romney is the likely nominee. Romney is increasing his lead in South Carolina despite receiving the most criticism he's received at any point since the primaries began some 6 months ago. Even Romney's opponents in the race believe if he wins South Carolina...it's over:

 A new CBS News/New York Times poll shows Mitt Romney has opened up a statistically significant lead among Republican primary voters across the nation trying to decide who should represent their party in this year's presidential election, but it's still a fluid race.

Romney gets 28 percent support among a fractured field of candidates, with Newt Gingrich in second with 21 percent, and Rick Santorum and Ron Paul (each coming off a strong early-state showings) nearly tied for third place with 16 and 15 percent, respectively.

Let's talk about something more important - Romney's ridiculously low tax rate: 

Romney's taxes have emerged as an issue days before the South Carolina primary. He agreed in Monday night's debate to consider making his tax returns public, and then committed to releasing them on Tuesday. But the multi-millionaire candidate now is on the defensive after acknowledging that his effective tax rate is 15 percent, saying most of his income came from investments and speeches rather than earned income. Christie says he wants to remain as governor, but he wouldn't rule out joining a Romney ticket.

Gingrich has ridiculed Occupy Wall Street on several occasions. Now he's sounding like one of them. Welcome to the cause:

Gingrich was holding little back in his criticism of Romney, saying that, in at least some instances, the Bain model has meant "leverage the game, borrow the money, leave the debt behind and walk off with all the profits."

"Now, I'll let you decide if that's really good capitalism. I think it's exploitive. I think it's not defensible," he said.

Gingrich continued that what Romney engaged in "is not venture capital."

"Venture capital is when you go in and put in your capital and you stick it out," he said.

Gingrich has faced rebuke in some quarters as attacking the GOP bedrock of free enterprise in his criticism of Romney and Bain. But he argued Tuesday that raising questions about Romney's track record at Bain should not be confused with an attack on capitalism.

"I'm proud of real capitalists. I'm proud of guys who say to their workers I'm in it with you. If I lose money and you lose a job we lost together because we both tried," he said.

Transcript, Video: FoxNews South Carolina GOP Debate (1-16-12)

Full Transcript. Excerpt below:

But the controversy on the campaign trail in recent days has been about Governor Romney’s record. We are going to talk extensively about jobs, federal debt, world hotspots, and social issues, but, first, let’s clear the air.
Speaker Gingrich, on a debate stage in September, you vowed to, quote, “repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama, who deserves to be defeated,” close quote. And yet in recent days, you and your campaign have cited numerous outlets, from the New York Times to Salon.com, to attack Governor Romney’s business record, the exact line of attack the Obama campaign is using. Why?

GINGRICH: Well, first of all, I think that the staying positive through Iowa, through $3.5 million of negative attacks, proved you either have to unilaterally disarm and leave the race or you have to at least bring up your competitor’s record.
Second, I think it’s very important for us to look at job creation. As a young member of Congress, I worked with President Ronald Reagan. We passed an economic growth package. We created 16 million jobs. The American people within a framework that Reagan had established created 16 million jobs.
As speaker I came back — working with President Bill Clinton, we passed a very Reagan-like program, less regulation, lower taxes. Unemployment dropped to 4.2 percent. We created 11 million jobs. Now, those are real numbers that people can verify out in the open.

GINGRICH: Governor Romney as governor raised taxes and Massachusetts was 47th in job creation, fourth from the bottom. That’s a public record difference.
The second part of his campaign is citing his experience in business, which is perfectly legitimate, but if that’s a part of your campaign, then questioning it has to be equally legitimate.
And it struck me raising those questions, giving me an opportunity to answer them is exactly what campaigns ought to be about. And we need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way.
(APPLAUSE)

Full video of the debate:

Newt Gingrich Believes his Criticism of Mitt Romney’s Bain Record a Mistake

Obviously someone high up in the Republican Party threatened to banish Gingrich if he didn't stop his attacks on Romney. They want to coalesce around Romney so that he can beat the hated President Obama:

Newt Gingrich signaled Wednesday that he believes his criticism of Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is a mistake — and that he’s created an impression that he was echoing Democratic rhetoric.

Gingrich conceded the problem when pressed by a Rick Santorum supporter at a book signing here Wednesday.

“I’m here to implore one thing of you. I think you’ve missed the target on the way you’re addressing Romney’s weaknesses. I want to beg you to redirect and go after his obvious disingenuousness about his conservatism and lay off the corporatist versus the free market. I think it’s nuanced,” said Dean Glossop, an Army Reservist from Inman, S.C.

“I agree with you,” Gingrich said. “It’s an impossible theme to talk about with Obama in the background. Obama just makes it impossible to talk rationally in that area because he is so deeply into class warfare that automatically you get an echo effect. … I agree with you entirely.”

Full article

Video: Hannity tells Perry he sounds like ‘Occupy Wall Street’

Even Republicans are using the language of Occupy Wall Street:

Video: GOP New Hampshire Presidential Debate (1-7-12)

Transcript: New Hampshire GOP Presidential Debate (1-7-12)

Full transcript. Excerpt below:

SAWYER: So lets the -- let the debate begin.

And, Governor Romney, we’ll begin with you. We just saw 200,000 new jobs created last month, and there are optimists who say this is the signal that this economy is finally turning around. Are you with those optimists?

ROMNEY: I’m an optimist, and I certainly hope it turns around. We have millions of people who’ve been suffering too long, 25 million people that are out of work or have stopped looking for work, and also a lot of people who’ve got part-time jobs and need full-time employment. So it’s very good news. I hope we continue to see good news.

But it’s not thanks to President Obama. His policies have made the recession deeper, and his policies have made the recovery more tepid. As a result of everything from Obamacare to Dodd-Frank to a stimulus plan that was not as well directed as it should have been to a whole host of new regulations that have been put on American businesses, he’s made it harder for small entrepreneurs and big businesses to decide to invest in America and to grow jobs here.

And so the president is going to try and take responsibility for things getting better. You know, it’s like the rooster taking responsibility for the sunrise. He didn’t do it. In fact, what he did was make things harder for America to get going again.

SAWYER: I want to turn now to Senator Santorum. Senator Santorum, you have said we don’t need a CEO, we don’t need a manager as president. What did you mean by that?

SANTORUM: Well, we need a leader, someone who can paint a positive vision for this country, someone who, you know, has the experience to go out and be the commander-in-chief. I’ve experienced in eight years on the Armed Services Committee, I managed major pieces of legislation through the House and through the Senate on national security issues, like Iran, which is the most -- you want to talk about the most pressing issue that we’re dealing with today? It’s Iran.

And as Newt’s talked about many times, there’s no one that has more experience in dealing with that country than I do. And that means that we need -- we need someone who can -- who can go out and paint a vision of what America’s strength is about, let our allies know that they can trust us, let our enemies know that they have to respect us, and if they cross us, they should fear us.

Related:

• Transcript: 'Meet The Press' GOP Presidential Debate (1-8-12) 
• Video: GOP New Hampshire Presidential Debate (1-7-12)
  

   

Rick Santorum: A Straight Dad In Prison Is Better Than Two Gay Dads Who Aren’t

Source:

For the second time in as many days, Rick Santorum waded into the issue of gay marriage, suggesting it was so important for children to have both a father and mother that an imprisoned father was preferable to a same-sex parent.

Citing the work of one anti-poverty expert, Santorum said, “He found that even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children’s lives.”

Allowing gays to marry and raise children, Santorum said, amounts to “robbing children of something they need, they deserve, they have a right to. You may rationalize that that isn’t true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it’s true.”

Casino magnate contributes $5 million to Gingrich-affiliated Super PAC

Source:

As media buzz reached a fever pitch in the minutes before a Republican presidential debate hosted by ABC News, Yahoo! News, and WMUR-TV, Las Vegas Sun reporter John Ralston tweeted unexpected news: Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Ralston said, has made a $5 million contribution to a Super PAC devoted to promoting the candidacy of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“ADELSON gave $5M to Newt SuperPAC on Friday,” Ralston tweeted.

The Sun was among the first to report in December that Adelson committed to donate or raise $20 million to aid Gingrich in seeking the White House.