The National Review is a magazine for serious conservatives. It is the legacy of William F. Buckley, Jr. and one of the main bulwarks of conservative ideals. That is why it is significant that the editors have come out with guns blazing against the presidential candidacy of Newt Gingrich. They write:
He says, and his defenders say, that time, reflection, and religious conversion have conquered his dark side. If he is the nominee, a campaign that should be about whether the country will continue on the path to social democracy would inevitably become to a large extent a referendum on Gingrich instead. And there is reason to doubt that he has changed. Each week we see the same traits that weakened Republicans from 1995 through 1998… Enough. Gingrich has always said he wants to transform the country. He appears unable to transform, or even govern, himself. He should be an adviser to the Republican party, but not again its head.
This whole article is as hard-hitting as this excerpt. Read the rest here.
6 Comments
Paula
NR is most certainly prepping for a Romney endorsement, so it makes sense that they would want to take out Gingrich and marginalize the others, who they think have no chance of success.
Hannity was raging tonight about the “establishment” purporting to choose the candidate and how the Tea Party and conservatives were livid about this. He proceeded to attempt to convince his audience that conservatives would vote for Gingrich, allegedly a fellow-conservative, as a reaction to the establishment presumption.
He followed with a surreal debate with Ann Coulter about whether Romney or Gingrich was the true conservative.
Then he tried to put Michelle Malkin in her place, telling her we should stop nitpicking about the candidates and get behind all of them, again, trying to say that Newt was a conservative. Malkin wasn’t having any of it and looked embarrassed for him.
Somehow, Hannity missed the irony in the fact that he was slamming the “establishment” Republicans for trying to tell conservatives to vote for a RINO during an hour-long show in which he did the exact, same thing.
Rick
It is funny to see Newt portrayed as an “outsider” against the establishment. He is as “insider” as one can get.
I think Peggy Noonan summed it up well last week in her WSJ article:
“What is striking is the extraordinary divide in opinion between those who know Gingrich and those who don’t. Those who do are mostly not for him, and they were burning up the phone lines this week in Washington. Those who’ve known and worked with Mitt Romney mostly seem to support him, but when they don’t they don’t say the reason is that his character and emotional soundness are off. Those who know Ron Paul and oppose him do so on the basis of his stands, they don’t say his temperament forecloses the possibility of his presidency. But that’s pretty much what a lot of those who’ve worked with Newt say.”
donsands
“Gingrich has always said he wants to transform the country.”
That nails him to the ground. Newt is oldt stuff. I hope he falls away as he should, and the same for Mitt the Moderate-Mormon. We need an honest Republican for this 2012 election. May our Lord have mercy on us, and grant us a good leader to stop the crazy spending and ungodliness going on in the Capitol.
Dan
Am I crazy to be a Rick Santorum fan? Why do I seem to be the only one?
Paula
I love Santorum and would vote for him in a heartbeat. I wish he could get some traction. The liberals hate him for his strong anti-gay marriage stand and have ridiculed him relentlessly. Actually, they have done worse than ridiculing him (see my most recent blog post). I think he’s a decent man who is extremely knowledgeable about fiscal, social, and foreign policy. Maybe he’ll be a surprise winner in IA and get his chance in the limelight. I hope so!
Bobby
Dan- you are not the only one! Mr. Santorum is my vote. The “Republican” party does not want Mr. Santorum as its candidate because they believe they need a more moderate candidate like Romney or Gingrich. Like McCain, Gingrich will be defeated by Mr. Obama. It’s time to stop settling for mediocrity and for the popular candidates. It’s time to put our support toward a candidate who has been consistent and has demonstrated integrity.