Just a reminder to all you fine ladies and gentlemen, I will be covering the 2012 election circus with a reasonable amount of snark over at my new American Times politics blog. I have a brief meditation on the conservative movement, Newt’s South Carolina victory, and the state of the union here. What leads voters to prefer an adulterer over Mitt Romney? I try to answer that and other questions.
Bonus: if Newt ends up winning the nomination we should petition to have January 21st forever be declared Newt Day. Or Newt’s Year Day or something. A man with an ego such as his deserves his very own day.
One Newt day is not enough. I hereby declare that from now on, Tuesday will officially be renamed “Newtday”, the moon shall hereafter be referred to “Newt is Great”, and a thirteenth month shall be inserted between August and September and called “Gingrober”.Report
Honestly, we should not rename Tuesday. We should add Newtday to the seven day week so that everyone can have a three-day weekend every week and be thankful to Newt for it. Gringober is also good, but change not the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb.Report
There is one Newt, and Kain is his prophet.Report
You means there no Newt but Newt and Kain is his prophet, surely?Report
Is Kain his brother’s keeper?Report
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Tod, I was thinking a while back about writing a post on how a Herman Cain Presidency would inspire endless hackneyed headline puns and that was reason enough not to vote for him, but then Republican Primary voters decided Cain wasn’t Abel and mutinied; the once sugary topic seemed unable to support itself without some sort of hooked, artificial walking prop. But, if Erik ever decides to run for office, perhaps someday we can raise Kain.Report
Actually, come to think of it, perhaps it should be: “There is no Newt but Newt, and Newt is his prophet.”Report
Or maybe “There is no Newt but Newt, and Newt is his Newt.”
Or perhaps “Newt Newt Newt Newt Newt Newt, Newt Newt Newt Newt Newt.”Report
All of his magnificent writings and statements should be gathered and published in a single tome titled the Newt Testament.Report
Oh my, that’s a lovely idea.Report
I suppose the first commandment of the Book of Newt shall be “thou shalt not commit adultery, except that thou subsequently forceth thy wife on a hospital gurnee to sign divorce papers so that thou mayest remarry to the adulteress as thy next wife.”
Ahh, Republican family values – using your first wife’s daughters to tell the world that the reason you moved on to your third wife is that your second wife is a bitch. It’s scary when the Addams Family has better values than the “family values party.”Report
Newt’s wandering eyes are the least of his problems. As Colbert said, at least he asked for permission — a true gentleman.Report
Newt,
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/021106.htmlReport
Impossible. He cannot win. No democrat or person on the left individually or collectively could possibly be that lucky.Report
Which is why if you were of a certain kind of religious and philosophical persuasion, you’d be able to spin this against Obama by saying that he must be getting some kind of infernal assistance. I remember in the days leading up to the 2008 elections that some people were comparing Obama to L’Hay and Jenkins’ Nicholas Carpathia.
http://blogs.wsj.com/capitaljournal/2008/08/12/mccain-ad-obama-as-the-antichrist/
The very fact that there are people who seriously think that Obama is the antichrist seems to indicate that America is beyond redemptionReport
You realize that America has spawned (in no particular order) Jonestown, the Hale-Bopp people (Heaven’s Gate), the Church of Bible Understanding, the Manson family, the Raelians…?
People thinking Obama is the Antichrist aren’t exactly breaking any barriers.Report
you guys are seriously fished…Report
We should be thankful that the basic building blocks of the universe are partly due to him. Newtrino theory should be taught in every school.Report
In some ways I actually think it would be better for the Republican party in the ling run if they nominated someone like Gingrich or Santorum over Romney. Regardless of who they nominate (as of writing this The Republicans have a 43% chance of winning according to Intrade and 40% according to iPredict) I believe they’ll lose, but if Romney is the Republican candidate a lot of Republicans will say “we lost because we nominated a moderate, we need a real conservative”, and 2016 will be a re-run of of 2012.
But if a Gingrich or Santorum is nominated, Obama will win big. And hopefully that will lead to the Republican base re-examining its preferences because the GOP’s current direction is bad for them, an ultimately i think for the US.Report
Your contention rests on the faulty premise that the Republican base is rational.Report
I think everyone is rational to a degree. If exposed severely enough to the consequences of their current decisions I think the Republican base may re-evaluate. If not, well I don’t think things will go well for the US going forward.Report
Jeez, James, and I went out and bought The Myth of the Rational Voter just because you recommended it. Now you reject it’s very premise. I don’t know what to believe anymore.Report
Yes. I find myself hoping that Gingrich can be the whateveryouwanttocallthem’s Goldwater.Report
Right, at least there’s precedent for that sort of thing happening.Report
I’m certainly rooting for this outcome.Report
And hopefully that will lead to the Republican base re-examining its preferences because the GOP’s current direction is bad for them, an ultimately i think for the US.
Of course, you know this means they abandon conservatism’s 12th commandment: that conservatism cannot fail, it can only be failed, right?
If it weren’t for the failings of humans, the glorious rapture of conservatopia would already be realized here in Earth.Report
… you’re citing intrade. go read Nate Silver’s analysis of how free that market is.Report
Racism. The answer is racism.Report
Happy Newt Year almost coincided with Chinese New Years (the 22nd this year). Happy Chinese New Year to all you dragons and everyone else. I wasn’t around because I’ve been partying with my Chinese friends.
Murali, do they do New Year’s big over there in Singapore?Report
do they do New Year’s big over there in Singapore
Yes. There is a two day public holiday on monday and tuesday. But people often take long weekends as well and in many cases if New Year’s eve (which this year fell on the 22nd) falls on a weekday, employers usually give a half day off so that everyone can go home for their family reunion dinners. Also, a lot of businesses take the opportunity to “re-open” and start anew by hiring a lion dance troupe. (A lot of families also do the same) People exchange mandarin oranges and Peranakan (Straits Chinese) sweets like pineapple tarts are often exchanged as well. Often, married couples give their unmarried relatives red packets (hong bao(s)) which contain money.
Your wife is chinese right? Do you guys celebrate it in a similar way?
Anyway, here’s to you and your family! Xin Nian Kuai Le and Gong Xi Fa CaiReport
Gong Xi Fa Cai Hong bao na li?
Sorry didn’t get to this sooner. Yes, we celebrate this time like crazy, although my personal favorite is moon festival (I LOVE moon cakes!_)
Due wa y tai tai is Chinese. We had a dragon dance at the party we went to, singing martial arts demonstrations and WAY too much food. It was a blast. You’re probably young enough to be a Dragon, hope this is your big year!Report
I’m not that young, I’m an OxReport
Also, since you are the married guy you should be giving me red packets.Report
Can somebody explain South Carolina voters to me? They reject a true conservative (Santorum) because he’s a Catholic in favor of a pseudo-conservative who’s a twice-divorced…Catholic. What gives? I just don’t understand the southern mind.
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I would attempt an explanation, Mr. Hanley, but any explanation must be predicated on the very dubious notion that your conservative party is operating in some semblance of rationality. It is entirely possible that this is not the case. It could perhaps be the fact that Mr. Santorum is from your northern region, which your southern region traditionally has an animosity to, while Mr. Santorum previously represented a neighboring state in the southern region?Report
There’re parts of PA that definitely qualify as “South” from my tax-and-spend Masshole perspective.Report
It’s Pennsyltucky! (and apologies to all the people from Kentucky around here — that part of PA has some really, really bad apples, and it’s doin’ the bluegrass state a bit of a disservice to reference it)Report
As I apparently did not manage to recall to edit my comment, could someone remove the extraneous one above? Thank you.Report
doneReport
It’s easier when one keeps in mind that politics, to a whole lot of voters, is about identity. Gingrich knew how to take on the right persona at the right time with the right audience.Report
This. Having just seen him in tonight’s debate, it is obvious he has undergone a personality transplant in order to appeal to Floridians.Report
I think the audience factor is part, of it too. It’s hard to play demagogue without a mob at your back.Report
James, just saw this question of yours here, and I offered a theory at Elias’s place last night:
[…]But I do think that the flirtation with Newt is instrumental not genuine for conservatives. They could be backing a viable and true conservative in Santorum, but they are backing Newt instead. This tells me they are more interested in sending the message that what they view as their concession in eventually acceding to a moderate for the sake of removing Obama does not come freely – that it is offered in return for an implicit promise to them to be paid in office – than in actually denying Mitt the nomination. This is being done to try to show that they have the power to derail Romney’s plans, even if they are interested in pursuing detente with him.
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ABO!Report