I'll give Newt a 'C'

by Smitty (via Hot Air)

Allah Pundit links Newt eating some crow on Hannity. Allah throws on an interesting spin:

His endorsement was always strategic, to support Republican leaders at the local level and dissuade third-party challenges next year.

Well, that's all very tactical. I appreciate that Newt feels himself a sports coach, looking to score the points required to win the game.

However, if the game itself is more of a problem than the other team, then I wonder if Newt's approach has much strategic value.

Keep drifting to starboard, Newt: you'll get there. Also, that dream coalition will materialize. Attempts to dissuade third-party challenges are likely to hurt more than they help.

'She turned me into a jackass,' he said.

by Smitty (h/t Pundette)

'I got better,' continued Newt. No, that's apocryphal. Newt:

He told The Associated Press he was disappointed, and "deeply upset" that Scozzafava endorsed Owens.

"How could she have accepted all that support?" he said, adding later: "I'm very, very let down because she told everybody she was a Republican, and she said she was a loyal Republican."

Pundette is having none of this:

But Newt's been around long enough to judge on the basis of actions, not protestations of loyalty, or labels. By that standard we gave up on the RNC a long, long time ago. We've given up on Newt, too.

Actions, indeed. Once the votes are all counted, it will be interesting to see if Newt makes any effort to rehabilitate himself. Sure, he's got a long way to go before anybody trusts him, but he is a sharp fellow, has connections and could make valuable contributions, if he justs recalls and adheres to his purported principles.

As Stogie puts it:

the Newt Gingrichs of the Party have been sent packing, and that's a good thing.

NY23: Saturday notebook

If you run a hotel, there's only one way to keep me from poaching your lobby Wi-Fi: Don't have Wi-Fi in your lobby. Somebody here in Lake Placid must have been warned I was coming, so instead of uploading the cool photos I've taken, I'm using the hotel's lobby computer, which doesn't have a slot for me to insert the chip from my camera. Sigh.

The Poacher King's original plan is thus foiled, but I'm thinking I'll have my revenge when I return to poach their free continental breakfast.

The cool news? Instapundit linked my American Spectator item about Democrats pouring in the big money against Doug Hoffman. I don't think it will be enough to elect Bill Owens, and I don't think Joe Biden will make a difference, either. Go back and check the 2008 Democratic primaries. The 23rd District was Hillary territory. Biden carries no weight up here. But I'll try to go see Joe, just in case he makes another one of his classic gaffes.

Friday afternoon, when word got around that NRCC was pulling its resources out of Dede Scozzafava's campaign, I overheard a guy explaining to a buddy what Team Hoffman's basic strategy had been from the start: "Kill Dede and we win."

Simple, brutal and true: The 23rd District is overwhelmingly Republican, and the Hoffman people knew that if Scozzafava couldn't get Republican votes, she couldn't win. Once it became apparent to Republican voters that Dede was a guaranteed loser, the momentum shift to Hoffman was inevitable.

This is where Newt Gingrich really exposed his cluelessness, parroting misleading talking-points provided by the equally clueless Republican "insiders" who handpicked Scozzafava and wasted hundreds of thousands of RNC/NRCC dollars on her doomed campaign.

Like a lot of old, successful guys, Gingrich has evidently gotten into the habit of getting advice from two categories of people:

• Old friends, like Newt's buddy Tom Reynolds, the upstate New York Republican kingpin whose involvement in the Scozzafava pick was revealed this week by Dan Riehl. It's easy to picture Gingrich on the phone listening to Reynolds justify his own choice of Dede. Newt knows Tom from back in the day, trusts his old buddy's judgment and fails to realize that, alas, Tom's lost the magic touch. (Assuming, that is, that Reynolds actually ever had the magic touch, but that's a tangent I don't want to explore at 4 a.m.)
• Hired sycophants. Here's the real problem with a guy like Newt. When you get that big, it's hard to find employees who'll call bulls*** on you. Newt's the former Speaker of the House and still, a decade after leaving Congress, one of the most important people in the Republican Party. I don't know any of Gingrich's personnel, but I know plenty of Very Important People in Washington who are surrounded by staffers whose obsequious fawning would bring a blush of shame to the cheeks of a eunuch in the court of an ancient Persian sultan.

Like so much of what's wrong with the Beltway GOP, then, Gingrich's botched call on NY23 is as much a matter of organizational dynamics as anything else. And you can be sure that none of Gingrich's staffers will send Newt a link to this blog post. The cocoon of obsequious second-rate yes-men around a Big Shot ensures that the one criticism the Big Shot never hears is, "Hey, boss, you've got too many obsequious second-rate yes-men on the payroll."

Don't get me wrong. I'm not being judgmental. If I ever get to be such a Big Shot that publishers are offering me fat contracts just to put my name on a book cover -- Seven Keys to a Conservative Colon: The High-Fiber Path to Renewing America and Restoring Digestive Health, by Newt and Calista Gingrich -- I'll probably hire an army of sycophantic staffers to tell me I'm always right.

But it's not just the hired sycophants. Gingrich is also listening to the wrong bunch of old friends. Newt knows David Keene at ACU, who could have set him straight about the situation in NY23, and surely Newt's shared a few TV studio green rooms with Michael Barone and John Fund, either of whom could have clued him in.

Instead, Gingrich was all over Fox News, blabbering second-hand disinformation that directly contradicted the facts Team Hoffman kept hammering home: Dede was a liberal and a mismatch for the conservative 23rd District; she had practically zero grassroots support among area Republicans; she had a disastrously liberal voting record in the New York state assembly; she had only gotten the nomination because of an insider backroom deal; and, most importantly, she couldn't win.

By trying to depict Hoffman as a "spoiler," Gingrich was 180 degrees out of phase with the truth: Scozzafava is actually the "spoiler" in this race. If you find anybody willing to bet money that Dede will break 20% on Tuesday, take that bet. She could finish as low as 15%, but the one thing I can guarantee she won't do is win.

Maybe Gingrich backed Scozzafava because she reminds him of his favorite subject: Dede is history.

Well, what the heck was that long digression into punditry all about? Just more gibberish to chase aways snoopy liberals, you see. Stretch it out for a few paragraphs so the superficial surfers will say, "No news here," and click away. Then it's safe to divulge the real stuff that only hard-core readers will stick around long enough to find:

• Former Gov. George Pataki will campaign with Doug Hoffman today in NY23. Last I heard -- and the plans were still being arranged late Friday -- Pataki and Hoffman will do some morning photo ops down around Syracuse and then have an afternoon event in Plattsburgh. I'm guessing probably they'll also do something in Watertown and maybe do a visit to Saranac Lake, but we'll see.
• Scott O'Grady, the hero pilot shot down over Bosnia, will be coming to the district to appear with Hoffman at local VFW and American Legion events.
• John Rich of the country-rock duo Big And Rich will have an event Monday in Watertown for Hoffman.
• With all that big Democratic money to throw around, Bill Owens has no shortage of ground troops in the district. He had a half-dozen of them (who looked like graying refugees from Woodstock nation) doing a honk-and-wave on State Route 3 near the Lowe's hardware store in Plattsburgh. Where are the brigades of young conservative hottie volunteers to counter these lefty geezer squads?
• Naftali Bendavid's doing the "Republicans divided" thing at the Wall Street Journal. "Republicans divided" is every liberal's favorite headline. The MSM always blame the Right-Wing Extremist Fringe Kook Brigades for any division in the GOP. The truth, however, is that the RINOs are the real problem.
• Ali Akbar (yes, that's his real name) got some razzing Friday after Allahpundit linked his exclusive, but didn't name him, instead describing him only as "bloggers in the area." Feel the love!

What else? Oh, any young conservatives who want to volunteer for the Hoffman campaign should call the Plattsburgh office and ask for Yates. He was a linebacker in high school and was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. [Joke removed at request of Yates: "Dude, I thought it was funny, until I found out you were serious."]

Speaking of singles, Monique Stewart, meet Steve Foley of Minority Report, a blogger after your own heart. (Hey, the Rev. Moon doesn't have a monopoly on this sight-unseen matchmaking stuff, y'know.)

The reason I'm awake at this ungodly hour? On the way back from Plattsburgh, Ali and I stopped by The Waterhole on Main Street in Saranac Lake, where they've got a pool table and a jukebox full of classic rock tunes, plus enough Johnny Cash to keep Ali happy (he's from Texas and a total fiend for Johnny Cash). We got back to the house here in Lake Placid about 6:30 p.m. Everybody ate pizza and I fell asleep on the sofa.

Then, about 11 p.m., I was awakened by Yates knocking on the window. He was locked out. He wanted to see if anyone was up for going to have beers, but everybody was asleep, so Yates booked it back to Plattsburgh. After about an hour, I still wasn't able to get back to sleep and so . . .

Well, birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, and bloggers gotta blog. Even if they can't poach WiFi. But it's nearly dawn now, and soon they'll be cranking up that free continental breakfast. I've spent so much time here in the lobby, now the manager smiles and waves when he walks past. I am the King, baby.

NY23: Thanks to Newt Gingrich, I got quoted by Think Progress!

Kind of a Rule 4 bank shot, as Ben Armbruster writes:

Conservative bloggers are now going after Gingrich for lashing out at his critics, with the Other McCain writing, "I was disgusted just now to see Newt Gingrich's appearance on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News show tonight." "Newt Gingrich disappointed national conservatives again tonight," Gateway Pundit added.

Here's the video of Newt (who taught my mother at West Georgia College circa 1973):

Guess now Armbruster will be chastised by the White House, which claims that Fox News isn't really news . . .

HOFFMANIA: CATCH IT!

Our complete coverage of the NY23 special election

Not really, Dan

by Smitty

Dan Riehl, in response to a Tim Pawlenty quote on Hot Air:

If the post-World War II period was dedicated to fighting Communism, aren't we now even more fully engaged in fighting socialism, Euro or not, here in the United States?

Socialism is merely the symptom and sales pitch. The Jacksonian Party lays out the disease: aristocracy. This is built on three pillars:

1. 02Feb1913 Amendment 16, the Federal Government has eminent domain over your wallet.
2. 08May1913 Amendment 17, your State has no voice
3. 23Dec1913 The Cosmic Credit Card (which should be cut up)

As a bonus, you can blame McCulloch v. Maryland, where the "Necessary and Proper Clause" was sort of used to shoot the 10th Amendment in the face.

We can all sit around and decry Socialism on theoretical grounds. However, arguing about Socialism seems a bit like quibbling over whether to be in the left of right lane on I-10 as we go tearassin' West on I-10:

The mere presence of Foolish, Dumb-ass Requirements for federal entitlements, which even Ronald Reagan lacked the clout to reform (and I don't think anyone's accusing the Gipper of being Socialist) renders all of these discussions moot. It's not about whether the American experiment goes flying off the left coast into the Pacific. Rather, the question is when.

It may be that "we can't handle the truth." You've got clowns like Gingrich collecting their 30 pieces of silver for the soul of Conservativism. There are some really good signs right of the political middle. The internet has improved communication. Beck, Breitbart, bloggers.

But Socialism remains a bugaboo. You're already neck deep in it. Forget about controlling the flood. Let's talk about the agony involved in draining the swamp. Draining the swamp means restoring Federalism, load-shedding the three bullet points mentioned earlier, and fighting the economic war that dwarfs the global war on terror for seriousness. Large debt for a long time is sin. Call it such and let us repent.

Repentance means offering strong support to leaders who make decisions that are

• in keeping with the spirit and letter of the Constitution
• have the appeal of a bad hangover on an alcoholic

Because that is exactly what I'm talking here: cold turkey. We all know we need it, and we all know it will suck.

Sure, if you want to call that "fighting Socialism", go ahead. I call it "facing reality".

NY23: Newt does Dede's dirty work

I was disgusted just now to see Newt Gingrich's appearance on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News show tonight, when he hit Doug Hoffman with a cheap shot, saying Hoffman "doesn't live in the [23rd] District. (Hey, ask some Georgians if Newt has any room to talk about carpetbagging!)

OK, this is a non-issue, and has been explained several times. Doug Hoffman's hometown, Saranac Lake, is in the 23rd District. Hoffman's current residence is about a 15-minute drive away in Lake Placid, which was also in the 23rd District -- until the (then) GOP-controlled New York legislature gerrymandered the district!

Essentially, the corrupt Republican leadership in Albany were trying to make (then) Rep. John Sweeney's 20th District "safer" for the GOP incumbent. (Sweeney, a former state party staff lawyer, had himself carpetbagged into that district.) Sweeney was tainted by his Abramoff connection, had paid campaign cash to his wife, etc., was defeated in 2006. He alcohol problems landed him a DUI (he blew an 0.18!) in 2007, and another arrest in April of this year.

Class act, this Sweeney, then, the GOP hatchet-man for whom the districts were re-drawn in 2001, putting Hoffman's home in Lake Placid a few miles south of the 23rd District line. Hoffman has been up-front about this all along, and has promised to move into the re-drawn 23rd if he wins on Nov. 3.

So it's a total non-issue, and Dede Scozzafava won't raise it herself because it's a cheap shot and everybody knows it. Instead, she and the NY-GOP send surrogates out to spread this "doesn't-live-in-the-district" stuff against Hoffman.

To see Newt Gingrich playing errand boy for Dede on national TV is just astonishing. Meanwhile, a new press release from Hoffman HQ:

Congressman John Linder (GA-07), former Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (1996-1998), issued the following statement regarding his endorsement of Doug Hoffman: "The biggest concern I have with the Republican candidate in this race is that her long held positions on unions, taxes and spending incline me to believe that she will give Nancy Pelosi a Republican vote so that these many outrageous grabs for power and control will be called 'bipartisan.' I am confident that Doug will not do that."

Another Republican leader joins the conservative grassroots movement that's marching away from Newt.

URGENT: Gingrich increasingly irrelevant!

OK, this isn't exactly news, is it?

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists that their support for a third-party candidate in a key upcoming New York special election is a "mistake."
In a video captured last week and posted on YouTube Friday, Gingrich told tea party organizer Lisa Miller at a book-signing event that conservatives are inadvertently hindering the cause by backing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party's nominee.

The idea that the backroom boys at GOP-HQ can nominate anybody -- even an ACORN-endorsed liberal like Scozzafava -- and that Republican voters just have to hold their nose and vote for the "R," is the antithesis of a meaningful strategy of conservative reform. Being an unprincipled partisan hack may work for Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential ambitions, but it simply will not do for grassroots activists.

Pragmatism, I understand. But there is a line across which no plea for pragmatism can cause a conservative to step, and Newt's on the other side of that line.

(Via Memeorandum.)

Video: Newt Gingrich interview

At Friday's premiere of Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous With Destiny, I caught up with the former House Speaker and asked him about the future of the GOP, Sarah Palin, and the current "stimulus" proposal in a brief interview captured by Kerry Picket:

ON THE REPUBLICAN FUTURE:

"It depends on whether the Republican Party learns to focus on America first, and learn to rejoin the majority of American people that Ronald Reagan personified -- gives up big government and elite values -- and if they do that, they've got a great future. . . . I don't think about the party's future. I think about the future of the United States. I think Republicans ought to quit worrying about the Republican Party, and spend their time worrying about America."

ON THE 'STIMULUS':

"This is a spending bill, as President Obama said -- it's not a stimulus bill. It is an absurdity to have spent [$1.2 trillion] last year on this kind of spending, and come back for $900 billion this year. For the price of this bill, every American could have a seven-month holiday with no income tax, no Social Security tax, no Medicare tax and, for the employer, no matching tax. That would do dramatically more for the economy than this kind of policy . . ."

Notice that Gingrich (a) walked a wide circle around the brushfire war between the GOP intellectuals and Palin, and (b) sought to speak as a non-partisan figure concerned more with America's future than the GOP's future. A very shrewd man.

Tarheel Barr

I'm traveling today to Burlington, N.C., to cover the North Carolina Libertarian Party state convention, where Bob Barr will be among the speakers. This will be his first major East Coast appearance since Barr announced last weekend in Kansas City that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee.

Barr got dissed this week by his former Georgia congressional colleague, Newt Gingrich, who said Barr will not have an impact like Ross Perot did in the '90s:

"Ross Perot ran at a particular moment in time when people were really fed up with Washington, but really did not want a liberal Democrat," said Gingrich. "And so he attracted an unusual amount of support. I don't see any evidence that Bob Barr has that kind of following."

Huh? Nobody's "really fed up with Washington" anymore?

Perot's former campaign manager, Russ Verney, is an advisor to the Barr 2008 campaign. He responded to Gingrich:

The attraction of Ross Perot’s candidacy in 1992 was that he was not a part of the Washington establishment. Public sentiment was strong for a 'change from politics as usual.' In the 2008 presidential campaign the buzz word from each candidate is 'change.' But, the eventual Republican and Democratic nominees are not credible aents to change the Washington establishment each candidate has benefited from. . . .
I urge Bob Barr to run for President and give the voters a real choice between ‘politics as usual’ and real 'change.'

Nice of Newt to generate some news that I can use as a "hook" for my story.