John King looks like a whipped puppy at about 1:08 after Newt took his question about Marianne’s interview and, as DougJ predicted, turned it into a media bashing exercise. King’s comeback, which was “it was reported by another network” and “I take your point”, should cement his place as a front-runner for this year’s Edward R. Murrow award. If you can’t justify a question about traditional marriage at a Republican debate, get a different beat.
Here’s your debate hangover thread.
Mark B
I’m just hoping instead of having just one Vice President, he can propose sharing the duties between Santorum and Perry. It will be the first open vice presidency.
Elizabelle
This election will be about values, and those demonstrated by the Republicans last night are appalling. Abhorrent.
The whole party is shape-shifting. It’s like they’re doubling down on proving cleek right.
Can you blame its heir inevitable (not) for not having a closely held principle (save self-interest) on display?
cathyx
The beauty of not imbibing is no hangover. I feel very refreshed this morning.
Mino
Truely redonkilous. I know King was around when Newt ran Congress with Delay. And he wasn’t prepared when Newt turned on him. No wonder Republicans work projection so well. It fools the fools everytime.
Mark B
Remember character is only an issue for Democratic politicians. It’s perfectly fine to ask a Democrat what his dick looks like, but if someone in the media asks a Republican about his open marriage, it’s a clear case of media bias.
Mino
@Mark B: Win.
Mark B
And all this time, I thought Romney was the Mormon one.
FridayNext
@Mark B:
I think we have had open presidencies for awhile. I can think of a number of presidents who were married to the US but was screwing other nations.
Marty
David Brooks this morning explains that Mitt isn’t better than the rest of us because he’s rich. He’s better than us because he had better ancestors. I found this helpful.
DanielX
@cathyx:
Just as well – if you had played one of those drinking games last night where you took a shot every time one of the Gang of Fail said something ridiculous, you’d be on life support right now.
Also, too: late breaking news! Republican candidate and well-known shithead Newt Gingrich bashes liberal media and ex-wife for telling the truth about him and not plummeting to their knees in awe at his awesome awesomeness! (Except for David Brooks, naturally.)
In other news, it gets cold in winter and the sun rose in the east this morning.
biff diggerence
But, Mr. Gingrich, did you not lead the Presidential Pee Pee Posse of 1998, while administering brain salad surgery to this same second wife, before she was your wife?
Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods
This.
Scott
I wonder what would happen if, after receiving a bashing from one of the condidates, the interviewer or other media personalities bashes back. After all, it was the candidate would (mis) directed his response at the interviewer and made the media part of the debate. Wouldn’t that be fair game? It would have been completely entertaining to see John King respond in kind: “Did the media force you to cheat on your wife? Did the media unzip your pants?” Etc.
DanielX
@Marty:
Bobo left out the part where he comments on how wearing and tedious it is for Mittens to actually have to schlepp all over the country and explain himself to all these miserable proles, when ordinarily his only contact with them would to order another shoeshine or root beer. And – wait for it – what a sacrifice it is for Mittens to undergo this ordeal when he could be adding to the pile he’s already got by investing in Colombian kidnapping gangs.
Larry R
Wouldn’t it be great if King responded: “Some might say that you’re being hypocritical — was it not the case that you were among the leaders in calling for President Clinton’s impeachment for engaging in extramarital activities, while you were in fact having a secret affair with an intern of yours?”
“Please answer the question, Sir.”
JPL
@Scott: Did the media unzip your pants I don’t know. Where was bobo at the time?
Rommie
My takeaway is that Newt has confirmed he’ll blow up with a strategic poke in the chest. There’s so much hay the President could generate that we’d feed the country’s livestock for a year. (Let alone a Big Media scorned…)
The more Newt melts down and get cheered by the 27’ers, the more of the 73’ers will not vote for him. There’s a rout in the making if Newt steals Mitten’s turn in the captain’s chair. A Republican PUMA movement will make the Hillary version look like a housecat. I can’t think of a good acronym, but I’m sure some of the better snark folks could do so.
gnomedad
One suspects that if bodies were discovered in Newt’s basement, it would only increase his fans’ fury at the librul media for reporting it.
MattF
Media commentary on the closing of the Rick Perry sideshow was mildly amusing– the theme was Perry’s inexplicable lack of preparation for a national campaign, e.g., ‘not ready for prime-time.’ Somehow, the ‘dumb as a bag of hammers’ issue never got mentioned.
Alex S.
It has amazed me how quickly the race shifted from debate to debate. Perry gave one bad answer and it killed his campaign. Gingrich was dead in the water, twice, and resurrected himself through his performances. This last debate will give him an even bigger boost. The Florida primary is going to be VERY interesting.
I’m starting to think that Newt Gingrich has to be considered a giant of the modern political landscape, not because he is competent or ‘good’ in the traditional sense, but because he has taken (and still is) the GOP away from the East Coast plutocrats and industry barons and gave it to the economically and socially frustrated masses that we sometimes call “Tea Party” (plus ordinary racists and homophobes). Isn’t it amazing that questions about tax returns and the influence of SuperPACs are being asked at a republican debate? Most of it is Gingrich’s doing. And Romney is the distillation of the previous GOP leader class, the New England financial leaders. They used Newt in 1994 and then cut him off, but Newt is still continuing to reshape his party.
Schlemizel
Does anyone wonder why it wasn’t worth getting excited about when this “bombshell” was dropped? Salamander already knew anything she could say & was ready for it. Hell, he turned it into a positive for himself. The morans ate it up.
Egg Berry
@Alex S.:
You know who else was a giant of the modern political landscape? For many of the same reason.
ChrisB
@Mark B:
Yes, maybe they’ll tie for the vice presidential nomination.
Napoleon
I think the whole exchange with King pretty much gives Newt the boost he needs to win SC which is a win for the Dems. The longer this goes on the better.
techno
I detest Gnoot with a passion. But in this case, he has a point. In an era where there are serious problems, it is highly inappropriate to lead off the debate with some truly irrelevant gonad issues.
The problem is that IF King had actually asked serious questions about real issues like Peak Oil, climate change, speculators distorting the food supply, the criminalization of financial services, the corruption of democracy and the frontal attack on the bill of rights, etc. etc., the candidates would have sputtered like the cretins they are and King would have been vilified for practicing actual journalism.
Trinity
@Egg Berry: I was just thinking that this morning when watching the clips from last night’s debate!
scary
Comrade Javamanphil
Perhaps Dr. Phil could do a special where he sits down all the national media personalities and convinces them that the GOP will never stop beating them and maybe it is time to stop looking for their approval.
Donut
@Mino
nitpicker
“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 office,” Gingrich said, then stood silently for a moment, allowing Americans to look upon exactly what sort of indecent person runs for office these days.
Damn you, media! Damn you all to hell!
sb
Unless this is sarcasm, I don’t get this. It’s Mix, after all, so maybe he really does think Murrow was a shitty journalist?
Donut
Posting on an iphone is hard.
What I meant to post was, I don’t know of it was lack of prep on King’s part. Could just as well have been that he wanted to give Newt a chance to rant and rave because he an producers knew it would make good TV. Those assholes are so self-important, I don’t think they really realize how bad they look in these situations.
lol
If Newt wins South Carolina, do you think we’ll start hearing some Romney/Nixon comparisons?
Scott
@MattF: Perry has been beaten up by our local Texas media. Unfortunately, our local newspaper had an editorial discussing how Perry can now be back and working on our Texas problems. My first reaction was, “NO!!”. He has done enough damage here. And his credibility is shot.
dmsilev
I so hope Gingrich stays the course. He makes an onion look thick-skinned, and he has an ego the size of the Hindenburg. That’s a bad combination, or perhaps it’s a good combination for his opponent.
DanielX
@Rommie:
There’s already a totally excellent episode on YouTube: Hitler hears that Gingrich is leading the GOP race. Almost, and I emphasize almost, as good as my all time Hitler episode “Hillary’s Downfall”.
I’m thinking his campaign will become known as the Newtron Bomb, which kills off all the Republican candidates and leaves Obama standing. Possibly the Attack of Newt and His Neuticles, which definitely proves that the misdeeds caused by those plaguey Neuticles have absolutely no influence on the 27 percenters.
On a more serious note – I attempt to say this with a straight face – it’s going to be fun to watch, as Newt has nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying to feed his opponents into a wood chipper. His ego won’t permit him to believe that he’s unelectable in a general election. Since blowing up his enemies is his form of human catnip, it’s a worthy end for him in itself whether he gets crushed in the general election or not. Newt in his last hurrah with no restraints of common decency (giggle) or anything else on his behavior – the mind reels.
cmorenc
@Schlemizel:
Keep in mind the particular audience last night. Newt’s arrogance about his serial philandering will not play well among women in the general electorate; the reason Bill Clinton got away with it is that he is a rogue, but a personable, likable rogue, whereas Newt Gingrich comes across as the arrogantly callous asshole he really is. The 27-ers like it, some among the male general electorate will dig it, but it won’t play well among most of the 73 percenters.
Roger Moore
@Napoleon:
The phrase you’re looking for is “cheering for injuries”. The best case for the Democrats is that the nomination fight is a long and bitter one, and whichever nominee emerges from it has been mortally wounded for the general election. It’s looking more and more likely that we’ll get something close to that.
MattF
@Napoleon: I understand the sentiment, but I disagree. I can’t bring myself to root for Noot. He’s a very bad person, far worse than Romney, IMO, and I’m persuaded that ‘worse is better’ is a dangerous political principle. If Noot wins the primary it’s a disaster for the Republicans, but it’s also a disaster for the rest of us.
JGabriel
I don’t know if it’s just this photograph, or a real-life phenomena, but Ann Romney has a freakishly long right index finger.
I wonder if that’s why Mitt married her.
.
JGabriel
@Alex S.:
Yes, Newt is still re-shaping his party into Death Eaters.
.
SenyorDave
@MattF: Matt F, I completely agree. I think Obama beats Newt in a rout unless…
Europe crashes and burns because of the debt crisis and we gointo a recession
The Middle East erupts into something and oil goes to $200 a barrel
Some major disaster plays havoc with the economy
The thought that somebody who is totally amoral could become president is scary. I would rather see Romney as the nominee, even knowing he might beat Obama, than Gingrich as the nominee.
Newt is a degenerate. He would intentionally harm the country to get back at his enemies.
magurakurin
@DanielX: I checked that Hitler clip out. That’s a nice one. You are right it is more or less in the league of the Hillary one. That one was awesome.
Emma
@FridayNext: Technically, that’s what they’re supposed to do. The problem is that they often misunderstand where the best interests of the United States lie.
Scott
I son’t know about anybody else but these audiences are the most disturbing part of these debates. Makes me think we ended Reconstruction too soon.
mistermix
@sb: It’s sarcasm, sheesh. Edward R Murrow was a good reporter as far as I’m concerned.
jibeaux
I am rooting for bloody drawn-out injuries, too, but my husband pointed out the downside….we’re in NC which was taken over by cretins who put a constitutional amendment against same sex marriage on the ballot, not for November but for the primary vote in May. Unfortunately the only chance it has for defeat is if NC has our usual irrelevance to the primary.
kerFuFFler
@nitpicker:
Thank you! You made my morning.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Napoleon:
Yup, with Ol’ Frothy winning in Iowa and Funny Moneybags winning in New Hampshire, a Slimy Salamander win in South Carolina would be perfect.
For the Democrats. The longer the division on the right goes on, the uglier and bloodier it gets.
Good.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@mistermix:
Aww c’mon, sb sounds like they know you well! ;)
Interesting that the tone sb used in their response was one that implies that you suck.
I wonder why people do that and expect to be treated nicely.
Privatize the Profits! Socialize the Costs!
Republicans will just have to decide: is the guy who cheats on his wives? Or the guy who cheats on his taxes?
handsmile
@MattF: (#37)
Unless one is a moral philosopher, I would not wish to be tasked with parsing who among the GOP presidential candidates is more-><-less "bad". A persuasive case can be made for each one as prizewinner in that contest. And in that way, similar to the venerable question of "Stupid vs. Evil" when it comes to assessing Republican leadership in general.
But a prolonged civil war within Republican ranks is a boon for Democrats. To illustrate, consider how the knife fight between Boehner and Cantor in the House helped to secure legislative victories on payroll tax/unemployment benefit extensions last month.
In the presidential sweepstakes, a victory by Newton Leroy in South Carolina will force the Mormon former governor of Massachusetts to bray more radical right-wing positions; a kind of rhetoric that he is temperamentally ill-suited for and which will further underscore his image as an ideological weathervane.
Santorum wins in Iowa; Romney in New Hampshire; Gingrich in South Carolina. How is such weak and fluctuating support among candidates, each one of whom is contemptible to some faction within the GOP base (and as portrayed by its debate audiences, it certainly is that), anything but greatly auspicious for Democrats?
Villago Delenda Est
@nitpicker:
So, the guy who came up with a list of words to smear his political opposition is now bitching that the media drives good people out of politics, leaving vile sacks of shit like himself as all that is left.
Uh.Huh.
If hypocrisy caused noses to grow, Noot would need tenders four states away to move his around in anticipation of his arrival.
JGabriel
@DanielX:
Link.
.
kay
I really loathe John King, so I would ordinarily be thrilled that someone attacked him, but I’m not.
I think this is going to work, and the other GOP candidates are going to imitate it. Every time they’re asked a question they’re just going to deflect by attacking the media. Sarah Palin did this, and it worked like a charm. They simply stopped asking her questions. We know they’re terrified of push-back from the GOP base. I think this just makes them more skittish and deferential.
Romney will probably have to be told to use this tactic, but I’m sure one of his staff will clue him in.
I’m just hesitant to cheer Gingrich completely ducking a question, and “winning” on that. I don’t think it bodes well for the general.
What else is off limits? Why can’t Gingrich just start screaming in response to any damaging question?
By the end, Palin was completely blowing them off. She was raising money on blowing them off.
Villago Delenda Est
@kay:
The problem is that the Villagers are utterly without balls, as they are so afraid of losing access that they refuse to ask questions that might endanger that access.
The access is worthless, from the point of view of an actual journalist, if you can’t ask questions that put them on the spot.
Instead, they’re reduced to the pathetic depths of “Entertainment Tonight” anchors, nothing more than suckups to assholes.
Larkspur
@mistermix:
Jeez, you say that as if it were obvious, or logical, or sensible. We are discussing the Republican debate; its logic is very different from our Earth logic.
But all King really had to counter with is a line based on your original post: “A question about traditional marriage and family values is absolutely relevant in a Republican debate. The Republican party has placed these values at issue in this campaign, and candidates ought to expect to answer questions on the topic.”
Violet
I detest Newt and when he responded like that a small part of me wanted to cheer. If I, someone who would never vote for Newt, can have that kind of response, I can only imagine that Republicans who weren’t sure about Newt would be on their feet cheering, much like the debate audience.
People may hate Newt, but they also hate the media. And John King didn’t help out his team at all. Newt won the entire debate right then.
harlana
i did drink too much champagne last nite and started screaming at the teevee so i just toddled on off to bed
again, Gingrich has emerged as the Rosa Parks of the American media!
cmorenc
@jibeaux:
There’s a cynical, but rational tactical reason the same-sex issue is on the May primary ballot instead of November. Yes, the prime movers behind the issue were the expected group of bigoted GOP cretins, and they were a hair’s-breath shy of having enough votes in the General Assembly to put it on the November ballot, and were haggling with several of the more conservative Dem members who have very little commitment to the gay equality movement to peel off enough votes with horse-trades over their pet projects. However, some among these conservative Dems realized that it would not be a good thing for democrats in general (and themselves in particular) for this gay-marriage amendment to be on the November ballot, because of the potential to incrementally drive right-wing turnout and swing close elections across the board, from local to state to national offices in NC. They did not want to risk holding out only to suffer the GOP succeeding in peeling off just-enough of the sellouts they needed without getting anything more than local-issue peanuts in return. And so they cynically made a deal to agree to supply the needed votes to get the measure up for a citizen vote (required for state constitutional amendments) BUT the measure would be on the May primary ballot (when most members, including dems, would safely win renomination by their respective parties) but not the general election (where the extra turnout driven by the measure would likely be more disadvantageous to the dems).
A very cynical ploy to appease bigoted cretins, yes. However, one that is understandable as a cold-hearted political calculation.
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
I don’t know, I guess it could go one of two ways. They seem to rally and retaliate when one of their own takes a hit, so that’s not advantage Gingrich, but I honestly don’t see any reason he can’t use this tactic for nearly any question if he makes it to the general.
Nearly all of the difficult questions to Newt Gingrich are going to be attacks on his character, because he’s a scumbag, whether it’s how he behaved in Congress or how he treats his wives. That’s his weakness. Now I guess it’s off limits. That sucks. It sucks even more because conservatives run on their so-called fucking values, they opened the door to that attack so it’s absolutely fair game, IMO.
handsmile
Yet more comic genius, courtesy of the Hitler bunker scene in Downfall, this time on SOPA.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidshares/hitler-reacts-to-sopa-3caj
(Yes, I realize this is O/T, but I just discovered it last night and as DanielX introduced yet another iteration from what may be the greatest creative muse of the Intertubes era….)
Villago Delenda Est
@kay:
If this were a court of law, yeah, the “conservatives” opened the door.
But there’s no one who can instantly set rules for the debate, or a line of questioning.
So attacking the questioner is an effective tactic, especially in front of an audience that is convinced that the “liberal media” is out to get them, by exposing the truth that they’re bigoted sacks of racist shit.
WereBear (itouch)
@Villago Delenda Est: Precisely the point; losing access means What? Don’t the get the press release anyway? But then, they don’t get the intercur footage if them sitting there throwing softballs.
Stan of the Sawgrass
“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 office,” Gingrich said, then stood silently for a moment, allowing Americans to look upon exactly what sort of indecent person runs for office these days.
Money quote, newtpicker!
or, shorter Newt:
“How dare you start off this circle-jerk with the most obvious question of the night, the question that everyone is waitng for you to ask, the question that, if unasked, would be the lede of any news story about this debate. Have you no shame, sir? At long last, have you socialist media fellow-travellers no shame whatsoever? ” (raises rolled-up newspaper)
John King (rolling over on his back, tail sadly shaking with apology):
“whine, whine, whine… it was that other dog. The one behind that tree!”
(a doggie reference is always appropriate on BloonJus)
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
My opinion is, superiority on “values” is actually vitally important to conservative voters, so I thought it was a relevant question. I think that lording it over liberals on moral superiority is just crucial to their sense of being “better”.
I think they absolutely require that the conservative be more upright than the liberal. They’re going to have to twist themselves into knots to put Gingrich up on the moral pedestal over Obama, so I would have asked the same question. I actually believe the fact that Gingrich treats his family members like garbage is going to bother their voters a lot, although the more sophisticated hacks on the Right won’t ever admit it.
Villago Delenda Est
@WereBear (itouch):
“Access” is their career coin.
They have to keep it, or they’re all washed up, career wise.
Using it to commit journalism might be good from a speak truth to power perspective, but it’s a dead end for their careers.
And their career is more important than anything else.
Villago Delenda Est
@kay:
It’s because if they were actually concerned about “family values”, they’d support the ni*CLANG* who actually lives them.
But “family values” isn’t actually about families, or values.
It’s about pushing their theocratic ideology down everyone’s throats. Tossing the gays into camps to be exterminated. Putting the blacks back on the plantation totin’ bales.
Michelle Bachmann said that the Renaissance was a mistake, because it took us “away from God.”
The Moar You Know
@kay: And where is she now? A non-entity, one hated by most of her party.
Newt has always managed to drive his own car into a tree. I’m confident that this will be the case once again.
Len
I thought it was cute that Newt thought he was in a presidential debate. Presidential? Not that much.
montanareddog
It is amusing to hear some conservatives decrying the spectacle. Is this not the “Creative Destruction” of which they are so enamoured when it involves working people
Samara Morgan
chu kno mixie?
this is MOAR BETTAH than what Cole and you retardistas had on offer last night.
ABL has beaucoup desu. BJ doesnt have a nanoparticle.
i shall admire her even if sad angry aspie white girl is still banned at ABLC.
Meanwhile Sully links EDK’s lastest blog. peas inna pod.
Aren’t you proud, Cole?
Samara Morgan
@The Moar You Know: living well is the best revenge.
Palin might have been a retard, but she got that down.
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
I would have asked it differently. Newt Gingrich has spent a month attacking peoples’ families, with all that coded nonsense about children not learning a work ethic in “neighborhoods” and food stamps.
I would have asked him what his children might have learned from his behavior, about how one treats other people.
The “open the door” rule makes a lot of sense. It means opening your mouth might bite you in the ass, when it’s turned around to your disadvantage, so watch what you use. Newt Gingrich has spent the last 30 years pontificating on values, and attacking other peoples’ families. It’s past time he was called on that.
Angry Egilsson
Man, Romney looks amazingly bad. And he’s the electable one? He takes all those Rove-criticisms of Obama, the elite cool kid stuf that Rove was whispering, and magnifies it x10. He’s far weaker than I thought, and clearly has a glass jaw.
Like Kay, I think John King is awful, and I actually enjoyed Newt pounding the snot out of him, even though Newt is beneath contempt himself.
I think this is a great time to create a website called ” Impeachtheimpeachment.com ” and let’s refight the Clinton wars and the Clinton impeachment. Push to have the House of Representatives revote and acquit Clinton, make people go back and understand who did what. I think it would be very beneficial.
kay
@The Moar You Know:
Good point. I have to stop listening to these people. It’s making me bitter and grim.
I resisted for months. I’m going back to that. I dont’ even care which one of these creeps is the nominee. They’re all equally repulsive.
shortstop
King is truly one of the dumbest people in the business. The fact that he’s also arrogant as hell makes me quite happy to see him humiliated this way.
mistermix
@kay: I’m not ready to conclude that those questions are off limits. It’s such a juicy area with lots of ratings potential that I think it might get a good airing even if John King got slapped last night.
shortstop
@biff diggerence: Exactly. Of course it never occurred to the slack-jawed, bovine King to follow up by asking Gingrich why it wasn’t “appalling, tawdry and trashy” to impeach a president for his private sex life.
These people remind me of me speaking foreign languages I don’t actually know. I can get the first question/comment out, but when someone responds with a torrent of words, I’m at a total loss.
Samara Morgan
@mistermix: why cant BJ have chirpstories?
too auld?
Cole is much bettah on teh twitter.
He’s occasionally funnie.
;)
Stan of the Sawgrass
“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 office,” Gingrich said, then stood silently for a moment, allowing Americans to look upon exactly what sort of indecent person runs for office these days.– nitpicker
Money quote, newtpicker!
or, shorter Newt:
“How dare you start off this cyrkle-jurk with the most obvious question of the night, the question that everyone is waitng for you to ask, the question that, if unasked, would be the lede of any news story about this debate. Have you no shame, sir? At long last, have you socialist media fellow-travellers no shame whatsoever? ” (raises rolled-up newspaper)
John King (rolling over on his back, tail sadly shaking with apology):
“whine, whine, whine… it was that other dog. The one behind that tree!”
(a doggie reference is always appropriate on BloonJus. Now to see if “cyrkle-jurk” makes it out of moderation.)
Triassic Sands
I despise Gingrich and I wouldn’t vote for him, for anything, under any circumstances. Therefore, I don’t need additional reasons to reject him.
That said, my experience tells me not to believe anything either ex-spouse says about the other after a divorce, unless I have independent, verifiable evidence of the truth of the accusations. Did Gingrich ask his then-wife for an open marriage? I have no idea and I won’t take Marianne’s word for it that he did. Is she a liar? I have no idea, but I don’t doubt for a second that she might be and her accusations really don’t change my mind one way or the other about someone who I already think is wholly unqualified to hold any elective office. Gingrich’s ideology and policy prescriptions tell me all I need to know to oppose his candidacy. What a bitter (and probably deservedly so) ex-spouse says about Gingrich really doesn’t interest me. I’m also not interested in what Gingrich has to say about Marianne.
That said, it is difficult not to have just a touch of schadenfreude when one of the self-righteous Republican guardians of morality (for everyone else) runs afoul of the morality police.
Triassic Sands
Advice to SC Republican voters:
1. Vote against Romney.
2. Vote against Gingrich.
3. Vote against Santorum.
4. Vote against Paul.
5. Stay home on election day or write in the name of your favorite Confederate general. It would be very instructive for the rest of the country if Stonewall Jackson or Robert E. Lee won the SC primary. That would be the first honest election outcome of this dreadful GOP primary season.
kay
@mistermix:
I think he should be asked questions on child support. That was an issue with the first wife.
If Newt Gingrich wants to lecture us all on what parents should be teaching children, it’s absolutely fair game. All of it. If he’s using “responsibility” to his advantage, and he is, it’s only fair he have to take the down side of that. Tough shit, Newt. Next time, keep your mouth shut on areas where you’re vulnerable.
If they were called on this stuff, consistently and aggressively, they’d stop attacking other people on it.
General Stuck
I’m willing to give Newt some slack cause he is the most pure conservative on the stage. As there is no evidence he kept more than one mistress at a time. I’m sure that wasn’t easy, given his overall greatness. That’s a lot of pressure to deal with, but he managed to soldier on, and think of the sacrifice for gawd and country.
Smacks self up side head.
Lojasmo
Does SC have an open primary? I suspect hermie may have a decent showing, if so.
Also, until last night, I was a little concerned about Romney. Now, not so much. White guy in a suit and all, he is so fucking tone deaf, he’d be toast in the general.
Lizzy L
I disagree strongly with those who want John King to have challenged Gingrich on the impeachment issue. Gingrich would have replied something like,”Clinton wasn’t impeached because of his sexual conduct. He was impeached because he LIED under OATH,” and he would have been all smarmy and self-righteous, and he would even have found a way to link Clinton’s lying to Obama & the Democrats. He’s good that way.
On the other hand, I thought Gingrich would crash & burn a month ago, so what do I know.
shortstop
@Lizzy L: Certainly that’s a risk, but 1990s Gingrich made plenty of unequivocal statements about Clinton’s lack of sexual morality. A prepared journalist would be ready with those…and with the fact that Gingrich was bonking Callista even as he made those public remarks.
thalarctos
@shortstop:
Well, there’s the problem right there.
Gretchen
@Triassic Sands: SC doesn’t allow write-ins. Stephen Colbert found this out when he learned that he was out-polling Huntsman, and jumped into the race. He is urging his supporters, since they can’t write him in, to vote for Herman Cain as a proxy.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Scott:
If it’s an open marriage, how is it cheating?
Angry Egilsson
@Lizzy L:
You are undoubtedly right about the nature of the response Lizzy, but the key thing would be to show how over-the-top the republican rhetoric was aganst Clinton, and the crazyiness of the whole impeachment process.
That rhetoric would mirror would these clowns are saying about Obama, and would discredit them in the eyes of millions who do not recall Clinton as a dangerous 60’s left counter-culture warrior – even though that’s how he was painted (among other things). People like Clinton even more now.
That era still has me seething, and I think those battles are still being fought and that fighting them would help now.
cckids
@cmorenc:
Also, while Bill screwed around, he didn’t tell Hillary to GTFO so he could install the newest model. The callousness of Newt serially dumping wives for a younger version is what gets most women.