Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, considered by some to be to be a GOP visionary and by others as a politician who overreached and greatly helped the Democrats, is warning his fellow Republicans that pure conservatives could split off and form a third party in 2012 if the party follows the path set by President George Bush or doesn’t take a strong stance against President Barack Obama economic plans.
The questions then arise: is Gingrich hinting about his own willingness to run for a third party if a) if the party picks someone such as Gov. Mitt Romney who is taking a somewhat less confrontational stand when it comes to Obama’s efforts and b)and it means he represents more than his voice — indicating that there is a good chunk of the conservative movement that will insist on all or see ya in 2012? Or is all of this simply political positioning?Here’s the quote from The Politico:
Newt Gingrich thrashed the GOP for allowing Bush’s increased spending and not blocking Obama’s early initiatives.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning fellow Republicans that conservatives may leave the GOP for a third party in 2012.
“If the Republicans can’t break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would see a third party movement in 2012,” Gingrich said Wednesday during a speech at the College of the Ozarks in Missouri, the local television station KY3 reported.
Gingrich thrashed Republicans for allowing increased spending during the Bush administration and for not doing enough to block President Barack Obama’s early initiatives.
“Remember, everything Obama’s doing, Bush started last year,” Gingrich said. “If you’re going to talk about big spending, the mistakes of the Bush administration last year are fully as bad as the mistakes of Obama’s first two, three months.”
Gingrich’s comments shouldn’t be discounted by serious analyists. Shortly after Obama’s inauguration there were a spate of stories about how the GOP’s Congressional leadership had informally made Gingrich their strategist in how to deal with Obama. Despite earlier predictions from analysts about a new “post-partisan” era, GOPers in Congress quickly dug in their heels. Stories surfaced about how Gingrich might just bring himself to consider running in 2012 – and he pointedly differentiated himself from talk show host and the present GOP’s political spiritual leader Rush Limbaugh by saying HE didn’t want Obama to fail.
Where Democrats and some Republicans like it or not, Gingrich gets media coverage because of the language he uses and the way he expresses his ideas. He is what reporters call a “quote machine.”
There are other srong signs of Gingrich on the move as a force within the GOP and also a force advocating a hard line against cooperation with Obama. Such as:
–Gingrich charges Obama pulled a bait and switch trick. On Fox News:
Almost everything he’s done right now is inconsistent.
He never promised us a 34 percent increase in spending in one year, which is what this budget is. He never promised to take the national debt up to 82 percent of our gross domestic product, double the size of the American debt in comparison to our economy. He never promised us a $645 billion energy tax increase.
If he had campaigned on a promise to raise the cost of electricity, gasoline, and fuel oil, he would have lost the election.
–Gingrich is also talking at some colleges, explaining his views to young people (which is old hat to him since he is a college prof).
–TMP Cafe puts several things together (in a post with a definite viewpoint) and concludes Gingrich is positioning himself fast for 2012.
–He is also charging that Obama is waging a war against churches (a clear pitch for the religious right vote).
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.